Thursday this 'n' that

[ksmith]

I'll be using up a week's worth of vacation at the end of the month to work on the book. In the meantime, I have two and a half weeks to get as much done as possible.

Taking tomorrow off as well because of a visit from the cable guy. Possible issue with the box--picture pixilated off and on for a few hours last night, and since there was no problem reported in my area and my phone and internet were not affected, the customer service guy scheduled a service call. Even when I said that the pixilating had stopped--it always stops when you call someone--the csg still felt someone should come out, since the box could be starting to go bad. But, the call is scheduled for smack in the middle of the day, when means going to work in the morning or afternoon is out.

The battery back-up sump pump has started beeping--the battery needs to have water added. It couldn't wait until, say, 8am tomorrow. It had to start cruxing at 1015pm.

I hit the alarm silencer button. I'll work on it tomorrow.

I am now the owner of a 1.5 qt crockpot, which seems very small compared to the 4.5 qt. I've heard that food cooks faster in smaller pots--is that true? And do recipes simply scale down?

Hawks are beating Calgary 4-2 with 6 and half minutes to go in the 3rd. Fingers crossed.

Comments

[technomage.livejournal.com]

Use that vacation time to maximum effect, that's what I say. Might even be !gasp! time for an LJ holiday.

Yes, the crock pots of diminutive style cook quicker, but be careful in recipe scaling. I find they need more moister due to the quicker cooking and that spices can be scaled down on a quicker slope than you'd expect.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

That's good to know. All the recipes I can find are for 4-6 qt pots, with no scale-down info.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I have a 4 qt crockpot, so when I make a recipe I wind up with about 4-5 servings, which is perfect since I get a couple of meals and freeze the rest. Most recipes I've seen are scaled for 4-5 qt crockpots, which means less figuring on my part.

Good luck with the revisions!

Crockpot Bean Burritos

[(Anonymous)]

I've been meaning to throw this recipe to you, but I kept forgetting to dig it out. This is from the very interesting but poorly titled book The Fat Fallacy, about the differences between the American diet and the French diet. My notes are marked with **. It is FANTASTIC and very easy.

This is something you can easily make in a crock-pt on a weekday, and it has lots of healthy goodies in it.

You’ll need:
1 bag pinto beans
1-2 Tbsp chili powder
1-2 Tbsp salt
3 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic (**I use more, and I smash them)
Flour Tortillas (**I’ve found the 8” to be too small, I use the 10”)
Your favorite salsa
1 good-sized wedge of Monterey Jack cheese, grated
Sour Cream (the whole milk kind, of course)
1 green chili (for the brave at heart)

Before you leave for work:

Wash the pintos and throw them in the crockpot filled with well-salted water (**I once didn’t put in enough water and the beans were crunchy in the middle, so don’t skimp on the water; you can always use a slotted spoon if you put in too much). Just add the chili powder, garlic, and bay leaves. Now turn it on and leave (**I put it on low).

When you come home:

First of all, the house will smell incredible. Pull out a couple of beans and test them for firmness. They should be just-soft.

Take the tortillas out and put them on some aluminium foil. Wet a paper towel, place it over the top, and set it in the oven on a low heat to warm.

Get the cheese, salsa and sour cream ready to serve.

If you’re having chilies, put them in a pan in the oven on broil and turn them occasionally until the skin crinkles all over. Pull them out, peel away the meat, and test it to see how much heat you are prepared for.

Now make your creation. You’ll likely end up not putting enough beans in your burrito to start with. When this happens, I unroll it and then toss some more beans in, or just ‘top-it-off’ without taking it apart.

It’s the combination of the beans and the Jack cheese that makes this work. So don’t be shy with the cheese. The sour cream and salsa don’t hurt either.

Enjoy!
Jody in PA

Re: Crockpot Bean Burritos

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Thanks--this sounds great!

[gandalara.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that the yahoo group Slowcookers is public. You can go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/slowcooker/ and click on Files - they have a txt file for Crockette (mini) recipes. If you *can't* get to it and you're interested, let me know. I'll get it for you.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Thanks--that's good to know!