30 Days of Rice Recipes - Baked Brown Rice

So your rice cooker's broken... Seriously, those are not the words I want to hear with 27 days left to go for this 30 day rice challenge. One of the reasons I make so much rice now versus years past is because of my fabulous (slightly dented) rice cooker. If I didn't have it I would really be lost. But, what if I didn't have it? Then what? Well, ladies and gentlemen, how about baked rice? It seems like such a no brainer, but I had never really thought about making rice in the oven. Give it a try and see if this recipe works for you.

Baked Brown Rice
 1 1/2 cups brown rice
2 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Fill 8" square baking dish with rice. Place water, butter, and salt in saucepan and just bring to a boil.  Pour liquid over rice and stir. Cover baking container with lid or aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour then remove and fluff rice with a fork. Enjoy!

30 Days of Rice Recipes - Rice For Breakfast?

Looking for something cheap, warm, tasty, and just plain comforting for breakfast? How about rice!?! Weird huh? When I was thinking about the different ways I like to eat rice, I remembered how my mom really liked having warm rice with milk for breakfast. So I started researching and tweaking a few recipes I found online. Here's an easy breakfast that will keep you in budget:

Brown Rice Porridge

1 cup Cooked Brown Rice
1/8 tsp Vanilla
1/4 cup Milk or Milk Substitute
Cinnamon
Dried Cranberries
Walnuts

Place rice in microwave safe bowl. Add milk and vanilla. Stir. Heat rice and milk in microwave for 1-2 minutes or until hot. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. Top with cranberries and walnuts. Enjoy.

Meals For A Week!

 

So what do you do with a ton of rice from a 30 Day Rice Recipe Challege? Make meals for a week!!! Seriously, I can't believe how many meals I was able to put together from just a few dishes. I chose this challenge to see how much I could stretch our weekly food budget and I have been very happily surprised! What do you do to help make your weekly food budget stretch?

30 Days of Rice Recipes - Southwestern Rice

Day two and I'm ready to try a new rice dish!! Today's offering is a Southwestern Rice meal served with grilled chicken. Yum!! The best part? I had all the ingredients in my cupboard except the cilantro. Easy Peasy. Here's the recipe:

Southwestern Rice

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Lemon
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Chili Powder
1 Can Beans (I chose black beans)
1 Can Corn
1 Large Tomato
Chopped Cilantro
3 Cups Cooked Rice (I used brown)

In a large bowl, combine olive oil, juice squeezed from 1/2 lemon, salt and chili powder. Mix together. Rinse and drain can of beans and can of corn. Dice tomato. Combine beans, corn, and tomato with previously mixed seasonings. Toss lightly. Add cilantro to taste. I like about 2 Tbsp, but my family prefers much less cilantro. Stir in rice and combined all ingredients.

30 Days of Rice Recipes - Hawaiian Rice

I've really been on a web crawl lately. I can't seem to stop my obsession for cheap rice recipes. After perfecting a recent Fried Rice recipe my son likes, I decided to see how many different ways I could make this cheap, comforting food. Today's entry is a version of Hawaiian Rice. Many like red beans in theirs, but my family is not a fan. So here's my version:

Hawaiian Coconut Rice
2 c. Long Grain White Rice
2 1/2 c. Water
1 (14oz) Can Coconut Milk
3/4 Tbsp. Sugar

Place all ingredients in a rice cooker and stir until mixed. Cook in rice cooker until cooker registers that cooking is complete. Fluff rice prior to serving.

Cheap Travel Food Ideas

This crazy bunch is getting ready for our summer road trip. Yeah, I know, it's hot out there! It's a July road trip. Yikes. So in preparation for this trip I've started researching cheap travel snack ideas to take on the road. Here's hoping you have a great 4th of July week and happy trails to those brave souls willing to travel in this heat!

50 Chex Mix Recipes
Popcorn Snack Recipes from Orville
Granola Trail Mix Recipe
37 Ball Park Recipes (I'm thinking of trying the roasted chickpeas)

Infused Water Recipes And Other Cheap Summer Drinks

Are you looking to cool down in this hot summer weather and want something cheap and good to drink? Preferably, I would like something that does not involve a smiling drink pitcher character and a gazillion amounts of sugar! Plain water sounds meh to me right now and juice is really expensive. What to do. What to do. How about some infused water? What's infused water? Basically, it involves adding various fruits and vegetables to your water in pleasing combinations for either health benefits or just something tasty to drink. Here are some recipes I've run across around the "The Internets."

Cucumber and Mint Cooler
Strawberry and Mint Water
Pineapple and Mint Medley
Peach, Blueberry and Watermelon 

And ... due to the copious amounts of Toblerone and cookies I've eaten in the last three days, this is what I'm drinking today:

Fat Flush Water

Some other suggestions for cheap summer drinks:

1. Lemon Water
2. Herbal Sun Tea 
3. Watered down juice
4. Special Soda (this is grape juice mixed with cheap off brand lemon lime soda or Seltzer Water)

Now get out of the heat people and great some delicious liquid to drink!