What do sucanat, brown rice and cottage cheese have in common? Not a whole lot, except that they were hot topics last week during the Recipe and Cooking Tips Parade. There were so many questions in each comment section that I will admit to being overwhelmed and after just a tiny bit of panic on my part because of my lack of time and ability to keep up, I decided just to try to answer the most frequently asked questions here. I’m still not answering every question, and for that I apologize. If I missed your question in those posts, please feel free to ask it here and maybe, just maybe I will actually get to it!
So, for no reason at all, let’s begin with Cottage Cheese. I loved all of the ideas you mentioned about ways you eat cottage cheese! Who knew there were so many great ways to eat the cute little curds. There were two questions that were asked several times in that post:
1. What kind of cottage cheese do you buy? I’m afraid of the cottage cheese in my store because it has all kinds of added ingredients!
Ah, indeed. All the yucky additives and whatnots that we can’t pronounce on the label. If I can, I like to buy Organic Valley Cottage Cheese from my health food co-op. But, I have found that at my Walmart, I can get Nordica brand, which is not organic, but is at least without hormones. It has a very good taste, unlike the cheaper brands that really freak me out.
2. Do you make your own cottage cheese? Will you tell us how to do that?
I have made cottage cheese a few times, but I’ve never been pleased with the results. If I ever get a good cottage cheese thing going on, you’ll be the first to know. (Second, actually, because I’ll be standing on my porch yelling, “WAHOOO! I just made cottage cheese that tastes good!” It’s okay, my neighbors already know I’m weird.)
Okay…now Sucanat questions:
1. What is sucanat? Is it healthier than other sugars?
I’ve addressed sucanat and other natural sweeteners here.
2. Where do you buy sucanat?
I try to order it through my health food co-op, Azure Standard. It’s much less expensive there. Otherwise I save my swagbucks and buy it through Amazon. If at all possible, buy it in bulk…it’s much less expensive! The best price I’ve found is just over $2/pound. Sounds expensive, but that’s a great deal for what you’re getting!
Last but not least…Brown Rice:
1. Where do you buy brown rice?
Again, Azure Standard or Amazon. I always buy organic, but that’s just me.
2. Is Minute Brown Rice healthy and okay to eat?
I’ve never used the Minute brand of brown rice and because it’s processed, I guess my OPINION is that I’d prefer to avoid it. However, at the store the other day, I peeked at the box and the ingredients only list “brown rice” as an ingredient. Can’t be that bad, I guess. :) If the choice is white rice or Minute Brown Rice…I say go with Minute Brown Rice if it helps you transition to this whole ingredient. In fact, here’s a coupon: $0.50 off any one (1) Minute Rice Product
3. I cooked my brown rice for over 45 minutes but it still isn’t cooked all the way. What am I doing wrong?
Altitude and who knows what can make a difference in your rice being cooked the way you want it. I found this article at Pinch My Salt. Interesting and helpful!
4. Have you ever tried soaking your rice, Nourishing Traditions style?
No, and I don’t know why. I should add that to my list. Do you ever get tired of hearing me say that? Do you ever wonder what “my list” looks like?
I don’t think you really want to know. ;)
I have a recipe for cottage cheese and apple pancakes and they are so nice! I wanted to thank you for reminding me about cottage cheese, I am pregnant and my midwifes says eat 80-100 grams of protein a day! Cottage cheese is a cheap healthy way for me to do that. :)
I know Sucanat stands for sugar cane natural. I haven’t found anything packaged as Sucanat at the stores but I have seen what I think is the same. One was organic unprocessed cane sugar from Hawaii. I was recently in Shippshewana and bought a bag of natural sugar. Both of these packages had large grained, brown sugar. The packages say the molasses has not been removed.
Can I assume that these are the same as the Sucant?
It sounds like sucanat/rapadura – is it sort of dry and dusty, not shiny? The sucanat that I buy is dusty. Before I found a co-op near me that sold it I was purchasing natural, dehydrated cane juice. The crystals were large, brown, but shiny/glossy.
Yes, sucanat/rapadura is dry…you got it!
Unprocessed cane sugar is a little different from sucanat and not quite as nutritious. Sucanat (can also go by the name of Rapadura) is defined as “dehydrated cane sugar juice”.
(Something you might want to post for everyone to see)
I’d tried and tried and tried and TRIED!, to get my brown rice to cook without being undercooked and watery at the same time despite following all the directions. UGH!
Alton Brown once again has saved the day with science. Just google
Alton Brown Baked Brown Rice and you’ll get the link. It’s super easy and tasty and PERFECT. I’ve never gone back and we eat a lot more brown rice these days because we love the results.
Oh, thank you! I love Alton Brown but somehow missed this recipe. I feel like I can cook just about anything but always fail on rice!
I LOVE the A.B. way of cooking rice. That recipe is the reason I started using shortgrain brown rice!
The absolute best way I’ve found to cook brown rice is a strict 2:1
ratio with a dash of olive oil and a dash of salt. Then cover with foil
and bake at 375 for 50-55 min. without removing the foil until cooked.
that’s basically the A.B recipe…isn’t it great ;)
Yes, I went and looked at that on the AB site ( my husband and I
love to watch him). The main difference is he uses more rice and
water,butter instead of EVOO, and bakes for 1 hr. I bet the butter
does give a good flavor.
if you soak brown rice Nourishing traditions style it doesn’t take quite as long to cook and I find has a good texture and I do like the little sour flavor the apple cider vinegar gives it.
Laura, I just wanted to let you know I linked to your site in my post this evening.
Eat well!
Kris
I hated brown rice until I learned how to cook it. Crystal Miller’s instructions are so easy. Now I have flaky rice that is NOT gummy. Thank heaven!! ~Liz
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/enjoyingbrownricel.htm
Do you have a preference on what type of brown rice you buy? Long-grain, medium-grain, short-grain? My hubby doesn’t like brown rice at all, but everyone else does, so I kind of make him eat it. I’ve found that we like the short grain rice. It cooks up better than the long-grain, in my opinion.
Anyway, just wondered what type you liked the best!
I don’t really have a preference actually…I suppose I should actually pay attention to which kind we have because I don’t even know!
If I’m not mistaken, I believe NT says it is not necessary to soak rice. I’m going off of memory here, but I think that’s right. :)
I don’t remember reading that in NT. It sure cooks up nice when it has been soaked, though.
Thank you so much for answering my Minute Rice question! I really appreciate your blog, Laura!
if you live near trader joes, organic evaporated cane juice is 279 for a two lb bag, have not used it yet but will let you know how it works in my recipes this week, tried turbinado last week and was not so happy with the results :(
I buy the evaporated cane juice from Azure. I can’t figure out what the difference is in that and sucanat, except sucanat is more expensive. Any ideas?
This is VERY confusing! The evap cane juice from Azure is processed differently than sucanat and doesn’t retain as many nutrients. Sucanat is “dehydrated cane sugar juice”. Yeah, confusing. Sucanat is better for you, which is why it’s more expensive I suppose. :(
I cook brown rice in an iron pot with an iron lid and always make good brown rice. It just takes longer to cook than white rice.You know it’s done when it has absorbed all the water and has little holes all across the surface of the rice.Make sure to take off the lid when done and remove the rice to a bowl so it does not get gummy.