Standard Rice

I have been told that I make a the best "Puerto Rican Rice". The only thing is is that I didn't know that it was Puerto Rican! hahaha My eldest daughter often brings leftovers to school to eat and shares with her best friends, who are, you guessed it, Puerto Rican.

I've been making rice like this forever. I have recently stopped buying white rice altogether and only buy brown or Bob's Red Mill brown & wild, but I still make it the same way. This rice has accompanied chicken piccata, cashew chicken, cranberry chicken among other meals. Lots of times I will make it on a Monday and have the boys start it while I'm at dance and it is ready to eat with whatever has been simmering in the crockpot when I get home.

Standard Rice

2 c. brown rice
2-3 Tbsp. dried minced onion
1-2 tsp. dried minced garlic
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1-2 tsp. salt
freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
4 1/3 c. water
1 Tbsp. EVOO

Add all the ingredients to a large pot. Bring to a boil and then turn to low. Simmer for about 40 minutes on low or until all the water is gone. It is best not to lift the cover of the pan while cooking.

Cook's Notes:

You can use white rice, but cut down the water to just 4 cups.
You can also cut out the salt if you are using chicken broth/stock or a couple of bouillon cubes.
I have used dill on occasion with good results - especially good with fish or Greek style chicken.
If you prefer to use fresh onion & garlic, I would saute it up in the EVOO first before adding the rice, water & other ingredients.

Crockpot Mexican Chicken, Homemade Applesauce, Bobs Red Mill Organic Brown & Wild Rice and Lemon Coconut bars, OH MY!

So, Mondays are a bit problematic regarding dinner. Number 6 has dance from 5:45 until 6:30 which means our usual dinnertime is interrupted. We are not home until 6:50 or later which means dinner really needs to be ready when we get there.

Yesterday I looked up Slowcooker Mexican Chicken, found a recipe that looked decent and made my own thing. I have an over abundance of jalapeno peppers from my garden. Seriously. Those little buggers are like RABBITS they are multiplying so fast. Oh and a word to the wise: Don't even think of scratching that itch at the corner of your eye near your nose while slicing jalapenos. Dude - I burned my eyelid! hahaha

Along with the crocked meal I made some applesauce from the abundance of apples we have and decided to cook the rest of the Bob's Red Mill rice that I bought for Number 2's birthday dinner. It all went super awesome together. The applesauce was the perfect foil to the Mexican's spice. The Bob's Red Mill brown & wild rice is freakin' awesome. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! It takes a bit longer to cook than regular rice, but I cook it the same - Adding in dried onion, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and basil. Oh and a splash of EVOO, if I remember.

The lemon bars are one of my favorites. They are super easy and super yummy. I just have to stop myself from eating them. That's the difficult part.

Slowcooker Mexican Chicken

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips or chunks
1 recipe homemade taco mix. (You can find that HERE. The ingredients are listed within the taco recipe)
3-4 fresh jalapenos, sliced (I take the membrane & seeds out to cut down on the spice)
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained (I would have preferred fresh, but I only had two ripe from the garden)
green pepper, sliced
onion, diced

Cook on low 5-6 hours or high 3-4 hours. I did a combo of both since my chicken was still partially frozen.


Applesauce

6-8 fresh cooking apples (my blend included Golden Delicious, Empire & Cortland), cored, peeled & sliced
a pinch or two of salt
1/2 c. water

Cook over med. to med. high heat until apples are tender. Fork mash or use food processor if you don't like chunks.

No need to add sugar, but sometimes I do add cinnamon.

Lemon Coconut Bars

BASE:
2 c. flour
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/4 c. brown sugar

Mix above ingredients in a small bowl. Press into a slightly greased 13x9 and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.

FILLING:
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. brown sugar (I've reduced this to 1 c. before and it's fine)
1/2 c. chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1 c. coconut
The zest & juice from two medium sized lemons

Mix all ingredients in same small bowl (less mess) and pour into base, making sure filling is evenly spread. Bake another 25-30 minutes on 350.

Cool completely before cutting.

Tuna with Rice & Cheese

I found this recipe in my Woman's Home Companion cookbook when trying to make supper with what little was left in my pantry this past winter. It ended up being well liked by everyone at the table. Even me, which is saying something because beyond tuna salad w/diced apples, I'm not a big tuna fan. In fact, given the choice, I would eat chicken almost every day of the week. I'm almost positive that if cheese was not a factor in this dish, I would not like it as much!

As with most recipes, this isn't exactly what the recipe in the book looked like, but it is how I've made it since finding it.

Tuna Fish with Rice and Cheese

2 sm. cans tuna packed in water, rinsed & drained well & flaked
5-6 c. rice, cooked*
2/3 c. shredded cheese, divided (I like a cheddar blend - usually have Mexican blend on hand)
1 c. frozen peas, divided
1 recipe basic Cheese sauce** (Parmesan is a good choice, but use what you like)
1/2 c. bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400.

Layer the following into a large pan - foil ones work awesome: 1/3 of the rice, 1/2 of tuna, 1/2 of the cheese and 1/2 of the peas. Repeat, adding last 1/3 of rice on top. Cover with cheese sauce and bread crumbs. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes.

*When I cook rice, I generally use a very bland homemade chicken broth or 2 bouillon cubes per 4 c. of water. I also add in dried minced onion, dried minced garlic, basil, oregano, salt & pepper. If you have just plain rice, you will want to add herbs/flavorings to it before making this casserole.*

**Basic cheese sauce is as follows: 2 Tbsp. butter melted, 2-3 Tbsp. flour whisked in to make a roux. 2 cups of milk added slowly, whisking to prevent lumps. When mixture starts to thicken up, add cheese and stir until melted. I generally do not measure my cheese.**