My Favorite Kitchen Things

Since it's gift-giving season, I thought I'd share with you a few of my favorite kitchen items that would make great gifts. Most of them I've received as gifts because I'd been eyeing them for a long time (and I have sweet family members who buy me kitchen presents).

1. Whirleypop Popcorn Popper -- I think almost everyone in my immediate family and all of my husband's family has been given one of these. I love mine and use it all the time!

I've blogged about this popcorn popper several times and even posted how I make relatively healthy kettle corn in it. Best price usually found on Amazon.

2. KitchenAid Covered Chef Pan (or Skillet) -- My mom bought me one of these from Sam's Club. You can get them on Amazon too, but they're much cheaper at Sam's.

I love this skillet because it doesn't stick and it's big. My family of five (almost six) has outgrown my smaller pans. I make Swedish meatballs in it and almost everything else that I fry in it. I especially love making hashbrowns in it because they don't stick! You can stick it in the oven too.

3. Cast Iron Dutch Oven -- My sister-in-law gave me this for Christmas a few years ago after I saw it at Sam's Club and told her how I'd like to get one. I love it and use it all the time.

I use it to make soups and stews: I bake pot roasts and pork roasts in it for hours at a low temperature in the oven.

4. Rice Cooker -- I have this Aroma Rice cooker and I love it. (I think it's an 8 cup, but maybe it's a 12 cup). My favorite feature is the timer on it, so I can have something cooking in the crockpot and set the timer to have my rice start steaming in time to be done before dinner.

I use my rice cooker (since it has a steam tray) to steam potatoes too. Then all I have to do is mash them and I have mashed potatoes. I've steamed broccoli in it too.
Those are a few of my favorite gifts that I've received and given. I'll post a few more soon. Happy shopping!

One Hour Rolls

These rolls are amazing! I've been making these rolls since 2001 when I was a newlywed and my sister-in-law shared the recipe with me. The rolls are light, fluffy, easy to make and they only take one hour! And delicious too! I've made these rolls more times than I can count, so I've perfected the art of making them. Here are some step-by-step instructions with pictures for you. Here's what you'll need. I buy pretty much all of the ingredients in this recipe at Sam's club, thus the huge containers. You need warm water, yeast, oil, sugar, salt, egg and flour. In the mixer bowl, add warm water (not hot), oil, sugar and yeast. Mix together. After ten or fifteen minutes the yeast mixture should be puffed up like this. Time to add the salt and beaten egg. Then mix in the flour. (I've used a mixture of half wheat and half white flour successfully.) Keep adding flour until the dough is manageable. It will be a little sticky, b

Don't like your house to smell like food? I've got a kitchen tip for that!

I have a smallish, one story house and if I cook food that is kind of smelly, like onions, the smell tends to linger in every room. This is a pet peeve of mine and (also my husband's). Over the years I've found a few ways to cook smelly food without smelling up the kitchen. Use your garage! I use my garage quite often to cook things in. I open the window and it airs out, especially when you open the garage door. I'm sure my neighbors wonder what I'm cooking. I've used two different kitchen appliances in the garage: my crockpot and my food dehydrator. Crockpot - I did this very thing today since I'm simmering chicken, onions, carrots and celery to make chicken noodle soup tonight. I don't want my house to smell like onions all day, so I plugged it in on my husband's workbench. Food dehydrator - when I make jerky, I plug the food dehydrator in in the garage. I don't really want my house to smell like meat for hours

Week 394 Menu

Hi there! This week is flying by! So excited that we've been having blue skies and warmer weather. Our snow is almost all melted and little bulbs are sprouting in the flower beds. However, we had our 10th snow/ice day last week!!! Hopefully it was the last one. Life has been busy, busy and I need to plan out the rest of our week's menus, even though it's already Thursday. Here's what we've eaten so far and what I'm planning: Monday: chicken stirfry, rice/quinoa Tuesday: breakfast for dinner Wednesday: flatbread pizzas Thursday: roasted butternut squash, pasta, chicken sausage Friday: tacos Saturday: leftovers Sunday: pot roast, mashed potatoes, one hour rolls Alrighty, that's what we're eating this week. How about you? What's on your menu this week? Feel free to share. I love it when you do! More from Jenny:

What is on your menu this week?

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