GEFU Kitchen Tools: My Long-Term Review After Our Wheat Belly Party

Disclaimer: I received this product/service at a reduced price or for free. All opinions are my own and are my honest opinions based on my own experience with the product.

It was an icy cold morning when I woke up to host the GEFU and Wheat Belly Healthy-n-Lean Party for Tryazon. We were in the middle of Snowmageddon 2015, and I honestly wondered whether anyone would venture out.

They did-and looking back all these years later, I loved that party.

We made Lemon Chicken Soup and a fresh salad topped with spiralized vegetables. It was exactly the kind of warm meal that worked on a cold winter day, and the party gave everyone a chance to see and try the GEFU kitchen tools while we cooked.

The most useful update I can give now is one I couldn't possibly have given when this article was new: I still have the GEFU tools. I still use them. They are good quality, and they still look almost new.

That tells me far more about a kitchen tool than an initial product review ever could.

The Lemon Chicken Soup Became Part of My Cooking

The original party introduced me to adding fresh lemon to chicken soup. I still use lemon in my chicken and noodles now.

That is one of my favorite things about trying a new recipe or attending a food event. You don't necessarily keep making the exact recipe forever. Sometimes you learn one technique or flavor combination and carry that forward into the food you already make.

Lemon brightens chicken broth without requiring a complicated ingredient list. I still believe a good broth benefits from giving the broth and seasonings time to simmer together before finishing the dish.

For a homestead kitchen, chicken and noodles is already the kind of practical comfort food that can bring together homemade broth, chicken, herbs and homemade noodles. A little lemon is now another flavor I know works with it.

For hosting the Healthy-n-Lean Party for Tryazon they sent me the Wheat Belly Cookbook and several products from GEFU. I received the GEFU Spirelli Spiral Slicer, GEFU Universal Peeler, GEFU Lemon Juicer and the GEFU Julienne Peeler ASIA. I had heard of these products before but had not tried them, so I was excited to do that. I used all of the GEFU products in the preparation of the meal and showed my guests how the products worked. They also had an opportunity to purchase a number of products the day of the party at 20% off. Here are my thoughts.

Wheat Belly Cookbook

I love cookbooks - and let's face it we can all stand to eat a little healthier. Many people - for a number of reasons already eliminate wheat from their diet. Although I am not one of these people, I found a number of the recipes in the Wheat Belly Cookbook interesting enough that I intend to add them to my menu. What I loved the most though was the homemade spice recipes in the cookbook since I really do enjoy growing my own herbs and spices then grinding them into the mixtures I like. For those who feel like they just don't have time to cook healthy meals the Wheat Belly Cookbook is a must-have! The quick and easy recipes in it can be made in 30 minutes or less! No kidding!

GEFU Spirelli Spiral Slicer: Still a Favorite

At the party we tried both carrots and cucumbers in the GEFU Spirelli Spiral Slicer. I had bought baby carrots, which weren't a particularly good choice because they were difficult to hold as they became shorter. The baby cucumbers worked beautifully, and we used the spiralized vegetables to dress up the salad.

Years later, I still have the spiralizer and still use it. One of my favorite uses now is making spiral potatoes.

That is a much better long-term test of this tool than whether it made a pretty cucumber salad at one sponsored party. Potatoes are a homestead staple, and a spiralizer gives you another way to prepare them without buying another processed convenience food.

It is also useful when the garden is producing zucchini, cucumbers, carrots or other firm vegetables that fit the tool. When you grow a lot of something, changing the shape and preparation can make a familiar vegetable feel different on the plate.

The tool has held up remarkably well. The quality I noticed when it was new was real; mine still looks nearly new after all these years.

GEFU Universal Peeler

This is a Japanese peeler that is used to peel fruits, vegetables and asparagus. It is often used for detail work. We found this product easier to use than the GEFU Julienne Peeler ASIA for peeling the carrots for the Lemon Chicken Soup. I had problems using it possibly because of the arthritis in my hands. Jeffrey was able to use it easily and so I allowed him to cut up the carrots for the soup. It is well made and study. The blades are sharp. Those who like using hand tools are sure to love this item.

GEFU Lemon Juicer

The GEFU Lemon Juicer was hands down my favorite item at the original party, and I still have and use it. It works on a variety of citrus fruits: push the juicer into the fruit and squeeze, and the juice comes through without the seeds. I was impressed by how much juice it extracted. Even with the difficulty I sometimes had using hand tools, I was able to use this one. The tool has also stood the test of time and still looks remarkably good years later.

We added the lemon juice to the chicken soup at the end of the cooking cycle. I let it simmer just a little bit while I talked with our guests about the GEFU and Wheat Belly products that #Tryazon sent. The aroma in the house was wonderful and yes, I could detect the spiciness of the lemon juice.

GEFU Julienne Peeler ASIA

The GEFU Julienne Peeler ASIA did not work especially well with the baby carrots at the party because there simply wasn't enough vegetable to hold comfortably as we worked. I did like the handle design and the sharp blades. Like the other GEFU tools from this event, it proved to be a quality piece of kitchen equipment rather than a disposable gadget.

What I Think of the GEFU Tools Years Later

This is one of those old product posts where time has made the review better.

I loved the GEFU tools when I received them, but now I know they were genuinely well made. I still own them. I still use them. They still work, and they still look almost new.

The spiralizer is especially fun for spiral potatoes, and the lemon juicer introduced a flavor to my chicken cooking that I still use today.

Good homestead kitchen equipment doesn't need to be complicated. It needs to do its job, hold up to use and be useful enough that you keep reaching for it instead of replacing it.

These tools have done that.

What Stayed With Me From the Wheat Belly Party

I wasn't following a wheat-free diet when I hosted the party, and this article isn't a recommendation that everyone needs to eliminate wheat. What interested me in the Wheat Belly Cookbook were individual recipes and especially the homemade spice mixtures because I enjoy growing, drying and combining my own herbs and seasonings.

The bigger memory, though, is the event itself. It was bitterly cold outside, we made a warm pot of lemon chicken soup, experimented with new kitchen tools and shared the meal with people who came out despite the weather.

I loved the party.

And years later, I am still using both something tangible from it-the GEFU tools-and something I learned from it: lemon belongs in my chicken and noodles.