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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: May 26 2012 at 3:33pm | IP Logged
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Do you have any lightbulb, or "AHA" moments, with your adventures in the kitchen? I'll start with one I just used this afternoon, while whipping up a pot of Chicken Tortilla Soup for tonight's dinner ~~~ after years and years of boiling soups over, or having thicker soups stick to the bottom of our stockpots, I finally realized I can simmer the pot in the oven! I'd love to use the crockpot, but ours is not quite big enough for the double batches we tend to need for our hungry crew. I set the oven on warm, which is approx. 170-180 degrees. Things never stick or boil over, and soup always finishes up nicely, at just the right temperature!
BTW, Chicken Tortilla Soup is new to us ~ found the recipe online while searching for something to make with canned chicken. I added seasonings and altered the proportions to bulk up the recipe ~ it was a BIG hit with our gang ~ requests were made all around to make it again soon. I just love new recipes that go over well!
Well, gotta go inspect someone's mowing job! Have a blessed Memorial Day!
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lapazfarm
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I never would have thought of that! 
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Erin
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| Posted: May 28 2012 at 6:37am | IP Logged
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My recent AHA moment is, baking chicken is actually easy!
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St. Ann
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| Posted: May 28 2012 at 6:57am | IP Logged
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I was really proud of myself ,when I discovered the crock pot could be used to let my bread rise!
I turn the slow cooker on warm, take the crock insert out of the container, lay a cooling rack on top of the container and place the loaf pans on top of the rack. I cover the loaves with a damp towel. At the same time I preheat the oven. As soon as the oven is hot enough the bread dough has already risen quite a bit. In it goes! This has really saved me a lot of time baking bread. 
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asplendidtime
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| Posted: May 28 2012 at 9:27am | IP Logged
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Servant, so are you using a roaster (pan) to simmer in the oven or a dutch oven? Or are you using a stock pot?
Also if you are making the 6 can recipe for Tortilla Soup, how many cans does it take for your family? 
Stephanie, such a great idea for the bread!
I wanted to share my discovery. I have an electric roaster, it's a really large one, largest dh could find. I use this for outdoors cooking baking in the summer since we don't have a/c. So I need to make things on the deck. I found out I can bake birthday cakes in it, bake bread, and just about everything else I was doing with my oven. Besides my roaster can double as a tremendously large crockpot! Between my roaster, breadmaker, rice cooker, and slow cooker, I think I have a very easy time in my kitchen! I don't know how I'd make it as a pioneer woman! 
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: May 28 2012 at 10:40am | IP Logged
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Erin, thank you for the reminder of how easy baking chicken can be!
Stephanie, I love the idea of using a crockpot to help bread rise, especially during those seasons when household temps aren't warm enough to get a good rise.
Rebecca, great idea to use an electric roaster for baking, especially cakes and bread. Do you use the same temperature you would use for bakling in a regular oven? It seems like our Rival electric roaster calls for a temp. of 25F. or 50F. lower.
For 6 can tortilla soup, I doubled the recipe, which filled a five L dutch oven. I've also simmered bigger batches of soup in the oven using larger 12 or 20 qt. stainless stockpots, with no difficulty. The trick is to make sure the soup has come to a boiling point and stayed there a few minutes, so it will continue to cook throroughly. I wonder if your roaster idea would work for soups!?
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JodieLyn
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I cook a big batch of pinto beans all the time in my electric roaster. Cook 5-6lbs of beans and you have several meals worth.. the first night we eat it as a soup but then the beans are put in the fridge and/or freezer and reheated as refried beans or used in soups/stews rather than canned beans.
I went camping this weekend and was quite pleased with the "slow cooker dutch oven over the fire beef roasts with cream of mushroom soup to make the gravy" that I made.
My ah ha moment though was baking bacon. Wow! nice, crisp, evenly cooked bacon with so little work and mess. Don't even need to turn them. Just bake in a single layer on cookie sheets ~350*. Plus it frees up the whole cooktop for frying eggs and pancakes. 
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Pilgrim
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We just baked bacon the other day, too, for BLTs. It was SO much easier like you said Jodie. I read to line the baking sheet with foil, and it made clean up a cinch. I remembered that when I worked at Wendy's in my youth that was how we cooked the bacon, and it turned out great, so I looked up the temp and everything on Google. So much nicer than having to stand there frying pan after pan of bacon to make enough for a large family.
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: May 29 2012 at 7:54am | IP Logged
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Jodie, what temp. do you set your roaster at for doing the pinto beans? Great idea!
Roasts in a dutch oven over a fire sounds wonderful!
We seldom have bacon, but I really like the idea of cooking it in the oven! Thank you for the great tips!
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JodieLyn
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I usually set my roaster at about 325* for cooking beans. Keeps them at a strong simmer. I never can remember to presoak the beans so I just rinse and cook and they're usually done in about 6 hrs.
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CrunchyMom
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When I realized that leftover baked potatoes were the easiest and tastiest form of potato to use. So now, I don't bother to bake potatoes unless I do the whole bag at once, or if I'm buying by the half bushel, as many as will fit in my oven. I keep them in a big bowl in the fridge and they are ready so quickly as home fries for breakfast (not burnt, but nice and starchy with that crispy brown crust) or added to soups or whatever!
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: June 06 2012 at 9:00pm | IP Logged
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Just remembered a tip for savings on liquid handsoap, as I was refilling ours. We initially buy foam pump style handsoap bottles. To refill add only about a 1/8-1/4 in. of soap in the bottom and the rest water, for a very inexpensive solution when using liquid handsoap. I've noticed that refill bottles last us about six months, while we were going through the same amount every month or 6 weeks in the past!
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HSMama
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cooking pancakes on an electric griddle instead of the stovetop. so much easier and tastier!
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amyable
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I just learned how to "hard boil" eggs in the oven! My favorite way is to put one in each cup of a mini-muffin tin, then 30 minutes at 350*F. Place in ice cold water as usual when they are done to stop the cooking.
I find it easier than dealing with the boiling water method, and goes well with my oven baked bacon.
And slicing boneless chicken breasts into bite sized pieces is SO much easier when they are mostly frozen. I knew that a long time ago, but recently re-AHAed myself  when I didn't defrost chicken in time. I spent years only using whole chickens so the art of BSCB* was lost on me 
*(boneless, skinless, chicken breast)
Loving this thread!
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Servant2theKing
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Gee, pancakes on the griddle, hard boiled eggs and bacon in the oven ~ sounds like a great breakfast menu! We love breakfast food, any time ~ day or night! Thanks ladies!
I love the idea of cutting BSCB while it's frozen Amy! And baking an ovenful of potatoes is brilliant Lindsay! You gals are really helping streamline things in the kitchen!
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amyable
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amyable wrote:
I just learned how to "hard boil" eggs in the oven! My favorite way is to put one in each cup of a mini-muffin tin, then 30 minutes at 350*F. Place in ice cold water as usual when they are done to stop the cooking.
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This is what I get for bragging - did this just now and as I was walking to the oven to get them I hear two huge POPs...two eggs popped their shells. Not just cracked, but blew out a quarter sized hole. So google this one before attempting yourself. I'm following the directions from one site, but maybe I did it too long or my oven is too hot.
Looking forward to eating those two for breakfast, at least!
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I've been cooking turkey breasts in the crock pot to use for lunch meat throughout the week. I just toss it in after breakfast, and after dinner I can pull all the meat off with a pair of tongs, since it's all falling apart then. Then, it occurred to me that after all the meat is removed, I can just fill the crockpot with the bones and skin up with water and let it go for another day for a super-simple batch of broth. Broth veggies and a splash of vinegar are nice, but not necessary. It's too hot for soup, so I used the broth to cook noodles. It was nice to squeeze every last bit of nutrition out of that turkey breast with almost no effort.
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Sharing "AHA" moments in the kitchen.....
