New Gadgets Are Great!

The other week I attended/held my first Tupperware party ever. I wasn't sure how much I would use, since I am not all that fond of using plastic for everything. Little did I realize, they also have a lot of kitchen prep tools...and I found 2 that I would never want to be without!

First of all is the Quick Chef Pro:

This little guy will spin my salad greens/berries for me, then take out the basket and add the blades to chop (so far I have chopped onion and spinach). Then if you get the hankering for some cherry pie with homemade whipped cream, swap out the blades for the whipping paddles, add organic whipping cream, and go to work! Just add a small amount of sugar and vanilla slowly once the cream starts to peak and you are good to go! We stored ours in the base and used the handy dandy seal that comes with it and it was good for 2 days after initial whip.

I have been eating smoothies almost daily. I bought a large container of organic spinach and chopped it up, smushed it into an ice cube tray, added a little water, and froze for quick addition to my smoothies. I have found that 2 cubes per smoothie is a great amount and does not overtake the berry flavor at all!

Next is the Empanada Maker. I didn't realize when I ordered it, but it actually came with 2 in the set, so this is a great thing to share with a friend!

As soon as I saw it in the catalog I knew I had to have it to help with making "mock" tarts. I can't wait to try making empanadas, pierogies, pizza pockets, or mini apple pies as well!

Although I have significantly improved, it is still very difficult for me to roll out similar thickness, size, and shape dough. This little tool takes that variable out. All I have to do is roll out the dough. I roll out between 2 pieces of parchment paper so it doesn't stick. This is the kind I like:

Then I use the bottom of the empanada maker to cut my circle, place the dough on the maker, add the jam, close, and viola! Poptarts! Although we did think they looked more like turnovers. The other key is to make these with homemade yogurt. I have made 2 batches so far with the homemade yogurt and they have by far been the best. We ate them for breakfast when we were at Creation and they didn't even need to be toasted, where the batches made with store bought yogurt did need to be heated before eating. By using this I was also able to make twice as many tarts as normal!

Here's how they turned out (The odd shaped one is what I did to use up the last bit of dough. I think it looks like a real tart!):

And just so my babies don't feel left out, this was yesterday's project, moving "Big Momma" as she is fondly called, from her smaller pot that she broke and tipped over into this much larger, chic one (but she keeps leaning over, ugh, I hope she makes it!). Yes, she is a monster, but I love her!