FP Quick Tips
You Name It!
Easy Tips to Remember Cheese, Soft & Hard Chopping Vegetables Mincing Vegetables Mincing Parsley Chop or Mince Onions Bell Peppers Carrots Cabbage
Slice, Chop & Puree Fruit Fruit Jam Sliced Fruit Tomatoes
Miscellaneous Foods Cream Cheese Ground Meat Yeast Bread Sweet Bread Pastry or Pasta Dough Nuts
FP's Do Not Do

You Name It! (and a food processor can do it)
Yes it can chop, slice, shred, grind and puree almost any food quickly and easily. Use the slicing disk for all sorts of veggies. The same blade can also slice delicate fruit. Plus there's a blade for shredding, one for chopping (same for blending & pureeing) and one for kneading yeast dough. A food processor just may be the most versatile kitchen appliance!
Easy TIPS to Remember:
	Cheese: Shred cheese first in a clean-dry work-bowl, reserve as needed. Soft Cheese: Slightly freeze soft cheese, like mozzarella, to firm it up and make it cold. Hard Cheese: You can actually grate hard cheeses, but it's with the metal chopping blade. Insert metal blade into the "dry" work-bowl, cover and switch on. Drop cubes of hard cheese through the feed tube, until extremely-finely minced. Chopping Vegetables: When chopping several vegetables together, do so in stages. Mincing some items first. Add other veggies. Pulse to chop. Add seasonings, but don't just turn the machine on, UNLESS YOU DO WANT the veggies to puree smooth. Mincing Vegetables: Mince as few as "just a single garlic clove". Insert the metal chopping blade into the "dry" work-bowl, cover and switch on. Drop the clove(s) through the feed tube, until finely minced. Scrape the bowl down. (Do the same, to finely mince jalapenos!) Mincing Parsley: With parsley too, start with a dry work bowl. Insert the metal blade, then clean-dry parsley. Pulse to chop fine. Fresh minced parsley freezes beautifully in zip-bags. Chop or Mince Onions: Chop onions with the metal blade. Quarter them first with a knife, then chop as them with the metal blade, coarse or fine, by "pulsing" the machine. Bell Peppers: Same with bell peppers, quartering first. Slice, then layer out on a cookie sheet "to flash freeze" (this means freeze until firm). Return the peppers to freezer, in zip-bags. Carrots: Peel and cut carrots to the length of the feed tube. Vertically slice one carrot through the smaller, inner feed-tube) into coins. Slice several carrots vertically (through the outer, larger feed tube). Or layer carrots horizontally (in the larger feed tube) and slice the long way. Cabbage: Slice cabbage with the food processor first, INSTEAD of shredding it. Remove the slicing blade, insert the metal blade. Add dressing and seasonings and give it a few  "pulses" to mix and chop all at once. You can shred carrots, potatoes, zucchini to your heart's content (with the shredding disk).
Slice, Chop & Puree Fruit:
	Fruit Jam: Chop or puree fruit for jams with the metal blade, "pulse" machine to chop. Keep a close eye, as it is easily pureed instead. Sliced Fruit: Slice delicate strawberries or bananas with the slicking blade. Core and peel (or not) an apple and slice. Leave whole for rings or cut slices in half, with a knife, for apple pies or tarts. Sliced Tomatoes: Slice firm tomatoes with the slicing blade. Tomato Sauces: Just think of all the wonderful tomato sauce recipes you can make and save time in a food processor (salsa, enchilada and spaghetti sauce). Tomatoes are wonderful chopped or pureed.
Miscellaneous Foods:
Cream Cheese: Anything with cream cheese (sauce or frosting) blends up in no time, straight, cold from the fridge (not room temperature) with the metal blade. Ground Meat: You can even grind pork for won-tons and egg rolls with the metal blade. Yeast Dough: Use the "dough blade" adding just half the flour with the liquid and the rest of the ingredients (except extras like raisin or nuts). First blend to make a batter, then add the remaining flour, just until the dough cleans the sides of the work-bowl. Then knead up to only 40 seconds (adding raisins or nuts during the last 10 seconds kneading). That is all it needs, any more can over-process the dough. Sweet Bread:  (Note: Remember to shred things like zucchini or cheese first, in a clean work-bowl, set aside to reserve. Same with chopping nuts or chocolate. Adding after creaming other ingredients.) Use the metal blade to cream butter (or shortening) with sugar. Blend in things like bananas or pumpkin. Add in eggs and vanilla. Sift together the dry ingredients (using a strainer and a whisk) into a bowl. Add dry  ingredients all at once, plus the reserved items. Cover the machine and PULSE  ONLY JUST AND UNTIL the flour almost disappears.(about 3-4 times). Any more may over-process the batter. Pastry or Pasta Dough: Follow a food processor recipe, using the metal blade to make pie crusts or pasta. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes, before rolling. Nuts: When you're chopping nuts for recipe use, put in a teaspoon or two of granulated sugar first. You can chop them fine and not have them turn into nut butter. Oh and a food processor does makes great homemade nut butters (peanut and more).
Food Processors Do NOT Do:
Food processors do not incorporate air. As for whipping cream or potatoes, stick with a hand mixer. Same for shakes or smoothies, use a blender.