Product Reviews – HIC Essentials Silicone Square Cake Pan, 9 by 9-Inch

I was lucky enough to receive silicone cooking and bakeware from Chris for Christmas. One of the items was this square cake pan.

Here are the specs according to Amazon:

• Square cake pan; 9 by 9-Inch
• Made of 100-percent pure silicone, with no fillers
• Heat resistant up to 500-degrees Fahrenheit
• High quality construction; long lasting performance; meets European and FDA standards for silicone bake ware
• Part of the Essentials line by HIC – Quality, Function and Value; portion of proceeds supports C-CAP

Since receiving this, I have made baked oatmeal and tofu frittata.

I did have to put the cake pan on a cookie sheet, but I expected that. There is no carrier or anything solid around the cake pan to keep it from collapsing, which would make it difficult to move into the oven.

I love, love, love this pan. Nonstick and sturdy. Perfect. Both dishes that I made in this cake pan released beautifully. Whatever you cook does need to cool completely prior to taking it out of the pan, but that’s no problem. Once it was out of the over for a few minutes, I transferred it to a cooling rack to cool completely. The baked oatmeal and the tofu frittata were cut first and then removed with a spatula. I don’t want to ruin this cake pan, so in the future, I will just turn the baked creation out onto a cutting board.

I used to make things like this in an 8 x 8 square baking dish, but I needed to oil the dish. No more oil! I don’t need to use it with this pan. Since it is a tiny bit larger than what I usually use, and the uncooked product was thinner, I needed to reduce my cooking time by a couple of minutes.

I look forward to using this cake pan for other delicious, vegan treats. Hmmmm? What shall I make next?

Product Reviews – Ronco Chip-Tastic Microwave Potato Chip Maker

I could not love this gadget more than I do. I wasn’t really sure if I would find this to be worth the $13.99 I paid for it on Amazon (oh, how I love my Amazon Prime).

Click here to go to the product on Amazon.

Well, let me tell you…when I can go from craving potato chips to eating potato chips in 10 minutes, I have a winner.

There are a couple of reasons that I think this is a winner. First, I’m a McDougaller (in my world that IS a word) which means I eat starches. Lots and lots of yummy starches. Potato chips made from whole potatoes with no oil at all is such a lovely, starchy treat!

I’m not just opening up a bag and stuffing my face. This takes just a little bit of preparation and BAM!!! We have the best chips. Healthy chips. Just potatoes. Seasoned exactly the way we want. What’s not to love?

The little slicer that came with it was a joke, so we just use our mandolin to slice the potatoes. Although, in hindsight, we probably should have used the slicer at least once to see what the thickness was supposed to be. I tried to do it in my food processor, but they came out too thick. 

I wasn’t sure if we would have a problem with the chips being curled, but it really wasn’t an issue. The tray forces you to fold the potato slice to put it in the slot. This allows for more chips than other items like this that I have seen.

After slicing the potato, we place them on paper towels to absorb some of the moisture and to allow us to season. We did some with just a little Himalayan Pink Salt, some we did with the salt and some chipotle powder. Depending on the thickness of the slices, it took anywhere from 6-10 minutes in the microwave for the chips to be done. All microwaves are different and everyone is going to slice potatoes differently. You need to keep an eye on them until you have your thickness consistent and your timing down right. When you see them browning up, they should be done. There really is a fine line between crispy and burnt here, so just keep an eye on them. 

We also made tortilla chips with success, which only took about 3 minutes using the Ezekiel tortillas.

We’ve been enjoying potato chips guilt free nearly every evening. I’m starting to wonder how we ever got along without this gadget.

This is so worth the money. I see plenty of healthy potato chips in my future.

If you have this, tell me….what type of chips are you enjoying?

Product Reviews – Silikomart SFT332/C Silicone Classic Collection Lasagna Pan, 13 by 9-Inch

I couldn’t wait to try out my new silicone cooking and bakeware that Chris got me for Christmas. One of the items was this lasagna pan.

Here are the specs according to Amazon:

• 1-silicone lasagna baking mold, measures 12.99″ x 8.66″ x 2.17-Inch; made from platinum based liquid (lsr) 100-percent food-grade silicone
• Silicone injected molds allow for greater details, flexibility, longer wear; glossy surface ensures an easy release for all types of use
• Each mold fitted with patented removable fiberglass safe ring; insert on mold rim to ensure stability and best results
• Ultra flexible for easy extraction, odorless and smokeless; does not add or take any flavors from food
• Guaranteed durability for 3000 uses; safe to use in the oven, microwave, fridge and freezer (-75-Degree F to +450-Degree F); dishwasher-safe; made in Italy

I was excited. While I know that silicone can be a little flimsy, this pan had a removable piece that I thought would help with stability, but I was wrong. Since it IS a lasagna pan, I made lasagna in it. As a matter of fact, I made The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook’s Triple Decker Lasagna, which I reviewed here.

Good thing I had enough sense to put the lasagna pan on a cookie sheet prior to assembling the lasagna, or I would have never been able to pick it up and move it to the oven.

Even with the removable fiberglass safe ring, this would have surely collapsed on me if I tried to pick it up. The lasagna pan doesn’t sit in something for stability. The ring merely sits under the rim of the pan. If you try to pick up the pan using the ring, the sides of the pan literally just collapse and the ring comes off.

I also used this to make a McDougall Bean Casserole. Same thing, obviously. The amount of food is too heavy for this pan. I tried the Bean Casserole in my trusty glass 9×13 pan. It didn’t stick, and I didn’t have to worry about the pan collapsing. I will just use that from now on.

Now, I do love my silicone bakeware, but this one did not do it for me. Perhaps this pan will be better suited to baking a cake, and I will try it for that….of course, on a baking sheet.