The other night, I had a realization. I forgot to make my kids lunch for daycare the next day. Ugh. So at 10 pm, while I was making macaroni and cheese, I had another realization. I looked around the room and noticed how many intense kitchen tech toys we now have taking up counter space. Admittedly, I don’t cook very often. My husband gets home from work first and enjoys creating in the kitchen. He also likes technological innovation. That combination has led to the slow but steady incorporation and domination of tech into our kitchen. Here are our top four toys that directly affect our kids’ lives:
1. Air Fryer. This egg-shaped appliance heats air and cycles it around your food to produce beautifully crispy meals with barely any (or no) added oil. This has saved meal times many times over. When we need a go-to meal, we throw in chicken tenders and french fries into this thing at the same time and cook it all together. And, boy does it make a perfectly crispy tater-tot (which, thanks to moi, is now a family favorite). Only con: there is an egg-shaped heater on my counter all the time! I bump into it a lot…
2. Vacuvita®. This is a food storage system that sucks the air out of its reusable containers to keep food fresh longer. I have a love/hate relationship with this innovation. Pro: It does exactly what it says and it has saved us from wasting gobs of food and money. Con: The largest container – AKA: the home base – is a beast of a machine (because it houses the vacuum system) and takes up some serious counter real estate. Then sometimes I forget what’s in the containers because they are mostly oblique and only have a tiny window. And no, I don’t use the fancy app that lets me track what’s in each container with a QR code. Luckily, though, when I do remember what’s in there, 80% of the time, it’s still good.
3. AeroGarden®. Yes, we bought an indoor garden. It’s really cool. You put in the seed pods, add water when the machine beeps at you and watch your plants grow. The kids really enjoy checking on our herbs every day. And they now know what herbs are, which is pretty great. Now our plants are big enough that we are starting to trim, dry and use them in our food. It’s nice to have a bit of green and growth in the winter months, too. This garden is BIG, so we commandeered a former changing table for its permanent residence. No regrets yet!
4. Food Dehydrator. This is our newest tech toy. We experienced a food dehydrator and its gleanings while visiting family earlier this year. My husband was intrigued by the technology (a heated fan that removes moisture from food) and our kids loved the product – homemade banana chips. So guess what we got for Christmas! Then guess who refuses to eat banana chips at home! We’ll see what else we can dehydrate (such an unsexy word) to inspire our kids to try something new.
So, maybe my title was a bit dramatic. Though my husband is also dabbling in sous vide (there’s an appliance – Joule® – AND an app for that) and he has been supporting a Kickstarter campaign for a meat thermometer that talks to your phone. So, I’d give Alexa (yes, we also have an Echo Dot) three to six months until she’ll be able to run a diner out of our house. No short order cooks required. I hope she’ll let us eat there for free. I’ll let you know in a few months.