Life has slowed down a bit after the craziness of the past few weeks. Between the St. Patrick's Day run that I organized (with over 700 participants!), and my beloved dog passing away, I have been absent from Blogland much longer than I'd anticipated or liked. I didn't realize until these past few weeks how much joy blogging gives me, and how much I would miss all of you.
I am hopping back in the game now, and what better way to jump in than with a giveaway?! My very first giveaway to be exact, thanks to the awesome folks at OXO. I am so excited about what they sent me to share with one of you!! A salad spinner!! A very nice, sturdy, salad spinner.
Why am I so excited about a salad spinner? For a few reasons:
1. My (very expensive) salad spinner that I've had for only a year broke about a month ago. It was the kind where you pull the string to spin it and the string just snapped right off! Rar! OXO sent me a salad spinner too, to try out and review. Great timing OXO, thank you!
2. I hate (hate) washing and drying lettuce and will only do this if I have a salad spinner. Since my salad spinner broke I've been buying pre-washed salad mix, which isn't very budget friendly. I'm back in action now...no more bagged lettuce equals a few more buck in my pocket!
3. I discovered the wonder that are kale chips the day before that stupid salad spinner broke. The kale has to be pretty darn dry before you throw it in the oven. I'm not even going to attempt that one without my precious salad spinner. I am back in kale chip heaven.
Kale chips are the perfect food in so many ways. I have a wild salt tooth, that can only be tamed by greasy, salty potato chips, or something equally unhealthy. Kale chips satisfy the crunchy salty beast inside of me almost instantaneously. But...here's the good news, kale chips are super good for you! Kale packs a nutritional punch that can't be ignored. Kale is extremely low in calories (35 calories/boiled cup) and includes 100% of your daily vitamin K as well as being a great source for vitamins A, C & B6, manganese, fiber and potassium. You go kale! Work it!
The second reason kale chips are so awesome is that they are a snap to make. Chop, spin, toss and bake. Easy. Even Anna could do it (except I don't let her near the oven, so actually on second thought, she couldn't do it).
The OXO Salad Spinner was a dream when making these chips. The pump handle on the top is so much easier to use than the string-pull method of my stupid ex-salad spinner. There is a non-slip bottom that allows for one-handed use of the salad spinner when pumping. It has a good sized bowl that can be used separately as a bowl for your salad and the basket can also be used as a strainer. Finally, this spinner dried my kale chips enough with just ten pumps to immediately toss them in olive oil and then the oven. No waiting around for them to dry. Hooray! I am seriously in love, and so grateful to have gotten this awesome tool for my very own!
Do you want one too? Well, you've got five separate opportunities to get in on the action. You'll get one entry for each one of these you do. Open to US Residents only!!
1. Leave a comment here telling me what you'd use this salad spinner for.
2. Like Kitchie Coo on Facebook, and leave a separate comment telling me that you did.
3. Like OXO on Facebook, and leave a separate comment telling me that you did.
4. Follow me on Pinterest, and leave a separate comment telling me that you did.
5. Follow me on Twitter, and leave a separate comment telling me that you did.
This giveaway will be open until 11:59 pm, MST, Wednesday March 21. I will announce the winner on Thursday. Good luck!!
PRINT THIS RECIPE!
Baked Kale Chips
1 bunch kale
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Preheat oven to 350F.
Remove stems from kale by folding the leaf in half and then cutting along the inside of the stem. Rip or roughly chop the kale into bite sized pieces. Rinse the kale under cold water and then spin in a salad spinner until very little water remains on the leaves. (Alternately, you can rinse them and then press them dry between between paper towels.)
Toss the kale in olive oil and salt until completely coated. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 15-18 minutes or until crispy.
Remove from the oven and...
Eat it!!
