Hubby bought us a food processer months ago. I have to admit, it's collecting dust. What do you guys use yours for? I am looking for ideas.
I am sure I can use it for soups and sauces, but haven't motivated myself to do so. *LOL*
Cole slaw comes to mind, but I don't make that often.

Sara

Mine sat for the longest time..until I decided to move it to the top of the counter. Just last night we used it to slice potatoes..and dh made fried potatoes (I'm on a diet..so only got 2 slices (wah!).

The night before that..I used it to grate cheese for tacos (again..just for dh wah!)


At first dh thought it would be more work..and now I notice he's asking where the blades are, etc, (usually in the dishwasher LOL!) so he can use it. It really is an awesome time saver...I just think the more you use it..the more habit it becomes. I've only had it out a month, and I think we're using it every couple of days now.

My husband likes using it to grate cheese and slice pepperoni, but ours is so large and bulky. After he's done the parts almost fill the sink. *LOL* Seems like a lot of work to me for some pepperoni slices. (but the slices are nice and perfect) I know some people really use them often. I hate cleaning it. *LOL*

Sara

I use mine for grating cheese a lot. I grate a lb or more at a time, so it is worth the effort. I put the grated cheese on a cookie sheet and stick it in the freezer until frozen. Then I put it in ziploc bags and have grated cheese when ever I need it. This works especially well for mozzeralla cheese for pizzas.

When the kids were babies I made baby food in it. I would boil/steam veggies then run it through the food processor. I would then put the food in ice cube trays and freeze, then move to baggies. To serve I would just take out a cube or two at a time and microwave.

If you ever make graham cracker crust, the food processor is a great way to crush the crackers.

I have also sliced/grated onions, carrots, and zuchinni in it and then frozen them for casseroles.

I use mine to make homemade bisquick. It saves a lot of time you need to cut shortening into something. I don't think it would work well for pie crust though.

I have pulverized cooked ham and chicken in it to make ham/chicken salad sandwiches.

TO CLEAN: add some water and a bit of dish soap to bowl and turn it on for 30 seconds (or more if needed). Then all I usually have to do is rinse and put away. This also works for blenders. :)

I am liking the chicken salad idea. :-) Thanks.

Sara

It works WONDERFUL for pie crusts!! I only make pie crust in mine. Heres the recipe I use and its designed JUST for the FP.

2 1/2 cups flour (all purpose)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 pound cold unsalted butter , I use maragine (sp) and never had a problem
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of ice water.

Put the dry ingredients in the FP.Add pieces of butter and process for about 10 seconds or until it resembles coarse meal. Add ice water, drop by drop while the FP is running. Keep adding until the dough holds together. Do not process more than 30 seconds.Tuen out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Draw up the sides of plastic wrap nad use it to knead the dough. This makes 2 crusts and can be frozen as well. If you freeze it, shape it in a cake shape and not a ball. That way it can thaw quickly andis easier to work with :)

I also use my FP to make powdered sugar. I add 1 tsp of cornstarch to 1 cup of regular sugar. Pulse until its ground fine into a powder. You can use your blender as well for this.
~Michele~

Wow Michele, I had no idea you could MAKE powdered sugar. I thoght you had to buy it. I am amazed. Do it taste just like store bought powdered sugar? I know what I will be doing next time I need powdered sugar. :D

Just adjust the taste of the cornstarch if you find its not powdery enough (more) or that it is not sweet enough (less).
Enjoy!:reindeer:
~Michele~

Originally posted by MicheleMomof3
It works WONDERFUL for pie crusts!!

Great idea. I hadn't thought of pie crusts. Can I use crisco?

Sara

Hmm Ive never tried it Sara. But give it a shot and see how it turns out. I also was told you can grind your coffee beans in your FP. Just use short burst of power like a coffee grinder. :reindeer:
~Michele~

Well, inspired by Margery/Dozymom, I did a food processor session today. I got quite a lot accomplished, so I thought I'd detail it here.

Again, I don't think I'd be accomplishing so much w/ my f.p. unless I'd read all the ideas other people have posted.

First, I put in the slicing disk and sliced

* bell peppers for salads
* bell pepper for sausage-and-peppers
* onions for sausage-and-pepper

Then, I took the sliced-up onions and peppers, and fried in a little olive oil, along with chunks of sausage. When it cooled, I put it into an oven-proof container in the fridge. It can be dinner tomorrow night.

After that, I sliced a lot of onions

* some for Steaming Onion Soup (DD sauteed them)
* some for salads and other toppings.

After that, I put in the shredding disk.

* Shredded cabbage, onions, and carrots together. Assembled coleslaw.

Rinsed the FP; didn't want onion smell in the rest.

* Shredded cabbage for stir-fries. Filled a Tupperware bowl.
* Shredded and fried up cabbage for a side dish for tonight.

Then rinsed again.

* Shredded carrots to add to salads.

That was when I noticed a package of celery hearts I hadn't processed. Put the slicing blade back on.

* Sliced celery for soups and salads.

At that point, I have all my veggies done. I have sausage-and-peppers; onion soup all ready to heat up. I have fried cabbage for tonight. (Ham and baking potatoes are in the oven). I have celery, cabbage, onions, peppers, and cabbage all ready to add to meals.

I gave my f.p. a good rinse-out. It's drying now.

Next, I'm going to make up several 1-lb batches of cheese crumbles -- and pop them in the freezer.

Then, if I have energy, I'll wash off the cheese smears. And make up a batch of cookie dough. That probably won't happen; I'm getting tired!

Finally, it'll all go in the dishwasher!

I keep hearing about fried cabbage, but I have never done it...never even seen it before, can you give a recipe or how it's done?

You've inspired me to get mine out.

I like to make chicken salad in mine too. Also i like to process baby food too, I don't have a blender. But it works great.

I need to take a look in the fridge and see what I've got in there to use up. I bet I have some carrots that could be sliced up and frozen. Some squash too probably. Thanks for thie inspiration, I know what my project will be tomorrow!

I just sauteed cabbage and onions in olive oil. Fairly high heat.

Originally posted by Early Bird

Next, I'm going to make up several 1-lb batches of cheese crumbles -- and pop them in the freezer.

Then, if I have energy, I'll wash off the cheese smears. And make up a batch of cookie dough. That probably won't happen; I'm getting tired!

Finally, it'll all go in the dishwasher!

UPDATE: I did make the cheese crumbles, but, in hindsight, I should have DRIED the f.p. first! Some of the 'crumbles' are more like PASTE!

Gave the food processor a quick cleaning by hand; then we had supper.

As I was cleaning up supper, I decided that it would be worth the effort to quickly mix up a batch of sugar cookies. I used this recipe:
http://www.recipezaar.com/10460

(Until "Polish Power" posted, it had all 5 stars.) BTW, I use Food Handler Gloves to get cookie dough out of the food processor. The recipe made 3 small-ish logs.

The cookie dough looks pretty good. I'm going to let DH and the kids make/decorate Christmas cookies a couple of weeks from now.

********************************
Just wanted to add, that total kitchen cleanup time -- which included supper cleanup and processing the cookie dough -- took just 35 minutes.

I DID spend a good part of the early evning on this slicing-and-dicing project. But I had interruptions. And I took a few breaks.

Right now BF is using it to make our Homemade butter about every 3 days.
I will be looking into all this other stuff very soon except the onions right now because of the butter....
Thanks for this thread Sara...