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My favorite kitchen tool for eating great and managing my weight is the slow cooker.
If I had to choose a first-runner up, it would be a rice cooker, so today I’m giving one away. You’ll find all the details at the end of the post.
As Nigella Lawson persuasively explains in her wonderful cookbook, Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home (affiliate link), “…It isn’t a coincidence that all rice-eating cultures have a version: these things, which range from basic to luxury, really do work. I cannot tell you now much easier it makes your life when you can come home, pour rice and water into the cooker, flick on a switch and just walk away without having to think about it again. And this makes a difference across the board: from feeding children to giving dinner parties…”
The Best Way to Cook Rice
Google, “The Best Way to Cook Rice” and be prepared to be overwhelmed by all the different theories and approaches, from simple to complex, on the best way to cook rice. Just reading some of these recipes made my head hurt. No wonder people get overwhelmed in the kitchen.
My approach to life and cooking is to keep things as simple as possible. Because if things are simple enough, we might actually do them!
The best way to cook rice is with a rice cooker (affiliate link).
Author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science, J. Kenji López-Alt agrees: “There’s no easier, more foolproof way to cook rice and other grains that in a rice cooker. Sure you can cook rice in a pot, carefully monitoring the flame, hoping that you’ve added just the right amount of water and that your rice isn’t burning on the bottom, and taking it off the heat at just the right moment, but if you’re anything like me, you’ve burned one too many batches to fuss with that method any more. With a rice cooker, you just add your rice and water, shut the lid, flip the switch, and go, with the added advantage that it’ll keep the cooked rice (or there grain) hot for hours.”
If you don’t have a rice cooker, two other easy options are to:
Some of my favorite easy healthy Weight Watchers friendly rice recipes include:
- Hot + Cold Chicken with Brown Rice Bowl
- Brown Rice Tomato Basil Salad
- Weight Watchers Easy Arroz Con Pollo (Chicken with Rice)
- Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole
- Savory Slow Cooker Brown Rice + Lentils
- Slow Cooker Rice
- Slow Cooker Turkey and Wild Rice Casserole
- Crock Pot Wild Rice
- Fried Rice with Vegetables + Ham
- Creamy Slow Cooker Rice Pudding
The Best Way to Cook Rice Cooker Giveaway Details
TO ENTER
1. Leave a comment below answering the question, “What is your biggest kitchen/cooking challenge?”
A winner will be selected at random and announced next Sunday.
Good luck!
3/26/17: This giveaway is now over.
The winner is Carole Cushman who commented, “My biggest challenge is planning and then sticking to it!”
Congratulations Carole! Please contact us at support@simple-nourished-living.com to claim your prize.
And thanks so much to everyone who took the time to participate by sharing your biggest kitchen challenge. I loved reading all your comments and learning more about you.
Notes from The SweetHome review site on the best rice cooker (affiliate link)” After more than 100 hours of research and testing, cooking more than 200 pounds of rice, and talking with rice experts specializing in Japanese, Thai, and Chinese cuisine, we recommend the Hamilton Beach 37549 2-to-14-cup Digital Simplicity Rice Cooker and Steamer for most people.
It’s an outstanding value that’s well-suited to most households that want the ease and convenience of no-fuss, no-burning cooked rice.
It makes delicious short-grain and medium-grain white rice—the variety most commonly made in a cooker—faster and better tasting than models 10 times the price.
It offers features you tend not to see on rice cookers at this price, most notably a delay-start mode, stay-warm functions, an insulated lid to hold in steam, large capacity, and a heavy, quality cooking pot.
It’s by far the best low-priced cooker we’ve found.”
My biggest cooking challenge is time and trying to include different kinds of foods for variety. It takes time to shop, prep, and cook great food. I do a lot of pre planning, and that helps.
My biggest cooking challenge is meal planning and prepping. Busy lifestyle!
My biggest cooking challenge is chicken. My family loves it but I have issues with the texture. If I touch it , I can’t bring myself to eat it. I would live some advice.
My biggest cooking issue is having a tiny kitchen. Someday I will remodel this house and make the kitchen bigger.
My biggest cooking challenge is cooking something healthy that the whole family will enjoy. Most days I feel like a short order cook because I have 5 boys 10 and under who never want the same thing as the others and are super picky.
My biggest cooking challenge is adding variety to my meal planning. Since I live alone it is very easy to continue fixing the same thing over and over.
My biggest cooking challenge is pork. The only kind I make that’s edible is pulled pork in the slow cooker. I would love to make pork chops or pork roast that’s as good as what I order at restaurants.
Try a pork shoulder. When done trim all fat and slice thin. Treat as lean pork and use in many different ways. Freezes well.
I always felt the same way. I found a recipe on line and they said the secret is to marinate pork chops in salted water brine. I tried it and my pork chops have turned out great every time. Try it!
My favorite pork chop recipe is also one of the easiest things I ever make. Put your pork chops in a slow cooker and dump a can of Campbells Golden Mushroom Soup over them. Cook on low until done!
just cooking, period. not a very good cook but do enjoy when something turns out right!
My biggest challenge is having a good variety of Healthy dishes everyone will love. Every couple weeks I start finding myself looking through cook books and pinterest to plan my week out.
My biggest cooking challenge is trying to make small amounts of food! I’m so used to cooking for a family, that I have a hard time just cooking for me. Bright side– I freeze portions for more meals.
My biggest Challenge is keeping within my budget.
My biggest cooking challenge is planning. What entrees go with what sides,ect.