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Last-Minute Gift Idea for Cooks in Your Life: Rachael Ray Moppines

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Rachael Ray Moppine

A while back (actually quite a while, I believe) I wrote a review or Rachael Ray’s Moppines. Loved them then, loved them now. This morning, while thinking of great last minute Christmas gift ideas for cooks, I thought of these moppines and how much I love them. I checked Amazon and, sure enough, if you order them asap, they’ll arrive before Christmas.

Speaking of love, I’ve got NOTHING but mad love for Amazon, too.

Since reviewing my own red moppines, A LOT of gorgeous new colors have been added to the Moppines Collection – meaning you can go all matchy matchy with anyone’s kitchen color scheme.

  • brown
  • mustard
  • celery green
  • blue
  • brick red
  • smoke blue
  • orange
  • purple
  • red
  • burnt orange
  • lavendar
  • green

And they are all gorgeous. Click here to take a closer look.


Balsamic-Drizzled Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil “Salad”

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Rachael Ray Balsamic Drizzle

I’m over the foodie moon in love with Rachael Ray’s Balsamic Drizzle (Balsamic Reduction). It’s HEAVENLY on chicken but my favorite way to use it is shown here: a Balsamic-Drizzled Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Appetizer that is beautifully delicious (and deliciously beautiful) with pasta, pizza, or even on its own.  It even makes a delicious (and filling) lunch all by itself.

One of the coolest things about this appetizer/lunch is it needs no recipe. It’s kind of refreshing to break away from “exacts” every now and then, isn’t it?

For this Balsamic-Drizzled Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Appetizer, simply round up your ingredients:

Fresh Mozzarella

Layer your basil on the plate or platter, then arrange the tomato slices and slices of Mozzarella on top. Drizzle the entire production with the Balsamic Drizzle. This beauty makes a perfect appetizer, quick lunch, OR a replacement for tossed salad with pasta or pizza.

Balsamic Vinegar Drizzled Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Appetizer


One of My Favorite Cookbooks: Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2

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Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2 Cookbook
 

Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2
If you’ve read the food blog for any length of time you know I collect cookbooks as eagerly as a Reality TV Star collects compliments.  I’m so bad, I even have cookbook collections within my cookbook collections. The following are a few of these “extra special” collections..

  •  Rachael Ray
  • Michael Symon
  • Food Network-Related
  • Cooking Channel-Related
  • Cooking Light
  • Christmas-Themed
  • Thanksgiving-Themed
  • Gluten Free

Before I had to give up gluten/wheat, Cookie cookbooks, Bread cookbooks, Pie cookbooks, and Cake cookbooks were on the list. But I don’t want to think about that now. Some wounds never heal.

I take a great deal of pride in my Rachael Ray cookbook collection. I’m a huge fan of Rachael Ray’s and actually collect just about all things RR, not just her cookbooks.

The cookbook pictured above is one of my favorites: Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2. Like each of her cookbooks, this is one I turn to again and again. I’ve memorized which recipes are in which cookbooks, so retrieving them is quick and easy.

Some of my favorite recipes from this cookbook are:

  • Sirloin Burgers with Mushrooms, Swiss, and Balsamic Mayo
  • Black & White Shakes
  • Spinach Artichoke Pasta Salad
  • Red Bean Salad
  • Root Beer Floats
  • Philly Steak Sandwiches
  • Ice Cream Sundae Sandwiches (use gluten free cookies to make it gf)
  • Fried Mozzarella Bites (I use gluten free breadcrumbs)
  • Burrito Bar
  • Special Fried Rice
  • Sausage Calzones (use gluten free pizza crust to make it gf)
  • Warm White Beans with Thyme
  • Balsamic (or Honey) Glazed Vegetables
  • Green Bean Salad with Red Onion and Tomato
  • Crispy-Topped Baked Beans with Bacon
  • Mexican Chunk Vegetable Salad
  • Rio Grande Spice Rub Strip Steaks
  • Honey Mustard Barbecued Chicken
  • Butter Bean Salad
  • Corn on the Cob with Chili and Lime
  • Maple Mustard Pork Chops with Grilled Apples
  • Emmanuel’s Baked Artichoke Hearts
  • Fresh Oranges with Lime Sorbet
  • Meatball and Macaroni Soup
  • Southern Green Beans
  • Winter Vegetable Stew
  • Spanish Beef and Rice
  • Mexican Rice
  • MANY More!

I’m actually making the Mexican Rice for supper tonight. It’s outstanding.

With such an overwhelming passion for cookbooks, I spend a great deal of time on Amazon. I’ve recently discovered something that has been a real game-changer: Used Cookbooks. I have had great success with these – I always “mark” the results I want with “Like New” and each time they have been, indeed, like new.  If you look, you can even find NEW cookbooks at Used cookbook prices.

My Motto: Money saved on one cookbook means money I can spend on the next.

Find Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2 on Amazon, it’s easily one of my favorites in my collection.

Also See:

Rachael Ray Cookbooks

Just two of MANY Rachael Ray Cookbooks in my collection.

Cookbook Review: Rachael Ray Top 30 30-Minute Meals Comfort Food

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Rachael Ray Cookbooks

Two of My Rachael Ray Cookbooks

I have collections within my cookbook collections (as you’d expect from a Crazy Cookbook Lady). I have Michael Symon cookbooks, Food Network cookbooks, Gluten Free Cookbooks, Cooking Light cookbooks… and you’d darn well better believe I  have a Rachael Ray cookbook collection.  It may or may not require it’s own shelf.

It does.

One of the coolest little cookbooks in this collection is pictured here. It’s the Rachael Ray Top 30 30-Minute Meals Comfort Food cookbook and it’s a lot of yum for such a little guy.

Like all Rachael Ray cookbooks, Comfort Food reads just as you’d expect a Rachael Ray cookbook to read – just like you’re watching a 30 Minute Meals episode.

From the Back Cover:

Curl up in front of the fire with the delicious homespun fare of Rachael’s comfort food. Treat yourself with these Top 30 meals, a collection of her greatest hits. The perfect way to unwind after a busy day―you deserve it!

Rachael Ray Top 30 30-Minute Meals Comfort Food Cookbook
Rachael Ray Comfort Food
Recipes from the 30 Comfort Food Meals Include:

  • Chunky Guacamole
  • Pork Chops with Golden Applesauce
  • Rosemary Grilled Chicken and Wild Mushroom Sauce
  • Chili Mac
  • Super-Stuffed Monte Cristo Sandwiches
  • Quick Creole Shrimp with White Rice
  • Turkey Corn Chili
  • Quick Potato & Carrot Latkes
  • Chicken, Corizo & Tortilla Stoup
  • Everything Jambalaya on White Rice

Each meal takes 30-minutes or less to prepare and the ingredients are easy peasy to find. This particular cookbook wouldn’t be a great investment for vegans or vegetarians (unless you’re adding to a collection, of course) but it’s a can’t miss for everyone else.

The little spiral-bound, hardback cookbook is also available for Kindle or, of course, the free Kindle reading app.

See Rachael Ray Top 30 30-Minute Meals Comfort Food for more information.

Gorgeous New Color Added to the Rachael Ray Collection: Marine Blue

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Rachael Ray EVOO Dispensing Bottle in Marine Blue

Rachael Ray EVOO Bottle in Marine Blue

If you’ve read this food blog for very long, spoken to me at length, or stepped anywhere near my kitchen, you know I’m a Rachael Ray fan-girl.

  • Try the vast majority of her recipes? Check.
  • Collect her cookbooks? Check.
  • Seen every 30 Minute Meals episodes multiple times? Check.
  • Gripe that 30 Minute Meals reruns aren’t on Food Network and Cooking Channel daily? Check.
  • Collect every kitchen gadget, gizmo, dish, and kitchen item carrying the Rachael Ray name? Check.
  • Buy Rachael Ray items for my daughters so they can “do it right?” Check. Check. Check.

I honestly think every foodie has at least one celebrity cook or chef who they resonate with. The one that is on the same plane as them, so to speak. Rachael Ray is my foodie spirit animal… how could I not surround myself with everything she comes up with?!?

I was actually on the Rachael Ray Store’s website earlier, shopping for fresh moppines (try not to judge me) and I noticed that a gorgeous new color has been added to the Rachael Ray Collection, Marine Blue.

Holy spatulas it’s a knock out.

I definitely have both eyes on the Nonstick 14 Piece Cookware (pictured below). Seriously? How gorgeous is this color?

Rachael Ray 14 Piece Nonstick Marine Blue Cookware Set

Nonstick 14 Piece Cookware

As someone with a healthy assortment of other colors in her collection, I really love that Marine Blue goes with the rest. It’ll look downright glam alongside my greens, oranges, reds, and blues.

Check out the Rachael Ray Marine Blue collection in the Rachael Ray Store. Now, back to those moppines…

Cookbook Review: Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals

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Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals Cookbook

Rachael Ray’s First Cookbook: 30-Minute Meals

Given the fact that I collect cookbooks and all things Rachael Ray, you’d better believe I have a Rachael Ray cookbook collection I wouldn’t take anything for! The cookbook pictured here, Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals is her first. You could say it’s the book that launched a mega Food Network star.

Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals has Rachael Ray’s trademark personality and originality and is filled with quick and easy recipes you’ll make over and over again.

If (like me) you are a cookbook collector, this is one I know you’ll want to add to your collection. What cookbook collection would be complete without every Rachael Ray cookbook, after all?? Even if you aren’t a collector, you’ll enjoy the simplistic recipes in this one.

Recipes Include:

  • Greek Dinner Salad
  • Enchinada Enchilada Red Sauce
  • Blue Moon Burgers
  • Zesty Chicken Cutlets Parmigiana
  • Quick Marinara Sauce
  • Big Belly Beef Stew
  • Greek Wraps with White Bean Hummus
  • Linguine with Red Clam Sauce
  • Linguine with White Clam Sauce
  • Fajitas
  • Spinach with Nutmeg and Garlic
  • Pizza Recipes
  • Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
  • Tomato and Onion Salad
  • Spicy Beef Balls
  • Mini Meatball Soup
  • White Lightning Chili
  • Quick Jambalaya
  • And a lot more…

Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals doesn’t have any pictures of the recipes, but the recipes make up for it. The best thing about this book, in my opinion, is the fact that it’s a solid addition to any cookbook collection.

Buying Used Cookbooks on Amazon

Normally, when I buy cookbooks, I’ll buy them new – whether it’s on Amazon or elsewhere. However, if I’m ordering an older cookbook, I’ll buy them off of Amazon used. I’ve done this dozens of times and have not had a single bad experience. A lot of the used book dealers do this for a living and they greatly depend on positive feedback. So, if they say the book is “like new,” they mean it. You can find used cookbooks on Amazon for PENNIES.

With the money saved, you can buy kitchen gadgets, dishes, and new cookbooks. Make no mistake about it, it’s a wonderful system – and one I highly recommend!

Review: Rachael Ray 3-Tier Wooden Stacking Salt Box

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Rachael Ray 3-Tier Wooden Stacking Salt Box

Rachael Ray 3-Tier Wooden Stacking Salt Box

Everyone knows I collect Rachael Ray kitchen tools, dishes, gadgets, and cookbooks. Strangers on the street stop me and ask what color mopines I have. Okay… not really. I got going and couldn’t stop.

Rachael Ray, Wolfgang Puck, Pioneer Woman, and Curtis Stone are four names that you’ll see throughout my kitchen and dining room. They’re excellent products – from cookbooks to, well, mopines, I’m a huge fan.

The beautiful Wooden Stacking Salt Box, shown here, isn’t my newest Rachael Ray kitchen tool, but it is one of my favorites. And, like the garbage bowl and food mover, I use it several times a day EVERYDAY.

Features:

  • Store table salt, gourmet salts, herbs and favorite seasonings in this stylish stackable salt box
  • Convenient stacking design with top lid allows for easy and moisture-free storage of three different salts or seasonings
  • The salt box is distinctly crafted from gorgeous acacia wood in a natural tone
  • Handy and beautiful, the box looks great left out on the table or countertop
  • Hand wash and then dry the salt box immediately for best care

This beautiful salt box looks great sitting on the counter and, more importantly, is ridiculously convenient and even fun to use…. to the tune of EVERYDAY!

Click through the following link or the picture below for a closer look – Wooden Stacking Salt Box.

Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl… Wouldn’t Take Anything for Mine

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Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl

Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl

My family knows me. They know the good, the bad, and the… well, never you mind about the rest.  Knowing me like they do, they know that, whether it’s birthday, anniversary, Mother’s Day, or Christmas, buying me anything with Rachael Ray’s name on it is a very safe bet.

I’ve collected Rachael Ray cookbooks, dishes, and kitchen tools for as long as I can remember. The bright, happy, vivid colors combined with unsurpassed durability and functionality rock my culinary world.

I even buy Rachael Ray products for my daughters – in each one’s kitchen colors. Not only do I know they’ll use (and love) them daily… I know they’ll think about me each time they do.

Win, WIN!

Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl

Fun and Functional

This beautiful purple Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl was actually given to me as a gift a few years ago.  I recently came across the pictures in my iPhone and realized I’d never written a review on this kitchen favorite.

Duh on me!

When the garbage bowls first came out, in spite of being a Rachael Ray Kitchen Tool junkie, I never bought one for myself because (to be honest) I wasn’t sure I’d even use it. I thought, “Yes, it’s beautiful and yes, it’s Rachael Ray… but I just toss my trash in a Kroger bag as I cook.”

Fast Forward to today… I have used this bowl every single day since receiving it two years ago. Every. Single. Day. It’s just unspeakably convenient to throw peels, cans, rubber bands, foil, etc into as I’m cooking.  Grabbing the bowl before I start baking or cooking is as automatic as putting on a seat belt when I get in a car.

Not only is the bowl, somehow, just fun to use, it also looks a heckuva lot better sitting on the counter than a grocery bag. What’s more, there’s  no “seeping” through or “spilling out” like you get with a grocery bag.

Sloppy.

The great looking Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl is available on Amazon in the following colors: purple, red, orange, dark green, green, and blue.

Click through for more information about what will become your next favorite kitchen tool. When you click through, you can even see a short little video of Rachael Ray explaining where the idea of the Garbage Bowl came from.

Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl


Rachael Ray Bench Scrape or Food Mover….

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Bench Scrape or Food Mover
 

I’m completely drawn to colorful things in life – the more color, the better. That’s probably half of the reason I collect all things Rachael Ray in the kitchen – everything is available in the brightest, most beautiful and downright “happy” colors.

Some collectors choose the same color for each of their Rachael Ray kitchen tools, gadgets, dishes, bakeware, pans, or cookware. I basically go with whatever color I’m “feeling” at the time. If it’s during baseball season, I’m drawn to red (because the only thing I’m thinking during these months is St. Louis Cardinals baseball). If it’s college basketball season, I lean toward blue (UK Wildcats, of course).

The rest of the time, I’m liable to choose orange, agave blue, purple, or green, entirely based on my mood at the time.  My oldest daughter’s kitchen scheme is ideal for the Agave Blue collection, so I’ve been grabbing her this and that in this beautiful color.

Naturally the beauty is only half of the reason I love Rachael Ray’s line of kitchen gadgets and dishes. The other reason is they’re completely fun to use, dependable, and save time and effort.

One of my favorite Rachael Ray kitchen tools is shown here, the Bench Scrape Shovel – not that I ever actually call it that. I’ve always just called it my “mover” – on 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray always refers to it as her “food mover.”

Appropriate enough.

While mine is, obviously, red (must have bought it in the summer) – the bench scrape is also available in orange, blue, purple, and agave blue…. which reminds me, I need to order one for Emily.

 Details:

  • Bench scrape shovel for collecting and transporting ingredients from the cutting board to a pot on the stovetop
  • Shovel face crafted in durable, nonporous stainless steel; soft taper at shovel’s edge for scooping ease
  • Secure and comfy ribbed rubber covers shovel handle; safe for use in the dishwasher
  • Measures 6-1/2 by 6-1/4 inches with a 1-1/5-inch high handle; weighs 8 ounces

This is one of those things that, each time I use it, I wonder, “How did I ever get along without you???”  Then I remember – with hands that smelled more like onions and garlic and multiple trips back and forth to the stove.

It’s a really cool, fun, and useful kitchen tool and I love it.  What’s more, it’s less than $7 on Amazon. With Mother’s Day around the corner, you might want to grab a couple.

See Bench Scrape Shovel for more information.

Mega Post of Rachael Ray Dishes, Bakeware, and More

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Rachael Ray Ramekins Set
I’ll admit to a couple of full-blown obsessions in my life:

  • cats
  • polar bears
  • squirrels
  • okay, all animals
  • baseball
  • chai tea lattes
  • coffee
  • chocolate
  • sweet potatoes

Also making the list is Rachael Ray dishes, bakeware, pans, kitchen gadgets… all things Rachael Ray.  I’ve noticed that I’ve begun projecting my obsession onto others.  Not only am I forever telling you about Rachael Ray products you “simply must have…” I’ve started factoring them into my gift-giving.   “Oooh, I should give her a Rachael Ray platter…” “I want to give them a Rachael Ray set of dishes…”

Sigh. I mean well.

It’s just that when you KNOW something is exceptional, you want everyone else to experience it, too.  Trust your girl on this one, if Rachael Ray’s name is on the front of the box, your kitchen will be all the better for it.

Rachael Ray 10
Rachael Ray’s line of beauties come in a gorgeous array of colors. They’ve even added a few colors recently – including a light blue that’s perfect for my oldest daughter’s kitchen. As a matter of fact, yes, I’m trying to snag a billion and one things for her.

Personally, I tend to favor the reds, purples, and deep blues in our kitchen, but I’d certainly never say, “No” to the orange, green, pumpkin, or light blue.

They’re all welcome.

If your kitchen and world of cooking is anything similar to mine – it’s the essence of busyness. At times my kitchen seems like an episode of Iron Chef America. Other times it’s closer to a carnival – but it’s always an aromatic cluster of making, baking, and cleaning it all up.

Rachael Ray Cucina 12 Piece Cookware Set
With all of that going on, dishes and bakeware get chipped, cracked, and sometimes downright shattered.

For whatever reasons (I suspect unicorns may be involved), Rachael Ray dishes and bakeware hold up to whatever my kitchen throws at them.

Is it any reason I’m so obsessed. The fewer things I have to actually replace, the better.

Not only is every item in my Rachael Ray collection sturdy, it performs to absolute perfection. Seriously, I’ve never had a single issue.

Finally, can I just go all girly here and say that one of my favorite things about collecting Rachael Ray dishes, cookware, and bakeware is the colorful prettiness? They’re simply brighter and more beautiful than the rest and, yes…. sometimes looks truly do matter.

Rachael Ray Rise Serving Bowl
As we come to the end of one year and the start of another, I’d love to suggest one thing: Begin your own collection of Rachael Ray merch. Either find the one or two colors that “speak” to you, or go full spectrum and grab every available color. Whichever way you go, you’ll soon be singing the same praises I am.

To everyone who’ll listen…

Rachael Ray Lazy Tongs - Purple
Click through any of the Rachael Ray products in the post above for more information and to find similar items in every conceivable color.

You can also find countless Rachael Ray products on Amazon:

Rachael Ray Round Platter - Red

If you shake a leg (and take advantage of a speedy shipping option), you could even order Rachael Ray products from Amazon and have them in time for Christmas – whether it’s for gift giving or your own table!