I failed this weekend. Twice. And I failed at something I'm not too shy to admit that I'm good at:
Granola bar bites. I had such a craving for them, so I picked up some dried fruit at the grocery store this weekend. And sinfully so, I also had some chocolate and peanut butter chips on hand. So I made one batch, but divided the batter before adding the fruit and chips.
It went wrong.
I ended up with granola:
And granola bar bites that sort of took shape...
...but fell apart as soon as I picked them up. "Damn," I said.
At least everything still tasted good, so it wasn't a total loss, but when you want granola bar bites and you're stuck with granola, well...it defeats the purpose.
I don't know what happened. Maybe I should have measured out my ingredients a little more closely, like...with this
OXO food scale:
Food scales are great for two very important reasons. You can accurately measure out ingredients (which I apparently did not do), and you can measure out perfect portions if need be. Needless to say, I was all too excited when OXO offered to send me one for free. Let's be honest, who doesn't love a good kitchen gadget?
I digress.
The scale. It's totally useful. And user-friendly:
I've been sitting on a few bags of hazelnuts with the intent of making my own Nutella, but I had been hard pressed to find a recipe that I liked. So when I finally did, I pulled my hair out over the fact that it called for 150 grams of hazelnuts. As if that's easy to determine when all of your measuring spoons are in cup increments. So I whipped out the scale, put the bowl on top of it, then poured in hazelnuts until 150 grams had been added to the bowl's weight. I measured out the required chocolate, too:
I love that the scale is quite compact, and the display screen pulls out in the event that your bowl is bigger than life itself. This particular model, if you're interested, measures out up to five pounds of goodness. (I wish I could measure out five pounds of chocolate for something, just sayin'.)
Let's get back to the Nutella. Not pictured: cocoa powder, vanilla extract and a touch of vegetable oil. I decide to leave out the powdered sugar that
the original recipe called for. I didn't have any, and didn't really want any in it. Perhaps that would have made the end result a bit creamier. Mine was slightly thicker than normal Nutella.
But it was still quite good. Like, eat-right-off-the-spoon good. Or eat-on-a-rice-cake good, as in the photo above. You wanna know what's really good, though? The fact that OXO sent me two scales for free. One for me, one for you. Well...if you win.
Leave a comment below for a chance to make my extra scale the newest addition to your kitchen. Tell me why you need a food scale, and I'll pick one winner at random. Be sure to leave a valid email address, too. If you don't, I won't be able to find out your mailing address and you'll forfeit the win!
Details: Contest closes at midnight EST on Tuesday, May 29, 2012. Winner will be announced on Wednesday, May 30, 2012. Open to US residents only. All opinions of the food scale are my own an in no way influenced by the free-ness of it.
17 comments:
Hi Tara! I would love this scale. I find them so handy when trying to eat healthy. I used to have one that was so old, had to finally dispose of it. Trying to get myself in better shape and this would be great!
I would like this scale! I have used one in the past and I think I need to start using one again.....thanks for the chance!
I actually already have a scale so no need to enter me in the contest. :) Just wanted to agree that having a kitchen scale makes baking a lot easier. This post reminds me of that - I'll have to break it out more often.
It totally makes baking easier...there's certainly something to be said about measuring things out to perfection. Have you ever used your scale to measure out portions? If so, I'm wondering how eye-opening it might have been...
No, I'm scared to see how off my portions are. Probably not the best reason, is it?
I need a food scale to check my portions so I will be able to lose this baby weight in 6 weeks :-). Ha. Really, I would love to make a bunch of recipes I have pinned, that are in weights, not measurements. (I'm to intimidated to try to convert them to measures)
Ugh, conversions. This girl does not love math!
And don't worry about the baby weight, it'll come off in due time :-)
hi Tara- I would love to own the oxo food scale, for so many reasons, I have 50 more pounds to loose, it would help me cook healthier meals at home more often, be healthier, loose more weight, plus I love kitchen gadgets, also wanted to say your ideas about a good instructor are spot on! I take several group classes & those are all important to me in a instructor. Im sure your a great instructor! Diane
I would love a scale as a dietetic student so I could teach others to use it :-) and weigh ingredients correctly
Hello Tara,
I just found your site through Pinterest. I have been struggling with weight and health issues for many years. I recently went to an alternative health nutritionist and found out a lot about my eating and activity levels. Things need to change big time! The scale looks wonderful to add to my program. Weights and quantities of food do matter a lot.
Thank you for all the advice you have on your blog. I intend to follow! Lynn
@comcast
Welcome, Lynn! Thank you for reading! It sounds like you are newly inspired by your meeting with the health nutritionist...congrats to you for recognizing the need for change, and best of luck with that! You. Can. Do. It!!! Keep me posted!
Hi there - found your blog via Pinterest. I love it...great info & love how you write. I too am a group fitness instructor...love fitness, health and sharing the enthusiasm with everyone! My email is ewaldner0828@yahoo.com. Would love to win the scale...thanks!
Thanks for the compliments, Erin...and welcome to Daily Dose! What group fitness classes do you teach?!
Found you looking for Sun Warrior information and was fortunate to find this contest for a scale. I've been looking for a scale for sometime. Finding it's hard to eyeball measurements, especially chicken, fish etc. More accurate measurements quicker weight loss! email: lindydnil2 at yahoo dot com
Currently I'm on a home delivery meal service in an attempt to lose the remaining excess 20 pounds I've been carrying around. I've lost over 40 pounds on my own however the last 20 has been tough. Home food delivery is nice, yet VERY expensive and frankly I've only lost three pounds in four weeks. I'd prefer to weigh my own food and save some money for new clothes! A scale would be a big help!
Congrats on your weight loss...and keep working at those last 20. You're doing well!
About three years I had four stents installed! Since then I've really tried to take note of what I'm eating and how much. Simple measuring devices are great for most things, measuring cups and spoons, however a scale would be great for those things I'd prefer to have measure in oz since as meat protein. A scale would help me to help my heart! Not so crazy about having to post my email on a public forum...but here ya go mail man dave 11 at yahoo dot com
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