You know what is kind of a funny predicament you might find yourself in in January? You are so excited because you have always wanted a KitchenAid stand mixer and you finally got one this year for Christmas after a good deal on Black Friday……but then January hits and you find yourself not using the beautiful machine to do what it does best--bake lots of delicious goods time and time again!

Your will power against all those delicious sweet treats is pretty strong when you grew up in a big family with 8 kids--six girls (5 of whom were above 5’10”) and two brothers who were 6’8” and 6’10”--aka: a family of athletes. We were a gangly bunch of kids, who now have grown up and are in our 30’s and 40’s and unfortunately the pounds tend to stick on the ribs a little more than they used to. So now, we can take those strong, competitive family bonds and compete with each other a little in January to challenge each other to drop a few lbs and see who can hold out the longest with eating tons of servings of fruits and veggies everyday and go without sweets! That competition you feel against siblings is very real because we’ve got a good, solid competition going strong right now and your girl, Mary, is holding out strong, my friends! If you’d put your money on me you’d be cashing out in a few weeks because I’m probably the most stubborn and competitive one in my family ;)

So yada yada yada…..I got this shiny, new KitchenAid mixer for Christmas, but haven’t been able to use it for baking, which is a bit of a bummer. But the taste and smell of victory is sweeter than that of the best of banana breads. I did let my daughter give it the old maiden voyage and she made a chocolate cake, which was so fun. She loves baking and is probably more excited about the mixer than I am.

Needless to say, I’ve been thinking of different ways to use the beautiful ocean-blue mixer besides making delicious baked goods. Here are 9 outside-the-box ways to use your KitchenAid stand mixer:

1. Easily break apart cooked chicken or pork. If you are making pulled pork tacos, or need shredded chicken for enchiladas, just put your cooked meat right in the mixer and turn it on low for a few seconds and it shreds super easily in seconds!

2. Mix meatloaf or meatballs. Just dump your ingredients in, give it a good mix, and you have a quick, weeknight dinner ready in a jiff! 

3. Making mashed potatoes. Mixing mashed potatoes is an art--and one that works well in the KitchenAid mixer. Use your paddle attachment and mix them when they are hot so they don’t dry out (which leads to adding too much liquid and overmixing, which leads to gummy mashed potatoes--yuck!). 

4. Granola. One of the key aspects of making great granola is making sure every piece is coated with wet. Using the mixer makes this step a breeze.

5. Mixing Dips. As a big tv sports spectating kind of family, we love our chip dips! You know--the ones that you add spices and things to cream cheese and mix until it’s very smooth without lumps? That is now a super easy thing to do right in your mixer. 

6. Egg salad. If you are a big egg salad sandwich fan, just use the wire whisk after a rough chop for the perfect egg salad every time!

Are there any other (non-baking) clever ways you use your stand mixer for that I haven’t listed here? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.