Zojirushi NS-LAC05

The title of this post is the name of my rice cooker. It's a 3 cup one, kinda small but perfect for me and my partner.

I wanted to post for my reference and others how to cook things other than rice in the cooker. These have all been tested several times by me and they work well. When I say 1 cup or whatever, it refers to the cup that comes with the rice cooker, not a standard cup.

Steel cut oats
1 cup steel cut oats
2.5 cups water
use the porridge setting

I usually set this up the night before on the timer. Hot oatmeal for breakfast, yum!

Polenta (aka grits)
1 cup of polenta
water up to the 2 cup brown rice level
use the white rice setting

I put some butter and cheese in this and it's a great breakfast.

Quinoa
1 cup quinoa
1.75 cups water
Use white rice setting

The cooker will keep things warm up to 8 hours. I would suggest not waiting too long to take the quinoa out. You need to fluff it with the rice paddle then remove it. It's a bit more delicate, I feel.

Give these whole grains a try!

Barbara

New Seasons shopping trip

I went to a local natural foods supermarket here in Portland called New Seasons Market. They are a local chain and a great place to shop. I spent some time there today, got some nice carrots, tomatoes, cucumber and various salad greens. This is embarassing, but I bought carrots with the tops on them. I believe this is the first time I've bought carrots that didn't come in a plastic bag.

I also picked up several McDougall friendly items there. First is one that I found out from a post on the McDougall board. It's called Zevia, from a small company in Seattle Washington. I wanted to try the black cherry flavor, but New Seasons had only Twist (lemon-lime), Orange and Root Beer. So far, I've tried the root beer. It's pretty good, although not as strong as root beers I've had before. I'll post my thoughts on the other two flavors as I give them a try.

Next is a whole wheat pasta called Acini di Pepe, from an Italian company named Delallo. 100% whole wheat. It sort of looks like couscous, but it's not. I'm going to try it in some tomato basil soup in a aseptic carton I found either at Trader Joes or Fred Meyer's natural foods section.

One more pasta is Eden Organic Kamut & Quinoa Twisted Pair (aka gemelli) pasta. I am interested in seeing how it tastes.

Next is Ancient Harvest Quinoa Polenta. This looked so interesting I had to pick it up. It comes from the same company that makes prepackaged polenta in different flavors. The ingredients list is: Water, organic yellow corn meal, organic red quinoa, organic black quinoa, salt, tartaric acid (naturally occuring acid used to control ph), ascorbic acid (vit C), beta carotene (vit A). It will be interesting to see how it tastes.

Last, two fat free dressings by a Hood River, Oregon company called Deerfield's Foods. One is Moroccan Orange Vinaigrette. Ingredients: Cascadian Spring water, pure orange concentrate, wildflower honey, apple cider vinegar, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, spices and seasonings, xanthan gum. The other is Rosemary Apple Vinaigrette. Ingredients: Cascadian spring water, apple juice concentrate, apple cider vinegar, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, xanthan gum, spices and seasonings. I'm hoping that they taste good.

Barbara

mcdougall friendly food, zevia, quinoa polenta

Strange pricing

The internet has led to some strange pricing. I like Bob's Red Mill Quinoa. I live about 2 miles from Bob's headquarters. To buy a 4 pack of quinoa at the store is $41.14. To buy it from Amazon and have it shipped to my house, it's $35.94 and if I put it on a subscription, I get 15% more off and free shipping. It's amazing that I can get something sent to my house cheaper than going to pick it up myself and the place it comes from.

Barbara

Quinoa Potato Chowder

I just got the "McDougall Made Irresistible" DVD and I tried making the Quinoa Potato Chowder from it. The recipe for this is also available in the November 2006 newsletter.

It tasted wonderful and even better with some of my fresh made whole wheat bread. I've got several other recipes I'll be trying soon and posting about here.

Barbara