Monthly Archives: March 2014

Easy Vegetable Soup

I’ve come up with the easiest vegetable soup I’ve ever made, short of opening a can. The basis is vegetable juice and a can of diced tomatoes. Vegetables and a little seasoning are added from there. Simmer it for a while and it’s good to go! It can easily be enjoyed with or without ground beef. I have the recipe in downloadable form on my HandMadeInIowa website. OR, check out my video below! Let me know if you try it! jk

Reducing arsenic in brown rice

There has been recent media attention to arsenic levels in brown rice. Apparently, it’s from the soil in which its grown, and the arsenic levels vary depending upon where it’s grown….even within the United States. I’ve always been a big advocate of whole grains of any sort, and I happen to love eating brown rice! So, I did some looking around to determine what, if anything, the consumer can do to reduce the levels of this and other potentially harmful factors in rice.

I found what we can do, aside from not eat it at all (which isn’t an option for me). I recorded yet another video on how to cook rice (I already had one up on how to easily cook brown rice). Both videos start out with the same important step, but then the cooking procedure varies. BOTH methods will reduce arsenic in rice, however, the second option will take it one step farther. The first video conserves water more, which is important for a number of people. Whichever option you use, is up to you. I’m offering them both in hopes of helping you, so you don’t give up on eating this valuable food! Here are the two videos, in the order in which they were recorded. I hope this helps in some way! Judi

Gluten-free baking is on the way!

When I had my bakery a lot of folks asked me if I had any gluten-free products available. Since I had only one kitchen at the time and made a LOT of baked goods every day from standard wheat ingredients, I didn’t offer gluten-free items. I would have needed a second kitchen that I kept free of all gluten-containing ingredients and a LOT more time and/or help to develop recipes to make such products.

Now that I’m free from the bakery responsibilities, I can devote time here and there to experimenting with food again, which I sincerely love to do. So…gluten-free is now on my “hit list.” I’ve started experimenting already with a muffin that is a “spin-off” from one that I often sold in the bakery. It’s not ready to be unveiled yet. Gluten-free baking is a whole different carnival than standard baking and I have a lot to learn! I’ve made a good bit of progress already, though, and hopefully it won’t be long before I can offer a delicious recipe for one of my muffins in a gluten-free version. I’m looking forward to getting this off the ground! Judi

Easy Way to Keep Lettuce Fresh

People have asked me how to keep lettuce fresh. When I owned my kitchen supply store, assorted gizmos for this purpose were always coming out. Something new all the time! Well, I found a really simple way to keep lettuce, other greens, and scallions fresh. I’ve used this method for years with no major issues. Check out the video. It explains it all…