Pampered Chef Food Chopper

This is another staple in my kitchen. I am kind of a minimalist when it comes to kitchen gadgets, but I love this thing! It is really quick, and doesn't require a ton of clean up or another appliance on my countertop. I have had three of these, and my favorite was the Pampered chef one--until I burned it on the stove. Oops. It had a more padded like top that didn't hurt my hand.

It chops and rotates quickly so you can easily dice onions, garlic, herbs, nuts, etc very fast and have nice uniformly shaped pieces. I also like that I have more control with the sizes than with the food processor.

Here is my garlic with the chopper:



It saves the nuts from flying all over the kitchen, my fingers from being chopped off, and I don't smell like garlic. Good things!

The one from Pampered Chef is around $30, and I've other brands at most kitchen supply stores, and even TJ Maxx and Ross for around $10.

How to Cook Brown Rice

I am always amazed at all the Minute Rice I see at the store. I am thinking that people must not know how easy brown rice really is. It is one of those things that is kinda like beans--it seems hard until you actually try it. It is very easy.

White rice isn't good for you, Minute Rice is worse. Rice is so cheap, there is no good reason to compromise your nutrition and eat the white stuff. If you have white rice, it is great for food storage because it lasts so long. But feed your family the good stuff. Brown rice is relatively cheap and tastes great when it is cooked right and kids love it. Brown rice has a lower glycemic index than white rice because it has four times the fiber. It also has more nutrients.

Here is a good explanation of the differences between white and brown rice:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=128

I cook it a few times per week. We make a lot, and what doesn't get eaten for dinner is breakfast the next morning with some cinnamon, agave nectar and milk. You can use almond milk if you don't do dairy. My kids love it and it is just as easy as Fruit Loops.

Here is the super easy way:

2 cups water for every cup of rice, plug it in and turn it on. Perfect fluffy rice in about 40 minutes. No pots to watch, nothing getting burned (very good thing in my house!).

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-SR-TMB10-Cooker-Warmer-Silver/dp/B000EIASGE/ref=pd_sim_k_1

Panasonic is a great brand to get. I've had my National (Panasonic used to be sold as National Brand) Rice Cooker for 8 years and it is still going strong. Aside from my blender, it gets the most use of any of my kitchen appliances.



Here are the stovetop instructions:

Put brown rice and water together in a pot with a lid. Use the ratio of 1.5-2.0 cups water to 1 cup rice, just depends on how fluffy vs. chewy you like it. I generally use closer to 2.0 cups.

Set the heat to maximum, and bring the rice/water to a boil uncovered. Then put the lid on the pot, and reduce the heat to low/simmer. If your lid has a steam valve, keep it closed. Let the rice simmer for 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat, and let the rice sit in the covered pot for another 10 minutes. It’s okay if you let the rice sit longer than 10 minutes (20 or 30 minutes is fine too), but don’t let it go any less.

Broccoli Garlic Pasta

Yeah, I know my titles are original!

This is another really easy one. It is one of my favorites, and came from my mom's friend that is Italian. I get my whole wheat spaghetti at Costco. This has tons of garlic in it, and I think that is why I like it so much.

1.5 lbs broccoli florets
1 pkg Whole Wheat Spaghetti
1 head of garlic
2T olive oil
Salt to taste

Steam the broccoli in 3 cups water until bright green. Remove the broccoli from the cooking water and set aside. Keep the bright green cooking water in the pot and add water as needed to cook spaghetti. Cook spaghetti until tender (mine is 11 minutes)
While spaghetti is cooking, dice garlic and add to 2T olive oil. Saute. Add garlic to broccoli and toss. Then as the spaghetti is done, toss broccoli mixture with spaghetti.

Easy Taco Salad

This is a vegetarian taco salad that is very fast. I like to do it buffet style so each of my kids can add what they like. It is super easy. I usually have some cooked rice on hand since we use the rice cooker a lot.

Basically, it is:
One can of kidney beans
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 can sliced black olives
grated cheese
cilantro
tomatoes
lettuce
avocados
shredded romaine lettuce

the dressing is just ranch with a bunch of cilantro, lime, and garlic blended in.

White Chicken Chili

This recipe is from my friend Melodee. I love this soup, and the whole family does too, which is always a good thing. You can easily make this vegan by omitting the chicken and using a vegetable base.

Here it is:

4 skinless chicken breasts (I just toss in the frozen ones)
1 large onion diced
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
4 cups chicken broth (I usually add more as needed)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp red pepper sauce
3 cups great northern beans OR two cans
1 can or 1 3/4 cups white corn
3 T lime juice
4 T chopped fresh cilantro

Mix onion, garlic, broth, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper sauce in pot. Add chicken. Cook on medium for 30 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken and dice then add it back into soup. Stir in beans, corn, lime juice and cilantro. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes or until corn and beans are hot.

Cranberry Lime Salsa

I loved this recipe! My cousin Joy made this for one of our recent family parties, and it was so tangy and delicious. She is an amazing cook and published a cookbook recently called Bliss. She was even featured on Good Things Utah a couple of times.

Anyway, this is a raw salsa, is very tangy, and is something totally different than the normal salsa. She served it over a brick of cream cheese, which of course is delicious, but it is great plain as well.

Isn't it beautiful? I love the colors.

Here is the recipe:

1 bag cranberries
1 handful cilantro
1 or 2 serrano or jalepeno peppers
1/2 red onion
1 clove garlic
1 T grated lime peel
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup agave nectar (she uses sugar, I use agave because it has a lower glycemic index and doesn't spike your blood sugar levels)
2 T lime juice

Wash and remove the seeds of the peppers. In a food processor finely chop the cranberries, cilantro, peppers and red onion.

Stir in agave and lime juice, then cover and refrigerate for four hours or more to allow the flavors to mix.

Tomatillo Soup

Do not be intimidated by the use of the mysterious tomatillo! They are easily found in your grocery store, and you just have to remove the outer husk, then they look and work just like a little green tomato. This is an excellent soup. I don't think I would have tried to make this had I not tasted it first. Even then, I thought it looked too hard. But it was sooo easy. It was served at a church function, and my friend Kiki encouraged me to make it at home. Thanks Kiki! This is one of our favorite recipes. it has very few calories (though I didn't measure out exactly how many cups it makes) and is based on lots of greens.

2 QT chicken stock
6-8 tomatillos with husks removed and rinsed
2 bunches of cilantro
1 jalepeno REMOVE SEEDS FIRST unless you like it HOT
1 whole med-large yellow onion
½ head garlic
Juice of lime
2 4oz cans diced green chiles
3 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
1 can corn
2 15 oz cans black beans
1 green bell pepper diced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Warm up stock on stove in med-large pot, add fresh or frozen chicken breasts to stock. Rinse all veggies. Put tomatillos (roughly sliced and raw), cilantro, and jalepeno (WITHOUT SEEDS) in blender. Blend well.


Add 1 can of diced green chiles. Add garlic and onion to blender mix. Blend well for a few minutes. Add lime juice and make sure it is well blended. Add to chicken and stock in pot. Bring to boil. Add diced green pepper, other can of diced chiles, corn, beans, and chicken. Add seasonings (cumin, salt, and pepper). Let simmer stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. Remove Chicken breasts, shred with a fork, and add back into soup mixture.


Optional: serve with corn tortillas cut into strips, sour cream and diced avocado. Add more limejuice if you desire.