Mexican Rice

I made this recipe recently and it was FANTASTIC! Better than at a restaurant. Very flavorful. It is a bit time consuming but SO worth it! I found it on Food.com but did make my own adjustments to it. The original recipe is below.

12 oz can diced tomatoes

1 medium onion, chopped

3 small jalapeños, seeded, de-veined and chopped

2 cups long grain white rice

1/3 cup canola oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups water

1 cube chicken bouillon

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 lime

Heat oil in a medium saucepan and sauté onion, garlic and jalapeños until tender and golden. Add tomatoes and heat. Place mixture into a food processor or blender until pureed and smooth. Transfer to a measuring cup reserve exactly 2 cups. Discard excess.

Place rice in a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water until water runs clear- about 1 1/2 minutes. Shake rice vigorously to remove excess water. This step removes the starch from the rice so it will not stick. (This made a very sticky rice I might try not rinsing next time.)

Place the rice, tomato mixture water, bouillon and salt in a rice cooker and let it do it's thing. Fold in the chopped cilantro and fresh lime and mix in just before serving.

12 ounces tomatoes, very ripe and cored 

1 medium white onion

3 medium jalapenos

2 cups long grain white rice

1⁄3 cup canola oil

4 minced garlic cloves

2 cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon tomato paste (may omit if using canned tomatoes)

1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt

1⁄2 cup fresh cilantro, minced

1 lime

• Adjust rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350.
• Process tomato and onion in processor or blender until pureed and thoroughly smooth. Transfer mixture to measuring cup and reserve exactly 2 cups. Discard excess.
• Remove ribs and seeds from 2 jalapenos and discard. Mince flesh and set aside. Mince remaining jalapeno. Set aside.
• Place rice in a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water until water runs clear- about 1 1/2 minutes.Shake rice vigorously to remove excess water.This step removes the starch from the rice so it will not stick. IF YOU OMIT THIS STEP YOUR RICE WILL NOT BE DRY AND FLUFFY.
• Heat oil in heavy bottomed ovensafe 12 inch straight sided sautee pan or Dutch oven with tight fitting lid over low-medium heat about 2 minutes. (The recipe is very specific about this but I used a 10 inch dutch oven and it worked out fine.) Drop a few rice grains in and if they sizzle then it is ready. Add rice and fry stirring until rice is light golden and translucent, about 6-8 minutes. Be careful that the oil doesn't get too hot too fast or the oil will splatter.
• Reduce heat to medium, add garlic and 2 minced jalapenos and cook , stirring constantly until fragrant, about 1 1/2 minutes.
• Stir in broth, pureed mixture,tomato paste, and salt. Increase heat to medium high, and bring to a boil.
• Cover pan and transfer pan to oven to bake until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, 30-35 minutes.Stir well after 15 minutes.
• Stir in cilantro, minced jalapeno to taste, and pass lime wedges separately.
• Edited to add 6-15-05: If you can't get good fresh tomatoes you are better off using canned tomatoes. Don't use those awful hard and underipe tomatoes that are at most supermarket chains. Just be sure that the processed tomatoes and the one onion equals 2 cups. One the other hand- if you find that after processing your tomatoes and onions that you have less than 2 cups- simply add enough bottled salsa to make up the difference.
• Edited 8-21-06: Do not skip any of the steps. It may seem stupid- but rinsing the rice to remove the starch is very important if you want fluffy rice. It will only take two minutes of your time but it makes the difference.
• Edited 8-15-08: Leftovers are just as delicious the next day so this is a perfect dish to make ahead time for potlucks. This rice also freezes well. For Freezing Ahead: Cool, portion and freeze in a ziploc bag. To reheat from frozen: Place in a pyrex dish and warm in the microwave, stirring every 2-3 minutes until heated through.

http://mexican.food.com/recipe/mexican-rice-117892

Homemade Pedialyte

This may be a weird one to blog but I need to remember the recipe. Nugget was sick and I wanted to keep him hydrated. Whipped this up with what I found at home and he loved it. That was until a fly flew in the bottle to it's death...had there been no fly he would have finished it no problem.

I used Recipe #1 with the Mexican brand bag of jello (mango flavor).

Homemade Pedialyte Recipe #1: 

• 1/2 cup hot water
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon Jello gelatin powder/mix, any flavor (I used cherry)

Instructions for homemade Pedialyte: Mix salt, sugar and Jello with hot water until dissolved. Stir into 3 1/2 cups of water and serve. Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Homemade Pedialyte Recipe #2

• 4 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons sugar or honey (remember that babies can’t have honey until they’re at least 1 year old)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• optional: 1/2 packet unsweetened Kool-Aid

Instructions: Mix all ingredients together and serve. Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Homemade Pedialyte Recipe #3

• 2 quarts water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup  orange juice

Instructions: Mix all ingredients together and serve. Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Baked Zucchini Fries

These are very yummy and make a great side for anything you can dream up. They're not terribly crispy like a fry but they are tasty and make a great veggie side. I found these on http://damndelicious.net/2014/06/21/baked-parmesan-zucchini/?m

The recipe is adapted from Cooking Classy and iFOODreal

Ingredients

• 4 zucchini, quartered lengthwise
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoon parsley (fresh chopped or dried)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a cooling rack with nonstick spray and place on a baking sheet; set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine Parmesan, thyme, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper, to taste.
• Place zucchini onto prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan mixture. Place into oven and bake until tender, about 15 minutes. Then broil for 2-3 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown.
• Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.

Asian Slaw with Ginger-Peanut Dressing

Oh boy! I've been wanting to make this for a while now and finally had a good majority of the ingredients. This was SO good! Very fresh, flavorful and bright. You can eat it as a side salad or add cooked chicken for a main course dish. We had this with a side of Foster Farm's orange chicken which is yummy!

via onceuponachef.com By Jennifer Segal

Servings: 6 as a side dish

Ingredients

For the Dressing

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (optional)
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 large garlic clove, minced

For the Slaw

• 4 cups prepared shredded coleslaw (or use a combo of shredded green/red cabbage)
• 2 cups prepared shredded carrots
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup cooked and shelled edamame
• 2 medium scallions, finely sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts (or you can leave them whole)
• 1/2 cup loosely packed chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

• Make the dressing by combining all of the ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir until the peanut butter is dissolved. Set aside.
• Combine all of the slaw ingredients in a large bowl. Add the dressing and toss well. Let sit at least ten minutes so vegetables have a chance to soak up the dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve cold.

Pizza Sauce

I have been wanting to try and make more homemade sauces. The store bought ones just aren't always that great, make way too much for the 3 of us and just aren't the flavor/ texture I want. This is a super yummy and thick pizza sauce with lots of flavor. We really loved it. You just cook it on the stove and could probably freeze it if you had extra. We used it on my zucchini pizza casserole and it was delicious!

Ingredients:
2 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 garlic clove, minced
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 6oz can tomato paste
2 TBSP parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 tsp fennel seed (optional)

Directions:

In a large skillet, melt butter with the oil. Add the onion, celery and garlic and saute until soft and transparent. Add tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and bring to slow simmer. Simmer for 30ish minutes (or not at all depending on your taste and time frame). Remove the bay leaf and spread the sauce on your prepared pizza dough.

via SAMS_club @Food.com

Cucumber tomato feta salad

Also from my brother-in-laws family friend. This is a super yummy and easy side salad that has a huge punch of flavor. Definitely great during BBQ season.

Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Fresh basil

Red onion

Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Garlic

Feta cheese crumbles 

Salt & Pepper

Roughly chop tomatoes and cucumber. Add some finely chopped red onion and basil. Squeeze in a clove of garlic and dress lightly with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste and some feta.

Grilled Peaches and Figs

We had dinner at my brother-in-law's house. They had a family friend over and his wife is a caterer. She makes some delicious food and I had to write these two recipes down. These grilled peaches melt in your mouth and are such a refreshing change of pace to an overly sweet dessert.

Peaches

Figs

Vanilla

Honey (or brown sugar)

Cinnamon

Olive oil

Cut peaches and figs in half. Remove pits from peaches and brush figs and peaches lightly with olive oil on cut side Place cut side down on a hot grill. Figs go for about 2-5 minutes until soft and peaches for no longer than 15. Remove from grill and lightly glaze with mixture of vanilla, honey and cinnamon. Let sit until ready to eat. Serve with vanilla ice cream.