Holiday shopping idea - Zojirushi rice cooker.
For a bigger splurge gift or a group buy.
Unaffiliated endorsement - Zojirushi rice cookers make good rice - and other steamed things. The electric steamer arrives with a cookbook. Adding diced onion, celery, garlic and seasonings to white rice can make an easy pilaf. I usually add about a 1-2 to one teaspoon of rosemary or thyme to a cup of rice.
Fish can be poached with the rice, check the cookbook.
Lentils can be cooked on the brown rice setting. I use three cups water to one cup moong beans and haven’t tried other lentils/dal yet. While traveling I tried regular beans, using two cycles (one to do the presoak for an hour), but the machine has to completely cool in between uses, it turned out, so it took forever (not quite) and the beans were firm.
See a sustainable cooking tip later in the post for what I could have done but didn’t know at the time. I have been making the moong beans with the sustainable method or leave them on the warming mode for a while after using the brown rice setting. They are very nutritious and tasty with very little addition, a unique flavor and available as moong bean extract, herbal medicinal. Price-wise, a 15-to-30-dollar bottle vs buying pounds of beans - I stocked up on the beans.
My more recent discovery of licorice pudding in the rice cooker on the porridge setting is also a big win. So good! And easy, but the stirring frequently is still better. It will cook more towards the bottom and sides.
Cherry licorice tapioca/garbanzo flour pudding is delicious. (substack.com)
Retinoid Toxicity strikes again . . . (substack.com) *Licorice pudding recipe, with no tart cherries, they are a vitamin A and carotenoid source. Arrrrgh.
Amaranth is a crunchy grain that cooks into a hot breakfast porridge and is good with raisins or tart cherries. Once chilled, the resistance starch texture changes it into a firm polenta like substance, that is still crunchy. I will cut it into chunks and eat on a lettuce salad. It is a complete protein source in a vegan diet. *I am vegan for autoimmune reasons - albumin, I think became a molecular mimicry problem for me.
If pudding can be made, then a sauce could too. Just stop the cooking process as soon as it has thickened enough.
Canned foods could be heated and have a few extra veg and herbs and spices added for flavor and nutrients.
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Mine is a Neuro Fuzzy - like this model (unaffiliated with the store too, but they are having a sale on it).
“Fuzzy logic technology automatically adjusts cooking parameters.” ← Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.
It is kind of like a magic rice cooker. It figures things out for itself. However, the Neuro Fuzzy rice cooker is temperature sensitive and will not start until it and its pot of ingredients are at room temperature. So, you can’t make two different batches of stuff immediately after each other. And don’t store it in a cold pantry if you want to use it immediately when you go get it. If adding ingredients at a midway point (so they aren’t overcooked), a small amount is better or heat it first (sauté the onions or preboil the peas) so it doesn’t bring the temperature down too much in the cooker. Adding the raw veg at the end and leaving it on the warm function for a while also partially cooks the veggies.
More sustainably, once cooked (it sings a song when the rice is ready), remove the food to a closed (glass, I prefer) container, wrap in a fleecy blanket or bath towels, and put the bundle in a closed larger pot or ice chest. The hot food will remain warm enough to finish cooking the food - or soften the moong beans a little more.
See: Fireless Cooking in a Crock Pot Adapted Ice Chest, by - (SurvivalBlog.com) *The way a crock pot works is a similar concept but with this method you have to boil the food on a stove or hot plate or campfire, and then put it in the insulated unit to keep it hot.
The Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy is called a rice cooker because it knows rice best, but electric cooker can steam many things and won’t blacken the food or the pot to a crisp. It switches automatically to a warming mode after singing its little song. If left on warm mode too long, food will stick and overcook at the base where the heater plate is located. If left on warmer mode for days, for too long, it may break and then you may be sad and will need a new one. It became indispensable for me and was also convenient when traveling as it can be used in a hotel room or a campsite that has electricity.
Disclaimer: This information is being provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of Fair Use it is not intended to provide individual health care guidance. Please seek a functional health professional for individualized health care.