My Secret Garden

Monday, November 25, 2013

21 Surprising Things You Can Make In A Rice Cooker

It’s time you outsmarted the machine.

You have been lied to your entire life.

A rice cooker can cook more than rice.

Yes, a standard electric rice cooker is designed to bring rice to a boil, sense when it needs to reduce to a simmer, then lower the heat again to keep rice at serving temperature without overcooking it.

That may sound like a very smart little machine, but YOU ARE SMARTER. You can trick the thermostat (just press “Cook” again) and manipulate that nonstick cooking surface to do whatever you want!

In her excellent New York Times piece on the topic, Julia Moskin explains it just right: “Cooking foods other than rice in a rice cooker is like baking a layer cake in an Easy-Bake oven: best approached with patience, curiosity and something to snack on in the meantime.”

But it’s worth the experimentation, especially for people who don’t have a full stove or a large kitchen. Just take it from Roger Ebert (RIP). Put a bunch of ingredients in there and give it a go. Melt a little butter, add onions or shallots, and use it the same way you might a big dutch oven. Know that the heat doesn’t get very high. Here are some recipes to try.

1. Tofu And Asparagus

Put the ingredients in, turn on the rice cooker, come back 15 minutes later and you have a meal. Find the recipe here.

2. Mac And Cheese

Using chicken stock makes for some interesting mac and cheese. Find the recipe here.

3. Chocolate Lava Cake

Yes, you can even make delicious chocolate cake. Recipe here.

4. Pomegranate And Quinoa Salad

No more burnt quinoa! Find the recipe here.

5. Cheesy Jalapeno Bread

Find the recipe here.

6. Black Bean Chili

Find the recipe here.

7. Poached Pomegranate Spiced Pears

Rice cookers are surprisingly great for poaching fruit. Find the recipe here.

8. Lemony Risotto With Shrimp

So easy! Find the recipe here.

9. Mahi Mahi

Find the recipe here.

10. Steel Cut Oats

Recipe here.

11. Balsamic Dijon Chicken With Farro And Mushrooms

A complete meal in one pot! Find the recipe here.

12. Banana Bread

Find the recipe here.

13. Wheat Berry Salad

Find the recipe here.

14. “Stir-Fry” Cabbage

Other veggies would be good too. Find the recipe here.

15. Rice Cooker Bibimbap With Salmon and Spinach

Francesco Tonelli for

Get the recipe

16. Banana Pudding With Caramel Sauce

Making caramel in a rice cooker is seriously impressive. Find the recipe here.

17. Vegetable Frittata

Recipe here.

18. Apple Upside Down Cake

This is brilliant. Find the recipe here.

19. Vegetable Hot Cake

This is kind of like a big vegetable pancake. Find the recipe here.

20. Rice Cooker Chicken Biriyani With Saffron Cream

Francesco Tonelli for

Get the recipe

21. Japanese Anime Bread

seriouseats.com

This video is from the end of an episode of the popular Japanese manga turned anime series Yakitate!!, about a boy on a quest to create a national bread for Japan. Get the full translated recipe at WikiHow.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

如果是癌症吃了就不死,可惜我们知道的太晚了

今天一位十几年没见的朋友请我们去吃饭,吃完在他公司闲聊时无意中说起他一个朋友的父亲得了癌症，被医生宣布只能回家等死了，有人送来了一个偏方，家人就是：死马只当活马医，试着吃起了这个方子，没想到吃了几贴就有了起色，就接着吃下去，现在已经是复查也查不出病症状了！于是这个朋友把这个方子拿来给了自己的亲戚吃，最近也有了起色！当下就跟他要了这个方子，因为十一年前父亲就是被癌症折磨而死，想起那时如果能有这个方子的话，说不定父亲也能活到现在了，只有经历过失亲之疼的人才会明白这个中滋味！不管这个方子是否真的有用，我把它放到我的空间上，如果有哪个朋友看到了可以转下来，说不定哪天能帮到人！上网查了查这几味药也真的是抗癌的药，平时没事也可以吃，有清热解毒之功效．　　　　

药方：

红枣大的八粒，小的十粒（共十八粒）　
　

铁树一叶

半枝莲一两

白花蛇舌草二两

服法：

四味药为一剂可煎两次　　第一次用水量大约十五碗煎两个小时，第二次约十碗水煎两小时，然后将药汤倒起日夜当茶饮服

说明：

一　、该药主治各种癌症．根据服法结果，已经治愈了肠癌，肝癌，子宫癌，胃癌等，除乳癌效果差点外，其他癌症都有良好效果，特别是肠癌，只服四到六小时就起异常效果．

二　、平时每月煎一次服用，因该药药性对脏腑之热素及生痔疮,热咳等症，服后都有确实生效且能彻底治愈

三、注意说明：半枝莲，清凉无毒，是排污草药，服后不能饮用开水，恐其冲淡药效，如果癌症三花（就是表面能看见烂的），可将刚生长的新鲜草药捣烂取其汁，将渣敷于患处，其汁用水热烧当茶喝，此药不分男女老少，服用三至四个月，方能彻底全愈，服用后大小便有浓血排出，这反映毒物，清除后即止，可免惊疑。

四、此方是一个犯人在执行死刑前三天供出来的，因恐死后失传，到目前为止，治愈者无数，是救人一大积德！

希望转发邻居亲友多作善事

附注：此方与六六年十月二十五日中国时报第七版登刊之内容相同

十大致癌食物黑名单

葵花子排在致癌首位，油条竟然在第十位现在国人癌症高发，收了

1. 葵花子
2. 口香糖
3. 味精（麸! 胺酸钠）
4. 猪肝
5. 河粉、板条、米粉、粉丝
6. 腌菜、萝卜乾
7. 市售瓶装鲜果汁
8. 皮蛋
9. 臭豆腐
10. 油条

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

When You Look Closely At These 10 Photos, You’ll See Why They Mean So Much.

Photographer Tom Hussey created a series of pictures that will speak to you, no matter your age, race, beliefs or occupation. The Reflection photos illustrate just how much we change in our lives and how it seems to happen all at once, no matter how many years actually go by. These will grip your soul.

Reflection gives insight into the former lives of these senior citizens.

Tom spoke to a veteran right before his 80th birthday. His quotes inspired him to create the series.

“I can’t believe I’m going to be 80,” he told Hussey. “I feel like I just came back from the war. I look in the mirror and I see this old guy.”

“It’s a universal condition — at some point in your life, you look in the mirror and say, ‘Wait a minute, how did I get this old?’” said Tom.

“The idea for doing these images was a person looking in the mirror and seeing what they remember.”

“When you look in the mirror every day, you recognize yourself, but when you go back and look at a photo of yourself 20 years ago you say, ‘Wow, I really have changed.’”

“You get to some milestone — age 20, 40, or 80 — and you can’t believe that much time has gone by.”

Take time to appreciate every day, because these years will be gone before you know it. You can visit Tom Hussey’s site here.

Can you survive a day in KL with RM10?

Far and wide, Klang Valley-ites have been lamenting that it is getting more and more difficult to survive on the income they earn. But there are still those who say that it is perfectly possible to be comfortable with a little bit of financial management. To see what the reality really is on the ground, we armed our writer with RM10 to take on a day in Kuala Lumpur.

Charioting your way to the city
As the sub-header suggests, first of all, one needs to get to the city – be it for work, play or general hanging about. Charioting, yes, but not with the ancient horse-drawn two-wheeled vehicle of course (although it can save you money on petrol but fill our streets with horse manure). Rather, you will get there with the modern ‘chariots’ available such as a bus, taxi or the LRT. With RM10, we had no choice but to take the cheapest option available.

Though walking would of course be even cheaper; it’s not a suitable option if you work in Jalan Tun Razak and live in Cheras. Thus, we looked up bus fares. Depending on where you stay and where you work, taking a bus to and fro will cost anywhere between RM3 to RM7 per day. Taking the middle sum of RM5 per day for transport (although may God help you if you need to commute longer on a packed bus and pay RM7 per day, with only RM3 to spare for lunch), you will be left with a ‘grand’ RM5 for lunch and anything else you may need to pay for during the day.

Money for the tummy
Ah, lunchtime. It’s what every office worker dreams about from the moment they clock in. But what kind of fantasy lunch could one have with RM5? With such an amount, the choices of what and where to eat becomes rather limited. Forget a McDonald’s McValue meal at RM5.95; it’s not enough value for your budget. Your best bet would probably be the mamak restaurant or a hawker centre that sells economy rice. Even opting for one of these no-frills eateries; with RM5 you won’t be able to get any drinks beyond plain water (RM0.30) or diluted Chinese tea (RM0.50). If you decide to remain parched until you get back to the office water cooler; you will have your RM5 intact for food.

But you will have to be cautious of what you pick especially if you are having economy rice. It is best to ask how much each dish is to be on the safe side of not taking more than your balance of RM5. If you are afraid to ask and appear like a right cheapskate; the safest bet is to go vegetarian. A bunch of vegetables on rice is unlikely to cost more than RM4; leaving you with RM1 should you need to buy a sweet. Yes, A sweet.
On the other hand, having lunch at a mamak stall could be less of a headache. Just stay away from the nasi kandar section. Instead, stick to the basics such as maggi goreng or roti canai. The most a mamak could charge you for a maggi goreng is RM4 (and that usually doesn’t happen unless it’s a truly uppity mamak) and a max of RM2 for a roti (unless you’ve got sardines or something in it). If you decide on a roti; you might be able to squeeze in a limau ais. Lucky you.

The verdict
Is it possible to survive in KL on RM10 a day? Yes, but as you can see, you won’t be too near comfortable. RM10 also means you won’t be able to spend on anything else besides your commute and lunch. Forget teatime or even breakfast! With that said, you’d think RM10 a measly amount but if you do a bit of easy calculation, it’s RM50 a week and RM200 a month. For a minimum wager pulling RM1000 to RM1500; RM200 is a good fraction of their income.

The easy answer to this question simply is; yes you can survive but not half as well as you should considering the level of wages.

Do you have any suggestions or ideas on how to make your RM10 go further? Let us know!