Mexican Rice

Another success from Food Network Mag.
This was SOO good! Sadly I am pictureless again.. Oh well. You have to try this! Its so easy and so good. I half the recipe and its perfect for us.

*Ingredients
2 c. long grain white rice (I admit... I use minute rice and it works just great)
3 T vegitable oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 white onion, chopped
4 plum tomatoes (although I could only find cherry tomatoes so I used quite a few of them)
1 jalepeno pepper, halved (or a more mild pepper if you dont want the heat)

*Directions
- Soak rice in a bowl of hot water, about 5 minutes, drain, rince, and shake dry (omit this step if you use minte rice!)
- Heat the vegi oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add the rice and toast, stirring for 8-10 min.
Meanwhile puree the garlic, onion, and tomatoes in a blender (it doesnt say to but I also add the jalepeno in this step, it seemed to give it more flavor). Add to rice mixture and cook until absorbed, about 3 minutes. Add 3 1/2 c. water, the jalepeno (if you didnt add it to the puree mixture), and a pinch of salt (I added more... it needed it!). Cover and cook until rice is tender, about 10 min.
- Remove from heat, uncover and place a towell over the rice then recover. Let stand 15 min. (I didnt do this step once and it turned out fine. I think its just to make it more sticky)
-Fluff rice with a fork.

Mandarin Chicken

This is out of that "Taste of Heaven" ward cook book that I think we all have (from Nan). Pg 91 courtesy of Carla Lamph. But for once the picture is actually courtesy of ME instead of food network haha. It was really easy and really good! Although I think I may cut the sugar content the next time I make it because it was pretty sweet. And we like "sweet" dishes like this but even for me it was a little on the sweet side. So if you make it, I'd recommend starting with a little less sugar and add according to your preferance. One of the best things I liked about this was it had green peppers and onions in it but since they were chopped so small Kyle didnt pick them out and leave all the green peppers on his plate! Fantastic!

Directions

Mix
1-2 lbs of Chicken Tenders
1 tsp Salt
1 T Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 T Oil
2-3 cloves Garlic chopped (I use the pre chopped can ... due to laziness)

Cut chicken into tiny pieces and add to above mixture. Marinate in the fridge for a few hours ( I didnt plan ahead to do this and just let it marinate while I was chopping all the veggies and putting the other sauce together and it was just fine!) And I dont think I used a full pound of chicken, maybe I did - I didnt weigh it, but if you do use the whole two pounds you may want to double the above marinade to coat chicken best.

Put into a large sauce pan:
1 10oz can stewed tomatoes (I blended these in my mini food processor - could use magic bullet- because I knew Kyle wouldnt eat huge chunks of tomatoes)
1/2 c Cider Vinegar ( I didnt have this so I used half red wine and half white...1/4 c each)
1 1/2 c Sugar (yes a LOT I know!!)
1/2 c Chopped Onion
1 T Soy Sauce (I think I forgot to put that in mine... woops! It still turned out good lol)
1/2 c Chopped Green Pepper
1/2 c Crushed Pineapple

Simmer until slightly thickened.

While the above is simmering cook chicken in a separate pan with a little olive oil.
When the chicken is done add to veggie mixture, then make a slurry with cornstarch and water and add a little at a time to thicken sauce.
Serve over Rice.

This came out confusing... I hope it makes sense! :) It was yummy and it made a TON of sauce so I put it in a container and froze it so I can just cook chicken and add to it. Easy peasy. haha

Cheesy Chili Rice

From foodnetwork mag... AGAIN! (I Just love that magazine!)
Sorry, No picture!

*Ingredients
2 Cups cooked rice
1/2 cup sour cream
1 4 oz can diced green chilies
1 cup chopped green onions (I think I used a little less)
1 cup cheddar cheese (I eyeballed it. I think I used less of this too. I didn't want it to be too greasy and cheesy)
Salt and Pepper
Grated parmasean cheese for top and bottom

*Directions
*Mix all ingredients EXCEPT for parmasean in a bowl.
*Coat a casserole dish with cooking spray or butter and sprinkle half of the parmasean cheese.
*Pour in rice mixture and sprinkle remaining parmasean on top.
*Bake at 450 for 20 min.

This was SOO good. I wasn't sure if Kyle would like it considering the green chili taste but he loved it!! I will be making it again for sure!

Beef Fried Rice

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 boneless beef petite sirloin steaks (5 ounces each), cut into thin strips
2-1/2 cups coleslaw mix
1/2 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 cups cold cooked instant rice
3 tablespoons butter, cubed
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Directions:
In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon oil until hot. Add eggs; cook and stir over medium heat until completely set. Remove and keep warm.
In the same pan, stir-fry the beef, coleslaw, asparagus and onion in remaining oil for 4-6 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.
Add rice and butter; cook and stir over medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until heated through. Add eggs; stir in soy sauce and pepper. Yield: 6 servings.

*This is one of my easy, fall-back recipes. Love it! I usually add more soy sauce to mine. You can tweak it and add more flavor if you want, like with a ginger-sesame sauce. Your spring rolls would probably make a perfect side-dish!