Pepper Paints

Thursday’s Recipe Fail = Friday’s Kitchen Gadget Update

My Mom bought me this super shiny, huge pot for Christmas…ahh my love for kitchen gadgets and accessories continues….

I don’t usually just link or post  a recipe on Thursday’s unless I have made it and it is actually worth sharing. This weeks plan was to share a Kale and White Bean soup. I made it but it was nothing worth sharing. So instead I planned to share my new and favorite kitchen gadgets but my poor daughter has been here all week

It is almost 10 am as I write this and she just woke up still sniffling and sneezing. My youngest germ is coughing in bed with her Dad who has been working all week until the wee hours of the morning. It’s been a rough week around here!

So that is why I am just getting around to Thursday’s post…on Friday morning afternoon.

With all the germs flying around the house, this week turned into soup week.  There was the mediocre kale and white bean and the cure all chicken noodle

Everyone has a version of chicken noodle soup. Mine is nothing special but it certainly hits the spot. I added some pea shoots to mine…soup and salad all in one bowl is a favorite of mine! There was also a beef vegetable that I made in my new lead free crock pot.

Yes, you read that correctly. I don’t know how I didn’t know that crock pots typically carry lead in there glaze but apparently they do. I did some googling and found that the Cuisinart brand is lead free as is Vita Clay. Both are expensive. I did a little more digging and found this Supentown Slow Cooker. And even better I found it on the cheap at Home Depot The crock is made of the same zisha, purple clay, that the Vita Clay cookers are made from.  Supentown website writes that it is not only free of chemicals but rich in natural minerals. Someday negative info may come out about this cooker too but I couldn’t find it anywhere for now.

I used my new slow cooker to make beef veg soup and all was good. It is a little bit smaller than my other crock pot but not much. But because the crock is not non stick there was a little sticking. It washed out easily and the soup tasted great. Just be sure when you store any small appliance you do not put the cord inside the pot because the soft pliable coating on the cords do contain lead…so wash your hands after use. I also read that there is lead in the coating of the heating elements in the outer part of slow cookers. I am done researching lead for a while. In other news I hear they are planning to take some of the fluoride out of our drinking water…gee thanks. it’s about time. Don’t breath or drink or eat…chemicals are every where!!! It becomes exhausting. Trying not to get too caught up in all of that!

I do know for sure that this is lead free…it is stainless steel

Also by Supentown and purchased at Home Depot this thermal cooker was way cheaper. I haven’t used it yet but can’t wait!! I have had my eye on these thermal cookers for a while but they are  very expensive and couldn’t really find a difference between the two that warranted the extra cost so we finally went with the cheaper one. I love the idea of making food and taking it with us for later, all the while it is cooking on the move with out being plugged in!!! Can’t get more energy efficient than that!

Take a look inside-a simple design!

I promise to use it soon and let you know how it works.

I love my Olympic juicer…especially for carrot juice

Last but certainly not least one of my favorite kitchen gadgets….I shared my love for this thermos before in my OUT WITH PLASTICS post.  During the winter i fill it it up with hot water so a cup of tea is only minutes away. I LOVE it!! Again no electricity used here!

What is your favorite kitchen gadget?

Thursday’s Recipe ….. Raw Pad Thai With Kelp Noodles

Kelp noodles=heaven! Oh my, I can’t believe how good these are. Excellent texture! If you are local you can buy them at the Clintonville Community Market on Crestview.

I know every week I rave about how good my recipes are—and I am biased because I really do like to eat—but this Pad Thai is awesome!!!

For 1 package of kelp noodles

4 to 5 Tablespoons  nut butter

1 Tablespoon hot sauce

1 Tablespoon honey

1 Tablespoon tamari1 teaspoon vinegar

2 teaspoons seseme oil

1/4 cup of water

juice of 1 lime

I rinsed my kelp noodles and put them in a bowl then I  put all the above  ingredients in my vita-mix and poured it over my noodles.

Next I cut up lots of veggies and tons of cilantro. You can use any veggies you choose-I used red cabbage, scallions, pea pods, chard, shiitake mushrooms. Sprinkle a few cashews on top. Let the pad thai sit for ten or so  minutes to soften the noodles.

I have been participating in the green smoothie challenge this week.  I often drink green smoothies but not daily. I must admit I don’t really love green smoothies. But I wanted to see if I would see any benefits to drinking them daily for 2 weeks. I will let you know!

Thursday’s Quarter Recipes

This is the best “salad” I have ever had!! It is from The Pioneer Woman’s recipes. I changed it up a little bit to fit my taste-I’ll add in on the original recipe where I added or deleted ingredients.

Warning—-this makes 2 tons so you can feed an army or half the recipe!

Asian Noodle Salad

1lb linguine cooked, rinsed and cooled—-The first time I made this I used 1 lb of rice noodles but found that to be way too much noodle for me so the second time I used a smaller 1/2 lb package of rice sticks and it was much better. It was more like salad with a few noodles instead of noddles with some veggies! Some day I will get around to ordering kelp noodles and substitute these in this recipe!

1/2 to 1 head sliced napa cabbage

1/2- to 1 head purple cabbage

1/2 to 1 bag baby spinich

1 red, 1 yellow and 1 orange pepper sliced thin

1 small bag of mung bean prouts

3 (or more!!) sliced scallions

3 peeled and sliced cucumbers

lots (2 bunches for me) of chopped up cilantro

cashews

Dressing:

juice of 1 lime

8 T olive oil

2-3 T seseme oil

8 T soy sauce

1/3 c brown sugar –I used a large spoonful of honey

3 T fresh ginger chopped (I used more)

2 cloves garlic–again more

2 jalapenos (be careful when chopping!!)

Mix together salad ingredients. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Mix with tongs Top with cashews

Hint if using rice noodles-cook them for only a few minutes and taste DO NOT OVER COOK-rinse them repeatedly in cold water so they don’t become a sticky mess.

Also I added some Chinese hot garlic oil to my bowlful to make it super spicy!! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

If you have a recipe to add to this weeks quarter recipes be sure to leave a link in the comments to your recipe post.