FoodSavers - luxury, essential, or necessity?

FoodSaver - get one at a fraction of the cost from Craigslist.

Just to be clear I am not one to hoard kitchen appliances. Even though a have a few in my name I will only commit after having done extensive research on the item: first, it must be multi purpose and of excellent quality and second, is the price right?

Marinated Chicken Recipe for FoodSaver

Rosemary and lemon marinated chicken.

I have wanted a FoodSaver for the longest time, but shied away from buying one, because they are just a little out of my budget for a kitchen appliance that is not used on a daily base. So, I found one NIB on Craigslist for $35 including 3 new rolls of bags - DEAL!

IKEA Salad Spinner TOKIG $2.99

Ok - I admit that I am a slave to certain brand names. I know that the quality is the best and I get my money's worth like a pair of Luck jeans or a Miele vacuum cleaner. But, there are also other things that I would not dare to spend a penny more on than I absolutely have to. Turns out that one of those items is a salad spinner.

IKEA Salad Spinner TOKIG $2.99

I was in need of a few new kitchen utensils and while browsing through IKEA I came across a few things that I have previously considered purchasing from German manufacturer, but reconsidered after taking a closer look at IKEA's products. One of them was the TOKIG salad spinner. I previously owned a Sunbeam spinner that sells for around $10. Not a beauty, but it got the job done, except the bowl had drainage holes on the bottom and water would drip everywhere. You can easily spend $40 for a nice OXO with a stainless steel bowl or $110 for one made by Rosle (Germany). Search Amazon.com for more salad spinners. 

I thought for $2.99 I can't go wrong, and if it turns out to be a dud I can always take it back. But, turns out that I actually love this salad spinner:

• very easy to assemble: simply press the round handle into the top of the lid until it goes 'click'
• made from polypropylene which is a flexible, shatterproof material, so go ahead and toss it across the kitchen - it won't break
• absolutely food and dishwasher safe
• the bowl is somewhat transparent and you can see what's in it
• the bowl also doubles as a serving bowl
• the lid fits snug and makes the container air tight, which is great if you want to store your pre-washed arugula or dandelion greens for tomorrow dinner
• the basked is easy to remove and could be used for straining/rinsing other things.

To remove the excess water simply put the washed lettuce in the basket, put the basket into spinner, put the lid on and turn the handle clockwise. It works really well! You can also use the bowl to wash/soak your lettuce instead of filling the sink with tons of water.

All-in-all I give IKEA's TOKIG salad spinner two thumbs up.

KitchenAid FGA Food Grinder

Making Ground Beef with my new FGA.

Take charge of your Ground Meats
A few months ago I went to buy some ground sirloin at my regular grocery store Frazier Farms when I noticed that the label on the package read 9%. Now wait a minute - that was 7% just last week. What happened? When I asked the meat guy he did not know what I was talking about. He insisted it was 9% all along. No, I am sorry, but 9% fat in my meat is simply not acceptable.

KitchenAid Mixer Attachment FGA
I grabbed a lean cut of sirloin instead of the ground sirloin, paid, and headed right over to Sur la Table to buy the FGA (food grinder attachment) for my little Meyer lemon KitchenAid Mixer.

The next day I gave my new FGA a try. I cut the excess fat off the meat, sliced it into smaller pieces and stuffed it down the FGA. Out came - who would have thought - ground beef.

Take charge of your Ground Meats.

If you care what you eat I think you should also be able to know what's in your ground meats. The $50 I spent on the FGA are well worth it. I am also a lot more 'flexible' with what I can cook. I can buy a piece of meat or poultry and if I don't feel like steak or chicken (again) that day I can simply make ground beef for a Bolognese sauce or meat balls; or how about chicken burgers; or turkey lasagna. The possibilities are endless.

So, if you have a little KitchenAid mixer like I think you should take advantage of the attachments they offer. They make them for a reason. I know forking over $50 is a lot, but think about it . . .

Question: Do you know and trust whats in your ground meats?