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Winco Hamburger Smasher and Turner: Perfect for Diner-Style Burgers

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Winco Hamburger Smasher and Turner

Winco Burger Turner (and Smasher!)

I LOVE burgers. There, I said it. I love them more than words can even say. In fact, I wouldn’t spend too much time searching for words because that would be time taken away from eating burgers.

My favorite way to fix burgers is “diner-style,” just a food blogger cool way of saying, “burgers that are smashed into an iron skillet.”

Before we found  the HANDY as HECK Winco Burger Turner above (or as I call it, my smasher), it was a headache to smash the burgers into the skillet. I’d try to get my spatulas to go along with the plan, but they just weren’t built for it. You should’ve seen me, holding the spatula in one hand and placing a mug on top of the spatula with the other hand. The spatula took a beating, the mug felt anxious, and the cats laughed.

Perfectly embarrassing.

This crazy cool and inexpensive little tool has made life a lot easier. It’s also perfect for the grill – gets the burgers nice and flat. This makes them cook quicker and, in my opinion, makes them tastier.

Product Description from Amazon

  • Stainless steel construction
  • Wooden handle
  • Winco products range from tabletop to kitchen utensils to food preparation supplies
  • Winco products are used by all foodservice and hospitality industry experts worldwide

See Winco Burger Turner for more information!


Silicone Egg Poachers (Review)

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HighFive Silicone Egg Poachers
I fell madly in love with cooking when I was 19 – never-mind how long ago. Let’s just say it means I’ve been an avid cook for many moons. Many suns. However, even after so many moons and suns, I’ve never been fond of poaching eggs. I absolutely love them, mind you, but the whole process just does not float my boat.

That has completely changed this past week, however. I was sent a bright, beautiful set of Silicone Egg Poachers (from HighFive Naturals) and my boat isn’t just floating, it has set sail.

Poached Egg
Health Benefits of Poached Eggs:

A poached egg contains only 70 calories, as opposed to fried eggs or scrambled eggs which are often accompanied by butter, milk, and cheese. A large poached egg supplies more than 6 grams of high-quality protein, 4.7 grams of mostly unsaturated fat and significant amounts of vitamin D, antioxidant compounds and choline – a nutrient essential to Healthy Brain Function.

Product Description:

  • Set Of 5 egg poachers in bright, vibrant colors. 
  • Easy and fun to use.
  • Innovative design allows you to make perfectly poached eggs every single time. 
  • Clear, concise, and easy instructions takes the guesswork out of poaching eggs.
  • FDA Approved Food-Safe Silicone, BPA-Free, Temp Resistant form -40 to 450˚F, Dishwasher, Microwave, Freezer and Oven Safe.
  • Highly mulit-functional: Use For Baking And Molding, Making Quiche, Custards, Mini-Cheesecakes, Creme Brûlée, Melting Chocolate and Even Steaming Vegetables.
  • Your Purchase is Backed by HighFive Naturals Lifetime Money-Back 100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee.

HighFive Silicone Egg Poachers
These beautiful little Silicone Egg Poachers take something that has never been particularly fun to make and does the impossible – it makes you actually WANT to make poached eggs.

Poached eggs are delicious all by themselves, served with a meat of your choice, or with a piece of toasted bread.  They’re also delicious served atop asparagus. Add a little Hollandaise sauce and you’ve got a party.

This set of five silicone poacher “baskets” comes with instructions for easily (and I mean EASILY) poaching eggs – several at a time, even. How cool’s that?

HighFive Silicone Egg Poachers

Simply bring water to a boil; reduce to medium. Grease the inside of the poacher with olive oil, add the egg and carefully place into the boiling water (about 4 inches of water is necessary). Cover the pot with a lid – I used a glass pie plate because none of my lids are see through, and I wanted to see what was going on.

Cook 4-6 minutes, then carefully remove the poachers (I used my spider but a slotted spoon would be fine).  Flip the poacher upside down to remove the egg or wiggle it out with a spoon.

You can find the beautiful set of 5 colorful Silicone Egg Poachers on Amazon. I highly recommend them!

Colorful Lego-Style Candy Molds from HighFive Naturals (Available on Amazon)

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HighFive Naturals Candy Molds

HighFive Naturals Lego-Style Candy Molds

I’ve written a few High Five reviews on Get Cooking before and I’m even more in love with these products today than I was when I first wrote about them.  I use the Silicone Cooking Gloves and Silicone Pot Holders daily and wonder how I ever got along without them.

I’m excited to tell you about something else from HighFive Naturals that you’re going to absolutely LOVE – Lego-Style Candy Molds.  After your order, you’ll receive great tips, hints, recipes, and colorful pictures in your e-mail.

If these Lego Molds aren’t a dang good time waiting to happen, I don’t know what is. Obviously kids are going to love these molds  – but so are adults. In fact, I think the adults in my family are having more fun with them than any kid could possibly have – at least as much.

Basically anyone who likes to smile will get a kick out of these molds.

HighFive Naturals Lego-Style Candy Molds

Colorful HighFive Naturals Lego-Style Candy Molds

Some of the cool things you can do with these colorful candy molds:

  • They work beautifully for ice cubes. Making ice cubes was actually the first thing I did with mine because I thought they’d be uncommonly cute in glasses as well as punch bowls. They are!
  • Chocolate candy
  • Lollipops
  • Fruit Snacks
  • Gummi Sours
  • Hard Candies
  • Lego Soap
  • Lego Crayons (super easy and crazy fun)

Not only are they perfect for forming all of the aforementioned goodies, I love the fact that the molds (like all of HighFive Naturals’ products) are so colorful and pretty.

I’m all about pretty, whether it’s in the kitchen or out of the kitchen. The bright, vibrant colors go with my own particular scheme which makes it even cooler.

This set is available on Amazon at a very reasonable price, so you might even consider ordering some for gift-giving this Christmas while you’re at it.

HighFive Naturals Lego-Style Candy Molds
 

HighFive Naturals Lego-Style Candy Molds

Whatever you do, be sure to order a set by Halloween! With a little creativity, you could turn the “Robots” into Frankensteins while creating a great orange and black theme with food coloring with the other shapes.

At Christmas, switch the colors to red and green, and you’re SET!

 

 

Review: HighFive Silicone Pot Holders

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 HighFive Naturals Silicone Pot Holders
The beautiful Silicone Pot Holders (Set of Four) (Amazon link) pictured above were sent to me to review on Get Cooking and my kitchen is a much brighter place because of it! They’re as beautiful and colorful as they are functional and, if you’d ever seen my kitchen you’d know they’re right up my alley.

I’ve filled our kitchen with bright, colorful dishes, gadgets, tools, pans, etc. in every color of the rainbow. My motto is to surround yourself with things that make you smile and bright colors make me smile ear to ear.

As you can see from the pictures, these pot holders fit in beautifully!

The set of four colorful beauties is available on Amazon for a very low price. I seriously would think they’d be higher.

What I LOVE About These Silicone Pot Holders:

  • These silicone pot holders are Temperature resistant from – 40 to 500°F. These unique kitchen gadgets offer creative versatility for any application from far below freezing to beyond boiling and everything in between.
  • Ideal for glass top stoves – won’t scratch.
  • I love the holes at the top – makes them ideal for hanging on the inside of a cabinet door. The only thing is, they’re far too pretty to tuck away out of sight! I have mine showcased prominently on a set of kitchen shelves.
  • You could conceivably use these “mats” outside of the kitchen. They could be used beneath curling irons and/or flat irons and would make spots for your favorite candle holders.
  • They’re liquid proof so they will not absorb liquids like fabric pot holders.
  • They are 100 percent efficient! Because of their good looks and lightweight composition, I wondered if they’d be able to work like the heavyweights do. They most certainly do – they just look jazzier doing it.
  • Something else I worried about was how the colors would hold up to lots of heat. I’ve used mine again and again and again and they haven’t faded in the slightest. Silicone is serious about its job, let me tell you!

If, like me, you’re all about Rachael Ray gadgets, gizmos, and more in the kitchen, you’ll love the way these pot holders fit in perfectly with the vibrant colors and happy attitude of all things Rachael Ray. They also harmonize beautifully with Wolfgang Puck and all Food Network related kitchen products as well.

If upbeat is your attitude, these were made for you.

Features:

  • ECO-FRIENDLY FDA Approved Premium Food Grade Silicone, BPA Free. Dual-side Functionality: Smooth on one side and textured/raised on the other.
  • NEW INNOVATIVE DESIGN – Flexible, Non-stick, Anti-Slip – Flame and Heat resistant to 500°F – Designed for a safe, secure, nonslip grip. Ideal for glass top stoves – won’t scratch. Use under hot plates and coffee mugs and as hot pads under skillets, pots, pans; and as a spoon and kitchen utensil rest. Use these funky flexible silicone mats to remove tight lids and retrieve hot baking pans and casseroles from the oven and microwave.
  • WHY SILICONE? WHY NOT SILICONE! Silicone is made of polymers of silicon, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, all natural ingredients. It has low chemical reactivity, repels water, and is resistant to ozone, oxygen, and UV light, PLUS it doesn’t support microbiological growth, and has low toxicity. It is tasteless, odourless, non-toxic, non-leaching & non-corrosive. Consensus: Silicone is a great, environmentally friendly, product for use in the kitchen and… well, everywhere else!

Bottom line: You’re going to love these beauties.  This set would make an excellent gift for any and all foodies and cooks in your life, so you might want to grab several sets at once. See more pictures and read more about the Silicone Pot Holders (Set of Four) by clicking the link.

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you all about another exciting product from HighFive. It’s just as colorful, just as necessary, and just as certain to make you say, “How did I ever live without this?….”

 

Paderno Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer (Review)

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Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer

Like everyone these days, I’m always on the look out for ways to add more vegetables and fruits to my family’s diet. The recommended daily amount is higher than most people realize PLUS most experts recommend we go even higher than the recommended number for optimum health. See the Recommended Daily Fruit and Vegetable Calculator to find your own personal recommendations.

My family also likes to cut back on unnecessary carbs whenever possible, too.  We’ve found a pretty cool way to accomplish both of these goals (while providing me with another fun kitchen gadget in the process).  We bought the Paderno World Cuisine Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer off Amazon a few weeks ago and I love it even more each time I use it.

Zucchini Pasta

The first meal I used this cool slicer for was a Zucchini “Pasta” Salad. I made long, spiral noodles (pictured above) from a couple of zucchinis and combined them with chopped grape tomatoes, diced red onion and chopped red, yellow, and green bell peppers. I mixed up the always delicious dressing recipe on the back of all Hidden Valley Italian Dressing Mixes and covered the vegetables. After about 30 minutes in the fridge, it made an absolutely delicious cold salad. I mean, reallllly delicious.

I’ve also used the Spiral Vegetable Slicer (Amazon link) for salads and soups. It’s faster and easier than traditional shredders and slicers. This walking accident-waiting-to-happen has found it to be much safer for the fingers and hands as well.  And, trust me, if it’s safe for this accident prone klutz, it’s safe for just about anyone.

Colorful Tossed Salad

One night, I was craving Italian, so I pulled out the spiral vegetable slicer. I had  read, online, that A LOT of people enjoyed their spiral cut zucchini (raw) with hot spaghetti sauce or marinara sauce over it.  I was anxious to give it a try, so I grabbed a few zucchinis. I had cans of Italian Style Diced Tomatoes on hand, so I simply warmed them up – adding fresh basil, oregano, chopped garlic, and salt. We put the tomato mixture on top of our raw zucchini and were SHOCKED at how great it was. I didn’t peel my zucchini but a lot of people prefer it peeled. Most of the time, I hate to peel veggies because it seems kind of wasteful to me.

Besides, I like the colors. 🙂

About the Paderno Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer:
Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer

  • Make quick work of fancy vegetable peeling with the spiral vegetable slicer – it’s incredibly fast, easy, and even fun to use.
  • Suction cups on the legs hold the slicer in place beautifully while you work your mojo. I read a review once that said the suction cups didn’t work – all I can say is they must have been trying to use them on a wet surface or something because I’ve had less than zero problems getting it to stick.
  • Clean up couldn’t be any easier. I hate, loathe, and despise contraptions that have 101 parts to clean after each use. This spiral slicer is a cinch to clean.
  • Includes 3 sets of blades: 1/8-inch spacing, 1/4-inch spacing, and straight blade for ribbon cuts.
  • This VERY affordable plastic spiral vegetable slicer would make a great gift idea for foodies, vegetarians, and anyone who enjoys good food!
  • Simply place vegetable or fruit on prongs, turn wheel while pushing base toward blade.
  • Made of durable plastic.
  • Backed by a 1-year warranty.

Even one of the biggest pasta lovers in the world (that would be me) thought the zucchini noodles, tomatoes, and shredded Parmesan made a delicious meal.  Served with a colorful tossed salad, this meal is an excellent way to get your daily vegetable serving count up.

I haven’t used the slicer for coleslaw yet, but it occurs to me how much it’ll simplify the process – cabbage, peppers, carrots.. all sliced in one place for an especially lovely coleslaw.

Apple Strips

 The spiral slicer isn’t, of course, just limited to vegetables. Just look at the cute apple strips above. You don’t even have to core the apple before using the spiral slicer. Just cut off the top of the apple, place it on the spiral slicer and push it through the blade. In seconds, you have cool little rings for fruit salads, oatmeal, pastries, or snacks.  Honestly, I could sit a bowl of apples on the end of the counter and my bunch will walk right past them 100 times a day. But if I put a dish with spirals or strips out… BAM! They disappear.

Zucchini Pasta Salad Lunch

I’ll be using the spiral slicer regularly and can’t wait to find exciting and cool new ways to get the most out of it. See Paderno World Cuisine A4982799 Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer (Amazon link) for more information. I highly, highly recommend this slicer.