Aroma Rice Cooker and Some of My Dinner Making Gadgets
Written by Diana - May 17, 2009 1 Comment
Things have been really hectic here. After the Biggest Loser/ Jennie-O contest, things seem to go weird – I lost some posts and it turned out to be something wrong with the automatic tweet feature. Then we have had track meets, to keep us really busy (my son’s relay team set the 4 X 400 meet record time for the SVC) and out of the kitchen. Today’s dinner was a very gadget oriented meal. I have some gadgets I’m enjoying using and they did make dinner easier for me – thank you gadgets. Besides being gadget oriented, it was delicious and pretty darn nutritious and probably low fat (but I can’t guarantee that).
I made the rice with a rice cooker – following the directions correctly and it came out perfect. I grilled the tuna on my grill pan on the stove (less calories that way?), I made some honey mustard vinaigrette with a Black and Decker Gizmo and spinned the water out of my chard with the Spin and Stor.
- Aroma Rice Cooker – We enjoy rice, all different kinds of rice with our meals so much that I often make rice in big batches and store it in the freezer to use as needed. Deb raves about using a rice cooker, another sister of mine said she could never get rice right, and uses the quick stuff(which I don’t care for too much) and I always did it the pot method. I wanted to try the rice cooker method though. It would be nice not to worry about it boiling over on the stovetop or worry about it being dry. My first try with the rice cooker was a disaster – a big gummy paste. Instead of reading the directions, I went with how I thought it worked and used way, way, way too much water. Even though I left it on warm for a while and tried to steam out some of the water, it really didn’t come out right. So I went back to the drawing board and read the directions and followed them – to the letter. This time the rice was nice and fluffy, not dry, not soggy – just right. The Aroma Rice Cooker uses sensor logic to determine when the rice is done. You press the button for white rice, or brown rice and it will sense when it’s ready. Then it switches to warm and keeps it warm until you need it. You can set it to smart steam and steam your veggies. I love steamed veggies and will be thrilled to cook up my garden veggies this summer. I’m including some of the details for you. I will definitely be using this again and again.
My grade A+.
Professional Series 10-Cup Sensor Logic™ Rice Cooker
- Prepares up to 20 cups of rice and keeps it warm for up to 12 hours
- Steams vegetables and cooks rice simultaneously, makes soups and stews
- Easy-to-use digital control panel with multiple features: White Rice, Brown Rice, Quick Rice, Smart Steam and 15-Hour Delay Timer
- Sensor Logic™ technology self-adjusts for consistent, restaurant-quality results
- Water reservoir channels away excess condensation
- Includes recipe booklet, measuring cup, steam tray and serving spatula
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Black & Decker Gizmo Tip & Mix Automatic Salad Dressing Mixer – My brother in law gave me this after we saw it in use in their home. The gizmo is great for homemade salad dressings. It has little spinner spatula, that combines and emulsifies the dressing ingredients. It stirs faster as you are pouring to make sure all of the ingredients stay mixed together as a dressing. Also on the side of the carafe are recipes for different vinaigrettes and the lid doubles as a measuring spoon. The only drawback is that the lid doesn’t screw on and off, so if it tips the vinaigrette would spill. The base detaches from the the carafe for cleaning, but it’s hold is tenuous at best. I would prefer something with a more sturdy connection between the top and bottom. While there are negatives, I still like using it. My grade B-/C+ .
Spin N Stor Reusable Bags – When I first was offered this I thought, I’ll try it, okay – whatever. The darn thing works like a charm. You rinse your veggies and/or greens off, twist it closed and swing the bag around. The water drains into the side and bottom channel that you pour off. I usually just shake my strainer a few times, let it drain in the sink while I’m cooking and then know I’ll put a plate under it because there will be water dripping off. Now I’m using the Spin N Stor to swing all the water off and my greens are dry not dripping. The only drawback is that it’s a plastic bag, but it’s reusable and it stores much easier than a bowl which is good because I have a very small kitchen. I’ve cleaned my Spin N Stor, let it dry and reused it. My grade A-.
Spin N Stor Reusable BagsRelated posts you might also like:
- Turkey, Chard and Red Jasmine Rice
- Chicken, Broccoli and Rice
- Seven Items I’d Still Recommend For Christmas 2009
- Pressure Cooker Pot Roast
- Getting Kids to Eat Their Veggies
- Almost Salsa Chicken in a Crockpot
- Chicken & Summer Vegetables Over Rice
- Tuna, Chard & Rice Salad
- Fast and Easy – Steamed Sausage and Vegetables
- This dressing will inspire you to eat your vegetables
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[...] Aroma Rice Cooker – I never thought I’d care if I had one of these since I made perfect rice(most of the time) without it. However, I found I could have perfect rice every time if I used the rice cooker. My friend said he read about making steel cut oats with a rice cooker. I might just try that one out. [...]