Easy Bake Oven...But Better

I get an appliance for my birthday every year. This wasn't exactly something that was planned or decided upon, but rather happened a few years in a row and then became a thing. It started when I was in college with a frappe maker, then a margarita maker for my 21st, and a single cup coffee maker. Once I moved out, it became things like a waffle maker, curling wand, and tv. It's become a fun game of sorts for my Mom and I, which is why as we wandered around Target one afternoon we happened to find ourselves in the small kitchen appliance section.

I started looking at air fryers because I was toying with the idea of wanting one. I'd had a chance to use one, but wasn't sure I wanted that to take up the space in my kitchen (because you know, kitchen space is limited). I noticed that some of the air fryers doubled as toaster ovens. Our toaster oven gets a lot of use, but if we could upgrade it to include an air fryer...this could be great.

So, I made the decision: I wanted an air fryer for my birthday. And since I knew I'd be asking for one that is more than a basic air fryer and my husband's birthday is about a month before mine, it could be a joint birthday gift - we'd both get plenty of use out of it. It needed to include a toaster oven function. It had to be able to fit a frozen pizza.

Between my husband's birthday and mine a large box showed up at our townhouse. In it? A Ninja Foodie 10 in 1 XL Pro Air Fry Oven. I was ecstatic. Air fry? Yes. Make a pizza? Yes. Toaster oven? Yes. So it was out with the toaster oven and in with the air fryer. I refer to it as a "grown up Easy Bake Oven." I've had a chance to use most of the functions.

Air Fry: Okay, this is obvious; it's the whole reason I wanted one. The instructions were great to help me figure out which pans/trays and what kinds of oil to use with it. I've air fried everything from chicken to broccoli.

Bake: This is my preferred way to make baked goods. The oven has a much better temperature setting/consistent heat and is a convection type oven, so my baked goods turn out much better. It also only takes about 2 minutes to preheat, and that's a win.

Dehydrate: I've always thought it would be cool to make my own dehydrated fruit, BUT, I don't want a dehydrator because they are such single use items. I had some apples I needed to get used, and I ended up just dehydrating them and making apple chips. 10/10 would recommend.

Reheat: gone are the days of rubbery chicken that's been heated in the microwave. The reheat function essentially heats the food on a low temp for 10-12 minutes and allows food to heat without using a microwave. It also doesn't dry out the food like microwaves sometimes do, so lunches are much more enjoyable right now.

It also has settings for "toast" (so I don't need my toaster), "bagel" (which seems like specialty toasting), and "pizza" (which my husband loves). I'm still working on having a need for the broil, air roast, and whole roast functions...maybe Thanksgiving, but until then, you'll find me using this appliance daily.