Blog - Jett's Kitchen

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My New Favorite Kitchen Gadget

Can I please get a raise of hands! Who out there is with me that just dreads fixing a meal on the stove when it comes to frying? You know what I’m talking about? That greasy splatter mess!

The perfect example is making BLT’s. Frying bacon in a pan on the stove and by the time you are done there is more grease that splattered on the stove-top than there is in the pan. Yeah, I am exaggerating a bit but if you have ever fried bacon or anything else that produces greasy splat on the stove-top you know exactly what I’m talking about. Yes, you can also fry your bacon in a deep dish pan in the oven but I prefer to make mine on the stove-top.

I always look for ways to make my cooking and baking experiences pleasurable. Now, if there is a product out there that will make my clean up easier I’m all for it! Recently, I came across this weird-looking but awesome splatter guard. After just using it once I can actually say know this gadget has a permanent home in my kitchen. The Squish Collapsible Spatter Guard is my new favorite kitchen gadget. No, this is not a paid review. This is my own personal experience. And I am sharing it with you because I think you will agree with me that it is the best thing to keeping your stove-top clear from greasy splatter when frying in a pan.

Why it makes my life easier:

Fits pans up to 12″.
Accordion style silicone collapses and the handle folds for easy storage.
Heat resistant up to 500 degrees.
You can stir and turn food without removing splatter guard.
And it’s dishwasher safe!

Below I am removing the guard to show you what type of pan I am using. Although I did not fry bacon this time this dish too tends to splatter grease onto my stove-top. Know what? It didn’t this time because I used my new Collapsible Spatter Guard. If you are looking to avoid that greasy mess on your stove-top you can get your own Collapsible Spatter Guard right here.

∼Coffee, Wake Up Your Senses!

Love me some coffee in the mornings! Cappuccino to be exact. First it starts with choosing a colorful Nespresso pod. Which one do I feel like today? Will it be a shot of the powerful and contrasting black Ristretto, the intense creamy purple Arpeggio or the blue complexed and balanced Vivalto Lungo? Whichever I choose it’s sure to please my senses and taste buds. Next, in preparing a light, creamy and warm frothy milk bath to add to my shot, I get most pleasure with the Aeroccino.

Every day I look forward to the aroma of my Nespresso freshly brewed coffee followed by the swishing sound of my milk being frothed. I can’t imagine my day being without my coffee maker and Aeroccino.

∼Not That Four Letter Word – DIET!

How many times after eating do we say, “Oh, I am so stuffed”. I decided that I was tired of being so “full and miserable” after eating and decided to do something about it the fall of 2017. So, here is my story.

I just dreaded getting dressed for work in the mornings. My closet was full of clothes but there were only a couple of pair of dress pants that were still semi comfortable. I came to the conclusion that I needed to go shopping and purchase some new pants, pants that didn’t fit so tight, so away I went. I began trying on the same size I normally wear and that was a joke. Obviously, I went shopping to get a bigger size. What was I thinking! So, I went one size up and that was okay but still it just was not right so I went up another size. That makes it two sizes up from my norm. As I took the pant off the hanger I held them up in front of me thinking to myself….really!? So, I put them on and thought, these felt so much better and they even looked good. If I buy one then I should get another pair then I would have at least two good pair of pants that were comfortable. Bam…then it hit me. No way, no how am I buying one pair of pants two sizes up from my norm let alone two. All I could think at that moment is, “I gotta get out of here”! I immediately put my clothes back on and couldn’t get out of the department store quick enough. Do you know that feeling! OMG, it’s horrible.

I very quickly came to the conclusion that I need to make a change. Where would I start? The first thing I did was purchase a scale so I could monitor my weight. I unboxed my new scale and weighed myself. I couldn’t believe my eyes and thought the numbers I was seeing were wrong. I then weighed a 5 pound bag of flour. Sure enough, it registered at 5 pounds. So I re-weighed myself again in bewilderment. How could that be?! Confirmation the need for change.

I decided the change was going to be a lifestyle change opposed to that four letter word “diet”. I immediately removed soda from my diet. I was afraid of having withdrawal symptoms but I never experienced that. What I did notice was the feeling of being bloated was absolutely gone within a few days. I knew just removing soda from my diet was not the only step and I turned to portion control and purchased this kitchen scale.

I have found having a kitchen scale is actually very beneficial. For example, weighing my food and knowing how much it weighs allows me to eyeball portions when away from home or when dining out. No, I’m not going to stop living but I don’t need to eat the whole elephant either (figure of speech) if you know what I mean.

One would have though that making a diet change right before the holidays would not be the greatest of ideas. For me, it actually worked perfect. With sticking to my portion control lifestyle change I managed to take off eight pounds and even kept it off during the holidays. I was very proud of myself. Stay tuned and I will share specific portions and food choices that helped me take off those eight pounds.

∼A Math Lesson With Meal Worms:

A very interesting conversation with my better half. Today he purchased a five-pound bag of Happy Hen Treats (dried mealworms) for our chickens. If you have animals you buy them treats don’t you? Well, he bought treats for the ladies and they love them.

Out of the blue he asks me for my kitchen scale. I’m thinking, “What in the world?”. He wants to weigh the mealworms? 🤔 OK. So I get him the scale and go on my way. As I’m sitting back at the kitchen table, he is at the kitchen counter, I hear this plink, plink, plink. I look up and he is dropping a mealworm one by one on the scale. He says, and you can hear the excitement in his voice, “There, 85 mealworms equals five grams”. He pauses for a few seconds and states, “That is roughly 38,950 mealworms in a 5# bag”.

Alrighty then! OMG! I am about to lose it. Really? Where does this come from? You can just see the wheels turning. What’s next?

He goes on, “That is roughly 40,000 mealworms in every bag. Let’s see…one of these bags would fill every seat at the Royals Baseball Stadium. You could have a worm on every seat”. By this time I have succumbed and am busting a gut. The mad scientist mathematician has kicked in. His next reply, “8,000 bags and we could give each person in the USA a worm”. “That’s good to know”, he says.

Really? That’s why I love him so! 😘

Moral of the story: That’s a lot of people in the United States.

∼Planning Ahead:

Oh, I look so forward to my weekends. There was a time in my life when I was the Director of Nursing for a skilled nursing/long-term care facility for seven years. I loved that job but it was a huge responsibility. I’m talking huge! I worked Monday through Friday around sixteen hours a day. Basically I was on call 24 hours a day seven-day a week! Ugh! It was aging me rapidly. Now, I am a nurse paralegal assisting attorneys in med/mal cases defending hospitals, physicians and nurses and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!! I can actually have an enjoyable life with my family in the evenings and on weekends! Oh yeah, can you feel my excitement?

With all this extra time I have on my hands I put it to good use and brain storm on what I’m going to treat my family to on the weekends. So, I got to thinking and I have this brilliant idea that I would like to make mozzarella cheese! I have never done it before and I said, “WHY NOT”! So this week I am planning ahead, putting some thought into this recipe and putting a list together. You can’t just have cheese by itself so I am going to also make some homemade crackers.

Wish me luck. I will be posting my pictures next week so keep an eye out. Have you ever made mozzarella cheese? What was your experience and was it a success?