Hi, friends!
Welcome to a 2-part NOT.
Tonight’s part is things you discovered this year that you’d definitely recommend for others or will keep using/doing/etc for yourself.
I’ll start – I’ve been trying to identify where I could reduce single use plastic waste. So one of the places I looked at was household supplies. I got a box of earthbreeze laundry detergent sheets from the crunchy grocery store and they worked really well! I would add if you have any space issues, mobility issues, or arthritis issues, wow so much easier to use those than fuss with a giant bottle of laundry detergent. Definitely more expensive than the Target brand soap I had been using, but since I am only doing laundry for one person, that wasn’t that big a deal.
Later in the year I started ordering some cleaning supplies from Blueland. You absolutely don’t need their special foaming hand soap bottles, I just have been using empty ones from Bath & Body Works. It’s nice that I’ve got like 5 bottles’ worth of hand soap under the sink, but taking up less space than a bottle of dish soap. Price of these ends up being cheaper than say buying soap at Bath and Body Works or single bottles at the store, not as cheap as buying the giant refill bottle of SoftSoap or whatever at Target.
I used up the detergent sheets from earthbreeze, so I switched to the Blueland laundry detergent tablets about a month ago. Still working great and takes up almost no space to store. I’ll be trying out their dishwasher tablets in about 2 weeks when I finally finish off the giant box of Costco brand dishwasher pods. These Blueland tablets are significantly more expensive than the Costco brand, but I don’t run the dishwasher every day so worth trying them out. Worst case scenario I just go back to Costco if they don’t work well.
I know I’ve mentioned before that I have a small house, and the convenience of having such small storage impact is also fantastic for these. The Container Store sells some of the Blueland stuff as well, which was how I tried out the hand soap.
Very late to the party, but we got an air fryer. Good for 1-3 persons, not a large family. It takes up too much counter space, but cooks quickly and with no fat or oils. There are 8 million cook books for air fryers, too. I’m not sure if it will become a staple small appliance like the crock pot, but so far I’m impressed. Do any of you have one, and your opinions, please?
Just got one too, and so far I’m happy with it. Like you, I lost counter space but I like being able to cook without using the oven.
We got a new toaster oven with air fryer function to replace the old toaster oven. It doesn’t take up much more counter space, and it’s fine for things like french fries, in addition to things like reheating pizza or making toast.
I’ve had an air fryer for a few years. I love it for hash browns, reheating fried leftovers & Brussel sprouts but disappointed in it for making fried chicken & some other things I fry. I’ll admit I don’t experiment too much with it since I am set in my ways for some things.
Am looking at getting one.
They’re called convection ovens. “Air Fryer” is a marketing term.
I love this comment. A while back one of my friends was looking at getting a new toaster oven and the advertising was something like “6 different functions!” and one of them was air fryer, another was a convection oven. She called me and said she googled air fryers to understand how they worked and weren’t they just convention ovens? To which I said yes, and it’s sketchy they listed it as 2 separate features.
When we replaced the condo came-with stove (which wasn’t bad, it was just mid-level “sitting in a warehouse for five years because every building project in New York is wildly behind publicized schedule”) with my now-beloved gas Viking, we got an adaptable convection oven gas model. I think they might all be. Even without opting for the convection mode things seem to go a lot quicker, which is why some of my FYCE posts are noted “your oven may vary.”
Anyway, should you have a convection oven, I highly recommend this starter cookbook I got as a gag gift from the housewarming we threw:
PS: The recipes aren’t bad, I’m sure I’ve cooked out of it more than once, but that punny title…
I have two convection ovens & the air fryer. While they technically do the same thing, the difference is you put things in the oven in something that prevents air from going all around the food like it does in air fryer. They do cook differently though they technically are using the same method.
It’s the BEST way of making Trader Joe’s Mandarin Orange Chicken, @Elliecoo!!
Iirc, it’s 11 minutes at 400°, shake it once about halfway through, then dump the chicken into a bowl, pour the sauce on, and shake it to coat the chicken… sooooo easy, and Tasty!😁
I ended up with Dad’s, when he moved into nursing care–i *was* using it up at his place to cook when I was tired, and it’s AWESOME for a quick, easy meal–especially during the hot months of the year!
I’m going to check in on you and your air fryers next year. I’m not convinced it is worth the countertop real estate.
If you’re looking for other ways to reduce single use plastic waste, I recommend BeesWrap. They are reusable cloth, coated in beeswax, which you can use to seal containers or wrap sandwiches. They last a long time before eventually wearing out.
re: air fryers – I was totally resistant to getting one and when my brother passed my BFF foisted one upon me and I’ve been OBSESSED ever since.
I use it ALL the time. Great for left overs, great for dinners, potatoes, frozen things, IDK just throw anything in there and it’s hot and crispy in 7 minutes.
I hope you guys like your new presents!
Everybody’s cool thing seems to be about food. It reminds me of one time I was at some holiday at my grandma’s and a bunch of my older male cousins were there sitting around the table talking about food. Which restaurant makes the best braciole, which one has the really good veal, etc. Finally, my aunt says “Listen to you guys. Young men, and all you can do is sit around and talk about food. Don’t you have anything else in your life? What about girls?”
So, they sit for a moment silently and look at one another and my cousin Dominic says, “I know a girl who can cook manicotti…”
Good for them! I’d rather overhear a conversation about who has the best manicotti than who has the best tits!
i accidentally cut down on my plastic waste some by getting a stainless steel butter tub
which was admittedly not so much out of consideration for the environment and more of a want for the creamy creamy irish butter…coz fuck margerine… and i do so hate making messy paper wrapped butter to spread from
sides….a metal butter tub looks…kinda classy…lol
Fuck yeah that’s a classy butter dish