December 10, 2013

Bake, Gratinate and more with the Philips Avance XL Airfryer

Dominique Advertorials, Parenting and Kids Philips Avance XL Airfryer

Chocolate Chip with Rasin cake

Having the Philips Avance XL Airfryer has really been so much. Besides air frying Carrot Chips there are so many other things you can do with it beside just frying. You can bake, roast, grill and gratinate too!! It is one of the most versatile kitchen gadget which I have to date.

Baking the chocolate chip rasin cake in the Philips Avance XL fryer

Baking the chocolate chip raisin cake in the Philips Avance XL fryer

The kids have not eaten chocolate cake in a while so I decided to bake a Chocolate Chip Raisin cake for them with the Airfryer.

Ingredients

2 c. self-rising flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder
1 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
6 eggs
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. chocolate chips

Instructions.

1) Mix all the ingredients into a 7 inch round baking tin.

2) Bake at 170 degrees for 18 minutes.

As you can see from the above that the cake came out moist and chocolaty. The kids really loved it.

It baked faster then a traditional oven and it tasted just as good!!

If you are counting calories this festive season and cake is not something which you can indulge in why not consider baking these apple chips instead?

Ingredients for Apple Chips

It is really easy with only 2 ingredients needed – Apple and Ground Cinnamon. Slice the apple and sprinkle some cinnamon powder on it before baking it for 18 minutes on 160 degrees.

Apple chips before baking

The apple chips after being Airfried

The apple chips smelled and tasted really yummy. It was crispy and sweet and as it was airfried

i did not have to feel guilty about piling on the calories which were associated with deep fried chips.

Besides baking do you know that you can make gratins with the Philips Avance XL Airfryer?

Making Courgettes Gratin in the Philips Avance XL AirFryer

I saw this recipe in the Airfryer Recipe book and decided to try it out after having success baking the chocolate chip raisin cake.

The Courgettes Gratin

The Courgettes Gratin was as yummy as it looked after being Airfried. The gratin layer was cruncy and tasty and it really complimented the courgettes making it a dellish appetizer.

If you are not into cakes of gratins why don’t use try grilling some chicken in the Philips Avance XL AirFryer instead?

Grilling chicken wings in the Philips Avance XL Airfryer

You just have to marinate your chicken wings with your chosen marinate. ( I used Char Siew sauce to marinate the chicken wings) Set the airfryer for 12 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius and you are free to prepare the other dishes for dinner.

Grilled Chicken Wings

Are you inspired to get yourself you own Philips Avance XL Airfryer set so you can start cooking the yummy dishes shown above?

Purchase a Philips Avance XL Airfryer and win passes to attend exclusive Culinary workshops by Philips.

Disclosure: All opinions are 100% my own.This post has a compensation level of 13. For more information visit our disclosure page.

November 16, 2013

StudyDog: Learn to Read Online for Kids

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Reviews Reading Website

The StudyDog Website

Looking for a way to make learning to read more interesting and interactive? Now you can with the help of Study Dog.

Aimed at Pre-K to Grade 2 children, this website provides a structured and scaffolded approach to the five areas of reading- Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension.

I tried out this website with my 6yr old who is currently in Primary 1 (Grade 1)

Doggie boy has been working through the different lessons and scenarios since a month back. He has made steady progress and has earned quite a bit of gold from completing the various lessons. He enjoys helping StudyDog as he goes through the different tasks given. Everyday when Doggie boy returns from school he would request to go on the PC to do the next lesson of StudyDog.

The scenario at the start of the lesson

Each lesson starts with a short clip introducing the scenario before the series of activities start.

Screenshot of the lesson

In this particular lesson Doggie boy had to look out for the word always and suck up the mouse which was carrying the card that says “always” pressing the button on the tube in the center of the screen. After the mice is suck through the tube the card that it was carrying would be deposited into the basket if it was the correct card.

Screenshot from an earlier lesson

As you can see from the screenshot above of a previous lesson, each lesson that has been completed successfully would see a medal appear in the bar below. There is about 15 exercises in each lesson which Doggie boy has to go through to complete the whole lesson.

Reading Progress Chart

Over at the Parents Center I can monitor Doggie boy’s progress by looking at the different reports that are generated every lesson which Doggie boy completes. The report also tells me his level of proficiency for each level.

The skill chart

There is also a skill chart shown which allows me to know which are his weak areas and were to give him extra practice. As you can see from the chart above Doggie boy needs help in improving his oral comprehension.

My Thoughts

I found this a really cool website to help strengthen Doggie boy’s reading ability. He is able to navigate this website by himself without much difficulty and really enjoys going through the different lessons.

Do consider getting a subscription for your child as it is less then $72/yr when paid in full. There are also month by month subscription options making it affordable for most. A subscription would certainly make a great Christmas gift this year.

Disclaimer: I received a free one year account of StudyDog for review purposes. Opinions are 100% my own.