Cooking Gadgets

This post is dedicated to two revolutionary devices that I have come to heavily rely on for most of my dietary needs.  Note: these are not new gadgets, nor do i receive any compensation for mentioning them.



I. The George Forman Grill (as portable as you can get)
This Lean Mean Grilling Machine has been in my life for a long time.  It's perfect for chicken breast, especially when I've worked all day and forgot to move frozen fillets into the fridge to thaw.  You can use it for any meat, really.  Ham/Turkey/Veggie burgers also taste delicious going from Freezer to Foreman. The trick is that it heats from both the top and bottom so you get an (almost) even cooking environment.  It saves you from having to crank up the oven or grill, since it runs from a plug on your counter top.  I will not try to defend the taste/texture against either of the other cooking methods, however, if time is effecting your diet, you can't beat this.  If you don't already own one of these, you can get one on the super cheap, especially if you opt out of the removable grilling plates.  For me they are just one more thing to neglect, taking up room in your sink. 

Cleaning Tip: While the grill is still heated take a wadded paper towel and soak it with water.  Squeeze the water out over your messy grill and watch the water boil and lift stubborn food debris.  Then carefully wipe with that same paper towel, careful of the metal contacts.


II.The Magic Bullet
Since i received one a couple years ago, I have considered this "the greatest invention since the George Foreman Grill."  It is an absolute must have if you drink protein shakes.  That is its primary function in my house.  I drink Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard (Cookies and Cream) which blends wonderfully with water or milk, but still is too chunky for me to drink without gagging at least once.  Enter the bullet!  I now drink rich, frothy, water-based shakes.  To be honest with you, I can barely taste the difference from it's milk-based brethren.  It's great at chopping nuts ("You're gunna love my nuts") and making popcorn salt (Alton Brown: "Pulse regular table salt in a blender/food processor to make popcorn salt").  The only downside is the cleaning.

Cleaning Tip: I'm not sure if the sharp pillars lining the cups are for rigidity or if they create friction for a better blend, but i do know that they are a pain in the ass to clean without cutting yourself or missing a chunk of food.  Regardless, get one of those sponge on a stick things to hand wash it, or just let the dish washer do the dirty work.  I choose the latter.  I never received an email back from the company explaining these, but its really a small drawback to a fantastic product. 

There you have it.  Two gadgets that create magic when plugged into the wall.  Using them helps take care of simple tasks, leaving me time to get creative with more complex ones.

Click to see what i make with them!!!!