There are certain items that even the most dedicated home cook rarely, if ever, attempts to make. Cereal is definitely counted among those items. The ease of which you can purchase one of the hundreds of varieties of pre-made cereals coupled with the mistaken impression of it being a laborious task to prepare cereal from scratch have made this an unfortunate fact. I'm here to convince you it doesn't need to be this way.
First, let's address the aisles packed with cereal at your local supermarket. Sure, those are the easiest choice. But are they the best choice? Most are loaded with high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, excess sodium and artificial colors. Certainly not the most nutritious way to start your day. There are a few organic and natural cereals available today but most of those are expensive and heavy on sugar and/or refined grains. When you make your own cereal from scratch you gain complete control over the ingredients. You decide what to use and how much. And taking control of your food is the first step to taking control of your health.
Second is the issue of time and aggravation. Sure, it will take more effort and time to make your own cereal instead of buying it but it's likely not as involved as you think. The simple recipe below takes about 20 minutes. This recipe is for a single serving, but it is just as easy to make a large batch. Just multiply by the amount of servings you need.
There is another great reason to make your own cereal: taste. Homemade cereal will always be fresher and taste better than boxed ones. Period.
I always make my homemade cereal in my toaster oven. I find the close proximity of the heating elements in the toaster oven make this the perfect cooking environment for the cereal. If you don't have a toaster oven, you can make it in regular oven; just add another 25 degrees to the cooking temperature and keep a close eye on it.
Ingredients for One Serving of homemade honey nut cluster cereal
1/4 cup of rolled oats (not instant)
1 tablespoon of sliced almonds
1 tablespoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground mace
1/4 teaspoon of ground tonka bean
Directions
Heat your toaster oven to 400 degrees F.
Evenly spread the rolled oats and sliced almonds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until very lightly golden, this should take between 8 to 12 minutes depending on how close your toaster oven heating elements are to the pan.
Meanwhile, mix together the honey, cinnamon and nutmeg. If it is thick, warm slightly (I normally use raw honey, which is sometimes so thick it's almost solid.)
Mix the oats and almonds together with the honey mixture. Flatten into a thin layer and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Let cool, then break into clusters.
This cereal is great served cold with plenty of milk or perfect to eat by itself as a snack on the go.
Monday, November 28, 2011
The Breville Smart Toaster Oven Review
The Breville Toaster Oven, also known as the Breville Smart Oven, consistently receives great ratings and glowing reviews. This is a bit shocking, given the fact that this toaster oven costs about $250 for the regular sized version and about $180 for the compact oven. Why are so many people impressed with this expensive toaster oven when they could have easily just spent $30 for a toaster oven at the local discount big box store? Is there really that big of a difference between the Breville Smart Oven and typical inexpensive toaster ovens? Yes!!!!!
First and foremost, the Element IQ technology that the Breville Smart Oven posesses is lightyears ahead of other toaster ovens out there. The Breville Smart Oven has 5 heating elements with multiple heat options to be able to offer the best cooking possible for every item in every type of cooking situation. But the makers of the Breville Smart Oven didn't want to make this toaster oven difficult to operate, so they developed a system where the user can just pick a food item or type of cooking and have the oven do the rest. The ease with which this is done is quite surprising; I expected to need to memorize different commands in order to get this toaster oven to function optimally. However, I never even had to open up the user's manual. This toaster oven is that user-friendly and intuitive! Also, the Breville Smart Oven rememebers your settings. Let's say you bake brownies at 350 degrees F for 8 minutes, then switch to cooking a quiche at 425 degrees F for 12 minutes. The next time you switch to brownie baking, the toaster oven will be automatically set for 8 minutes at 350 degrees F. It is indeed a "smart oven."
When you first take the Breville Smart Oven out of the box, you will be struck by how solid and well-constructed it feels. This toaster oven is as much of a joy to look at as it is to use. The Breville Smart Oven has a very spacious interior and it can replace your regular full-sized oven for most day to day kitchen tasks.
The convection feature on the Breville toaster oven is very quiet, unlike most other toaster ovens which simply use a loud fan to move around the air. This oven heats up very quickly and evenly. The toaster oven shuts off automatically after every cooking cycle is finished. The door is magnetic and the middle rack automatically pulls out when the door is opened. The door on this toaster oven seals very well, which means very little heat escapes. This adds to the Breville Smart Oven's energy efficiency; it uses about 50% less energy compared to a full-sized oven. It also means the handle will always stay cool to the touch, good news for anyone who has ever been burned by a cheap toaster oven.
This toaster oven comes ready to use with 3 included pans: a 13 inch round pizza pan, a 12 x 12 baking dish and a 12 x 12 broiler pan. The crumb tray is located in the front, making it very easy to clean. This is one toaster oven that is incredibly well designed, both for function and beauty. Use it once and you will understand why it is consistently well-rated and deemed worth the higher price.
First and foremost, the Element IQ technology that the Breville Smart Oven posesses is lightyears ahead of other toaster ovens out there. The Breville Smart Oven has 5 heating elements with multiple heat options to be able to offer the best cooking possible for every item in every type of cooking situation. But the makers of the Breville Smart Oven didn't want to make this toaster oven difficult to operate, so they developed a system where the user can just pick a food item or type of cooking and have the oven do the rest. The ease with which this is done is quite surprising; I expected to need to memorize different commands in order to get this toaster oven to function optimally. However, I never even had to open up the user's manual. This toaster oven is that user-friendly and intuitive! Also, the Breville Smart Oven rememebers your settings. Let's say you bake brownies at 350 degrees F for 8 minutes, then switch to cooking a quiche at 425 degrees F for 12 minutes. The next time you switch to brownie baking, the toaster oven will be automatically set for 8 minutes at 350 degrees F. It is indeed a "smart oven."
When you first take the Breville Smart Oven out of the box, you will be struck by how solid and well-constructed it feels. This toaster oven is as much of a joy to look at as it is to use. The Breville Smart Oven has a very spacious interior and it can replace your regular full-sized oven for most day to day kitchen tasks.
The convection feature on the Breville toaster oven is very quiet, unlike most other toaster ovens which simply use a loud fan to move around the air. This oven heats up very quickly and evenly. The toaster oven shuts off automatically after every cooking cycle is finished. The door is magnetic and the middle rack automatically pulls out when the door is opened. The door on this toaster oven seals very well, which means very little heat escapes. This adds to the Breville Smart Oven's energy efficiency; it uses about 50% less energy compared to a full-sized oven. It also means the handle will always stay cool to the touch, good news for anyone who has ever been burned by a cheap toaster oven.
This toaster oven comes ready to use with 3 included pans: a 13 inch round pizza pan, a 12 x 12 baking dish and a 12 x 12 broiler pan. The crumb tray is located in the front, making it very easy to clean. This is one toaster oven that is incredibly well designed, both for function and beauty. Use it once and you will understand why it is consistently well-rated and deemed worth the higher price.
The Toaster Oven and Energy Efficiency
Lately lots of people are trying to "green" their lives and consume as little energy as possible, whilst still maintaining the quality of life they have become accustomed to. The toaster oven can help the average home cook to achieve this lofty goal. On average, a counter top toaster oven only uses half as much energy as a full-sized oven. When you couple this with the fact that toaster ovens warm up more quickly so that they don't need to be on as long, the energy savings really start to add up.
If you are unsure if it is worth buying a new appliance to save a little on energy, start a home cooking log. List what you are cooking and for how long. See how many of the items could have been cooked in a toaster oven. This will give you an idea of how useful a toaster oven will be in your kitchen, and show you how often you could be saving energy.
If you decide to buy a toaster oven, keep that food log in mind when deciding on the size you want. Often well-meaning cooks are tempted to buy a small oven to keep energy consumption as low as possible. But remember that if the toaster oven you choose is too small too cook most of your food, you'll be using the energy-hogging full-sized oven more often. A better option is to put some thought into which size of toaster oven best fits your particular culinary lifestyle.
When contemplating buying a toaster oven for energy savings, insulation counts big time. In general, the more expensive toaster ovens will have better insulation than their cheaper counterparts. This means less heat can escape and the unit will need less energy to operate. However, even a cheap counter top toaster oven will use less energy than a normal full-sized oven. So if you can't afford a top of the line toaster oven, don't worry. You will still reap energy savings, although those savings will not be as substantial as they are with the high-end models.
By virtue of name alone, you would expect a toaster oven to be the best option when making toast. But if it's energy efficiency you are seeking, this is not the case. A counter top toaster oven will almost always use more energy to toast bread than a regular toaster does. So use the toaster oven to replace your normal full-sized oven for day to day cooking tasks and stick with your toaster for toast.
If you are unsure if it is worth buying a new appliance to save a little on energy, start a home cooking log. List what you are cooking and for how long. See how many of the items could have been cooked in a toaster oven. This will give you an idea of how useful a toaster oven will be in your kitchen, and show you how often you could be saving energy.
If you decide to buy a toaster oven, keep that food log in mind when deciding on the size you want. Often well-meaning cooks are tempted to buy a small oven to keep energy consumption as low as possible. But remember that if the toaster oven you choose is too small too cook most of your food, you'll be using the energy-hogging full-sized oven more often. A better option is to put some thought into which size of toaster oven best fits your particular culinary lifestyle.
When contemplating buying a toaster oven for energy savings, insulation counts big time. In general, the more expensive toaster ovens will have better insulation than their cheaper counterparts. This means less heat can escape and the unit will need less energy to operate. However, even a cheap counter top toaster oven will use less energy than a normal full-sized oven. So if you can't afford a top of the line toaster oven, don't worry. You will still reap energy savings, although those savings will not be as substantial as they are with the high-end models.
By virtue of name alone, you would expect a toaster oven to be the best option when making toast. But if it's energy efficiency you are seeking, this is not the case. A counter top toaster oven will almost always use more energy to toast bread than a regular toaster does. So use the toaster oven to replace your normal full-sized oven for day to day cooking tasks and stick with your toaster for toast.
The differences between a toaster oven and a microwave oven
Many home cooks are choosing to replace or supplement their microwave oven with a toaster oven. The reasons for this may vary from person to person. Here are a few of the differences between toaster ovens and microwave ovens to help you decide which is the best choice for you.
A microwave oven will essentially steam all food. While this is a great option for some items, such as asparagus or lobster, a microwave oven tends to make many other items soggy. Bread products tend to taste dry and very stale after being microwaved, unless they are loaded with chemicals and excessive fats (read the label on bread products made specifically for the microwave.) A toaster oven uses dry heat, just like a normal oven. This means food cooked in a toaster oven doesn't just simply get hot, it can also be cooked in many different ways.
Browning is one area where these two ovens greatly stand apart. A microwave oven has no browning capabilities at all. No matter how long you cook food in a microwave, it simply will never turn golden brown. A toaster oven can brown food. When foods are browned, a myriad of interesting and delicious flavor compounds are developed. French scientist Louis Camille Maillard extensively studied what happens when food browns in the early 1900s, which is why we now call that process the Maillard Reaction.
A good toaster oven can be used to cook anything a normal full-sized oven can, as long as the food is small enough. You can bake, broil, roast or toast. You can add liquid to a covered baking dish and steam or braise your food. A microwave can only steam.
There is some evidence, although disputed by some, that there are inherent safety issues involved when microwaving food. This is one of those issues where you must decide for yourself where you stand.
On the issue of speed, the microwave will always beat the toaster oven hands down. There is no appliance today that can cook food as quickly as a microwave oven, which is why that appliance is present in almost all modern kitchens. But I would argue that speed is not important if it produces bad food.
Overall, a microwave is great if you want to cook or heat food very quickly. A toaster oven is best if you want the food cooked well, offering as much flavor as possible. It takes a bit longer, but the average heat up and cooking time of a toaster oven is much less than that of a full-sized oven due to having a smaller space to heat and the close proximity of the food to the heating elements.
A microwave oven will essentially steam all food. While this is a great option for some items, such as asparagus or lobster, a microwave oven tends to make many other items soggy. Bread products tend to taste dry and very stale after being microwaved, unless they are loaded with chemicals and excessive fats (read the label on bread products made specifically for the microwave.) A toaster oven uses dry heat, just like a normal oven. This means food cooked in a toaster oven doesn't just simply get hot, it can also be cooked in many different ways.
Browning is one area where these two ovens greatly stand apart. A microwave oven has no browning capabilities at all. No matter how long you cook food in a microwave, it simply will never turn golden brown. A toaster oven can brown food. When foods are browned, a myriad of interesting and delicious flavor compounds are developed. French scientist Louis Camille Maillard extensively studied what happens when food browns in the early 1900s, which is why we now call that process the Maillard Reaction.
A good toaster oven can be used to cook anything a normal full-sized oven can, as long as the food is small enough. You can bake, broil, roast or toast. You can add liquid to a covered baking dish and steam or braise your food. A microwave can only steam.
There is some evidence, although disputed by some, that there are inherent safety issues involved when microwaving food. This is one of those issues where you must decide for yourself where you stand.
On the issue of speed, the microwave will always beat the toaster oven hands down. There is no appliance today that can cook food as quickly as a microwave oven, which is why that appliance is present in almost all modern kitchens. But I would argue that speed is not important if it produces bad food.
Overall, a microwave is great if you want to cook or heat food very quickly. A toaster oven is best if you want the food cooked well, offering as much flavor as possible. It takes a bit longer, but the average heat up and cooking time of a toaster oven is much less than that of a full-sized oven due to having a smaller space to heat and the close proximity of the food to the heating elements.
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