Dinner!

I love my rice cooker! I was actually brave enough to try steaming fish at the same time I cooked the rice, and it turned out great! (That’s a chunk of apple in Zoe’s mouth – we had a slice apple appetizer to quell the “when will it be ready” insurgency.) I will definitely be buying a rice cooker as soon as I get home! (Ok, I admit, it doesn't take much to make me happy. But a successful cooking experiment is definitely one of the little things that will brighten my day!)

I cheated a bit on the fish, though. I went to Trust-Mart, the grocery store, the other day and bought the fish already dead and gutted. (They’ll kill them and gut them at the wet market (that’s what they call the fish/seafood market), but I didn’t really want to watch that!) The fish even came packaged with sliced onions, peppers, ginger and garlic. I love this version of Chinese convenience foods, and you can find them at Trust-Mart, Wal-Mart, and Carre Four. It might be prewashed and sliced veggies with a little meat for flavor, or precooked noodles with cabbage, ginger and spring onions to be stir fried, or sliced squid with veggies and flavorings for soup, and all of it fresh & not frozen. I hadn’t seen fish before, but thought I’d give it a try. I know, I know, steaming fish isn’t that hard, but it was a first for me!

My electric rice cooker comes with a basket that fits on top of the basin; I filled the basin with rice and water, and the basket with fish and fixin’s.

Close the lid, push the button, and twenty minutes later we had rice and yummy fish!

The girls loved it – I managed to steal two bites of fish before they demolished them. Next time I guess I better buy 2 packages!

BTW, yes, Zoe is in her pajamas. As soon as we come home these days she complains that her clothes are sweaty and changes into PJs. It's a miracle that Maya is dressed, because she usually strips, too. But she won't put on PJs -- she just stays in her panties until bedtime!