Monday 17 January 2011

Philips AirFryer Review

I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to review the Philips AirFryer, something I have really wanted to try out.

The AirFryer makes it simple to give food a "deep fried" taste without using a lot of oil. The instructions say that, if you are using convenience food (like frozen chips (french fries) or chicken nuggets for frying), you don't need to add any oil to it at all. When using fresh, homemade ingredients, such as potatoes that you've peeled and sliced yourself, you need to add a very small amount of oil. For 500g of potatoes, you only need to add 1/2 a tablespoon of oil.

According to the materials that came with it, the Philips AirFryer will save you 80% of the fat in your "frying."

The Philips AirFryer arrived encased in a lot of packaging, but I was thankful to see that it didn't contain any styrofoam in its packaging.




I was given this Philips AirFryer in exchange for my reviewing it, so I figured I had better try out both methods of cooking with it. First, I cooked up some "fry chips" from the freezer section of the grocery store.

It was really easy to make them. First you set the temperature.



Then you put the chips in the AirFryer.


And then you set the timer.

Halfway through the cooking, you take them out and shake them up and put them back in. It was a very simple process, and by the end, my kids had some delicious chips (french fries) that tasted, as my five year old kept telling me "absolutely delicious!" (She also told me that she really likes my new "thingy" that helped me make them.) Chicken nuggets and chips (french fries)ar enot the healthiest of foods, in general, but if you must serve them up, then cooking them without any added oil is a good thing. And the Philips AirFyer lets you do that while retaining that "deep fried" taste that you won't get from oven baking.

Having made the chips for their dinner in just 13 minutes, I then added some chicken goujons to my AirFryer. The chicken goujons came out perfectly too, and they were just as easy to "fry".

Having cooked convenience food in the AirFryer, I then had to see how well it worked with fresh food, so I peeled and sliced up some potatoes and went through the very simple process again. The chips (french fries) made with the AirFryer came out really well, although I may have cooked them a few minutes too long. They did have a taste very much like they had been fried, and I only had to use a fraction of the oil I would have had to use without it.


After I'd done all of the food for the night, I realized that the machine had come with a metal divider to be used when cooking two things at once, so I could have "fried" the chips at the same time as the goujons.

The Philips AirFryer also came with a recipe book. I love recipe books, and this one had some great recipes in it! I found out I can even make brownies in the machine, but I will more likely use it to make some of the healthier recipes that the cookbook contained. It has recipes in it such as "fish and chips," "crispy curry potato cubes with coriander salsa," "feta triangles" and "meatballs with feta," just to name a few. All of the recipes in the recipe book contain the nutritional values of the dishes.

Overall, I am really happy with the Philips AirFryer, and I am looking forward to making many more meals using it.

Monday 10 January 2011

Skinny Dreaming Has Been Chosen As A Top Weight Loss Blog!

Skinny Dreaming has been featured on Guide to Online Schools' list of the Top Weight Loss Blogs!

I'm really honored about this, especially after seeing the others who are included in the list!

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Sunday 9 January 2011

I'm In The Mail On-Line Today

A friend of mine pointed out to me that I am also in today's Daily Mail nespaper. It can only be found on-line at The Mail On-Line. I'm not actually in the newspaper on the stands.

Here is the link to the article.

And below is one of the "before" and one of the "after" photos that they used. All of us had to go to London by train on the 29th of December in order to have "after" photos taken of me with Robert and with the kids.

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I Am In today's Sunday Mirror Newspaper

I am featured on page 24 of today's Sunday Mirror newspaper. I haven't found an on-line version yet though.

Sunday Mirror 9th Jan 2011 page 24


Saturday 1 January 2011

Tips for Sticking To Your New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year! I hope 2011 is going to be a wonderful year for us all.

It is that time of year again when everyone starts to think about what they have achieved over the past year and what they hope to achieve in the new one. A lot of people will make new year's resolutions now. And most of those people will not stick with them any longer than next month.

Just how are you supposed to go about making resolutions and then making sure you achieve them?

Here are some quick tips, just from the top of my head.

1. Make realistic resolutions. Don't over-reach your abilities. Yes, you might be able to lose the extra 100 pounds you want to lose, but you can't expect to lose them by March. You might be able to fit into those new jeans you bought (that are a size smaller) by March though.

2. Resolve to WORK towards your goals. You will never reach any of your resolutions if you are not willing to put in the effort and take the steps needed to get attain them.

3. Believe in yourself. It is very important that you believe in your ability to reach your goals. Without that belief and confidence, you run the risk of sabatoging your own efforts.

4. Surround yourself with people who support you and believe in your goals. There is nothing more helpful than supportive friends and family who believe in you. The last thing you need if you are trying to lose weight is a friend who encourages you to "cheat" or is always giving you chocolate and sweets or taking you out for fast food.

5. Reward yourself for every step closer you get to achieving you goals. It is easy, on a long journey, to lose sight of how far you have come and to instead keep dwelling on how far you have left to go. Try to focus on what you have already achieved and how it brings you closer to your ultimate goal.

6. Write it down. Don't just write down your resolutions, but write down each step you need to take to get there. Reference this note whenever you feel tempted to slack in your efforts. Also, journal your efforts. If you are exercising, keep track of how much you are doing. If you are eating healthy, track what you are eating. Writing things down has a sort of power over our subconscious.