What's for dinner?

I’m making lasagna. I am such a wanna be Italian! LOL 😆 My DNA shows just a small amount of Italian heritage. I’m predominantly British.

Italians are the best cooks! I married a handsome Italian man. He’s a good cook. His mom was French and dad was Italian.

Send,

I love the skin on potatoes! My mom never ate it but I like it, plus lots of vitamins are in the skin.

Your dinner sounds yummy!

Send, the anti microwave crowd are obviously descended from the people who thought we were getting zapped with radiation back when microwaves were new technology. IMO it's all woo.

Do not eat the potato skin?? But that's the best part... well, maybe not so much when they are done in the microwave but still good. I've never oiled or salted the outside of my baked spuds and I don't wrap them in foil either.

Cwillie,
You can also par-boil the baking potato, then bake it.

I have not given up my microwave, even though others have and say it is not healthy.

We have sunshine and fish tacos today.
Plan for Orange Chicken tonight, will bake it in the toaster oven, because we fry things too often.

Rub the potato with olive oil, salt the skin heavily.
Punch holes with a fork in 3-4 places.
Small potato 5 min.
Med. potato 6 min.
Large potato 7 min.
X-lrg. potato 8-9 minutes.

Depending on the sze (wattage) of your microwave.
Don't over cook it, let it sit. You can always add more time.
Do not eat the skin.

Ana: Happy 99th Birthday to your mom!

Take-out! This afternoon we took flowers and cake to the home for my mother’s 99th. The staff had her up and looking forward to her party. She lasted 90 minutes. Then zzzzzz...

It’s been a long time since I baked a potato in the microwave but I think for about five minutes. I put it in according to the instructions. They come out dry and flavorless. Yucky 🤮!

I've never had a dry microwaved potato, how long are you leaving them in there?

cw,

I haven’t tried doing that. I find that they are dry if you cook them fully in the microwave. Something about the flavor is off too.

I usually microwave my baked potatoes for a minute or two and then finish them in my counter top oven to get the best of both worlds.

I think a lot of people are looking for convenience and they turn to different ways of cooking.

For me personally, I don’t mind cooking. I enjoy it and I want to achieve the best flavor even if something takes longer to make.

Of course, there are faster methods of cooking where flavor isn’t sacrificed. I guess it comes down to what a person enjoys doing.

I love my mini food processor because I don’t like chopping up an onion. I don’t mind chopping up tons of veggies though for a big pot of vegetable soup. I make soup every week.

I love baking potatoes in the instant pot which is faster than the oven but I don’t like the flavor of a microwaved baked potato.

cw,

I liked the taste but not sure that it would be different from baking it in the oven. I guess it was faster.

My daughter swears that food cooks faster in it. My recipe only called for one pound of chicken cut into one inch pieces. So, it only took a few minutes to cook it in the air fryer.

So, I got curious about the ‘so called’ advantages and read different articles and reviews. Oh my goodness! I have to say that I am confused.

Different sites say different things. I can’t even determine which model I would want to buy. I don’t think that I would need the largest size.

but was it faster/better/easier than when you make it in your oven NHWM?

My orange chicken came out yummy! We enjoyed it.

I have to say that it has been an adjustment in learning how to cook for two people instead of a family. I don’t like wasting food so I am buying less but I get frustrated that my grocery bill is still high!

I do freeze what I can. Some things don’t freeze well though.

I did buy the larger size insta pot but I don’t think I will buy the larger size air fryer.

cw,

I agree that it is nice to be able to fit pans that we use frequently in the toaster oven. Who wants to purchase more pans?

I don’t know how I ended up with 10 cupcake pans! I donated a bunch of them. I guess I bought extra when I was baking cupcakes for my kids school parties and events at church.

I have to say that I like that my counter top oven can easily fit a pizza or a 9X13 pan, roast a chicken or bake a dozen muffins or desserts with ease, I wouldn't want to replace the interior space with a larger fan just so my french fries get crispier faster.

way - as I have found out there are some with 6 or up to 12 functions. Wonder Oven is one of them. It's good to have one machine do many things if they do them decently well. It keeps the countertop less cluttered. I would love the have a combo air fryer, toaster oven and slow cooker, I look at my oven and it is much larger than needed for much of what I use it for.

Golden ,
Are you talking about the Wonder Oven ?
It’s so cute !!! It looks like my Easy Bake oven when I was a kid and it comes in pretty colors.

I think I've mentioned my 💞 for my counter top oven in the past, mine is a Cuisinart. They no longer make that specific model (it came with a pizza stone) but I think the Breville one is similar.

I'm wrong, it's the Chef's Convection Countertop Oven and it's still available on Amazon.

I’m going to let y’all know what I think of it later. I’m going to the store to buy the ingredients for the orange chicken recipe that I found to try in my daughter’s air fryer.

I bake in the oven all the time. I never fry food.

I am not a fan of clutter on my countertop so I don’t think that I would leave it out all the time. Coffee maker on the counter? YES! That is a must for me. Air fryer left out? Eh, probably not.

Thanks for the feedback!

Golden, I am amazed at how many new products are introduced. Not familiar with the product you’re describing. It’s hard to keep up with the scoop! I would see if I could find any YouTube tutorials for the product before purchasing it.

There are combination air fryer/toasted ovens and am thinking about getting one. I never had a toasted oven or an air fryer. Does anyone have one?

I see some that have other functions too -  Bake, Air Fry, Toast, Slow Cook, Rotisserie, Ferment, Dehydrate, Broil, Roast, Warm, Pizza, and Turbo Convection!!!

I think air fryers are a great alternative if fried foods are the kind of thing you eat often, but that's not me 🤷🏻‍♀️
Another thing hyped are enamelled cast iron dutch ovens, even empty they weigh a ton and I don't see anything they can do better than some other pot.

About the air fryer hype ! My daughter loves hers.

My gas oven/range broke last year . The computer control panel could not be replaced so I had to buy a new oven/range , too old the guy said ( it was an 18 year old kitchen aid ) . I actually bought one that also has an air fryer option in the oven thinking it would appeal to young people as we are looking to sell and downsize soon . I have used it and like it . It didn’t come with the basket , I had to buy one , but that was cheap . I hear though that it’s not exactly the same as using one of the countertop air fryers but I also don’t want another thing on my counter or have to store another small appliance .

I bought 1 air fryer, wasn't impressed at all. Didn't understand the hype about them. Then someone recently bought us a Ninja air fryer. Omg now I don't know what I would do without it!! Mostly use it for quick dinners. Bacon is really good in it. And Fridays potato skins. Both very unhealthy choices, but they are in an air fryer. Haha. Any other suggestions would be great 😃. But the Ninja is the only way to go. For anyone buying one

So, who has an air fryer?

I don’t have one. My daughter keeps raving about hers. She is bringing hers over tomorrow for me to cook a meal with it to see if I like it.

I am going to make an ‘orange chicken’ recipe that looks good.

If you have an air fryer what do you like to make in yours? What model did you buy?

Cheese ravioli, meatballs with sauce and garlic bread. Smells pretty good so far

ITRR,

I love to cook as well. I know what you mean. I also have to freeze meals. Sometimes, I share things I bake with others because it’s too much for two people.

You cook a nice variety of things. That’s my one drawback, I think. I tend to get stuck in a rut sometimes and cook the same things over and over again.

I am reconfiguring my spices in my kitchen. It drives me crazy when I am not organized. I found a couple of things that expired in 2016! 🤣 I immediately threw them in the trash!

Nothing special, a frozen Trader Joe's dish. But somehow, I decided to rewatch the movie "The Father" with Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Coleman ......