Baked Potatoes!

Hello,

Tonight is a homework night (in other words, frantically rushing to finish homework so I can catch up on The Biggest Loser and Project Runway on Hulu and still get some semblance of sleep), and I was craving potatoes. So I pulled out my little rice cooker and boiled a potato for about 45 minutes, and you'd never know the difference between that and a regular baked potato :) Just a little FYI.

Alfredo Rice and Broccoli (Leftover Power!)

My chicken pasta alfredo made enough chicken for one dinner, but left me with a container of alfredo sauce to get creative with. My rice cooker has a steamer basket on the top, which is a miracle tool. I highly recommend it :)

(I seriously need a better camera.)

Alfredo Rice and Broccoli:
--3/4 cup uncooked rice
--Water
--1/2 cup leftover alfredo sauce
--about 2 cups broccoli florets, cut into small pieces
--Chicken or other meat/protein.

Begin cooking the rice according to rice cooker or stovetop directions. When there is a rather small amount of water left floating around, add the alfredo sauce and put the broccoli on to steam above. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the rice and broccoli are done. I used half the rice with all the broccoli and a leftover half chicken breast cut up into chunks. This is seriously an amazing lunch...it needs a little extra salt and pepper but it tastes incredible once you add that :) The rice ended up creamy and super flavorful, and the steamed broccoli added a great texture and flavor.

Apparently I'm having a winning streak as far as these recipes go--since beginning to post recipes, there hasn't been a bad result. Hopefully this will keep up!

Blessings,
Hannah =)

Chicken Alfredo

Alfredo sauce has to be one of my favorite food items. Being dairy-free tends to make it a little more...difficult. Today I decided to try coconut alfredo in my slow cooker. Just a note that I am casein-free, not lactose intolerant. I can have butter since it contains only about 0.01% of the protein (casein), and I'm not deathly allergic or anything. If you need to avoid all dairy at all costs, I would recommend just adding a little more coconut milk, or substituting with coconut oil or some other healthy saturated fat.

Chicken Alfredo
--1 chicken breast
--2 Tablespoons butter
--2/3 cup coconut milk (from the can, not the drinkable variety)
--1 cup broth (I use Trader Joe's little instant broth packets and a cup of water)
--1 teaspoon garlic (about 2-3 cloves fresh)
--1 palmful dried onions
--about 1 Tablespoon of lime juice (this part was an accident. I meant to add a little squirt but the squirter part came off with the lid and it dumped a bunch in. We'll see if it works out or not.)
--Small pinch of nutmeg
--About 1 Tablespoon arrowroot powder or another thickening agent (I added mine at the end but I think it would have worked better at the beginning.)
--Rice or rice pasta to serve it over, cooked.
Mix everything but the rice/pasta in your slow cooker and cook on high for half an hour to an hour, then on low for another 6ish hours, until the chicken is done.

The Verdict: This tasted amazing after some salt and pepper, but may have been a little too rich. I guess that's to be expected with alfredo though, right?

Blessings,
Hannah

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Walnuts--Rice Cooker

Good afternoon/evening! I hope everyone is having a lovely Tuesday. I don't know about any of you, but I get chocolate and/or other goodie cravings in the afternoon. Okay, and the evening. Alas, there is no available chocolate in the house, and the only other delicious goodie to be eaten out of the bag is a dwindling bag of craisins. I decided to be adventurous and make caramelized walnuts---in my rice cooker. For people who don't have rice cookers, they pretty much can cook anything as long as you keep the lid on to weigh down the little pot inside. I've cooked hamburgers, soups, pastas, and even boiled potatoes in mine, and I've only had it a little over a month.

Caramelized Walnuts (Rice Cooker Style)
*note that none of these measurements are even slightly rigid.
--3/4 cup water
--about 1/4 cup brown sugar
--dash of cinnamon
--about 1 cup raw walnuts

Mix in rice cooker and turn on. Stir occasionally and let the liquid simmer down until the cooker automatically switches to "Keep Warm." Serve :)

The Verdict:
These walnuts are absolutely incredible. They're gooey and sticky and warm and simply delicious. I can imagine they would be great cold, too. The sticky sauce hardens into a delicious candy-type substance. This took maybe half an hour from start to finish--all in all, a wonderful recipe.

Blessings,
Hannah

Chicken Salsa Soup

Tonight for dinner, I made up a recipe (loosely based on one I had found) for what I am calling:

Chicken Salsa Soup
--2 small chicken breasts, thawed
--1/4 cup chopped red onion
--1/2 cup salsa
--1/2 teaspoon dried jalapeno
--1 packet chicken broth (Trader Joe's)
--1/2 teaspoon salsa salad seasoning
--1 teaspoon lime juice concentrate
--1 cup water
--Rice (optional)

Mix ingredients together in slow cooker. Cook on high for four hours or on low for 8 hours. Serve over rice if desired. Serves 2.

Review: This was actually really delicious. I would like to add some fresh cilantro in the future and maybe a hint more lime, but really there is very little I would change.

Blessings,
Hannah =)

EDIT: Storing the chicken, broth liquid, and rice leftovers all together then heating up the next day makes this taste even better! Absolutely incredible, if I do say so.

Bonjour et applesauce

Hello, and welcome to my new food blog! In a few months, it's off to university for me, and because of my allergies that means cooking all my food in dorm-sized and dorm-allowed appliances. In other words, I'll soon be living out of a tiny refrigerator, a rice cooker, and a 1 1/2 quart slow cooker that was originally intended to be used for sauces and dips. Join me as I try out many recipes, changing them up for my specific dietary and appliance restrictions!

(Note: All of my recipes will be free of gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, soy, peanuts, pecans, pistachios, cashews, blueberries, and green beans. The only exceptions are that I do eat oats and butter, which some gluten/dairy free people don't eat.)

Here is a copypasta of  a recipe I shared on my regular blog, Where Love Is:

Ever since I got my little (seriously, the thing is TINY) slow cooker in December, I've been dying to begin trying out different recipes that require only throwing ingredients in and turning the knob. Today, I made applesauce--it's delicious, no sugar added, and oh-so-simple!

For my 1 1/2 quart slow cooker:

--About 3 large apples (I prefer granny smith, but if you want sweeter without the sugar go for a different variety)

--Cinnamon

Peel, core, and slice the apples, then cut each slice in half. Fill slow cooker pot to the brim with the apples, then sprinkle a generous helping of cinnamon on top. No need to stir! Plug that baby in and cook on high for about 4 hours (8 hours on low would work just fine as well). It will look like the top layer of apples hasn't cooked, but don't worry. Stir the applesauce to incorporate the cinnamon, and enjoy!

Blessings,

Hannah =)