Getting My Money's Worth

Have you ever felt you aren't getting your money's worth from something you have purchased?  Well, I was feeling just that way not long ago as I looked around in my kitchen cabinets.  I saw all of these handy dandy small kitchen appliances in storage that I was NEVER using.  What a waste of both money and space!

So, I decided to have an APPLIANCE WEEK.  I determined to use every one of my small kitchen appliances in one week's time.  Here's what happened in my kitchen during that week:

Sunday:  I used my electric fondue pot, and made a cheese fondue.  I served a variety of breads and veggies to dip in the cheese fondue.

Bought long ago, but never used until now.

                           

Monday:  I used my crock pot and made a chicken taco stew.  I'm one of those freaks who is afraid to leave my crock pot turned on all day while I'm gone from the house, so I hovered and watched it all day, and enjoyed smelling the yummy aromas of the stew anyway.

This appliance is way under-used in my kitchen.

I also used my electric hand mixer to mix up the ingredients for homemade ice cream which I made in my electric ice cream maker.  The flavor of this day was mint chocolate chip.  Creamy, and oh so delicious.

I should use my ice cream maker more often.  Like EVERY DAY.

Tuesday:  For lunch I used my toaster and toasted English muffins to use for muffin pizzas.  Add sauce and grated cheese and serve with a salad for a quick and easy lunch.

For dinner I pulled out the electric griddle to fry up some eggs and bacon for an old family favorite meal - bacon/egg/cheese sandwiches.  

I like the grease catching drawer of this griddle.

Wednesday:  We decided to have a sort of "dessert for dinner" meal, so I used my electric waffle maker, and topped the waffles with fruit and whipped creme.  So delicious.  The only trouble with this type of meal is that you are generally hungry again about one hour after you've eaten.

At least the fruit is healthy!

I like the waffles it makes, but this appliance is a bit hard to clean.

Thursday:  Today I used my electric blender and mixed up another favorite - Wisconsin Cheese Soup.  The blender is used to grind up the carrots, celery, and onions prior to adding them into the other soup ingredients.  

This was a wedding gift,  34 years ago.  Still going strong!

Friday:  I used my electric frying pan, and mixed up a delicious batch of chili.  I served it with grated cheese, crackers and a broccoli/cauliflower salad.  Delicious.  However, would you agree with me that chili always tastes better the next day?

Saturday:  I don't recall what we had for dinner, but later that night I used my hot air popcorn popper to make popcorn to go along with the leftover ice cream from Monday.  We were having movie night, and of course that requires movie snacks at the intermission.  

Every day:  I use my coffee maker religiously every morning.  Coffee is healthy, isn't it?  Right now I am enjoying the Blue Mountain Jamaican Coffee I bought in Jamaica on our recent trip there.

So as you can see, I got my money's worth on my small kitchen appliances this week, and I feel good about that.  Surely Martha fruitcake Stewart would be just tickled pink with me.

However, there are still several small kitchen appliances lurking in the corners of my cabinets, begging to see the light of day:

My electric ice tea maker was pulled out of the cabin and almost used.  My husband was ready to start it up and make a batch of tea, until we realized there was no space in the refrigerator at that moment to store a gallon of tea.  The tea maker was returned to hibernation.

My mini crock pot / dip warmer is still waiting to make another appearance.

The electric carving knife will just simply have to wait until the annual Thanksgiving meal.  It just loves turkey.

I need to do some more exploring in those neglected cabinets.  I bet there's some other good stuff that I should be finding and using.   

How about you - are you getting your money's worth?