b'Life with MSmy family and I have decided to leave thetry to always have cleaned, chopped potatoes peels on. Seems simple enough. The potatoin the freezer. Potatoes can be partially boiled, peelssoftenduringcooking(forexample,then frozen. The potatoes can then be pulled making mashed potatoes). My daughter whoout of the freezer for a stew, soup, or to make has a lot of mouth-texture concerns said thea quick batch of mashed potatoes. I especially potato peels causes minimum to no texturelove doing this with sweet potatoeswhich issues for her. She is my guide for food texturewe absolutely love, but are incredibly difficult concerns. Once I received the go-ahead fromto clean and chop. If I had to clean, chop, and her, I continued to leave the peels on for anythen cook these foods all at one time, I would meal that included a potato. I have investigatedbe at greater risk of cutting myself because of so many items to help with peeling a potato,fatigue. Partially boiling and freezing items but nothing I have found is helpful for me,such as potatoes has made meal preparation personally.much faster, and decreased fatigue in the I purchased a mandoline to assist withkitchen. slicing any food in the kitchen. I purchasedOther protective items I use in the kitchen mine from Walmart. A mandoline is a deviceinclude a cut-resistant glove. I especially use this used to assist in slicing vegetables and fruits.when Im using a hand grater, or a microplane Now, fair warningwithout proper protectionwhen zesting fruits. I learned many years ago andcare,amandolinecanbeextremelythat hot pads were not my friends. Trying to dangerous. A child should never, under anyhold the hot pad, and then pull a baking sheet circumstances, use a mandoline. We haveout of the oven required squeezing that I do family friends who have been sent to thenot always have the strength for. I was gifted hospital needing stitches because of a slip-upa pair of Penacio thick heat-resistant oven with their mandoline. When I purchased mine,mitts, with an internal protective cotton layer. I also purchased a protective shield for myThese are much easier for me to use than a hot hand so I would not get hurt. I found this onpad when handling any hot items. Ultimately, Amazon. Whenever you are using a mandoline,I experience a lot of trial and error in nding you need to exercise focus, care, and patience.the right food preparation items to use in the A mandoline can be used when fruits andkitchen.vegetablesneedtobeslicedto various KiiddssiinntthheeKKiittcchheennthicknesses. For items that need to be rough- Kchopped,suchascarrots,IrecommendaHaving children in the kitchen is a wonderful food chopper. We are investigating which oneway to teach about textures, colors, smells, to purchase. Right now, I use my mandolinenutritional value of foods, the importance of for thicker-sliced pieces of carrots. nutrition for our bodies, math, science, and Preparation is always on my mind. I freezethe list goes on. Some of the most amazing extra meals when possible, especially soups,conversations we have ever had as a family were which are easy to pull out of the freezer whenover food preparation times and mealtimes. we need a quick meal, but also when Im notHowever, having children in the kitchen can feeling well. We eat a lot of potatoes and so webe exceptionally dangerous, especially if there msfocusmagazine.org 12'