We’ve been trying out the Genius Salad Chopper and the Genius Nicer Dicer, two chopping tools that are sold on QVC.  They’re mostly self contained because you can store the blades, and slicers inside the container the Chopper sits on top of.  It’s both a work and serving station.

The salad chopper bowl is huge, which will come in handy when you have a really big gathering and want to serve a big group though, t’s a bit oversized for a family of four.  The Salad Chopper comes with two different sized blade inserts, an insert with two graters and a cleaning tool.  The chopper lid has a button on top, where you push the self-cleaning part of the lid to help push the food bits out.

The Nicer Dicer  has a couple of different size double sided grates, that you push food through.  Plus it has a wedge blade for two different sized wedges.  The nicer dicer also has a grater and a mandolin blade and egg cutting blades. Both of these chopping stations have separate lids that can replace the chopper for storing the chopped food in the chopping bowl.

Pros – if you have quite a bit of chopping to do, this will help.  It will easily chop onions, peppers, apples, tomatoes, with one caveat.  The fruit and vegetables have to be cut down to fit on the chopper, or it won’t work.  However, cutting an apple into four apple slabs and then chopping it down, is easier that trying to dice the whole thing by hand. The blades are different sizes, so you can cut it to the portion you want and uniform sized food, means it will cook more evenly.

The chopper containers have lids to cover it, turning it from a chopper, to a container you can store in your fridge.  I love the mandolin – it shaved my apples into really thin slices and the onions sliced well too.  The chopper is easy to clean with the push through self-cleaner – though it can be difficult to push and clean, I mastered pushing the self-cleaner while spraying with the vegetable sprayer to clean it off.

Cons – Sometimes you need a bit more leverage or oomph to get the chopper to chop, and a couple of extra hits.  The directions say to wet the blade first, which I found helpful.  Also, if the vegetable is a little big, it will need to be cut down in order for the chopper or dicer to work correctly.  The other problem is the size of the salad chopper.  I think it will be perfect for a large salad when you are having a gathering – and it’s nice to look at, but it’s note easy to store.

The best part is that my son took it out and used it to make baked fries with herbs – in the toaster oven.  They were lighter without any fat, or oil and very tasty.  I gave him a quick instruction the day I received it and that’s it.  Easy Peasey – well and a little oomph.

Disclosure:  I received the Genius Salad Chopper and Nicer Dicer for review. This was not a paid review.  All opinions expressed were my honest opinions.

I used pumpkin puree instead of mayo or mustard in my sandwich and on the wrap, plus leftover turkey, white cheddar, some arugula (from the salad) and cranberry sauce for dipping in.  This was the dinner for both my husband and me.  My son is in love with wraps and all the leftovers are being rolled up as a convenient way to shovel straight to his stomach.  We received NY style Deli Style Wraps  for review and I’m telling you, they’re pretty tasty.  They have the flavor of specialty bread while being a wrap.  My favorite was the pumpernickel wrap.  My son loved the cracked pepper but it didn’t matter if it was stew or sandwich meat, everything was rolled up even salads.

Though I grilled the sandwiches and wraps for dinner, after a while we didn’t bother with the grilling and dove straight into the eating.  My one and only complaint is that there are only 4 wraps in a package, but the wraps don’t become dried out with a smaller quantity.  What’s your favorite leftover?  Is it a sandwich, soup, wrap?  Is your fridge stocked with leftovers from all of the holidays from the last week?  Just toss it in a wrap.

Disclosure:  I was sent NYC Deli Style Wraps to try for this review.  The opinion expressed is my own.

Pot Roast Dinner at Deb’s

Edited to add that Grandma is holding a creamer that is used as a gravy boat.

Plenty of autumn farmer’s market ingredients found in this book – apples, squash, beans, sausage, stews, soups, everything you want on your dinner table when the weather starts to turn a little cooler.  All the recipes take less than 30 minutes to make.  These recipes do depend on shortcuts such as canned biscuits and crescent rolls, canned soup and beans, etc.  However, you have to know that I am not against shortcuts.  Some days you just need a shortcut in order to have the time to sit down to a meal together instead of spending all the time cooking. When my kids were younger and I needed dinner on the table between homework and soccer, a shortcut was better than fast food in my opinion.  We still had plenty of time left for conversation.

“Quick & Easy Autumn is perfect for busy families who want to spend more time enjoying fall fun and less time preparing meals,” says Jo Ann Martin, co-founder of Gooseberry Patch, an independent cookbook publisher headquartered in Ohio’s heartland. “What makes this book special is that each dish is ready in under 30 minutes, or begins with just eight or fewer ingredients. Family and friends will love scrumptious fall recipes like Cherry-Pecan Turkey Breast, Mom’s Butternut Squash Bake and Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle.”

“There’s more than 200 recipes in all for every autumn occasion, from bonfires and tailgating, after-school snacks and Halloween treats, and of course delicious Thanksgiving favorites,” says Vickie Hutchins, Gooseberry Patch co-founder. “Chapters take you from breakfast to dessert and everything in between, plus there’s dozens of helpful tips and inspirational ideas for getting the most from the season!”

MORE GOOSEBERRY PATCH:

Gooseberry Patch is one of the vendors at the Country Living Fair in Columbus this weekend.  Make sure to check them out and maybe find a good cookbook. Gooseberry Patch seems to have one to fit every individual’s taste. Jo Ann & Vickie will be signing books Friday and Saturday, from 1 to 3 p.m.

Gooseberry Patch just reached 80,000 fans on their facebook page, so they uploaded a new chapter to their online Circle of Friends recipe book.  The newest chapter is Burgers with 25 burger recipes.  All of the chapters can be downloaded to your personal computer and printed if you like.

Gooseberry Patch also has calendars with recipes, so if you are looking for a stocking stuffer (though they might not really fit in the stocking), a calendar is a good gift.

Morning television viewers in the Central Ohio area can catch Vickie and Jo Ann on Good Day Columbus on the fourth Thursday of each month at 8:30 and 8:45 am (schedule subject to change). The show airs on Central Ohio’s FOX 28 channel.

Disclosure:  I was given Gooseberry Patch – Quick and Easy Autumn for a review.  The opinions expressed are my own.

Jennie-O has a new Switch To Turkey Burgers Promotion.  Jennie-O sent a food truck to NY to show people how tasty turkey burgers could be and to convince them to make the switch to turkey over other burgers. For dinner, we tried out Jennie-O Turkey Burgers and let me tell you, they get an A+ from my family.  No, they don’t taste like beef hamburgers, they don’t taste like vegetarian Luna Burgers, they don’t taste like bison burgers, they taste like Jennie-O Burgers, delicious in their own right.

NYC Inspired Turkey Burgers

When Jennie-O collaborated with noted New York City food truck The Bistro Truck for a turkey burger takeover for five days, The Bistro Truck served complimentary turkey burger recipes inspired by the neighborhoods the truck visited during the takeover and developed by The Bistro Truck founder Yassir Raouli. According to Raouli, all of the recipes are inspired by his experience living in New York City and the unique diversity the city offers:

• Mulberry Street Turkey Burger, inspired by Little Italy
• Flatiron Turkey Burger
• Brooklyn-style Turkey Burger
• Bronx Turkey Burger
• East Village Turkey Burger

Diana’s Turkey Burger with Basil Pesto-Mayo and Tomato

I like all of their suggestions and pairings.  These look like great sandwiches – but I put together my own fresh garden turkey burger, using fresh basil pesto-mayo, fresh tomato, basil- tomato cheddar cheese and Jennie-O turkey burger.  It was really tasty, the family loved it. So, would we switch to lean, delicious Jennie-O from our regular burger?  Well, no, because we don’t have one regular burger, but we’re willing to add it to the lovely list of burgers that we enjoy!

What about you?  Would you make the switch?  Jennie-O is giving a 10.00 off Jennie-O Turkey Store coupon to 3 of our readers.  I went to the store and found a box of 12 burgers for less than the coupon – making this a really nice deal.

In the comments, tell me about your Jennie-O Turkey Burger.  How would you prepare it?  Would you go with one of the NYC recipes, my recipe, or do you have one special recipe you’d like to share with us.

Jennie-O Coupon Giveaway Rules -

• In the comments tell us about your Jennie-O Turkey Burger
•  US residents only
• One comment entry per household
• Contests closes on Tuesday, September 13th at Midnight

Summer’s not over yet, there’s still time to grill.  Will you make the switch to Jennie-O?

This was not a paid sponsor.  I was given a ten dollar coupon for Jennie-O Turkey Store to use for review of Jennie-O Turkey Burgers, but the opinions were my honest opinions.

Here’s another plus, that it doesn’t advertise.  My mom and I were talking about wine, and she said she only buys wine with twist off tops.  She can get the cork out using a cork screw, but she can’t get it back in.  Most of the cork replacements were difficult to use also because with her arthritis, she can’t grip them well.  She tried the intelli-stopper when she was visiting us and found it easy to use  and was very pleased with it.  I think it may be a stocking stuffer for this Christmas.

I recommend the Wine Doctor Intelli-Stopper.  I’m not an authority on wine preservation, or a wine expert but if I have part of a bottle of wine leftover, I like having a way to keep out the stale air for a few days and this is the best wine preserver I’ve seen yet.

Disclosure:  I was given the Wine Doctor Intelli-Stopper for an unpaid review. The opinions are my own honest thoughts.

What neither of us expected, is that my son has decided that it’s a great pot for using to make dinner.  He first tried it with a spaghetti meat sauce.  I thought it was a good idea (and hey no sauce splatter).  he cooked the meat in the microwave and prepared the sauce in the Cook N’ Stir, then added the meat to the sauce.  We loved pouring the sauce over top of the spaghetti.  Then another day he did macaroni and cheese. One of the features I love about the Cook N’ Stir is the thick bottom.  Not only did we not have splatter, but we also didn’t have any food burned either.  I have to say it’s been really a pleasure to see the stove afterwards.  Somedays I wonder if it’s worth asking the kids to tackle dinner when I have so much cleaning to do afterward but not after those meals.

The handle is nice and doesn’t seem to heat up, and though we haven’t had a use for the lid yet (no leftovers?), I can see that it will come in handy.  It’s stainless steel, a big plus for me too.  I can’t wait for my daughter to make alfredo.

Disclosure:  I was sent the Cook N’ Stir by Beka for a review.  The opinion is my own honest opinion.  No payment was received.

I get a kick out of reading what some of my favorite chefs like to say – like Mario Batali and how just a little bit of involving your family in the cooking can turn you into a hero or turns the kitchen into a place everyone feels comfortable.   Then there are famous people such as Stephan King who took over the cooking in his house, and his way of cooking is to turn it down and go a little slower.  I’m always telling my daughter to stop trying to rush the cooking and turn the temperature down a little, so I agree with him on that one.  I also have a mother with a poor sense of smell and taste, which can be disappointing to cook for, though my mom is also on a special diet, so we eat much blander food when she visits.

There are recipes throughout and book suggestions, cooking tips, a cooking play(in the vein of The Shining).  It’s a fun read.  The short essays are the perfect size for a local bus or shuttle trip, or car ride so it’s like a satisfying quick snack instead of a full meal. When I got the book, Mark Bittman was one of the first segments I turned to, he like me, is a believer in cooking simply – you can skip around to your favorites first, or save them for last (best for last).  I’ve been reading a bit every night and recommend it to all of you.  It’s fun to see another point of view and to hear why others took to cooking for fun or as a passion.

Enjoy!  Someday I hope my son will want to explore the kitchen and find his passion in cooking.   After reading this book, it seems like there’s hope, doesn’t it?

Disclosure:  I received the book Man With A Pan  – for a review.  The review is my own opinion.

New 100% Natural Lipton Iced Tea is available in four flavors: long-time fan favorites, Green Tea with Citrus and Iced Tea with Lemon, as well as two new flavors: Iced Tea with Blueberry Pomegranate and Green Tea with Passionfruit Mango. New Diet Green Tea with Watermelon joins the beloved Diet Green Tea with Citrus flavor.

To celebrate the new line and National Iced Tea Day, Lipton is also treating tea drinkers to unplugged music programming. Check out “The Natural Side of Music” online videos featuring cuts and conversations with music artists.