Good morning! Happy Cinco de Mayo and Happy Teacher Appreciation Day! I hope you’re able to enjoy some delicious Mexican food (sip on a margarita for me, please!) and make a teacher feel extra loved today! If you are a teacher, thank you so much for the time, energy and effort you pour into your job every day.
Dinner
Last night’s dinner wasn’t anything crazy special, but I still feel the need to share it with you guys because I used something rather cool to prepare the simple dish.
A fruit and vegetable chopper!
I’ve talked to some friends who find chopping vegetables or fruit almost meditative and enjoyable but I am not one of those people. Truthfully I hate slicing and dicing veggies and find the task monotonous and mundane.
One evening a few weeks ago, Ryan and I were flipping through the channels at night and saw an infomercial for a fruit and vegetable chopper. We got sucked in and watched some guy easily chop vegetables for a little too long (<—Is this what happens when you don’t have cable?) and even though I didn’t end up ordering one from the commercial, I thought about it for a few days before doing a little Googling and ordering a new veggie chopper from Amazon.
Last night I used it to dice an onion and two green peppers and it was a breeze!
It took a little power to slice the onion, but it was easy to clean and cut my prep time waaay down. Maybe I’ll finally jump on the whole “Food Prep Sunday” train now that I’m the proud owner of this bad boy. Just wanted to share this with you guys in case chopping veggies is less than appealing to you, too!
Breakfast
This morning, I woke up, ate an apple and headed to the gym to teach my usual 6 a.m. spinning class. Once class was over, I cleaned off my bike, chatted with some gym members and headed home. By the time I walked through the door of our house, I felt a little nauseated. I have been packing snacks in my purse to eat immediately after a workout ever since I started feeling queasy if I went too long without eating in my first trimester and kicked myself for not remembering to pack one this morning.
Thankfully we had a box of snack bars CVS sent my way on hand in the pantry, so I was able to easily grab a protein-packed bar to eat which made me feel better almost instantly.
Pregnancy hunger and nausea is still so, so weird to me! How I can go from feeling like I’m about to puke to inhaling food and then feeling better 2.5 seconds later baffles me!
Breakfast this morning included a bowl of egg white oatmeal topped with cinnamon, served with lots o’ water since operation hydration is still in full swing over here!
Now I’m off to grab a much-needed shower and then I have to head back into work for the day before it’s time to coach Girls On The Run! Have a great Tuesday!
Question of the Morning
- Do you use any kitchen gadgets at home that you think make food prep a little easier?
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
I’ll definitely drink a margarita for you, it’s my birthday!!! 🙂
WOOHOO!! Happy Birthday, Marina! <3
That looks like the coolest tool! I have to try it out because I always seem to cut something when I’m chopping up vegetables. I love little gadgets and have a 10-in-1 thing from Amazon- it has tools like a funnel, egg masher, measuring cup, bottle opener and more! It’s really handy since I have a tiny kitchen and don’t have a lot of room for lots of tools.
I love my avocado tool! One end has a plastic knife part that you used to cut the avocado in half. The middle has a part you put over the pit and twist to remove while the other end has long slits you put into the avocado half to neatly slice it into slices and remove from the skin. I use it all the time!
Here’s a link to it: http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-Avocado-Slicer-Green/dp/B0088LR592/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430830518&sr=8-1&keywords=avocado+tool
This looks awesome!!
I just got this at my bridal shower last weekend! My bridesmaids all saw it and thought it was the coolest thing!
The veggie chopper looks really interesting! I’ve seen that before, but haven’t tried it. For awhile, I’ve been contemplating buying one of the tools to make veggie noodles. I think that would be helpful in the kitchen!
Need that chopper thing in my life asap! I don’t mind chopping up veggies, but I’m so slow at it and hate how inefficient it feels. My only worry would be that I end up accidentally putting a couple fingers through the chopper with the veggies haha.
Kitchen shears are the best tool! I cut up everything with them and they make chopped salads a breeze.
I LOVE our kitchen shears, too!
Yes! I have a banana slicer, and it’s so awesome. I got it at Macy’s for like $10, and I’ve been using it for three years!
Veggie choppers are fun. I’m obsessed with my spiralizer! It’s a kitchen game changer!
Love my Mandolin for slicing veggies. So easy and perfect slices.
I live for my spiralizer! It’s so easy and really makes veggies so different ! Once I started to use it, I became obsessed with ZOODLES!
My latest kitchen fave is a Veggetti (About $15 at Walgreens) to make Zucchini Noodles (Zoodles!), and I’m hoping to try Sweet Potato Noodles (Spoodles?) later this week.
But that chopping thing sounds awesome. I usually just use the mini food processor. Chopping onions makes me cry like there’s no tomorrow.
And infomercials are absolutely ridiculous to watch. My favorite is and always will be the Original Magic Bullet commercial, where the people’s neighbors are staying with them, or come over, and they make a gazillion different dishes in two minutes.
Ohh I’ve been eyeing one of those up! Love the Sweet Potato idea!
I need that chopper! Will be handy for you too when you start making munchkin meals 🙂
Brittany
The Lady Lawyer
that food chopper looks awesome. I am not a huge fan of chopping veggies but I do it every Sunday to get it out to the way for the coming week!
That chopper looks really awesome. I have a veggie cutting knife and it does the job so fast–it’s the bomb. Anything to make that task faster is a winner IMO!
I bet that would come in SO handy for chopped salads! With a little dud starting to get into everything the second I have my back turned, I’ll take any second I can save! Might hve to invest in this!
What a cool little gadget! I had one veggie chopper but it wasn’t like that one! And it was a fail haha. My husband and I get sucked up in informercials too LOL
Kim
http://trendkeeper.me .. MARRIED!
That veggie chopper sounds awesome, I need one it would save me so much time on my food prep!
A food processor with good grating attachments has changed my life!
Whether I want to chop veggies totally depends on the day…some days it sounds like the WORST thing in the world and other days it is a bit more relaxing. I can totally see the purpose of that device! 😉
I haaate slicing and dicing veggies- I need to get one of these! My kitchen gadget that I can’t live without is my KitchenAid mixer- I love being able to throw ingredients in, then walk away and do other things!
I have a chopper too that I use to cut down on chopping time. It’s one from Pampered Chef that my mom got me but it does the same thing.
Funny story for you…..
When I was interviewing for my current job, I was put through a LOT of personality tests to make sure I would be a good fit within the company, and in the right role. The test results were SPOT ON with my personality. One note which surprised me a little was that I have a HIGH score in believability. I knew I was really gullible my whole life, but the proctor literally said to me “never watch infomercials – you’ll buy into it every time!”
Fast forward 3 years and my husband and I were hanging out and an infomercial was on about a hot plate that only heats the pan resting on it, and it’s temperature controlled. Without realizing it, I stopped what I was doing and started to watch. My husband was on the computer and when he realized just how into it I was, he changed the channel. I was a little surprised at the channel flip, and when I looked at him he just said to me “test scores! I’m hiding the credit cards next!” HAHA!!!!
It’s good to know this one is helpful, tho! I have so many gadgets and appliances that have never been used. Like a deep fryer. WHAT was I thinking that day??? One gadget I love is the rubber brush for putting marinades or sauces on meat when I”m grilling. Unlike a normal brush, I can throw it in the dishwasher when I’m done! One thing on my wishlist is a kitchen aide mixer to make our own pizza dough!
Oh my gosh, I LOVE our veggie chopper! We used it so much that it eventually broke and we just replaced it. Best investment ever!
I might need to look into that veggie chopper since I hate chopping veggies haha. I have an apple slicer/corer, I haven’t used it in years though, mainly because the counters are too high and I”m too short, and it makes using it awkward haha.
That veggie chopper will come in handy for when your son starts eating finger foods too! My now 8-month old wants to eat everything we are eating (within reason) I share with her. So I whip out my veggie chopper and it saves me a ton of time! Her favorite are sweet potato ‘fries’ I make with mine. So store that in that back of your mind for this time next year when he’s ready to join you at the table. The size is perfect for their little fingers to grab and enjoy. 🙂
I hate chopping veggies too which is probably why the only ones I regularly make are ones you don’t have to chop (brussel sprouts…) haha
I’m one of those people who likes to chop veggies, so probably no veggie chopper for us. But! I love to see all of the fun creations you make in the kitchen, always!
Veggie choppers are clutch. I have what is called a “Salsa Maker” but I use it to chop veggies on the reg. I hate chopping and have to do it daily so this cuts it down! I also am obsessed with my mini Cuisinart food processor for mincing garlic and herbs. Its just too easy to use instead of cutting the tips of my fingers off!
I’ve seen veggie choppers and always kind of wondered about them but haven’t used one!! Good to know they ACTUALLY work like you think they would 🙂 I always love saving time in the kitchen 🙂
I’m with you… Chopping veggies and fruits is NOT my idea of a fun time. I wish I liked it more because I’d probably be eating more produce. Needless to say, I think this little veggie chopper you discovered is pretty brilliant! 😉
I have a peeler I really like! It looks like a bic razor but works great.
Did you ever see this Banana Keeper on Groupon, lol it caused quite a stir!
http://consumerist.com/2015/03/27/groupons-post-about-the-banana-bunker-turned-into-a-festival-of-dignified-lewd-jokes/
YUM! I just had strawberry egg white oatmeal that tasted amaaaaaaaazing!
I have a chopper, too! I got it from Bed, Bath, and Beyond last year for right around $20 (before coups). How do you clean yours? I find it a bit of a pain to clean when my veggies get stuck between the grids in the white, top part! I end up using a knife/running water to scrape between all the grids….
You need a spiralizer! You can do peppers and onions with it, as well as zucchini, sweet potato, parsnip, turnip, etc. noodles or rice. I think http://www.inspiralized.com is the best site for recipes with it!
I registered for a veggie chopper and I am BEYOND excited about it!!
I have the same veggie tool and love it for dicing onions…my eyes can’t take cutting an onion. I also use it to dice hard boiled eggs for salads! But I find it hard to clean in the grooves and little squares gotta use a toothpick. Lmk if you have any tips and tricks for cleaning yours!
Mine actually came with a little plastic comb that makes cleaning it pretty easy! I wish I had a better solution for you! And I am the SAME way with chopping onions. It always makes my eyes BURN.
That veggie slicer looks amazing. I have friends who use their food processor to do that, but I think the clean up is such a pain. This looks like the perfect solve!
My fave kitchen gadgets are my zester and my manual spoon juicer (the little yellow and green one that does one half of citrus at a time, by squeezing manually). They make zesting and juicing limes and lemons a breeze, which I do for almost every meal! I sort of like slicing and dicing veggies, so I don’t find the chopper very appealing – I think it would just take up more space in my cabinets! 🙂
I feel like my only real tool is a cheese grater. You just put the cheese in and turn the handle and voila! Shredded cheese. It’s a dream, even though it may not be any more difficult then actually grating cheese.
I’ve had produce choppers before, but they’ve never worked that well. I’ll definitely be checking this one out. I need something to save time!
What a killer gadget! I need that- I HATE chopping veggies and last time… I chopped a small chunk of my finger off, so that was NOT FUN. My finger is permamently deformed… wow, haha
I think my favorite/our most used kitchen tool is our garlic press. Garlic cloves are just so hard to chop, it makes it so easy!
I definitely need that veggie chopper. I am terrible at chopping things and especially making the slices small. i need to look into that chopper now to add to my kitchen tools. I love kitchen gadgets!
I love our garlic press so much. At first it seemed like one of those glamor gadgets that aren’t really necessary, but for someone who hates chopping garlic and can never get the pieces small enough anyway, it’s a life saver!
My mom asked for that chopper for Christmas and she loves it, too!
Omg I HATE chopping veggies! In fact, so much so, that I’ve been on the hunt for a nearby Whole Foods ever since you had that post about the “veggie butcher” or whatever it was called inside some Whole Foods stores. That post has been burned on my brain ever since, because I would LOVE that service (sadly, nothing like it in my area. Sigh.) When an entrepreneur I know started to make a nice profit, she hired a personal assistant whose duties included veggie chopping! Dream come true. Anyhow, thanks for this chopper recommendation!
I have a veggie chopper and it’s life changing! 🙂
I’ve never tried that veggie chopper but I have one of those slap chop things and i LOVE it!! The best thing it’s for is carrots– so much easier to chop it that way instead of using a knife because then they roll all over! ha!
I have a mandolin slicer, but I never think to use it. I do love my kitchen scale; it makes measuring stuff much easier. Plus, I don’t have to wash a bunch of measuring cups.
This comment is a bit random, but could you highlight how you cook for Ryan? I’d love some ideas, specifically for dinner, for my husband and myself. For example, that sweet potato + veggie/sausage looks amazing to me! But to my husband, it wouldn’t be quite enough for dinner. Many times, he doesn’t care to eat so much of a single thing for dinner (i.e. simply having a larger serving of sausages/veggies). Am I making sense? Haha. Anyways, if you could post more weekly dinner ideas, friendly to a health nut wife + hungry husband, I’d love it! Thank you:)