Recipe- Easy Potsticker Soup

Celebrate Chinese New Year with this delicious Asian soup that is as healthy and easy to make as it is tasty!

Ingredients:

1/2 pound Chinese or napa cabbage, thinly sliced

2 celery ribs, thinly sliced

2 medium carrots, cut into matchsticks

1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions

2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons minced fresh gingerroot or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 package (16 ounces) frozen chicken potstickers

Directions: In a 4-quart slow cooker, combine the first nine ingredients. Stir in chicken broth. Cook, covered, on low until vegetables are tender (5-6 hours). Add potstickers; cook, covered, on high until heated through (15-20 minutes). Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition Facts: Serving size (1 1/3 cups): 198 calories, 6g fat (2g saturated fat), 28 mg cholesterol, 1302 mg sodium, 23g carbohydrate (5g sugars, 2g fiber), 13g protein

Classic Popcorn Balls Recipe

Fall is here, and with it comes the delightful fall treats everybody loves! Be a hit at your kid’s school Halloween party or community fall festival with these easy-to-make, gluten-free favorites. You can always add in your favorite candy pieces to make this yummy treat even more special for a special occasion. 

Ingredients:

• 7 quarts popped popcorn, unbuttered and unsalted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Food coloring (optional)
• Chunks of candy (optional)

Directions:

• After popping popcorn, place in a large baking pan; keep warm in a 200° oven.
• In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, water and salt. Cook over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 235° (soft-ball stage).
• Remove from the heat. Add the butter, vanilla and food coloring if desired; stir until butter is melted. Immediately pour over popcorn and stir until evenly coated.
• When mixture is cool enough to handle, quickly shape into 3-inch balls, dipping hands in small amounts of cold water frequently to prevent sticking.

Prep time: 20 minutes | Makes 20 servings

Source: TasteOfHome.com

Conventional or Convection Oven, What is the Difference?

What is the difference between convection and conventional ovens? This is a very common question; it’s also a very good question.

A conventional oven is a very basic piece of kitchen equipment; inside there is an exposed heating element mounted to the top and bottom of the cavity. The heating element heats the cavity to a desired temperature. However, the temperature is often uneven throughout the cavity which can cause uneven baking with cakes and breads, and dry roasts and poultry. Not to mention that the heating element on the bottom makes it more difficult to clean.

In a convection oven the heating elements are normally hidden behind the oven cavity floor and ceiling, leaving them smooth and easy to clean. Again, the elements heat the cavity to a desired temperature. But with convection there is the added benefit of a fan mounted in the rear of the oven that circulates the air inside the cavity. This makes the internal temperatures very consistent throughout. There is also the option of European/True convection which places a heating element behind the convection fan to help maintain very precise temperatures and cook at quicker speeds.

Those are the most basic differences in how the two types of ovens work. Now let’s talk about why they work.

When you put something on the oven, let’s say, a turkey. You take the turkey out of the refrigerator then you season it. When it goes into the oven it is still very cold which works like a blanket of cold that the stagnant heat of a conventional oven struggles to overcome. With a convection oven that blanket of cold is stripped away by the movement of hot air within the cavity of the oven. Because of this effect the cooking time and temperature can be reduced which means that turkey will be much more moist. Convection ovens also allow you to bake multiple sheets of cookies at the same time. That’s because there is air movement that prevents stratifying of air temperatures between the oven racks and preventing the top rack from over-cooking.

Kitchen Disposal Advice

Industry standard: Keep your dishwasher and garbage disposal approximately the same age. The performance of each, go hand in hand. If one is not functioning as designed it will age or limit performance of the other.

Things you SHOULD be doing:

• Proper use and conducting regular maintenance of your garbage disposal will help it last longer and prevent plumbing emergencies in your Colorado home.
• Run your garbage disposal on a regular basis. Infrequent use can cause rust, corrosion, and clogs.
• Putting ice cubes through the garbage disposal will keep the blades sharp and clean. Once in awhile, freeze vinegar into cubes and run those through as well.
• Keep it clean – run lemon and orange peels through the drain. The citrus will clean the garbage disposal and leave it smelling fresh.
• Use only cold water at full blast when running the garbage disposal, and keep your garbage disposal running until all the food has been ground up. Continue to let the water run for another minute to ensure all food particles have been flushed out.
• Run your dishwasher AFTER using your garbage disposal. Dishwashers and garbage disposals drain into the same pipe, so using the garbage disposal beforehand will ensure the pipe is clear.

Things you should NEVER do:

• The garbage disposal should NEVER be used for any non-food product that is not bio-degradable. Save yourself from having to call a handyman or plumber by following these guidelines.
• NEVER pour coffee grounds, grease, fats or oil down the drain. These will build up in the pipes and cause blockages.
• NEVER use the garbage disposal to grind fibrous foods (corn husks, onion peels, celery stalks, etc). These fibers will get wrapped around the blades and cause the motor to burn out.
• NEVER pour any chemicals down the disposal. If you must use one, choose Borax.  Harsh chemicals can cause damage to pipes and blades.

Things to Remember:

• NEVER stick your hand down the garbage disposal without first unplugging it. Once it’s been unplugged, wear safety gloves and goggles to protect yourself.
• If something has fallen into the disposal, try alternate options first. Use an extra long pair of needle-nose pliers or a bent wire hanger to remove the object.

3 Steps Before Buying a New Refrigerator

Step 1: Knowing your dimensions

    Fridges are not technically a standard size, they do however come in more popular sizes and when you fall within those sizes you will have the most options.  So when measuring your fridge, how and what you measure makes a difference.  Some things to keep in mind:

¨  Try and Measure the Opening not the fridge

¨  Take more than one measurement

o   Measure the width in three places, Top, Bottom and Middle

o   Watch for baseboards of lips on cabinets that may shorten your width.

o   What for plugs and water lines that may change your width at certain points

o   Measure height at three places, floors aren’t always level.

¨  If you can’t measure the opening measure the fridge

o   Measure the cabinet of the fridge along the top to get an accurate width and add 1/8^th of an inch.

o   Measure the space on the left and right of the fridge.

o   Measure the height of the fridge to both the hinges and the cabinet.

o   Then measure the distance to the cabinetry above the fridge on both the left and right side.

¨  If you have cabinetry above the fridge, measure how far it comes out from the wall.

While the above measurements may seem daunting they can help you know what you can fit, so you don’t fall in love with fridge you can’t have.  Before ever shopping for a fridge these are the measurements that I would take to simply know what I can fit and what I can’t

Step 2: Things to watch out for, or things you can change

¨  Walls, if you have a wall to the right or left of a fridge that extends past the fridge; it may impede a door opening in a Side by Side or French door, and may influence the way you have to have a Top or bottom Mount open.

¨  If you are short on height because of cabinetry above the fridge, some may consider moving or adjusting the cabinetry.

¨  Islands in front of the fridge.  (The best Measurement for an Island is from the back wall were the fridge sits to the edge of the island)

Step 3: Counter Depth VS Standard Depth

¨  The difference Between a counter depth is the depth of the casing on the fridge, 24” inches with a counter depth and 28” to a standard Depth

¨  The counter Depth is going to give a more built in look as most counter tops are about 24” deep.

How important is it to buy matching appliances?

We get asked this question a lot, and there are several factors to take into consideration when answering it. The biggest question to answer is whether or not you are planning on selling the house in the near future. If you are planning on selling then most real estate agents will tell you matching appliances can help to sell the home quicker. It gives the kitchen a finished look and ensures all the handles and stainless finish are matching.

If you are not planning on selling the home, and matching handles isn’t a concern for you then do whatever YOU will be happy with. Find the features that are important to you in each individual piece and run with it. Most people will never even notice... unless you have an appliance sales person at your house, in which case you will be silently judged. 

How Much Heat in the Kitchen??

A British thermal unit (BTU): It represents the amount of thermal energy necessary to raise the temperature of one pound of pure liquid water by one degree Fahrenheit. One four-inch wooden kitchen match consumed completely generates approximately 1 BTU.

Do electric stoves have BTUs?

The heating power of electric stoves tends to be measured in watts, instead of BTUs. One watt is equal to 3.412142 BTUs per hour.

More BTUs are automatically better than less, right?

Not necessarily! Professional ranges can scorch your cookware and be hard to handle on a normal schedule of cooking.

How many BTUs should my stove have?

This is the key question, right? Ultimately, you want to make sure your stove has enough BTUs to quickly boil a large pot of water, but that there is a large and effective dynamic range between all the burners. You need to be able to simmer on low, fry on medium, and sear on high. If your stove jumps quickly from low to high heat or doesn't ever do low heat at all, that's not very helpful. A responsive dynamic range and easy control is more important than sheer BTU numbers.

The one other place that BTU numbers come into play is choosing a range vent hood. Hoods are calibrated to handle certain amounts of BTUs, so when you are picking out a new hood, make sure you know how many BTUs your stove puts out.