Some days I wish I could be like Oprah and... this porche is my FAVORITE THING. And you get a new car, and YOU get a new car, AND YOU GET A NEW CARRRRRR!! But alas, I'm not nearly as fabulous as Ms. Winfrey.
But I do have some favorite things that I want to share with you all. Every so often I'm going to give you a special #JiggleyMommysFavThings post about a product or service or business that I adore, and why I think you should too. None of these businesses or services have or will pay me for talking them up... So you are getting my honest opinion at all times. Before I publish my special posts, I will try to get you all some special deals or *something* so you can try out some of my favorite things!
Soooo here we go with
PAMPERED CHEF!!!
Just over a year ago I purchased my very first piece of stoneware from Pampered Chef. I was a little leery of it, but only because you aren't supposed to like wash-wash it. I'm the type of person only washes certain things in the dishwasher and everything else gets washed in hothotHOT soapy water, like red scalded hands, hot. Anyways, that's besides the point. Since I ordered my large bar pan, I have barely used any of my other baking sheets. I use it for baking cookies, to roasted veggies, to cooking bacon in the oven... and other than my poor culinary skills, everything comes out perfect! The secret is in the stoneware. Because it's a big ol' rock, when it heats up it does so evenly. It also radiates heat all around it, so whatever you're cooking is cooking from all sides - seriously, you don't need to even flip chicken nuggets over! I haven't had anything get stuck to the bottom of my pan AND (this here is the kicker for me) I haven't burned anything on it... ever. Sure I've overcooked things, because I'm not an overly attentive or decent cook, but I've never had to throw crispy blackened food out.
Recently I also picked up the Deep Covered Baker, which was toted as being able to cook a whole chicken in like 30 minutes IN YOUR MICROWAVE. My first thought was - gross! But at the party I was at, the PC consultant, cooked up some delicious chicken fajitas IN THE MICROWAVE and I was intrigued. She said that the Deep Covered Baker is like a crock pot on speed - it can do anything a slow cooker would do, but in your microwave. In the short time that I've owned this piece I've done fajitas twice and it saved my meatloaf one night - hubby didn't put it in the oven in time, so I popped it in the DCB, put it in the microwave and zapped it for 15 minutes and voila! Fully cooked, moist, yummy meatloaf.
Now for my kidlet bag of tricks!
I love making fun lunches for the kids; faces or scenes or special messages. Early this spring I picked up the Cheese and Fruit cutter and BAM! Instant lunch fun. You can cut veggies or fruit or cheese slices into hearts, squares, flowers or triangles. Everything is more fun to eat if it's in a fun shape. Recently, for my sons birthday, I used this to cut out large chunks of watermelon to make fruit kabobs and I have never seen them disappear so fast!
I picked up the Crinkle Cutter, at the same time. I wanted anther way to spruce up some 'boring' old veggies. My kids will totally eat a crinkley carrot without nearly the fuss as a regular one.
My two most recent purchases were the Kid Safe Knife and the Sandwich Press. Love Love Love them both! The Jiggley Boy LOVES helping me prepare supper and with the kid safe knife, I don't worry about him cutting his hand off. It's like a little blunt saw and you saw through the food, rather than slice it. My little guy feels like a gourmet chef when he presents a plate of cucumber slices for snack. And there is nothing better, for a picky eater, than helping in the kitchen. More times than not, a kid will at least try a new food if they helped prepare/cook it.
And the sandwich press is AWESOME! Imagine a sandwich FILLED with peanut butter and jam (or any other goupy filling) that you can pass off to them to eat in the car and not worry about finding splatters of it later. The sandwich press acts like a cookie cutter, to cut a circle and then you press it down and it crimps all the edges. So none of your filling drips, spills, splatters, or slops out! Jiggley Boy doesn't like to eat his crusts, and I always find that he leaves a lot of the sandwich left, with this the crusts are gone and he eats the entire thing. Our favs are PB&J pockets and grilled cheese pockets. This weekend I think I'm going to grab some apples from the farmers market, and make some dough (ok, I'll probably buy refrigerator dough already made up) and make some apple cinnamon pie pockets. So yummy!!
So now the FUN part! Jill, my Pampered Chef guru, has kindly offered up some prizes for us! YAY! She's going to raffle off some gift bags, a PC Batter Bowl and the grande prize (which we'll draw for at the end of the month) will be a piece of stoneware. How do you get your name in the draw for some of these awesome prizes?
- Place an order and your name will go into the draw.
- For each piece of STONEWARE that you order, your name will go into the draw.
- Book a party and on top of getting all the awesome hostess benefits, you'll get your name put in the draw FIVE TIMES!
You can place an order ONLINE here by putting JIGGLEYMOMMY (one word) into the party search box or by contacting Jill Kohlman directly through her facebook page or email - make sure you 'like' her page and mention Jiggley Mommy when you order so that your name can be put into the draws for some awesome prizes. Also, make sure that you get your order SHIPPED TO YOU, because I am just not able to deliver everyones stuff to them.
**Neither Jill or Pampered Chef pay me to endorse their products. I will receive no monetary or product compensation from this blog. All opinions expressed are my own. **
**In order to claim any prize you must 'like' the Facebook page Pampered Chef - Jill Kohlman - ya know, since she's giving you stuff ;) and you need to 'like' The Jiggley Mommy Facebook page as well (but you already do, don't ya?!) **
What You Do: Everything together in your slow cooker, season to taste (I just generously sprinkle my Apple Pie Spice), set it on low and go to bed. 
I'll kick things off with Taco Seasoning. I seriously had a mini anxiety attack when I ran out and couldn't find the full bottle I knew I had bought. I add this spice blend to many of my different recipes including, home made tacos, taco salad, fajitas, stuffed peppers, chili, tortilla soup and even meatballs. I feel good about using this seasoning since it's fairly low in sodium compared to other taco seasonings out there. 
Just over a year ago I purchased my very first piece of stoneware from Pampered Chef. I was a little leery of it, but only because you aren't supposed to like wash-wash it. I'm the type of person only washes certain things in the dishwasher and everything else gets washed in hothotHOT soapy water, like red scalded hands, hot. Anyways, that's besides the point. Since I ordered my large bar pan, I have barely used any of my other baking sheets. I use it for baking cookies, to roasted veggies, to cooking bacon in the oven... and other than my poor culinary skills, everything comes out perfect! The secret is in the stoneware. Because it's a big ol' rock, when it heats up it does so evenly. It also radiates heat all around it, so whatever you're cooking is cooking from all sides - seriously, you don't need to even flip chicken nuggets over! I haven't had anything get stuck to the bottom of my pan AND (this here is the kicker for me) I haven't burned anything on it... ever. Sure I've overcooked things, because I'm not an overly attentive or decent cook, but I've never had to throw crispy blackened food out. 
Recently I also picked up the Deep Covered Baker, which was toted as being able to cook a whole chicken in like 30 minutes IN YOUR MICROWAVE. My first thought was - gross! But at the party I was at, the PC consultant, cooked up some delicious chicken fajitas IN THE MICROWAVE and I was intrigued. She said that the Deep Covered Baker is like a crock pot on speed - it can do anything a slow cooker would do, but in your microwave. In the short time that I've owned this piece I've done fajitas twice and it saved my meatloaf one night - hubby didn't put it in the oven in time, so I popped it in the DCB, put it in the microwave and zapped it for 15 minutes and voila! Fully cooked, moist, yummy meatloaf.
Now for my kidlet bag of tricks! 
And the sandwich press is AWESOME! Imagine a sandwich FILLED with peanut butter and jam (or any other goupy filling) that you can pass off to them to eat in the car and not worry about finding splatters of it later. The sandwich press acts like a cookie cutter, to cut a circle and then you press it down and it crimps all the edges. So none of your filling drips, spills, splatters, or slops out! Jiggley Boy doesn't like to eat his crusts, and I always find that he leaves a lot of the sandwich left, with this the crusts are gone and he eats the entire thing. Our favs are PB&J pockets and grilled cheese pockets. This weekend I think I'm going to grab some apples from the farmers market, and make some dough (ok, I'll probably buy refrigerator dough already made up) and make some apple cinnamon pie pockets. So yummy!!