Recipe: Mexican Rice

Did I ever tell you about the most amazing Mexican rice recipe I have ever tasted?

I don't think I did.

Because I am a loving person, I will share this recipe with you today.

I am fairly certain that I got this recipe from homesicktexan.blogspot.com.

I love this rice because it has so much flavor.  

So much Spanish/Mexican rice that I have tasted is just too blah. It tastes more like chicken stock than anything remotely Spanish flavored.  

Not this rice.  

It has copious amounts of tomato, lime, and cilantro flavors bursting out of it. 

Mmmm, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

It is a perfect compliment to fajita's, taco's, quesadilla's, enchilada's, tamale's or any other Mexican dish you love!

You can practically see the flavor! 

Here is the recipe: 

Mexican Rice from homesicktexan.blogspot.com

1 C - rice

2 C -chicken broth

1 TBS - butter

1 TBS - olive oil

1 - small onion, diced

4 - cloves garlic, minced

1/4 C - tomato paste

1 TBS - lime juice

1/2 C - cilantro

1 TBS - cumin

salt to taste

-Add rice, broth and butter to pot.

-bring to a boil on High, stir once and cover

-simmer on low for 20 minutes

- remove from heat and keep covered for an additional 10 minutes

- meanwhile in a large skillet cook onion in olive oil until just about brown.  Add garlic to pan, stir and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in tomato paste and cumin. Cook for 1 minute. 

- mix in cooked rice, lime juice and cilantro. 

Season to taste and enjoy!

It is so tasty! 

You'll be glad you made it.

Trust me! 

Christmas Goodies

Here's a question I'd like to hear a few more people's opinions on:
What's your take on all the sweets and treats made throughout the holidays?
Are you crazy for them or do they make you crazy?

They make me crazy.  The holidays already feel so full and rushed.  I like to bake, but everywhere you go, there are cookies!
How are you supposed to keep from gaining 10 pounds in the month of December when there is chocolate and sugar everywhere! 

I'm fairly certain that if I didn't have children, I wouldn't make any treats for the holidays. Why go through all that work when you know you'll end up with a pile of goodies you didn't have to make by the end of the season?
I do it for the boys you know, all the nostalgic memories they will have when they are grown and think on Christmas' past?
I know the holidays are about traditions and stuff.  Making cookies is a part of that.  I even made it so our Advent calendar instructed us that we had to do it.  That way I wouldn't be allowed to skip out on the treat baking.

  So we did our cookie baking.
And this year, I even let the boys help.
(I know, Awesome Mom points for me)
Then I even let them eat some!
(That helps me score major Awesome Mom points)

This is how the pretzels look when I dip them . . .

We only made 2 kinds this year.
We have some other favorites, but I only wanted to invest the time, energy and resources into two.
So we chose dipped pretzels (one of my favorites, and more addicting than crack-cocaine. At least I think so. I wouldn't know from experience)

These are a sticky, gooey, mess with kids, but very simple with little to no instruction needed. I like the white almond bark the best, but the boys like the milk chocolate.
All you have to do is melt the chocolate in the microwave and let the kids dip away.  I did cover my cookie sheets in wax paper to make my life easier though. Incredibly, I'm getting a little smarter, the older I get. :)

This is what happens when the boys get to put on the sprinkles!

Oh, don't forget the sprinkles. They add festivity.  Plus it's the boys favorite part. This part does have to be strictly monitored however.  Otherwise you get a pretzel that is so completely coated in sprinkles, you aren't even convinced there is a pretzel underneath.

Our second treat was ginger bread cutout cookies.  The boys love to do cut outs, and Hunky Hubby loves ginger bread.  I however, do not.  Consequently I am not tempted to eat these cookies, thereby saving me from ingesting extra calories. 
Or it just saves some room for more pretzels. 
If only I wasn't so weak.
I do like to decorate the cookies and the boys do too.  This year they all managed to hang in long enough to decorate at least 3.7 cookies each.  Leaving the other 49 cookies for H.H. and I to do.
Surprisingly to you, because you don't know him as well as I do, H.H. is a pretty darn good cookie decorator.  He displays creativity and 'outside the box' ideas. As fun as it is, I'm really happy when they are all done.
We used a new recipe for the cookies that I found on the internet. H.H. said they tasted really good and weren't as hard as last years.  (he just doesn't realize how hard it is to perfectly bake an already brown cookie!) I'm not a fan of the frosting we used though and we won't be making that kind again.  I like to pipe on the frosting because it's neater and prettier. The frosting kept getting runnier and runnier as we used it! Our warm hands were melting the butter it was made out of I guess.
Fortunately it still tasted good. 
Or so I've been told.

As I suspected, two kinds of cookies were more than enough.  Somehow, there is a phenomenon with Christmas goodies.  They seem to multiply magically overnight.  For some reason, you just never run out.  I thought we only had  a large plate and a large ziploc full of treats, but I looked at my counter top the other day and there were 3 plates of cookies, one huge tupperware full of Cap'n Crunch candy, one bag of cookies and a box of chocolates. 
Plus, I bought peanut M & M's on clearance the other day.  
I just couldn't help myself.
We'll be eating gingerbread men well into the new year.
But, the pretzels are all gone.
Hey don't look at me!
I didn't eat them all!

A Bowl Full of Yummy!

In my quest to eat healthier I learned that eating more fiber is a good thing.

So I went looking for some high fiber recipe's.

Did you know that dried beans have a good amount of fiber in them?

Since I like to feed my inner Mexican, I have always wanted a good Mexican rice and beans recipe.
I stumbled upon this recipe on the website, Home Sick Texan. 

This just goes to show you that sometimes it pays to read through that loooooooong list of comments at the bottom.  Because that's where I found this recipe.  Hidden down there in the comments list.  It was posted by a woman named Kelly and she credits the Houston Chronicle Newspaper.  Where it came from beyond that point, the world may never know. I'm just glad she put it on there, because it is sooooo good. 

I made the dish with bacon, but if you had smoked ham hocks, this would be a good time to use those up.  I think you could make it without the meat too and it would still be good.  I ended up serving these beans over white rice, I just thought putting them over Mexican rice would be too much.

PAPPASITO'S FRIJOLES A LA CHARRA (PINTO BEAN SOUP)
Makes about 1/2 gallon

3/4 lb. dried pinto beans
3 quarts water, divided use
3/8 lb. bacon, cut into 1-inch squares
1/2 cup coarsely chopped white onion
1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tsp. finely chopped garlic
3 to 4 Tbsp. chopped cilantro, divided use
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin (cominos)
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
3/4 Tbsp. salt
1 cup chopped Roma tomatoes

Soak beans in 2 quarts water 8 hours.

Drain beans and set aside.

In a 1 gallon heavy pot, cook bacon until well done. Do not under cook or it will look raw in finished product.

Add onions, garlic, 1 to 2 Tbsp. and chopped cilantro to hot bacon and cook until onion is transparent, about 10 minutes.

Add the drained beans, cumin and chili powder. Stir and add remaining 1 quart water. Turn heat to medium-low. Stir in salt. Cook beans slowly until fork tender, about 1 hour. Stir frequently to avoid burning the bottom.

Stir in tomatoes and remaining cilantro and heat through.

Serve in bowls.

Beans may be cooled to below 40 degrees, then reheated when ready to serve.

Source: Houston Chronicle newspaper
___________________________________________________________________________________

This dish was actually a hit with my kids, and my husband. I didn't even make any corn bread to complete the meal.
There was a chorus of mmm's and yum's all around the table as we filled our belly's with a bowl full of yummy.
A very satisfying feeling for a mama who wants some yummy and kinda healthy food to feed herself and her family.

Let me know if you give this recipe a try.  It has my five star (*****) recommendation.

I plan to go back to the Home Sick Texan website and try out that Mexican rice recipe.  I'll let you know how it turns out after I do.

5:09 PM