Easy to make and delicious

Chicken casseroles are easy to make, it tastes wonderful and they can be adapted different ways and can be made ahead of time. You just need around 15 minutes to rustle up an amazing casserole. If you get back home early you can just throw in the ingredients and make a great casserole in no time at all. The VitaClay 2-in-1 Rice N' Slow Cooker - 6 cup makes your task even easier. With this slow cooker you don’t even need to hang around waiting for the food to get done. You can program the smart cooker and set the timer and leave it to cook and relax while it gets done.

VitaClay 2-in-1 Rice N' Slow Cooker, the 6 cup has a 3.2 Quart Capacity. It was $99.99 and is now at an offer of $79.99 where you save $20.00. 

The VitaClay Chef Gourmet Rice N' Slow Cooker Pro - 8 Cup has a 4.2 Quart Capacity and retails at a discount of $129.99 from $169.99 and you save $40.00. 

All the slow cookers have multi-program functions for savory stews, porridge, soups, fluffy rice, brown rice and sticky rice. It is easy to operate, and eliminates guesswork. They have delayed timers and goes automatically to warm when done. Visit http://vitaclaychef.com/ to check out these great smart cookers. These slow cookers have got great reviews from well known magazines like Good Housekeeping, Home World.etc. Visit http://vitaclaychef.com/testimonials to check out the glowing testimonials that this slow cooker has received. 

Three-Bean Salad with Quinoa adapted by VitaClay Chef

Serves 8


Summer green beans are here! Perhaps other beans, too, so substitute any of the three beans with what you can get on sale or from your garden...or the neighbors'. Canned garbanzos, pintos or black beans are fine, too, in this beautiful and delicious summer salad that works as a side dish or protein-filled vegetarian entree. Quinoa (KEEN-wah) is a light, whole grain with plenty of protein itself; once you try it, you'll invite it back to your table again and again. 


Ingredients
1 cup uncooked quinoa 
1 ½  cup water
Salt and ground black pepper 
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces, cooked and rinsed in cold water 
1 1/2 cups frozen shelled edamame, thawed 
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers 
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained 
1/4 cup prepared Italian dressing 
1 teaspoon dried tarragon

Method
Add water and rinsed and drain quinoa into VitaClay pot. Set on regular rice cooking. About 30 minutes, when cooking completed automatically, open clay pot and stir quinoa and add a pinch of salt. Uncover and let cool. Put cooled quinoa, green beans, edamame, peppers, kidney beans, dressing, tarragon, salt and pepper into a large bowl and toss well. Serve chilled or at room temperature.


Nutrition
Per serving (about 9oz/244g-wt.): 270 calories (70 from fat), 8g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 460mg sodium, 33g total carbohydrate (8g dietary fiber, 4g sugar), 17g protein

-Courtesy from Whole food Market

Super Summer Side Dishes - Classic Baked Beans adapted from WHOLE FOODS MARKET

Serves 6 to 8
Assembling baked beans from scratch is not hard, and the resulting delicious flavor makes it worth it. Beans can be assembled ahead of time and baked just before serving.


Ingredients
3 slices nitrate-free bacon, roughly chopped 
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 
1 large yellow onion, chopped 
1 to 2 tablespoons tomato paste 
1/2 cup light brown sugar 
2 tablespoons molasses 
1/2 to 1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder, more to taste 
1 teaspoon dry mustard 
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 
3 (15-ounce) cans white beans, such as navy, rinsed and drained or 6 cups cooked white beans 
1 to 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus more if needed 
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until it starts to release its fat. Add olive oil and onions and cook until translucent and soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, sugar, molasses, chile powder, mustard and vinegar until well combined and cook for 1 minute. Transfer ingredients from skillet into VitaClay cooker. Add beans, broth, salt, pepper and stir gently to combine. Set on Stew cooking for 40 to 50 minutes or until cooked. Serve hot.


Nutrition
Per serving (about 10oz/284g-wt.): 360 calories (70 from fat), 7g total fat, 2g saturated fat, 5mg cholesterol, 330mg sodium, 62g total carbohydrate (9g dietary fiber, 21g sugar), 15g protein


Courtesy from WHOLE FOOD MARKET http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2086

Fragrant Vegetable Rice in a Slow Cooker

Ingredients
Basmati Rice – 1 cup
Oil – 3 table spoons
Ginger- garlic paste – 1 teaspoon
Mixed vegetables – 1 cup chopped
Cinnamon  – 2 inch stick
Bay leaf – 2
Cloves – 4
Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
Tomato – 1 chopped
Salt – as needed
Water – 1 1/2 cups
Chopped cilantro to garnish

Method
Heat oil in a sauce pan and saute the ginger-garlic paste. Add the spices and continue to saute for a few more minutes. Add vegetables, salt and rice, mix well. Transfer the vegetable-rice mixture to the VitaClay pot. Add water, cover with the clay pot lid. Shut the rice cooker and press the rice button on the panel. While cooking, periodically check to see whether there is enough water and the rice is done. Once cooked, garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

White Peas and Potato Curry

Ingredients
White peas or any other dried beans – 2 cups soaked overnight
Oil – 3 tablespoons
Red onion – 1 large chopped roughly
Garlic – 3 cloves minced
Ginger – 1/2 piece peeled
Garam Masala – 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Tomato – 1 chopped
Potato – 1 peeled and cut into chunks
Salt – as needed
Water – 3 cups
Cilantro for garnish

Directions
Rinse the soaked peas in cold water, drain and set aside. Heat oil in a sauce pan and fry the onions, garlic and ginger for about 2 minutes until the onions are soft. Cool and transfer to a blender and grind the onion mixture smooth. Place the onion paste in the pan again and stir fry for about 7 to 8 minutes until it turns brown. Add all the spices and tomato and continue to stir fry until the tomato is cooked through and well blended. Transfer the onion-tomato paste to the VitaClay pot, add the white peas, potato and water. Cover and turn on the stew function. Once the peas are cooked through, add salt and continue to cook for a few more minutes and keep warm until ready to serve. You can increase or decrease the water depending on how thick or thin you want the gravy to be.

VitaClay Cooker from vegetarianandvegannews.com

The VitaClay rice cooker is a good alternative to other rice cookers which come with a teflon coated pot. With the increase in the carcinogens in our environment, it is nice to finally have the option of cooking in an old-fashioned clay pot without giving up the convenience of an electric cooker.

The VitaClay rice cooker can also be used as a slow cooker to cook beans and stews. The control panel is easy to use and is pre-programmed to cook rice, stew and soup. You can also increase or decrease the cooking time depending on what you are cooking.

To test the VitaClay, we made two Indian vegan dishes. One was a white pea and potato curry and the other was a mixed vegetable rice. Both dishes turned out well.  To avoid ingesting the BPA from canned food, we used dried peas that were soaked overnight. After the initial prep work on the stove top, we used the stew function to cook the curry. At the end of the cooking time, the peas were buttery, fragrant and were neither over or undercooked. For the vegetable rice, we used the rice feature and again the rice was well cooked with each grain separate. After cooking, cleaning the clay pot was effortless and easy.

If you are in the market for a slow cooker or a rice cooker that does not contain harmful carcinogens like teflon, the VitaClay perfectly fits the bill.
 Here are the recipes for the Pea and potato curry and the Vegetable rice.

From http://www.vegetarianandvegannews.com/2011/06/13/fragrant-vegetable-rice-in-a-slow-cooker/ 

Get healthy with a little bit of help

A balanced diet is necessary to promote healthy living. Our food should contain nutrients that help us build and repair broken tissue. A healthy diet is one that includes a balanced mix of the right amount of foods from all food groups containing the nutrients the body needs. An adequate amount of water consumption is also necessary. The five main food groups that are needed in a nutrition rich diet are fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, fish and meat products.

The balance of nutrients depends on certain factors like your age, sex and general health. Some people are allergy prone and may have to avoid some kinds of food but they should substitute other foods rich in the same nutrients to make up. Skipping meals is not good for your healthy and neither is junk food. But due to long working hours, people end up skipping meals or ordering in. There is a simple and efficient solution to this and that is the VitaClay® Rice Cooker Chef, which is an easy way to make a healthy, wholesome meal in hardly any time at all. You can get all the ingredients into the slow cooker before you leave in the morning and there is hot food waiting at home for your kids when they come home after school and for you when you return from work. No one needs to go hungry or eat out.

You can check out the different models available at http://vitaclaychef.com/. You have a whole lot of delicious slow cooker recipes that you can try out in your smart cooker. Make change in your life. Get your VitaClay® Rice Cooker Chef and make wholesome healthy food for your family.