[merika]

A rice cooker may be a strange thing to some people but it's pretty much a staple in Asian households. My family likes eating cooked (baked or broiled) chicken /fish and veggies for dinner.

I've also been getting a sky-high electricity bill. I hate using the oven and the bread machine because I swear using those two alone rack up my electricity bill every month. So I decided to do something new.

My rice cooker came with a set of pans, which I hadn't used at all. I decided to try them out. So for the past month instead of stove top steaming or baking I've been cooking stuff in the rice cooker. I put the fish or chicken(with seasoning) in heatproof bags in one pan, the veggies in another pan, put water in the rice cooker (about a cup or a cup and a half), plug in the rice cooker and in half an hour or so the rice cooker turns itself off.....wonderful flaky fish or tender chicken and great veggies!

And I did this maybe 3 times a week over the past month - alternating chicken with fish and trying different veggies, with no other changes to my routine. My electricity bill this month is lower by almost $40!! I'm so pleased!

Has anyone else used a rice cooker to prepare alternative dishes?

[anneonimiss]

I haven't tried this, but I'm going to! Thanks for the tip.

[Miss 2 A]

That sounds very cool!! I did not know the oven/bread machine use up so much electricity and I'm one to put one teeny tiny thing like a small yam in the oven for over an hour. I guess I should be paying more attention from now on.

[Faith]

I love my rice cooker! I usually just steam my veggies in mine and of course, my rice!

[caxe]

I use our rice cooker several times per week, and if our cooker had seperate pans, I'd try your recipe, merika! It sounds very tasty.

[luvhautecouture]

this sounds like dishwasher fish... but a lot less contraversial!! I'm gonna try it someday

[bnjj]

That's a great tip. I don't have a rice cooker but have thought several times about getting one.

I often will do chicken on the George Foreman instead of in the oven.

[speaksoftly]

Originally Posted by merika

A rice cooker may be a strange thing to some people but it's pretty much a staple in Asian households. My family likes eating cooked (baked or broiled) chicken /fish and veggies for dinner.

I've also been getting a sky-high electricity bill. I hate using the oven and the bread machine because I swear using those two alone rack up my electricity bill every month. So I decided to do something new.

My rice cooker came with a set of pans, which I hadn't used at all. I decided to try them out. So for the past month instead of stove top steaming or baking I've been cooking stuff in the rice cooker. I put the fish or chicken(with seasoning) in heatproof bags in one pan, the veggies in another pan, put water in the rice cooker (about a cup or a cup and a half), plug in the rice cooker and in half an hour or so the rice cooker turns itself off.....wonderful flaky fish or tender chicken and great veggies!

And I did this maybe 3 times a week over the past month - alternating chicken with fish and trying different veggies, with no other changes to my routine. My electricity bill this month is lower by almost $40!! I'm so pleased!

Has anyone else used a rice cooker to prepare alternative dishes?

What kind of rice cooker do you have?

[merika]

Originally Posted by speaksoftly

What kind of rice cooker do you have?

It's a Black & Decker (I think I bought it for about $15 at Wal-Mart a few years ago)

[merika]

It looks like this:


And there are pans inside - mine has 3

[speaksoftly]

Thank you. That's a good price. I'm going to try one, because I'm not good at cooking rice on the stove.

[toiletduck]

When I was in college I'd use the rice cooker to steam Chinese preserved sausages,eggs and veggies on top of my rice. My bf liked to use chicken broth instead of water to steam rice to give it more flavor. It might sound strange but most (if not all) of my Asian friends were given their own rice cookers when they left for college

[bonniec]

My rice cooker didn't come with pans, but I still cook meals in it.

I use the Louisiana Jambalaya recipe on www.epicurious.com. I cut the recipe in half, brown the meats on the pan, throw the rest into the rice cooker, and out comes perfect jambalaya!

Also, when I want steamed veggies/meals, I cook the rice, and in the last 10 minutes or so, I just throw the veggies directly on top of the rice and let the flavors infuse... MMMMMmmm. The last I did was make rice, then threw in some marinated spare ribs in black bean sauce (the kind you get at Chinese dim sum) and had a perfect meal!

LOVE rice cookers, mine was more expensive but LOVE the brand (Zojirushi).

[Kiss Me Deadly]

sounds incredible!!! thanks for the tip!

[IntlSet]

Sounds like a good idea. Does it cook quickly?