Product Review: Pizzazz Pizza Oven by Presto

When I first saw the Pizzazz Pizza Oven, I thought it was kind of stupid.  I thought it was just another weirdo kitchen appliance that would be fun for a while, but would soon find its way to the donation bin at the local thrift store.  How wrong I was!  Little did I know when I finally came into owning one of these that it would become the centerpiece of my weekly cooking.

The product is designed to be space-saving in order to take up as little real estate as possible on your counter or in the cupboard.  The unit consists of a somewhat triangular cooking element with a large, round pizza pan.  The round pan rotates both above and below heating elements in order to evenly cook the pizza.  The top heating element heats at 350F and the bottom one heats at 400F.  There is a control to set both elements, or just the top or the bottom individually.  This way you can heat your toppings for longer (handy if you really pile on the toppings), or you can get your crust crispier.

When cooking, two things are crucial.  The first is that you MUST set the built-in timer otherwise the oven will not heat up.  The timer controls whether the oven is on or off, so you have to set it regardless of whether you want to use it.  This also controls the cooking so that you don't forget about your food.  It's really a good thing in the end.

The other crucial thing is that you need to set which elements you want to heat.  I rarely change this setting (and I'll tell you why later) because I've seen the consequences.  Unless you need one part of your pizza cooked more than the other, make sure the oven is always set to the "both" setting.

This product is fantastic.  I don't just cook pizza on it, I also cook frozen chicken strips and frozen fries on it.  One particularly creative thing I started doing is making toasted sandwiches using this oven.  You just butter your bread a little bit, pile on the cheese, meat, vegetables, or whatever you like and cook it open-faced.  Once the inside is hot, you can close the sandwich and let it toast for a while longer.  This pizza oven makes THE BEST grilled cheese sandwiches.

One mistake I've made a few times is forgetting to set the oven to heat with both elements.  Sometimes I've put chicken on the oven and cooked it for 25 minutes, only to find it cold, soggy, and raw on the inside.  I don't have to tell you not to eat raw chicken.  There are other cooking tips that I have for you when using this pizza oven.

If you're counting on cooking a large Papa Murphy's pizza on this, it won't fit.  Sorry.  But you can probably do a smaller pizza or some cheese bread.  When you go to cook a fresh pizza that you're making yourself, it's best to pre-bake the dough a little bit.  It will make it so your pizza finishes all at the same time.  Just place the crust on the pan and let it cook for about eight minutes or so, then pile on the toppings and let the pizza bake the rest of the way.

Like I said, I love this product.  It's easily worth the $50 or so that it costs.  You can bake just about anything on it and it's easy to use.  Baking a frozen pizza on it turns a so-so pizza into a great pizza!  I don't know what it is, specifically, that makes the pizza better, but I think it's that everything is heated to the correct temperature.  The crust comes out crispy and the toppings come out all melted and baked to perfection.

You can find this in some grocery stores, stores that sell kitchen appliances, or online.  Check it out if you want to make baking frozen (or fresh) pizza or other foods in the summer a more tolerable experience.  If you have some kids and you don't want them to use the oven, this is a good option.  It turns the heat elements off by itself, so you don't have to worry about the kids heating the whole house or running up the gas bill.

Like pretty well all product photos on this blog, this image does not belong to me.

I loves me some Amazon Prime

I need to write a piece on how much I love Amazon Prime.  I promise, I'm not being compensated for what I say (especially because part of it will be slightly negative).

A couple of years ago, one of my roommates told me about Amazon Student.  He told me that it was essentially Amazon Prime service, but free for students for one year.  Because I order stuff from Amazon somewhat frequently, I thought that free 2-day shipping for a year would be AWESOME!  So I signed up for my free trial, and I liked it so much that I continued using the service for half-price (because I am a student).

Amazon Student now only has a six-month free trial, but six is better than none.  It entitles you to free 2-day shipping on nearly everything Amazon sells, as well as some things that other people sell that is "fulfilled by Amazon."  After the six-month trial, you have the option to continue receiving free 2-day shipping for $39 per year, which is a savings of $40!  In addition to the 2-day shipping benefits, you also get unlimited Amazon Prime video streaming.

Amazon Prime has a lot of television shows and movies that you are able to stream to Kindle Fire, smart Blu-ray players, smart TVs, Roku, iPad, iPod, iPhone, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, and Wii U.   This means that you can stream movies just about anywhere, and if you're at home, you can watch on the big screen.  Some months they get bonus movies for you to watch that are not normally in the Prime collection. For example, this month has a bunch of James Bond movies available to stream for free!

I love the television and movie selection of Amazon Prime, but it doesn't have everything that your Hulu Plus or Netflix subscription has.  Additional shows can be rented or purchased, but those options aren't exactly free.  I sometimes feel like the selection is lacking, but I can usually find something good to watch.  I just honestly wish it had a more robust selection.

Something else I dislike about Amazon Prime Instant Video is that you cannot watch on any Android devices other than Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD.  If you own one of those devices, great!  But you still can't watch on your Android phone.
Also, browsing shows and movies on an Xbox 360 really only gives you part of the story.  You cannot search very well because it lacks a decent method of text input.  Browsing for shows and movies on the Amazon website is a little better, but it's missing some filter features that would really help.  I would like to be able to filter my browsing by MPAA rating (so I can search for all PG-13 action movies or something like that).  I would also be able to be able to see more genres and sub-genres when browsing.  I'd like to be able to ignore children's television shows and movies while browsing as well.

While it's not perfect, I'm still a big fan of Amazon Prime.  I order lots of stuff from Amazon now.  For instance, I had a date last night and I needed a table cloth.  I had realized this on Tuesday, so I ordered a tablecloth for under $9 and had it shipped to my door just in time for the date.  How about that?  I also get my text books, pens, videogames, movies, books, car parts, and just about anything else I desire in two days.

If you're hesitant about Amazon Prime, try the six-month free trial!  You can't go wrong - IT'S FREE.

Product Review: Pilgrim's Chicken Tenders

I have a deep love for deep-fried foods.  I have a regular love for regular fried foods.  I have a steamy passion for steamed foods.  And I feel all bubbly around soda.

Enough jokes for now, on to the review!

I love fast food, especially chicken tenders.  I remember going to Arctic Circle and eating chicken fingers and fries.  Before long, however, I realized that their prices were far too high and I just didn't think that it was worth paying $5 for three chicken tenders and a few fries.  That's when I discovered Pilgrim's Chicken Breast Strips in a 5 lb. box at Sam's Club.

These are very much restaurant-quality chicken strips.  Whether you fry them or you bake them, you'll get that authentic restaurant taste.  The breading is crispy and just the right thickness.  The all-white meat strips stay moist and tender even after baking.   Because they are frozen raw, you cannot microwave these strips safely (and you wouldn't want to anyway).

The portion sizes are generous, though you'll get strips that run the gamut between very large and bite-sized.  Two strips would be enough for an adult or a child, but I typically eat three or four strips.  If you serve these strips with fries, green beans, broccoli fries, or a green salad, you'll have a filling and delicious meal.  In fact, I highly recommend you try cutting these up and putting them on a delicious spinach salad with a thousand island dressing or ranch dressing.

I know that my reviews are a little on the sparse side as far as content goes, but it's really not the main draw of my blog.  I just want to spread the word about good products.  This is one of them.  Check out the link above for details about the chicken strips, and then go to Sam's Club, Wal-mart, or wherever else these are sold and pick some up for dinner tonight.  You really won't be disappointed.

Product Review: NordicWare Microwave Popcorn Popper

New feature on my blog!   I'm going to review some products that I buy and those that I like (or don't like, I suppose...maybe I should review Boost Mobile).

Today's product is the NordicWare Microwave Popcorn Popper.

I came upon this popcorn popper on Amazon when I was looking at the price of unpopped popcorn.  My girlfriend at the time had introduced me to a way that you could pop popcorn in the microwave using a paper bag, two staples, and a little bit of oil.   While I liked this method, it was messy and I knew that I would have to continually buy paper bags.  I like to maximize the value of my money, so continually buying bags was not a path I wanted to continue down.  That's why the NordicWare Microwave Popcorn Popper struck a chord with me.

The concept of this bowl is simple: it's a microwave-safe, high-quality bowl designed for microwave cooking.  You place the popcorn seeds in the bottom, throw it in the microwave, and in two minutes you have fresh, hot popcorn without the use of oil!  I think the best part about this bowl is that popping corn this way is so much cheaper than buying microwave popcorn.  You also don't need to buy an extra device, such as an air popper or something else.  You can just pop the popcorn in the bowl, serve in the bowl, and that's it!

One downside of this popcorn popper is that it leaves many unpopped kernels left over.  I tried using oil with popping, I tried using a slightly lower power setting, and I can't figure out a way to get all of the kernels popped without burning the popcorn.

Another downside is that you need to wait for the bowl to cool before popping another batch, so if you want a lot of popcorn, then you need to start early.  I suppose you could buy two bowls, or hold the hot bowl in front of the air conditioner (something that I've totally done) and wait for it to cool down.

If you're a popcorn fan and a fan of saving money, then you might want to check this out.  I recommend getting some Flavacol along with it so you can have a movie theater experience.  I had popcorn last night with a friend using this bowl and Flavacol and she said it was better than the theater!  I say it's better than the movie theater if only because you're not paying $6.00 per batch.