My Favorite Kitchen Gadgets (and how I use them to make my life easier): The Food Processor Edition

I recently wrote about how much I love using my crockpot. With a big family to feed, and small children underfoot, I am able to make healthy and delicious meals without a lot of fuss or time spent in front of a hot stove. I will now share my love and appreciation for another helper in my kitchen: the food processor.

Let me start by saying that I’ve always put off getting a food processor as it is one more “big-ish” appliance that sits on the countertop and can be a bit pricey. But last summer, when I was due with my 3rd child in just weeks, I was convinced I had to have one. I found one at a good sale price and have been amazed at how many days a week I continue to use it.

It is great for quickly slicing and shredding vegetables. With our large volume of vegetables coming in from our CSA share, I have been using the food processor to quickly chop, slice, and shred large amounts of vegetables into bags for freezing, or portioning out for recipes I have planned. I can leave my 3- and 4-year-old in front of the food processor and let them toss in the radishes, carrots, summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, beets and onions. They feel very helpful and proud to be using the food processor and it allows me to quickly finish a task that would take much longer with 3 small children wanting my attention. Even my 1-year-old seems captivated by the sounds and colors he sees as the kids are slicing and shredding away. And the tasting of the veggies as they come out of the food processor makes for fun discoveries as well. Who knew my daughter would love shredded parsnips and beets quite so much! She kept coming back for more. (To read about how I sometimes play the “Sneaky Chef” by disguising vegetables in my kids’ food, click here.)

Of course I can’t forget to mention what a great HMR soft serve ice cream and mousse can be made with it as well. On a hot day recently, after multiple requests to go out for ice cream from the kids, I made a soft serve ice cream for the family in the food processor following the recipe below and added about a tablespoon of sugar-free, fat-free cheesecake pudding, and used blueberries instead (just happened to be what we had in the house):

www.hmrdiet.com/Enjoy/Recipes/52/Strawberry_Soft_Serve_Ice_Cream

The kids loved it and the bonus of the pretty purple color from the blueberries was a huge hit. A nice side note is that I can now remind them of this delicious homemade treat anytime I am being begged for a trip out for ice cream and instead, we can make something delicious and healthier at home!

What recipes do you like to make with your food processor as the sous chef?
 

by PeggyKerans on 11/09/2011 | Share Story With a Friend

tags: Recipes, Diet Tools, motivation, strategies, kids, mommy blog