Did you get any new food-related gadgets for Christmas?

Good morning and happy new year, everyone!

I was super spoiled at Christmas and got all sorts of kitchen and cooking gadgets and stuff. The kids got me a cupcake maker. Yep, it's like a waffle maker but makes cupcakes. Cupcakes are their favorite and don't tempt me so it's a win win. Kris got me new kitchen knives, a knife sharpener, a popcorn air popper, and an air fryer!!! I am very excited about the air fryer, as I had seen them but never considered one. Well, I have made chicken wings twice already. I just spray the inside with a little Pam, add the wings, cook them at 380 for 25 minutes (shaking the basket periodically) and then 400 for 10+ minutes. They crisp up and taste delicious.

Any air fryer recipes to share with me?

What cool stuff did you get?

I got all the teas and a really cute insulated 24 oz tea pot to make them in!

I bought myself a cast iron dutch oven to make a rib eye roast. It turned out great and I certainly will use it again.

I also spent a couple of hours going through my kitchen stuff, reorganizing and taking a good inventory...then I promptly went on Amazon and bought some new cake pans and ladles. I also am "re-gifting" a blender and a couple of other items that we got as wedding gifts...nice, but I'll never use them....

I am also debating about buying a new food dehydrator to make jerky since the one I have and haven't ever used isn't rated for meat.

I got a four-slice toaster from my daughter. I try to avoid bread, and when I do have it, it's usually Joseph's low carb pitas. Sometimes I think she's in her own little world....lol.

I do have an air fryer, and use it a lot for all kinds of chicken. I roast whole chickens in it, bbq it with sugar-free sauce, coat it with ground up pork rinds (after spraying it with Pam so rinds adhere to chicken). I also do pork chops and steaks. I do zucchini chips also.

I got my daughter's fiancé a grill mat and meat thermometer for when he bbqs. I got it hoping he would grill more often.

OMG that's so funny...you avoid bread but they know you love it and get you a toaster

I didn't think about putting in a whole small chicken. I will google some recipes. I saw some recipes for thighs. I have some boneless skinless thighs in the freezer. The wings are so good, I am on a roll, I want to make them every week...hopefully I will tire of that since they are pretty high in calories, even without oil!

I got insta pot on Black Friday that I LOVE. I've used it for a lot of things I traditionally cook, and will try to branch out with recipes too.

Our air fryer We only ever use for heat and eat type items (or-fries). I tried chicken once and didn't care for the mess.

We just gave my MIL an InstaPot and I promised to share links to all my recipes. If you have yours handy, definitely comment with them...I can send them her way. She's pretty excited.

Funny side story - she brought it in a large shopping bag as a carry-on leaving here this weekend. And they were taking leftovers with them (they loooove leftovers and hate waste so they always take stuff) so they filled the InstaPot with a frozen ham bone (from our leftover Honey Baked Ham) plus a bag of frozen baked beans and a large bag of leftover fettuccine alfredo. They texted me that TSA searched the InstaPot and asked if they could have the food lol.

Tell her to google instant pot egg bites - so flexible and tasty!

Have you explored the Instant Pot Facebook group? Those people are fanatics. Good recipes though...just don't do notifications from that page, they are prolific.

So I got a microwave popcorn maker. Almost looks like a teapot. Works perfectly and doesn't make a huge amount. Win-win.

I own a Dash mini griddle and recently bought the dash mini waffle maker. Makes waffles the size of an eggo waffle. Love love love the mini griddle for making protein pancakes- because it cooks both sides at once so no flipping. Protein pancakes tend to fall apart. You can easily do a single egg in it. I bought the waffle maker well because- waffles but also because I think they freeze better than pancakes for later consumption. Both were less than $10. My go-to protein pancake/waffle recipe is Premier Protein and Carbquik. Easy peasy.

The air fryer- jury still out on this one. Just bought like 2 days ago. So far everything has been meh. I am sure there is a learning curve. Please tell me what brand and size you have. Jury is still out on if I bought the right one.