Being a student myself I found this to be really amusing. I don’t know why it’s amusing though, because the Eatmecrunchy Bowl has solved a great problem - soggy cereal.

The Eatmecrunchy Bowl is made from Melamine and is dishwasher safe so no need to worry about it being just a “novelty” bowl. A lot of these things are great for the first few uses, but after a couple of washes they start to fall apart, or they’re just not safe to put in the dishwasher.

The Eatmecrunchy Bowl works by having a shelf inside that covers 70% of the bottom of the bowl. You put your favourite cereal in as normal and pour the milk on as normal but, and here’s the clever bit, 70% of your cereal stays on the shelf  and 30% goes in to the “well” at one side of the Eatmecrunchy Bowl where it gets mixed with the milk. How cool is that. As most inventions, it’s a blazingly simple idea that works exceptionally well.

The Eatmecrunchy Bowl has got to be one of the best non technology gadgets that I have seen for a very long time. Simple idea to a great problem. Not only is it an extremely great invention, but it’s cheap too - only £4.95 for a single or £7.95 for two. A great bargain if ever I did see one.

Now all they need to invent is a disposable version for us students so that we don’t have to do any washing up.

I think that the summer is finally here and that means we get to eat some lovely ice cream. But not everyone has an ice cream van that comes round their streets. So why not have a go at making it yourself? The Ice Cream Ball is a great way of making ice cream and having some fun at the same time.

With the Ice Cream Ball you can put all your ingredients in one end and the ice and rock salt in the other. Then it’s just a matter of playing ball for a while. What could be simpler?

It does take about 20 minutes to make the ice cream in the Ice Cream Ball and the consistency of your finished ice cream will vary depending on the amount of ice and salt you put in, the ingredients and the amount of shaking that the Ice Cream Ball gets. If you’re not happy with the consistency of the ice cream just put the lid back on and play some more.

You can’t actually use the Ice Cream Ball as a football though because, let’s face it, who want a broken toe from kicking hard plastic about. You can pass it, shake it, dribble it and even roll it, but no kicking.

If you’re wondering why you need to add salt in with the ice then it’s because it helps the temperature become low enough for the ice to actually freeze your ice cream mixture. It’s all to do with thermodynamics.

Now is absolutely the right time to buy one of these great little gadgets and PriceGrabber is where to look for the best prices.

I saw this on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross a few weeks back and meant to post about it then but other things came up and it was forgotten until today.

I remember the Rubik’s Cube coming out when I was a youngster and everyone competing with each other to see who could complete it in the fastest time possible. Although I never managed to ever get all the faces completed without having to resort to pulling the stickers off.

The Rubiks Cube salt and pepper grinders will bring back those memories to anyone who was lucky (or unlucky) enough to remember them. You can’t actually use them as a proper Rubik’s Cube though unfortunately.

Only the top layer of these cubes rotate to allow you to grind your salt or pepper. They are however exactly the same size as the original cube. Don’t worry about mixing your salt and pepper up either, the Rubiks Cube salt and pepper grinders top layer are coloured differently in order for you to be able to tell them apart. The salt is white and the pepper is red.

The Rubiks Cube salt and pepper grinders will certainly be a conversation starter amongst your 30 something friends who might pop round for a dinner party and no doubt, bring back memories of other 80’s embarrassments like big hair and Spandau Ballet.

This is a really, really fun gadget for the kitchen. I’ve not seen a better, or more fun way to chop garlic before. The Garlic Zoom is a garlic chopper with a difference.

No more will you have to struggle with a knife to chop up your garlic because the Garlic Zoom will do all the hard work for you. Another bonus is that you won’t get smelly garlic fingers or work surfaces. The Garlic Zoom contains the garlic thus removing the need to touch it excessively.

So how does the Garlic Zoom work? Well, it’s pretty straightforward to be honest, you peel a garlic clove and pop it into the top of the Garlic Zoom, close the lid and roll it backwards and forwards on your worktop. The more you push the Garlic Zoom, the finer the clove will be chopped. To get the chopped garlic out you simply open the lid again and tap it out.

The Garlic Zoom is definitely a gadget you need in the kitchen because it’s so quick and easy to use plus the cleaning is a doddle. Take the blade out and pop it in the dishwasher. For under £8 the Garlic Zoom is much much cheaper than a good knife. So grab yours today!

I saw this recently and thought that I didn’t really have a food processor. Sure, there’s one in the house but it’s bulky and takes forever to put together so that I can use it.

The Kenwood Food Processor is great because it has a compact design which to me means that I can leave it out. It also has a powerful 900 watt motor and a 3 litre bowl, as well as a 1.5 litre liquidiser. Great for any kitchen in my mind.

A food processor makes it so much easier to get food prepared in a busy kitchen and this Kenwood is no different to bigger sized ones. I love the fact that you can get egg whites and cream whipped in seconds rather than minutes. The liquidiser can be used to make those modern smoothies that everyone seems to be drinking these days.

In these cold winter months there’s nothing better than homemade soup but the soup I make, which is a delicious carrot and lentil, is not as nice when it has big chunks of carrots and celery in it. So the best solution is to put it in a food processor. And that is why the Kenwood Food Processor caught my eye.

I’ll hopefully get my hands on it soon.

Now this is something different a Giant Cupcake Tin. I love cakes at the best of times and to be honest, I may eat a few too many at times, they are nice. So what better cake tin to have as a novelty item than a Giant Cupcake Tin. Of course there are other cakes available and tins, obviously, but a Giant Cupcake Tin is a great novelty one.

Cupcakes are delicious and to make them you obviously need a Giant Cupcake Tin. You can make up your own cupcake mix or use the one that’s included with the Giant Cupcake Tin. You make the mix up and poor half in the top and half in the bottom pop it in the oven, and bob’s your father’s brother.

For some reason I can imagine students in digs having one of these tins just for cooking after a night out. I must assure you that I’m not at that stage in my student life just yet. I have until September.

The Giant Cupcake Tin would be an ideal way of making that last minute birthday cake, much cheaper than buying one. The Giant Cupcake Tin can obviously be used time and time again because it’s professional weight, cast aluminium, non-stick tin.

So what are you waiting for, you know you want one. Get your Giant Cupcake Tin today!

I’ve never seen the appeal of these chocolate fountains as items for everyday use, or even weekend use. I can only really see a use for them as a novelty gift that comes out only at parties. That doesn’t mean to say that I don’t want a chocolate fountain. There is a certain appeal to owning one I think because I can see the fun to be had with them.

Having a bowl of fruit ready to dip into a chocolate fountain is such a simple idea that it cannot really go wrong. And it’s not only fruit that can be dipped I should imagine, sweets could be another option as well.

So how do these chocolate fountains work then? Well, you have to melt the chocolate in a microwave or on the stove first. Next up is to put the spiral drive in the middle of the base before putting on the central columns and the upside down saucers. The melted chocolate is put in the base unit before being drawn up by the spiral drive and cascading down the rest of the machine and starting its journey again.

Mouth watering stuff you’ll have to agree. These chocolate fountains can be bought for as little as £13 toom which hardly breaks the bank. I am quite sure that it would still end up in the cupboard and only bought out at parties though, which is a bit of a shame. I wonder if it could be used with other things apart from chocolate?

As a last minute gift for the home I decided to get the Breville DF30 Fryer. The reason I decided to get a new fryer was quite simple; the old one is broken. Quite frankly it’s dangerous to use. The Breville DF30 Fryer seems like a better option because it won’t have to be moved every time I need it. At the moment we have a deep fat fryer that’s a bit too big, so it gets put away after use. The Breville DF30 Fryer is compact enough to be left in the same spot.

I’ve not actually got it out of the box yet, so can’t tell you too much about how good it is as a fryer. I’m hoping it will be better than the current one. We actually have to use a fork to get the basket out of the oil, the connector broke on the handle. Thinking back, I’ve found that this is usually the first part to go on all the deep fat fryers we’ve had.

The Breville DF30 Fryer has some pretty good specifications though, and I hope that it’s easy to use. Some of these specs are:

• 3.6 litre capacity
• 2kg food capacity
• 2000 watt
• new lid design with filter and viewing window
• removable stainless steel bowl
• thermal cut off
• variable temperature control
• cool zone technology
• totally disassembles for effortless cleaning
• power on and temperature indicators
• brushed stainless steel lid and body
• carrying handles
• cord storage

These are all reasons that I decided on the Breville DF30 Fryer. Looking forward to the first batch of chips from the Breville DF30 Fryer now.

It’s getting close to that time when students are starting or going back to University. Students are notoriously bad cooks; well quite a few of them are anyhow. But most of them know how to use a toaster, so what better gadget to get for them than some Toastabags.

These miraculous little bags cook food in a toaster. Yes, you read correctly, they cook food in toasters. Isn’t that great?
So what can you cook in the Toastabags I hear you ask. Well, quite a lot actually. You can cook toasted sandwiches, burgers, beans, scrambled eggs, fish fingers and even oven chips. I think that these are a godsend because you don’t really have to think that much with them. Grab the bag, put what you want to cook into it, stick it in the toaster then eat. What could be easier?

You can also re-use the Toastabags too. They’re easy to clean and dishwasher safe too. Much more economical than getting all those pots and pans out to make a meal, right. At only £6.95 you could buy two and utilise both slots of the toaster at once, which will in turn save electricity. Not only do they cook your food, they save you energy and money. Money you can use for more important things like course books or materials.

You’re not going to become the next Jamie Oliver with the Toastabags, but you can be safe in the knowledge that you won’t go hungry.

The George Forman Health Grill comes in a range of sizes to suit all families, from small to large, family sized ones.

The George Forman Health Grill pictured here, is roughly the size of a large toaster and sits stylishly on your kitchen worktop. You plug it in and let it heat up until the light goes off. Then you are ready to grill chicken breasts, steaks, burgers, chops and fish. There are a large range of options and the times for grilling are included in a book that comes with the George Forman Health Grill.
Not only is it healthy because you don’t use any oil or fat, but its quick too, which means that you’re saving money. Using the George Forman Health Grill is much better than turning the oven on, which as we all know, uses a huge amount of electricity. Chicken breasts take roughly 7 minutes to cook, and the sloping grill plate means that any excess fat runs off into the fat catching tray that is also provided. These grills have been around for a while, and are an excellent gadget to have in any kitchen. But with electricity prices on the up, it might be a good time to look at it again if you don’t have on. Costing just over £30, you are going to be making a saving quite soon after buying it.

Its not just about the savings you can make though. There are the health benefits for you and your family.
Cleaning the George Forman Health Grill is a doddle too, just wipe the plates with a damp cloth.