Christmas came a little early, thanks to Kohl’s Black Friday online sale. Woke up Sunday morning to an email shouting at me that Kohl’s had the Ninja Foodie Digital Air Fry Oven not only marked down almost 50%, but also an additional 15% off, AND Kohl’s cash back $15 for every $50 spent. Ninja Foodie say what?!?! I’ve had my eye on several Ninja Foodie products for a couple years now. The air fryers intrigued me and I thought it would be cool to dehydrate my own fruits, so those were two features I wanted in a Foodie…deliberated about an indoor grill and a pressure cooker….so many options but of course no single machine had all 4 of those features. Now the question became, which of those features did I actually need???

Instant Pots were all the rage a couple years ago, but to be honest, pressure cooker machines scare the crap out of me! I have these horrible nightmares of pots exploding and sending scalding chicken soup all over my face. Sam laughs, having grown up with pressure-cooked meals and never having that happen, but my mom never used a pressure cooker, so I have no experience with them except for my nightmares. A slow-cooker has always served me well (let’s not think about the slow-cooker that started a house fire in “This Is Us” and led to Jack’s death!) and so, the pressure-cooker option of a Foodie wasn’t at the top of my must-have-features-list.

Now for the indoor smokeless grill option…that would be nice to have, especially considering all the times I stood outside in the rain or snow just for a grilled burger. However, our new house has a covered patio, so while it might be cold grilling outside, I won’t be standing in the rain or snow. Do I really need the grill feature on a Foodie??? Guess not.

So, I wake up Sunday morning, see this ad for the Ninja Foodie Digital Air Fry Oven, read that it’s an air fryer AND dehydrator (plus it roasts, bakes, broils, and toasts) and think to myself, this is it. This is what I’ve been waiting for. And since it toasts, I can donate our old toaster oven to the Salvation Army. Win win situation! I put the Foodie in my online shopping cart, filled out the payment section, and voila……IT SOLD OUT!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!! I hurry and switch store locations to another one that has them in stock, press the payment button, and it goes through. Phew! 2 hours later, I pick up the Foodie at Kohl’s and am the proud new owner 🙂

First things we try in the air fryer are tater tots and chicken nuggets. They were delicious, however, they are really easy to get crispy in a regular toaster oven, so I didn’t consider that proof of the air fryer’s genius capability. On to bigger and better things – DONUTS! Oh yea! I’ve made donuts many many times for the Feast of Epiphany, but it always involves a big pot of oil. I found a simple recipe for donuts that uses canned biscuit dough and zero oil. Simply cut a hole in the middle of the biscuit, put it in the air fry basket, fry for 6 minutes on each side, and out comes an oil-free healthy donut….maybe not exactly healthy, but way better for you than a fried donut! The outside had a definite crunch to it, while the inside was super fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth soft. I sprinkled some with cinnamon sugar and some with powdered sugar, however I recommend the powdered sugar route since there isn’t any oil for the granulated sugar to stick to. Overall, after this experiment, I’m a believer in air fryers! The donuts were fantastic and I’m never again oil-frying an Epiphany Day donut 🙂

Stay tuned for a post on the dehydrate feature! I can’t wait to try apples, bananas, and mangoes!