More Shopping!

I read somewhere recently that a real must-have in the kitchen is a rice-cooker. I had one years ago.... many many too many years ago and have no idea where it went. It must have been during the years we lived overseas....... But it was a cool device and after reading that declarative statement, I thought to myself, "Self. He's RIGHT! You SHOULD have a rice cooker for no other reason except then you would never have to clean up the over-spill that happens every single time you boil rice!"

I had to make pit-stop at Wallyworld a few days ago for catfood and as I passed the appliance section, that voice popped into my head, "rice cooker......rice cooker....." and I said to myself, "Self! Wake up from your daydream and look at that rice cooker!" So I checked that 4-6 they had to offer and settled on this one by Rival. It's small, only cooks up to 6 cups of rice but I can't remember the last time I cooked more than 4 cups. (oh yes I can! I made pot-load for gumbo in December and yeah, that boiled over as well.)

Anyway, with just 2 people to cook for, this one is perfect in size and price. $13.47. Even if it was a complete disappointment, that is not a hefty sum, right?

and I made brown rice that night. Now, I love rice in all colors (did you know there is red rice?) and I especially love the nutty brown rice but I hate that it takes so long to cook on the stove-top. Not any more.

The little cheap $13.47 Rival cooked the brown rice in less than an hour. I think I am going to go buy another one as a back-up.

Oh yeah, ain't it cute, too? Looks like an alien robot.

Running: Yesterday was the first time to run since the 11.5 miles. It takes my old muscles that long to recover and not feel absolutely miserable. It actually felt pretty great. So much so that I ran 2:1 splits. Plog for 2 minutes, walk for 1. And really I can drop the "plog" reference. I am truly running at this point in time. Smoothly, rhythmically. Here is an area I pass: I call the meadow.