Anonymous wrote:I love to cook and always try to expand into new areas - and with tween and younger kids they are not easy to please.

One fad I fell for was my kids loved boardwalk fries and I thought (while unhealthy) it would be fun to try at home.

Bought a fry press to cut the potatoes into fries; a simple deep frier and peanut oil.
Not including the oil the equipment was a little over $200.

This fad lasted maybe 10 months. Kids loved it at first for a once a month type “special event”. Now they barely notice…and instead of going through the hassle back to frozen.

This same thing happened with our wood fired pizza oven.

Do you just throw the stuff away or does it ever come back to being used? Other people I am sure have fallen victim to food fads…not sure how to avoid wasting money but trying to be creative and add variety.

Next time just post on your local Buy Nothing asking if someone has whatever gadget you're looking for to give away.

So you spent like $20/month, roughly $5/week on something your kids found cool and enjoyable? I would consider that money well spent. Now the novelty has worn off (which is fine and just as well cause it’s not like you want them to crave boardwalk fries). I’d say that was fun for a while and now it’s time to give the equipment to another family and maybe they’ll get close to a year of fun for it, too.

Air fryer. Such a large machine for s mall quantities. Convection feature in my oven yielded same results.

Zoodles. That spiralizer is in the back of the closet now.

That dumb boursin cheese pasta. It was creamy yet flavorless? Not good at all. The perfect "TikTok" meal because it LOOKS good but did not translate. Better to make your own cream sauce.

I just tell myself that if I have eaten for my first 50 years without a gadget I probably do not need it.

Wow, I thought you meant dumb TikTok/Reel recipes, not $200 in equipment to make french fries.

I tried to make that feta/tomato/pasta one-dish oven bake thing, it did not turn out well for me.

Anonymous wrote:I got into sheet pan dinners, but I didn't have to buy any appliances or anything.

+1

Also, one-pot pasta recipes.

I got into sheet pan dinners, but I didn't have to buy any appliances or anything.

What are boardwalk fries?

I try sooo hard not to buy additional appliances. My kitchen is not huge and they take up a ton of space.

During covid DH got into a bread kick, and would make challah like once a week or every other week, but that died off.

I have a kitchenaid mixer, blender but no food processor. So whenever I saw attachments for the kitchenaid I'd grab them (usually neighbors getting rid of theirs). I think I've used SOME of them once, the rest are just in the cupboard lol.

I also went on a le creuset kick for a while and kept buying them whenever I saw them. I had 2 nice LC dutch ovens, but would see their stoneware and it was relatively cheap (le creuset speaking anyways), so I think I have probably 10 different sizes/shapes of stonewear that I hardly use.

I have an immersion circulator that I got as a gift and used to use a lot, but haven't touched in a while.

We made ice cream a lot in the beginning of the pandemic but that machine hasn't been out in over a year (which is good- we really made it too much and while it was fun and we got creative, I'm over it)

I have a juicer I got for a wedding present that I've used once in 10 years.

Instant pot. We rarely use it and now it’s just taking up space.

Use a cookbook. Try new cuisines. Do NOT buy any additional kitchen gadgets or equipment.

I love to cook and always try to expand into new areas - and with tween and younger kids they are not easy to please.

One fad I fell for was my kids loved boardwalk fries and I thought (while unhealthy) it would be fun to try at home.

Bought a fry press to cut the potatoes into fries; a simple deep frier and peanut oil.
Not including the oil the equipment was a little over $200.

This fad lasted maybe 10 months. Kids loved it at first for a once a month type “special event”. Now they barely notice…and instead of going through the hassle back to frozen.

This same thing happened with our wood fired pizza oven.

Do you just throw the stuff away or does it ever come back to being used? Other people I am sure have fallen victim to food fads…not sure how to avoid wasting money but trying to be creative and add variety.