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Senin, 30 Maret 2009

Akhirnya Kembali Juga Nge"Blog"


Sejak mengawali perjalanan wisata dalam rangka liburan Galungan, Nyepi dan Kuningan yang kali ini terjadi berurutan dalam 2 (dua minggu) sehingga membuat daerah bali terjadi libur yang cukup panjang.


Pantai Weru


Meski postingan kali ini agak nyeleneh dari ilmu komputer tetapi karena ini adalah bagian dari mencari hiburan di selah-selah kesibukan dengan rutinitas yang menjemuhkan kita perlu

Slow Cooker Rice Pudding Recipe


The last time I attempted a rice pudding it didn't go over very well. I tried too hard to "fancy it up"----this is a basic recipe, that is darn near perfect.

and it makes a LOT.

The Ingredients.

8 cups milk (I used half soy milk, and half fat free cow's)
1 cup long grain white rice
1 cup sugar

then:
1/4 cup heavy cream or half and half
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

The Directions.

I used a 4 quart slow cooker. Spray the stoneware insert with cooking spray, then combine the milk, rice, and sugar. Stir well and cook on low for 4-6 hours, or high for about 4. It took longer than I expected for my rice to become bite-tender---I did low for 3 hours, then high for another 2.

When the rice is tender, mix in a large mixing bowl, the eggs, cream, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Scoop a 1/2 cup of the hot rice mixture into the mixing bowl and whisk. Keep adding 1/2 cup at a time of the rice and milk mixture into the egg bowl until about half of the milk and rice mixture is gone from the slow cooker. Then pour everything back into the pot. Stir well. This is called "tempering your eggs"---you have to do this step, or your eggs will scramble on you when you add them to the crock.

Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Stir well, then take the lid off of the cooker and unplug it. When the rice pudding is room temperature, you can refrigerate it. Some people like their pudding hot or warm, and some prefer it chilled----it's completely up to you.

The Verdict.

Delicious! So way better than the last time...
I'd guess that this would serve 14 people as a dessert. We had it for dessert and for an afternoon snack for a bit under a week. Super good.
Trust me.

more slow cooked desserts:

cheesecake
chocolate mousse
blueberry buckle
peach pie
creme brulee
pound cake

Rabu, 25 Maret 2009

Slow Cooker Mexican Breakfast Casserole


We went to a museum opening last weekend, and my brother's mother-in-law, Shari (hi Shari!) told me that she had a breakfast casserole with green chiles that I should really make. She said she'd email me the recipe.
This isn't her recipe. She hasn't had the opportunity to email hers, and I didn't have the patience to wait, or the perseverance to bug her.
so I made this up.

I think she'd like it.

The Ingredients.
serves 8, easily.

corn tortillas (I didn't count them. Maybe I used 8? 7?)
8 eggs
2 cups fat free milk
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
1 (7-ounce) can green chiles, drained
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 tiny onion, diced
1 cup corn (I had leftover fresh corn from the weekend, but frozen would totally work)
1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

The Directions.

I used a 4 quart round slow cooker. Butter or Pam the inside of your stoneware. Put a layer of corn tortillas on the bottom---you may have to tear some to make them fit nicely.
In a very large mixing bowl, combine all of the other ingredients, and whisk together. Pour about 1/2 of the mixture into the slow cooker, on top of the tortillas. Put in another layer of tortillas, and top with the remaining egg/milk/cheese/other stuff mixture. Top with another layer of corn tortillas.

Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 4-5. If your cooker seals well (my 4-quart has a plastic lid, and a lot of condensation builds up), uncover 15-20 minutes before serving and cook on high to release condensation and to firm up the top a bit. You know your breakfast is done when the eggs are fully cooked and the edges have begun to brown and the cheese gets a bit crispy on the sides.
Adam really likes crispy cheese---the kids do not.

The Verdict.

I loved this. LOVED it. The chiles were not spicy in the slightest, and Adam added salsa to his bowl. The kids picked out the "green stuff" but ate the rest just fine. I served this for dinner a few days ago, and have been eating leftovers for breakfast and lunch the past 2 days.

If you don't have corn tortillas in the house, or would prefer to go another way, you can pour the egg mixture on top of a bag of frozen hashbrowns, just like I did in this recipe.

If you have sausage or other meat you'd like to add, go for it, but take out the salt, and season to taste at the table.

other great slow cooked breakfasts:

hashbrown casserole
overnight breakfast casserole
overnight breakfast sausage and potatoes
egg, feta, and mushroom casserole
overnight grits
pancakes
granola


Senin, 23 Maret 2009

Slow Cooker Tandoori Chicken Recipe


This just isn't going to be a good picture----it doesn't matter how much cilantro I throw on it. But I promise it tastes good.

I did some research on tandoori chicken last week and learned that a lot of times, the way the red coloring is achieved in restaurants is through food coloring.
The more food coloring you add, the more red your chicken will be. I find this highly amusing, yet no one else in my family finds it as funny as I do. But imagine. The chicken could be *blue*! or *chartreuse*! and still taste the same!

anyway. If you don't want to use food coloring, don't. But you won't get red chicken.

The Ingredients.
3-4 pounds chicken---pieces or whole, your choice. I had a whole one I bought on sale a while ago, and skinned it before I put it in the crock. I have abnormal issues with chicken skin.
1 cup plain yogurt, divided (you could use sour cream, instead)
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (the picture shows whole. I grabbed the wrong bottle.)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 cardamom pods, or 1/4 teaspoon ground
1 tablespoon cumin
6 cloves garlic (I tossed them in whole)
5-6 drops red food coloring (optional)
1 lemon, juiced

The Directions.

Use a 5-6 quart slow cooker. Skin the bird and toss out the neck and the stuff from inside. Shudder a few times.
In a small mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup yogurt with all dry spices, and the red food coloring. Smear all over the bird, inside and out. Put the cardamom pods inside the bird, and lower it into the crockpot. Toss whole garlic cloves on top, and squeeze on the lemon juice.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4. You can check doneness with a meat thermometer, too. Serve with basmati rice.
After removing meat from the pot, stir in the remaining 1/2 cup of yogurt to make a yummy sauce to pour over the meat and rice.

The Verdict.

I really liked this a lot. The meat was spicy where it was coated in the blend, but otherwise just slightly infused with the smoky flavor. I was able to peel some non-spicy meat off the bones for the kids (which they dipped in bbq sauce), and Adam and I piled our plates high with the meat on top of rice with lots of the tandoori sauce. If I was going to make this for company, I'd use boneless, skinless thighs. The bones got in my way.
I've saved the carcass to make some broth.

more fun chicken!

Chicken Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken)
applesauce chicken
bacon and cheese chicken
chicken nuggets
chicken pot pie
chicken noodle soup

Sabtu, 21 Maret 2009

CrockPot Chile Verde Recipe


Good morning! I swear I haven't fallen from the face of the planet. I'm here. I took a week off from all things crockpot.
But now I'm back!

and better than ever!

or just back.

I had a really neat conversation last week with a mom at the softball field, and she was telling me about her husband's hunting trips and how he likes to make chile verde with wild boar. It sounded wonderful. Except for the wild boar part. She mentioned that he once put in some homemade sausage that had a lot of sage in it, and it really made the dish "pop"---so now they always toss in a lot of sage. After some googling, I learned that a lot of verde recipes use sage.

I don't really have a way to end this thought.

You can do what I did, and make the Chile Verde by scratch, or you can totally go the lazy way, and get a bottle of salsa verde from the store and pour it on top of a hunk of meat. That is perfectly okay.

The Ingredients.

4 pound chuck roast, or pork shoulder/butt (I used a chuck roast)
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 small onion, diced
1 (4 ounce) can diced chile (mine were mild, your choice)
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
10 tomatillos, diced (peel off the outer wrapper, if they have one)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons sage
1 Tablespoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more, to taste)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

The Directions.

I used a 6 quart. Trim any visible fat from the meat, and plop into your slow cooker stoneware. Add diced bell pepper and onion. If your tomatillos have the leafy-outer skin left on them, take the skin and stem off, and dice finely (I used the pampered chef chopper thingy. You can pulse in a food processor, instead, if you'd like). Pour in the contents of the diced chile can and the tomato can. Add spices. Stir a bit to get the spices down the sides of the meat. Add chopped cilantro to the top.
Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, high for 6, or until meat shreds easily with a fork. After 7 hours on low, my meat was still pretty tough, so I chopped it into large chunks, and put it back in the pot for another 2 hours. By then, it had shredded nicely for me.

Serve with rice, corn tortillas, shredded cheese, and a dollop of sour cream. oh! and refried beans.

The Verdict.

Delicious. 3 out of the 4 of us ate this happily, and the other had a quesadilla. The meat was super tender, and had a good flavor. Ours was not spicy *at all.* If you'd like more heat, you can add more red pepper or top with some jalapeno slices at the table. Adam and I had the meat the next day for lunch, and it had even more flavor.
If I was going to make this for company, I'd maybe cook it over night, shred the meat, then keep it on low during the day to soak up the sauce flavor throughout the day.
If your slow cooker releases a lot of steam through a vent hole, put a layer of foil over the stoneware, then put the lid on. You want a lot of moisture to tenderize the meat. Be super careful when removing the foil----the steam will be quite hot.

Kamis, 12 Maret 2009

CrockPot Albondigas (Meatball) Soup Recipe



Good morning! I made a wonderful meatball soup a few nights ago. I was inspired by Elise Bauer's Albondigas Soup recipe posted on Simply Recipes. I bookmarked this soup about a year ago, but hadn't gotten around to trying it. When I found that Costco started carrying some gluten-free meatballs I knew I was ready to test it out. Elise makes her own, which you can too, but you'll need to fully cook them before throwing into the crock. They will disintegrate otherwise.



I really liked this soup, and what I liked EVEN more about it was that I made do with pantry and freezer stuff instead of going to the store, which makes it "free"! I'm speaking with Elise in July at BlogHer on the FoodBlogging During a Recession Panel. The Crock-Pot is such a useful tool when creating low cost meals for you and your family.



The Ingredients.



4 cups chicken broth

3/4 cup baby tomatoes, quartered

1 cup baby carrots, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

1/2 cup frozen corn

1/4 cup prepared pasta sauce (I used pizza sauce; it worked!)

1/2 teaspoon dried mint

15-18 frozen meatballs, Italian or similar flavored (The Coleman Natural say gluten free right on the label)

1 cup frozen peas (if you stir them in 20 min before serving, they will retain their color. I did not do that, and my peas looked canned. I wish I had waited and stirred them in at the end.)



The Directions.



Use a 6 quart slow cooker. Put the broth, vegetables, pizza sauce, and mint into your slow cooker. Stir in frozen meatballs. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours. The seasoning from the meatballs is what is going to flavor your soup. The longer and slower you cook the soup, the more flavor the broth will have. Stir in frozen peas 20 minutes or so before serving.

Garnish with a bit of shredded Parmesan cheese.



The Verdict.



Adam and I really liked this soup. I was intrigued by the mint, which is what caused me to bookmark this soup to try so long ago. Elise said that the mint is what really differentiates Albondigas (means "meatballs") Soup from other soups and provides a unique flavor. I was happily surprised by the subtle mint flavor, and how it provided a cooling sensation on my tongue. I wanted a bit of heat, and added some Tabasco to my bowl. Adam ate it as-is, and the kids drank the broth and ate the veggies---no meatballs for them (yet they eat them plain with ketchup all the time...?).



Very cool. Thank you, Elise! I look forward to seeing you again in July.



I'm Speaking at <span class=BlogHer '09">



For those who aren't familiar with BlogHer, it is (primarily) a women's networking community and conference for bloggers, although many attend who do not yet blog, they are just interested in learning more about it. The three women founders wanted to create a conference specifically for women bloggers---this is now their 5th year. I went last year, and really enjoyed myself. It's a lot of fun to put faces with screen names, and meet new writers.

I do a bit of work during the week for BlogHerads, which is the ad network BlogHer started to help compensate women for their online writing work.

Adam and I are celebrating our 10-year anniversary this July, and will attend the conference together. Sort of. I think he's mostly looking forward to sleeping in and ordering room service.



related: Save Money by Using Your Crock-Pot Slow Cooker

A Year Ago Today: Ginger Teriyaki Tofu

A Year Ago Yesterday: Dulce de Leche

Totally Together: Managing Children's Art

Rabu, 11 Maret 2009

The Power of Social Media

I have been asked through BlogHer to help showcase the far-reaching power of social media to help people in need.
Procter & Gamble, the makers of TIDE laundry detergent are selling "vintage" T-Shirts to help families devastated by disaster.

This is what P&G says on their Loads of Hope website:

Tide Loads of Hope helps in the aftermath of a natural disaster by providing clean clothes and a sense of comfort to families in need. Partnering with Feeding America, we travel to disaster affected neighborhoods with the Tide Loads of Hope truck or vans, our free mobile laundry service.

Tide Loads of Hope truck:

32 high-effiency washers and dryers stationed on the truck
Can do 300 wash and dry cycles a day -equal to one year's worth of laundry for a single family
Will wash about 9,000 loads of laundry over a four-week period
Leveraged during massive disasters where electricity is unavailable in the region
Tide Loads of Hope vans:

In partnership with a local laundromat, the Tide Loads of Hope vans provide free laundry service at the same load rate as the trucks
Leveraged during disasters where neighboring communities still have a source of electricity

To date, Tide Loads of Hope has washed more than 35,000 loads of laundry for over 20,000 families. Most importantly, the Tide Loads of Hope program means we're equipped to take action whenever and wherever there is a need in our country.

Tide Loads of Hope Vintage Tees:

Tide Loads of Hope can also be supported through the purchase of a Tide Vintage Tee. All profits go to support families affected by disaster.

Where it all started:

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the need for clean clothing became critical, and Tide found a way to help. So in November 2005, the Tide Loads of Hope truck headed to Camp Hope in the Metairie, LA area and cleaned over 10,000 loads of laundry. The spirit of this first venture informs and inspires everything Tide Loads of Hope program does.

How can you help?

P&G has asked us to help get the word out about their efforts to raise money via T-Shirt sales to support families that are affected by disaster in this one-of-a-kind program. The shirts are vintage-looking and support a great cause.

Shirts can be purchased through this link:
http://tidetshirts.pgvillage.com/c-9-show-all.aspx?_vsc=tide4

Please use this link (this helps distinguish the source, as we are having a good-natured contest between several social media companies - but of course, the goal is to get the word out about this great charity!)

So, here's what I'm asking: If you are so inclined, please post a short blurb on your blog (regular blog is fine!) and/or tweet about the program, and share the T-shirt link with your readers. If you DO post about it, or tweet about it, will you drop by this form and leave me the links? (You can also share on Facebook or wherever floats your boat, too. BlogTalkRadio hosts? Podcasters?) We want to show P&G the power of social media!


thank you for your time, effort, and help.
xoxo steph

And!
A meatball soup is on the way. AND! you can totally use Coke instead of soda in brown sugar chicken. But.
it perhaps maybe will keep your kids up at night?
hmmph.

Selasa, 10 Maret 2009

CrockPot Hirino Psito, Slow-Roasted Pork


My friend, Georgia, printed this recipe off of ABC's website. It is a take on Cat Cora's family recipe, and is modified for the crockpot, and for me.

Because I couldn't understand how it was really supposed to be prepared.

This was the "winning" pork recipe, according to Adam. I cooked it overnight, and woke up to the best smelling kitchen--ever--even though I did slightly overcook the meat.


The Ingredients.

3-4 pound boneless pork butt or shoulder
10 whole garlic cloves
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon gluten free Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup beer (Redbridge is gluten free)

The Directions.

Use a 6 quart slow cooker. Put the meat into your crockpot, and pour on dry spices, and brown sugar. Flip the meat over a few times in the stoneware so the spices are kind of stuck to all sides. Peel garlic cloves and add whole. Add Worcestershire sauce, mustard, honey, and cranberries. Top with bay leaves. Pour in the beer.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until meat shreds easily with a fork. I cooked on low for 12 hours, and while the meat was tender and flavorful, it did burn a bit on the top and sides. Serve over rice or pasta, or on your favorite sandwich rolls.

The Verdict.

Adam LOVED this. I loved the smell. I want to try this sauce/ingredient combination with a turkey breast or hunk of beef.

I am done with pork. WOHOOOOOO! I turned in the first draft of the book, and already have the edits back.
which means I really should be working...


A Year Ago Today: CrockPot Creamed Spinach (better than it sounds!)
Totally Together: Managing Children's Art

Kamis, 05 Maret 2009

Announcing: Totally Together, the blog

Finally. It's here. Thank you so very much to Jennette Fulda. My goal is to update here and there a few times a week.

I may need some hand-holding.

Thank you for all of your love and support; it means so very much.

xoxo
steph

Today (3/9): Homemade Gluten Free "Thin Mint" Girl Scout Cookies

Selasa, 03 Maret 2009

Cara Memasang Iklan ppcindo


Setiap kali mengunjungi website atau blog di internet kita sering menemukan iklan-iklan yang terpasang pada web atau blog tersebut, baik berupa iklan teks ataupun iklan berupa banner. Dengan memasang iklan pada web atau blog tentu si pemilik web atau blog atau biasa disebut Publisher akan mendapatkan senilai uang dari si pemberi iklan.



Di sini kita akan membahas tentang cara memasang iklan