Miscellaneous Kitchen Wizardry

As a kitchen-clueless bride many eons ago, the Crock-Pot promised to become my rotund angel-of-a-savior.  Throwing cheap meat and a few handfuls of veggies into its mouth at 10:00 a.m. and returning to eat at 6:00 p.m. fit my style nicely.

However, a small problem erupted almost immediately.  I abhorred the greasy, mushy potatoes and carrots surrounding my chuck roast – a tough hunk that usually took all day to tenderize.  Yuck.  I used the Pot successfully and happily for things like chili or baked beans, but otherwise it fell from grace.  For the most part, it spent the last couple of decades isolated in solitary confinement – way back in the corner of the cabinet behind the silvery stainless pans that maintained their front-and-center spots. 

However, I recently dragged out the old Crock-Pot (yes, the same 41-year-old one with its chipped lid and drip-stained sides) in order to experiment for the sake of a family member looking for main-dish ideas.  And in the process of experimentation, I discovered interesting recipe ideas online that put my previous limited chuck-and-veggies mindset to shame.  Like Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice. Tilapia Pockets. Sausage and Cabbage Stew.  Salmon with Carmelized Onions and Carrots. Indian Chickpea Curry.  Spicy Lentils and Rice with Chicken. Veggie Gumbo.

Tonight we’re having Asian Chicken with Vegetables served over brown and wild rice. The energizing smells wafting through the house are awesome enough, even if the Pot never made it to the dinner table!  Here’s the ginger-y, garlic-y, orange-juice-y goop simmering away:

ALSO on the kitchen front, I’m back into fresh juicing after a juice-free sabbatical of several months.  How I DO LOVE my Green Lemonade made from romaine, kale, apples, lemons, fresh ginger and stevia.  It’s the best.  Like an instant blood transfusion.  A glass of Green Lemonade and I’m ready to…well, to face our herd of little grandkids.  Need I say more?

AND, yesterday I baked the most tantalizing gluten-free, honey-and-stevia-sweetened apple spice cake.  The adults loved it, and those grandkiddos stricken with the famous "lake appetite" lapped it up last night after swimming and asked for more.  Now THAT is a true and reliable test of acceptability, is it not?  This cake is made with almond flour, and thus is higher in protein than other desserts...but the kids don't need to know.

FOR THE RECORD, I haven't given up the traditional ship entirely.  I recently made a loaf of French bread (yes, with regular white flour) and a decadent mint-filled chocolate cake for a friend who had been in a terrible accident and was finally home recuperating from 20-some broken bones.  Here's the cake, proof that the Bakery Lady (aka moi) still cranks out junk (or should I say soul?) food: