Watch the segment for information about the contest and our winner, Steph MacPhail, who gets $1500 from Warners’ Stellian to trick out her kitchen appliances (or get an awesome pet hair vacuum for her yellow lab).

Steph’s recipe includes lean protein, more than two servings of fruits and veggies and reduced fat and reduced sodium ingredients. I can’t wait to try it!

Thai-licious rice, veggie and tofu stir fry

For the baked tofu:

3 lbs tofu

1/2 cup low-fat coconut milk (get one 15 oz or so can of it, the rest will be used below)

2 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

1 Teaspoon curry powder

1 Teaspoon freshly grated ginger

For the rice and veggie mix:

1 1/2 cups brown rice

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Cups sliced yellow onion

1 Cup chopped carrots

2 Cups broccoli florets

2 Cups sliced peppers (use green, yellow, or red, or a little of each)

1 Can (16 oz) pineapple, no sugar added, drained and juice reserved

1 Cup (approx) low-fat coconut milk

2 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

2 Teaspoon curry powder

2 Teaspoons freshly grated ginger

2 Tablespoons unsalted, chunky peanut butter

Optional: peanuts

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Line a 13×9 baking sheet with parchment paper.

Drain and press tofu to remove some of the moisture, then cube.

In a medium bowl, combine tofu with coconut milk, soy sauce, curry, and ginger.

Let sit for a few minutes, then pour bowl contents onto prepared baking sheet.

Bake in oven for 30-45 minutes, or until slightly crispy and brown.

Meanwhile, mix rice with 3 cups water in a soup pot.

Bring to a simmer; cover, then simmer until the water is absorbed, about 30 minutes.

Heat the olive oil in a large stir-fry pan or large skillet.

Add the onion and carrots and saute over medium heat until lightly browned.

Add the broccoli, bell pepper and pineapple and saute for 5-10 minutes.

When rice is cooked, add the stir fry mixture to the soup pot.

Add the remaining coconut milk, reserved pineapple juice, curry powder, soy sauce, peanut butter and ginger.

Stir gently, cooking for 5-10 minutes. Remove pot from burner. Remove tofu from oven and add promptly to the stir fry. Serve garnished with peanuts.

Serves 8 to 10.

My growing collection of pins!

Not since Facebook my freshman year of college have I seen a social network take off so wildly as Pinterest.

I’ve been collecting clever ideas and pretty kitchens for years on another, less visual bookmarking site but have finally given in.

I’ve traded my tags for pins! Find me and plenty of kitchen and home inspiration under Warners’ Stellian.

If you like, follow some of my boards. And then please add your account in the comments below so I can follow you back!

OK, stop acting like you're having fun. Cleaning the stove is NOT fun. Especially with that spray; you'll be scrubbin' all night.

Cleaning my stove top reminds me of making the bed: even if I do it today, I’m still going to have to do it tomorrow, too.

If you have an electric coil stove you have drip pans, which — by name — catch drips. Even if you clean your range top often, it’s a mess the next time you cook.

So the clean up should be quick and easy, or it won’t get done, right?

The method I’ve suggested before is cleaning stove drip pans with a paste. But no matter how wonderful, applying the paste and rinsing the pans is still more than some of us have time for on a nightly basis.

And this applies to gas stove tops like mine, too. Lots of drips land on the burner caps and below the grates.

The fastest, easiest — and perhaps even most effective way to clean the surface — Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, or a generic version of this melamine foam sponge.

It looks like an ordinary sponge, but because it’s melamine, it actually has little microscrubbers that can remove discoloration and baked on mess with minimal elbow grease.

That being said, it is abrasive in nature so it can scratch or dull surfaces if you’re not careful (Bon-Ami is a great alternative in this case). ‘

If you’re like me, you get so excited about the sudden ease of cleaning your seemingly impossible stove top that you move on to those marks on the floor, that mildew in the shower grout…

But the washer said it would be done by meow! What's taking so long...

I love my front load washer. It fits double the load of my old top load washer, cleans better and spins out more water so I don’t have to ruin my my clothes by drying them for an eternity.

It also estimates the amount of time it will take to finish the cycle, which comes in handy when deciding whether I should wait around to throw the clean clothes in the dryer or run an errand.

But what about when the washer shows the wrong time estimate? Maybe sometimes when your washing machine says it will take 40 minutes, it takes 50 minutes instead.

Your clothes washer time to complete a cycle is based on the type of laundry detergent you use, the size and type of your load, which cycle you chose and temperature and pressure of your water.

So, for instance, if you use too much detergent, it will “oversuds” and take longer to rinse out of your clothes. (Some brands will flash “Sd” or “Sud” on the indicator when this happens. To avoid, use the recommended amount of HE detergent).

If the load is unbalanced, say, due to you only washing one item or particularly a bulky item, your washer will keep trying to rebalance itself and that will add minutes to the process.

No brainer: larger loads will take longer to clean, especially on specialty cycles like delicate.

If you choose a sanitatization or white cycle, the water will need to be hot and if the incoming water is cold — well, you get the idea.

All this week, my sister and appliance specialist Angela Warner has been judging the “Twin Cities Live” Microwave Cooking Challenge, which challenges contestants to create delicious and fun meals cooked only in the microwave.

Guess which one is my sister Angela Warner.

Contestants like “Next Food Network Star” contestant Justin Davis and Cities 97′s BT came up with really creative microwave recipes — even microwave cake recipes!

Yes cake…and nachos.

Angela’s on “Twin Cities Live” (on KSTP Channel 5) again at 3 today and tomorrow. You can find the contestants easy microwave recipes (and the not-so easy, too) here, here and here.

AND you can win this Danby stainless microwave from Warners’ Stellian by entering on the Twin Cities Live website.

Coincidentally, we got a microwave cooking book from Panasonic this week, and I thought I’d share this recipe for risotto.

Risotto, that creamy rice pasta, sometimes scares people off because it’s heavy on the “active time” equation of the process (you basically stir for at least 30 minutes nonstop). So the idea of making it in a microwave intrigued me. Let me know if you try this!

Risotto a la Parmigiana

From MasterChefs Microwave Recipes Made Easy

Ingredients

5-1/2 cups stock
2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 minced yellow onion
2-1/4 cups Carnaroli or Arborio rice
3/4 dry white wine, warmed
1 cup grated Parmesan
5 tbsp. butter cut into 1 T. pieces
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions (note: P10, etc. refers to the power level setting on your microwave)

1. Place the stock and salt in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with a lid or plastic wrap and simmer at P10 for 8 minutes. Reserve, keeping the stock covered and hot.

2. In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the oil and onion and cook covered at P10 for 2-1/2 minutes, or until the onions are translucent.

3. Add the rice to the onion and oil mixture, stir to combine and cook at P7 uncovered for 4 minutes, stirring every minute.

4. Add the warm wine and cook at P7 for 3 minutes, or until wine is mostly absorbed.

5. Add enough stock to barely cover rice and cook at P7 uncovered for 3 minutes, or until about 75% of the liquid as been absorbed; stir. Repeat this process until all the stock is used.

6. When the rice is cooked to al dente, remove from the microwave and quickly stir in the butter, grated Parmesan cheese and ground black pepper. Serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings.

The new Thermador Freedom Induction Cooktop heats up your cookware wheverer you place it - no burners.

No more being limited to four or five burners of the same shape.

The new Thermador Freedom cooktop lets cooks place their cookware anywhere on the cooking surface — even oddly shaped items like griddles or roasting pans (think of the gravy making possibilities).

The cooktop will intelligently recognize the cookware size, shape and position to deliver heat without boundaries.

If you’re wondering, ‘What is an induction cooktop?’ Induction cooking rivals gas cooking’s responsive temperature control while being much more efficient, safer (the surface stays cool to the touch) and the smooth surface naturally is easier to clean.

If you’re really into specifics, here’s more info from Thermador:

• 48 individual 3-inch induction heating elements translates to a 63-percent more effective cooking area on the surface by eliminating the conventional standard of predefined elements.
• A 6.5-inch, full-color touchscreen display that recognizes pot shape, size, and controls power setting and cooking time
• Surface area to accommodate a 21-inch x 13-inch pan with the largest cooking surface in the industry
• A range of 4,600-watt maximum power output with Boost feature and 15-watt minimum power output

But what would a super innovative product be without a color touchscreen these days? The obligatory touchscreen doesn’t just control temperature but shows the position of all cookware.

The Thermador Freedom Induction Cooktop will be available July 2012 with a MSRP of $4,949.

I think this is what I have at home. No brand preference...surely, it was on sale.

You shouldn’t have to towel off your dishes after cleaning them in your dishwasher.

But you also shouldn’t write off rinse aid because you think it’s just made to prevent water spots on your dishes.

Dishwashers are actually designed to use the rinse aid to sheet off the water on dishes to assist in the drying process. So without it, you’re handicapping your dishwasher’s drying performance.

I’ve read blog posts about using vinegar and stuff like that in place of rinse aid, but if that actually works for you in terms of helping dry your dishes, I stand corrected (and you can hang me in the comments).

Buy a bottle of rinse aid, and I betcha that’s the missing link. Keep your reservoir full, checking it every few weeks.  Your (dry) dishtowels will thank you.

Other tips:

• If you have a new, plastic tub dishwasher, be patient. It’s drying performance will improve over time as the tub “seasons.” Don’t prewash your dishes, as this impedes the seasoning process, manufacturers say.
• Run the tap next to your dishwasher until the water is hot, ensuring that the water entering the dishwasher can get as hot as possible. I do this without fail, because it’s an all-around boost to your dishwasher’s perfomance.
• Limit the amount of plastic items. Plastic doesn’t retain heat as well as say, ceramic, which is why you’ll notice that it’s generally the wettest of all your wet dishes. Because it doesn’t retain heat, it doesn’t condensate the water.

These are generally the correct temperatures, but according to Whirlpool Corp., your freezer is set at the correct temperature when the ice cream is firm.

If the freezer is too warm or too cold, first check the air vents to make sure that nothing’s blocking circulation. Then adjust the temperature up or down one setting and allow a full 24 hours for the temperature to adjust.

One level is equal to about 1 degree of temperature, so remember: the higher the freezer temperature, the faster your frozen foods lose their quality. However, colder temperatures also could dry foods out, so try to keep the freezer at the recommended zero degrees.

>>Read more tips on proper frozen food storage

KSTP reported last night that taxpayers have until the end of 2011 to buy energy efficient products to qualify for incentives, such as a $300 water heater tax credit. See the website for full details on what qualifies and the maximum amounts you can receive.

Also if you for replace your water heater with an energy efficient model, local utility companies such as Xcel and Centerpoint both offer water heater rebates (about $40-$200) , which you can find on the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency.

A post on cleaning the dishwasher was a top dog.

Though not the most-read posts of all time on the Warners’ Stellian Appliance blog, these next 7 posts garnered the most views of those written this year.

7. HOW TO: clean a dishwasher

With more states banning phosphates in dishwashers without consumers possibly noticing, dishwashers got white film.

But a regular maintenance cleaning is always a good idea.

6. HOW TO: clean cast iron grates

If you’re lucky enough to have cast iron grates, you’re unlucky enough to handle cleaning them. The experts at Wolf Range weighed in.

5. DIY Network ‘Rehab Addict’ Nicole Curtis talks appliances

Old house lover/rehabber Nicole Curtis invited us into her “Minnehaha House” in Minneapolis for tips on fixing up kitchens and buying the right appliances.

4. Stove drip pans cleaning tips

Is there anything worse than the grime that builds up on the burner pans on your stove top? Not only do I include a deep-cleaning method, but I offer up the secret ingredient to easily keeping those drip pans shiny on a weekly basis.

3. How long does a dishwasher last?

2. How long does a refrigerator last?

1. How long does a washer last?

No, you’re right; they don’t make ‘em like they used to. (But believe me, that’s not all bad!) Unfortunately, gone are the days when you could expect your appliances to last a decade and a half. Find the new lifespans in each post above.