I got a rice cooker!!

I'll start with an apology. These threads really are MUCH better with pictures. But I was trying to get dinner on the table in a hurry so J could go on a leisure ride. It seems like all his biking is commuting lately. That makes me feel guilty, so the goal was to have dinner ready when he got home today. That didn't happen, but you'll hear why if you keep reading.

B and I had MOPS this morning. It was great chatting and he loved playing with all his friends again. When we got home we walked across the street to check out the neighbors garage sale. I wasn't expecting to find anything. They already had a garage sale earlier this summer we had found a few things at, and I assumed there wouldn't be anything new. I'm really happy to have been proven wrong! B found a Halloween buck for $.50 (you know the orange pumpkins with a handle), and at the end of the table I found a rice cooker! It was in the box and said it had never been used! In conversation they said it had been a gift they had never got around to using, so why not sell it for some fun money. =)

I paid $8 an Aroma digital rice cooker and food steamer. They're selling on Amazon for $30! J and I had talked about getting one multiple times, but it always came down to us not knowing if we'd use it enough to be worth the $30. I knew we'd use it $8 worth. Especially since we're eating more brown rice and less processed noodle crap. lol

So I started the brown rice cooking at 4:30 (it said 90-105 minutes to cook in the manual). I wanted to start it at 4:15, but as usual I lost track of time. So I measured out 2 cups of rice (planning on leftovers), rinsed it and put it in the cooker. Then I filled the bowl to the 2c line, put the lid on, and turned it on to brown rice.

At 5:15 I started putting the other ingredients together. They were in the 'cooking baskets' and on the steamer by 5:40. That would give the fish 20 minutes to cook until the rice would be done at 6. Right? No. I check on the rice at 6, and there's still visible water boiling around it. I stir it and the basket/lid back on. When I check at 6:20 it's ready to go. Actually it prob would have been ready at 6:10 or so.. But I have issues with losing track of time...

It was all cooked wonderfully, and I plan on trying the recipe again with chicken someday. I wasn't thrilled with it on the Pollack. But I loved cooking with my rice cooker! Yay!!

J never did make it out on his bike ride. By the time we got done eating dinner he just wasn't in the mood to load the Pugsly up and drive out to the good riding grounds. So he stayed home and played with B. Listening to B giggling from the bedrooms was awesome. He sure does love his Daddy!

Ok on to the recipe:

Fish Florentine:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 package frozen spinach (I cooked the whole package and will use rest for something else
• 16oz white fish (pollack, cod, tilapia) 
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1or 2 capfuls of lemon juice
• 2tsp garlic-herb seasoning (I used a rosemary garlic blend from a bread dipping kit)
• 3/4c ricotta cheese
• 1/4c grated Parmesan cheese (or sprinkle a bunch of the stuff in the green canister on the fish after dishing it out if you forget that step like I did)
• 1c dry brown rice

Directions:

• Cook rice (if using a steamer start 100 min or so before you want to serve the meal)
• Cook spinach (I heated it in a small fry pan until there was minimal liquid left)
• Drizzle with lemon juice
• Place fish in a greased 13x9 baking dish (or the basket of your steamer haha)
• In a bowl, combine the herb mix, egg, ricotta cheese 
• Add the spinach to the ricotta mixture
• Spoon over fillets. 
• Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
• Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork (or 15 min in your steamer)