Stuff that will change your life- Kitchen Edition

I just have to blog about some kitchen gadgets that we have that are so awesome that I must encourage both of my readers to go and get some.

First is the y-peeler. This will change the way you peel veggies. Seriously. Once you use one, you'll wonder why you ever did it the old way. They are super-cheap at IKEA and places like Target and Walmart.
Next is the super-duper pizza stone. I got one because Macey's ran a deal that involved a cheap one and some free frozen pizza. This thing renders basic blah frozen pizza to crispy, bubbly brown-baked cheesy topped pizza. Better than (or at least equal to) delivery- and hotter. The best part? The stone keeps the pizza hot while you eat your first piece. Totally worth it!

Next up- our smoothie maker. Not just a regular blender- our smoothie maker is heavy duty and takes care of ice lickety split. We get on kicks where we make smoothies almost daily. We've found it is a good way to get rid of ripe fruit in a hurry. Ours has a handy spout at the bottom that makes dispensing super-easy!

Last, but not least, the humble pizza cutter. We use it for sooo much more than pizza at our casa. Quesidillas, waffles, pita pockets, hotcakes- they all get cut into bits by this handy tool. I'm thinking we need at least two...

How 'bout you? What can't you live without at your house?

Stuff I Like: Planet Earth

This spring, we watched the "Planet Earth" series on Discovery.  It is an awesome documentary series that focuses on 11 different parts of the earth.  It has one hour segements on things like Caves, Fresh Water, Deserts, Mountains, Grasslands and etc.  The cinematography is AMAZING and watching it made us appreciate just how amazing this earth is.  After each segement, they have a little "diaries" section where they talk about how the the film was made, or what they had to do to capture some of the footage in the segment.

We recently bought a copy of the whole series on Ebay and I've been watching it when I'm folding laundry or clipping coupons and etc. I am reminded at how freakin' cool this series is.  The best part is that the series we watched this spring was narriated by Segourney Weaver and the copy we bought is narriated by a british guy, David Attenborough and his narriation and voice is MUCH better than hers. 

I've always been a nature-show kinda girl, some of my earliest memories are of watching Nova with my Dad.  Apparently they had a super-huge budget for this and they shot over something like 5 years, and it is all so beautiful.  Princess has really enjoyed watching it with us and asking questions about the animals and places she sees. 

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you either rent or buy a copy for yourself (we got ours for about $20 bucks on Ebay).  Or, if you live close enough, and I like you enough, I *might* lend you our copy. Maybe.