Lemon Parsley Rice

Since I don't buy many convenience foods anymore, that means no more rice mixes.  Like boil-the-water-stir-in-the-rice-packet-stir-in-the-seasoning-packet-and-simmer-for-20-minutes rice mixes.  But those are super easy, right?  And fool proof.  How can you not love that? 

Well, truth be told I've only learned to cook rice (without a rice cooker) in the last year or so. And you know, it wasn't as hard as I thought.  I mean sure, I'd make something as involved as banana pudding with homemade vanilla wafers, but cook rice without a rice cooker?  You would more likely find me curled up in the fetal position, rocking back and forth, than attempting to make rice without a rice cooker.

So here it is, as simply as it gets--the ratio is always one part rice, two parts water/stock (you really should do stock--it just tastes better).  If you do brown rice like I do, add an extra quarter cup of water/stock.  Bring the water/stock to a boil, stir in the rice and bring back to a boil.  Immediately turn the heat down to a low simmer and cover the pan.  For white rice, you'll simmer about 20 minutes.  For brown rice, you'll let it simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour.  (Those darn whole foods just take longer, don't they?).  Then you fluff the rice and serve.   

Now, I don't particularly care for plain rice.  If you are like me, this just might change your life.  It's like a rice mix, but not.  Simply stir in the juice and zest of one lemon and about a quarter cup (loosely packed) fresh parsley that you finely mince.  The flavor is so fresh and amazing.  Sure, it's a little more work than a rice mix, but it's about a gazillion times better flavor, so it's worth it! 

Lemon Parsley Rice

1 cup uncooked brown basmati rice
2 1/4 cup chicken stock

Juice and zest of one lemon
1/4 cup (loosely packed) parsley, finely chopped

In a medium saucepan, bring chicken stock to a boil.  Stir in rice and bring back to a boil.  Immediately turn down heat to a low simmer and cover saucepan.  Simmer for 45 minutes to one hour, or until all the moisture is absorbed.  Fluff rice with a fork and stir in juice and zest of one lemon and chopped parsley.   Serve with a protein and vegetable for a complete meal. 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This recipe is linked to:

Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday
Blessed With Grace Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Designs By Gollum Foodie Friday
Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
Friday Potluck at EKat's Kitchen  (Friday Potluck will be hosted at girlichef for the month of July)
Hearth 'n Soul Recipe Swap at A Moderate Life
La Bella Vita's Fresh Clean and Pure Friday 
Life As Mom Ultimate Recipe Swap
Miz Helen's Country Cottage Full Plate Thursday 

Menu Plan Monday

It's a short week around here, as we are taking a trip to visit the Hubs family.  A little stressed, as this will be the first plane ride for the Peanut.  Thankfully I will have the Hubs to count on if either the Peanut or I decide to have a meltdown.  Not that I would do that, of course. 

Sunday-Steak, rosemary potatoes, steamed veggies

Monday-Quesadillas with leftover steak, black beans

Tuesday-Taco Salads with leftover steak (it's a BIG cut of steak)

Wednesday-Grilled Cheese, fruit smoothies

Thursday-Saturday-Kitchen is Closed! 


For other great menu ideas, visit the Organizing Junkie. 

Today Was a Lazy Day

Peanut woke up sounding congested this morning.  Then the runny nose started, followed by some impressive sneezing.  The dreariness continued when looking outside to see it had rained last night.  So we snuggled in and watched TV and played with puzzles all day.

Of course, by looking at her, you would never know she's not herself.  She's such a good patient. 

Hopefully this will be out of her system by the time we leave for our trip on Thursday.

And hopefully Hubs and I won't be following suit!  

Tried It & Loved It: Peaches 'n Cream Muffins

I know, I know.  

Another muffin recipe.  But muffins are my go to breakfast in the morning and I love trying new recipes out!

And peaches 'n cream in a muffin?  Be still my heart.

I love these!  And I love that it calls for honey as a sweetener.  I don't use honey all too often--mostly because I don't know how to substitute honey for sugar because honey is a liquid and I never know how that will throw off the wet to dry ratio in most baking recipes.

I did change these just a little, because when making these the first time, I thought it had a lot of wet ingredients, so I omitted the 1/2 cup of half and half.  The batter was the perfect muffin consistency and they still turned out beautifully!

Peaches 'N Cream Muffins ~ slightly adapted from Amy at The Finer Things in Life

2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup cooking oil (I used coconut)
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup half n half (I omitted this entirely!)
2 ripe peaches, chopped (I used one 14.5 oz. can of peaches (not the heavy syrup kind), drained and chopped.....peaches are so not in season yet!)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups flour (I used fresh ground, soft white wheat)

Beat eggs and mix in honey, coconut oil, butter, and sour cream.  Fold in chopped peaches.   In a separate bowl mix together dry ingredients and fold into wet ingredients until just moistened.

Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 18-22 minutes.  Makes about one dozen muffins.

Fresh Cherry Compote

I really didn't reinvent the wheel with this one.  This is just like the other fruit compotes I made several weeks ago.  The recipe is very versatile, as you can see.  You can change out the fruit with almost any fruit that suits your fancy.  For us this last week, it was a great way to use up the last bit of cherries.  Not that we needed any help--but we had been snacking on them for a solid week and it was good to have a little bit of variation.

Fresh Cherry Compote

2 cups fresh cherries; stemmed, pitted and quartered  (mine were mostly Rainiers with a few Bings)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp. almond extract (optional)
1 tsp. arrowroot powder (you may use cornstarch too--use about 1 1/2 tsp.)

In a small pan over medium heat, slowly heat cherries and syrup.  In a small bowl, mix arrowroot powder/cornstarch with about a tablespoon cold water.  Stir thickener into cherry mixture.  Stir cherry mixture occasionally while allowing compote to thicken.  Compote is finished when sauce has thickened and coats the back of a spoon, about 15-20 minutes.  Stir in almond extract after removing from heat. 

Public Service Announcement

I do the ironing 1-2 times a week and I starch Hubs dress shirts for work.

'Cause I am good little wife like that we can't afford to send them out.  (Although for the record, if we could afford it, I still don't think I would.  I would rather buy something fun than pay someone to do the ironing.)

All his shirts are darker colors and as I was ironing and starching the other day, I noticed the ironing board pad was getting all gunky.  Hmmmm, I should probably wash that I thought.

I thought wrong.

Apparently you don't wash and reuse these?  Or was it just my cover (that came with the ironing board)? 

Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwiches or Salads

This is another great way (especially in the summer) to use up some leftover cooked chicken.  I had the last bit of roasted chicken that needed using up and I made chicken salad salads with them.  Still having some leftover the following day, we had chicken salad sandwiches for lunch.  This recipe comes from my Mom....so of course, it totally reminds me of my Mom.  Are there any foods that every time you have them, you get warm fuzzys because of a special person it reminds you of?

Yes, chicken salad reminds me of my Mom, among many other more wonderful things.

The day we brought Peanut home from the hospital, my Mom came to the hospital and helped us get all checked out and then rushed to Costco, got a truckload of groceries (you think I'm kidding) and then came over to our house and proceeded to cook the afternoon away.  It makes me tear up just thinking about it.  It was just so comforting to know she was there--and knowing I wouldn't have to cook didn't hurt either.  I don't about Hubs (he puts on a brave face), but I was feeling pretty overwhelmed the day we brought Peanut home.  Of course, I was just two days postpartum, so that might have had something to do with it, but still.

My Mom made three full meals (main dishes, sides, and dessert) that were enough to feed a family of six each (mind you we were a family of 2.1--in terms of mouths to feed), so we had plenty of leftovers.  She also brought tons of snacks and goodies, so we seriously didn't have to cook for the rest of the week.   She also made us these sandwiches for lunch that afternoon.  She probably used the canned chicken from Costco (which I use to buy all the time, but alas, no more) so I hadn't made them in awhile, but having the leftover cooked chicken last week, I thought, why can't I make my own?  So I did....

Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwiches or Salads ~ from my Mom

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or small dice
3/4 cup sliced celery
2 green onions (whites and greens), sliced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Mayonnaise
Salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together, adding mayo, salt, and pepper to taste.  Serve over a bed of lettuce for a yummy, main dish salad, or on toasted sandwich bread with leaves of lettuce for extra crunch.  Enjoy!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This recipe is linked to:

Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday
Blessed With Grace Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Designs By Gollum Foodie Friday
Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
Friday Potluck at EKat's Kitchen  (Friday Potluck will be hosted at girlichef for the month of July)
Hearth 'n Soul Recipe Swap at A Moderate Life
La Bella Vita's Fresh Clean and Pure Friday 
Life As Mom Ultimate Recipe Swap
Miz Helen's Country Cottage Full Plate Thursday 
This Chick Cooks Recipe Swap

Menu Plan Monday

For me, summer time is so hard to plan meals.....I don't want to heat up the house and most of the things I like to eat involve heating up the oven.  We do have air conditioning (praise the Lord!), so maybe I don't need to be as concerned.  I guess it's just that old habits die hard....at our house in Hometown we didn't have central AC (not nearly as much of a need for it) so I was always careful to not cook meals that called for the oven when the forecast was for warmer weather. 

So here is my somewhat uninspired menu for this week:

Sunday-Sausage and Swiss chard frittata

Monday-Taco salad with taco meat, black beans, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, and salsa

Tuesday-Grilled hamburgers, oven fries, green salad

Wednesday-Filet Mignon (using up the last few cuts of our beef), baked potatoes, green salad

Thursday-BLT Carbonara Pasta, green salad

Friday-Maple glazed pork chops, sweet potatoes, green salad

Saturday-Leftovers


For other great menu ideas, visit the Organizing Junkie. 

Tried It & Loved It: Lemon Coconut Bars*

*Or in my case these would be called Citrus Coconut Bars.  I had two lemons which I thought would be enough.

But it wasn't.

And then I spilled the lemon juice before it made it into the mixing bowl.  Then I really didn't have enough.  So I used some limes.  We all like lemon lime soda, right?  Why not Lemon Lime Citrus Coconut Bars?  It works, right?

Anyhow, these are just a delightful late night treat.  Not that I would know anything about that.  And can you tell I have this thing for lemon?  

By NO means does my photo do these lovely little bites any justice.....take a peek at Jamie's photos of her Lemon Coconut Bars.  I want to be a food stylist just like her when I grow up.  But I keep telling myself, I have a very busy little girl with very grabby hands and a love for sweets just like her mama.  At least that's my excuse for right now, anyway. 

But do try these, they are YUM!

Lemon Citrus Coconut Bars ~ slightly adapted from My Baking Addiction

1 1/2 cups flour (Jamie uses all-purpose, I used all soft white wheat)
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar (I went with a little less, it was about 1/3 cup)
3/4 cup cold butter (Jamie says or margarine, and you can certainly do that, but we all know how I feel about margarine)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice (I did a mix of lemon and lime)
1 teaspoon baking powder
Zest of 2 lemons and 1 lime
1 cup flaked coconut (mine was grated, which might have something to do with the presentation)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 9 x 13 pan by lining with foil or parchment and spray with non stick cooking spray. 

In a bowl, combine flour and confectioners sugar.  Cut butter into mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.  (You may also use a food processor to do this.)  Press into the bottom of prepared pan.  Bake for 15 minutes in preheated 350 degree oven.

While crust is prebaking, mix eggs, sugar, lemon/(lime) juice, zest(s), and baking powder until well combined.  Pour over *slightly* cooled crust and sprinkle coconut evenly over top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool completely on wire rack and cut into bars.

Freedom

Miracle of miracles....I actually have a tan line. It looks pink/burned, but it truly isn't.