During the course of this year, I learned two important things when it comes to losing weight and becoming healthy – you really need to watch what you eat and move a little more. You cannot only do one thing, you have to do both. And between cooking or preparing food and exercising, I find cooking healthier choices for food harder. I can exercise for hours, feel sore and still keep doing it the next day. My main challenge is that I do not know how to cook. I read somewhere that to be able to maintain healthy living, one must learn how to prepare his own food (we must be aware of the ingredients of what we are eating), so I have bought a few recipe books, did grocery shopping on the produce section and wet market and tried to learn.

Now I am cooking! I want to replace our old stove with the new range of electric cookers though. I went to a friend’s place and she was using an electric induction cooker and it was easier (for me) to operate, clean and cook with! I am eyeing this cooker:

Hotpoint HAE51K Black Electric Cooker

At 50cm wide the neat and compact black Hotpoint HAE51K cooker should fit nicely into any kitchen. Both the cavities have lights, double glazed doors and are self-cleaning. The top cavity includes a grill and 1 shelf, the main oven is fan assisted with 2 shelves. The hob is ceramic with 4 heating zones featuring residual heating indicators. If a reliable, standard cooker is your preference then put the Hotpoint HAE51K on your shopping list.

The electric cooker is quickly becoming a very common way of cooking. It comes in a freestanding stove that has mostly four heating surfaces where the cooking is done. While professional chefs still prefer gas cookers because they are easy to regulate, electric cookers have become the standard cooking appliance that is installed in all new apartment units and condominiums.

I can think of so many advantages of electric cookers:
1. They are cheap.
2. They are safe.
3. Another advantage that electric cookers have is that they do not need a match or a lighter to light. A push or a button or a turn of the knob ensures automatically turns the on and there is a light that comes on to indicate that the unit is in use.

I have had a slow cooker since 2010 and I have not used it since. I bought one of those 4-quart slow cookers during the Black Friday Sale thinking it can be useful for a mom like me who works from home, has two kids and no househelp. I liked the idea of having to just put all ingredients in one pot and then let it cook by itself – that’s why it was a crockpot!

I don’t know why but I never got to using it. I should break into it soon. We recently moved to a new home and I finally have space for all the kitchen appliances I have been buying throughout the years.

Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker

Slow Cookers are convenient for busy families and for moms on the go who do not have time to hover at the kitchen watching and cooking meals. It’s a great way to serve home cooked meals after a long a day at work and school without resorting to processed foods or worse, take-out food!

There are a lot of recipes you can find online but know that conventional recipes can be adjusted for slow cookers too.

1. Fresh vegetables produce the most desirable results. Potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic should washed and cut in uniform pieces, then placed in the bottom of the crock. Canned and frozen vegetables produce overcooked dishes.
2. Tender foods such as pasta, asparagus and snow peas should be added in the last hour of cooking.
3. Dairy products such as cheese, milk, and sour cream should be added in the last half hour of cooking.
4. Seafood such as shrimp, scallops, and fish should be added in the last 15-30 minutes of cooking. Once the recipe has finished cooking, add seafood and cook just until done.
5. Ground beef should be browned and drained before slow cooking to remove grease.
6. Spices and seasoning: slow cooking does not intensify spices. In the test kitchen, we recommend adding spices in the last hour of cooking.

This is a sponsored post.

We ran out of gas a few weeks ago while we were cooking and had to use our stashed induction cooker. We have been using it ever since. We will try to see if it’s low on electricity. I am not too keen on using it all the time but the husband insists we try it out. I just realized we still need a gas stove because if ever the power goes out we have a back-up plan. This reminds me to get a maha mh-c808m charger for our rechargeable batteries. We are trying to go green in our own small ways in the house and we try to limit our usage of batteries (we have so many remote controls and wireless everything around the house). I was trying to stock our emergency preparedness kit during the impending typhoon Pablo and was reminded of all of these.

I have been wanting to get a slow cooker for my kitchen for quite some time. Actually, I already have one, but it’s 110V and wont work with 220V outlets without a transformer. It just gets bulkier. I am not a good cook – in fact, you can even call me a lazy one. So I feel/think/hope the slow cooker would be my redemption at cooking! I am waiting for Friends and Family Offers for it so I can get it at a discounted price.