For some reason unbeknownst to me, my family suddenly became addicted to chips and dip. I wasn’t thrilled about this for obvious reasons. I didn’t want my kids constantly eating this stuff and ending up with health problems down the road. I needed to intervene somehow.
I knew my Cuisinart food processor was going to be the thing to help me fix this problem. I did a search to replace some of my blades and I found KitchenWorksUSA. They sell actual Cuisinart DLC-7 parts. So naturally I ordered some new ones just knowing what was coming.
Next, I needed to find a recipe to make homemade chips. I knew the gadget had the capability to slice potatoes very thin, which I was not going to be able to do by hand. I decided rather than deep frying, which seemed like partially defeating the purpose, I would put them in the air fryer.
Next up was finding different dips that were enjoyable with chips. I found a ranch sriracha dip and a veggie dill dip that looked like they’d be pretty good to eat with just plain salted potato chips. Now came the scary part: telling my kids my plan.
Of course it was all moaning and groaning, but my kids are 13 and 15, so this is typical behavior for them on a daily basis anyway, and at this age they have some general knowledge about what is healthy to put into their bodies and what is not. So it isn’t like they didn’t get where I was coming from.
I decided to get the kids involved, thinking it would be an easier transition if they helped. My kids enjoy doing hands-on things so it made more sense that way. I started by showing them how to slice the potatoes in the food processor. Then we salted them and put a minimal amount of oil and air fried them.
Then I had them gather the ingredients for the dips. They were super excited to try the first two I found, especially the sriracha ranch. We made them both in the food processor. The kids thought it was pretty neat that we could first chop the dill for the other dip, and then mix it all together after all in one shot.
My kids were blown away by the results, enjoying both the chips and the dips. They are eager to find more recipes together for both chips and dips to try. They’ve already started coming up with their own ideas, which to me is so cool.
What a great situation: my kids are eating healthier snacks, they’re getting a chance to exercise their creativity and we have a really cool bonding experience- even between the teen brother and sister! I never would have imagined I could get my teens to get along so well either. I’m so thankful that a kitchen tool brought us all together.
