Aunt Laurel's "Uncle Ben's" Rice

I had a little trouble deciding where to put my quotes. This is my version of store-bought Uncle Ben's long & wild rice. I made His, smelled it and looked at the ingredients, then came up with my own cheaper-but-similar rice for a Relief Society Dinner (they cut our budget this year).
So here it is:

Long Grain & Wild Rice
12 oz. pkg. long grain & wild rice
2 c. beef broth
2 c. chicken broth
1 Tb. oil
1 Tb. parsley (dried)
1 ts. marjoram
1 ts. garlic powder
1/2 t. each paprika, salt
4 oz. can mushrooms (opt.)

Combine all in pot and follow directions on rice package OR press COOK on your rice cooker.
Add 1/2 c. almonds if you like, and 1/4 c. water/broth to unstick it. Stir and serve. Freezes well, makes mouths happy.

One salad two ways

No, no. Two salads with one dressing. That's better.


Cilantro Lime Salad:
2 c. frozen soybeans (edamame)
15 oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c. thinly sliced red onion
1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 c. olive oil
1 tsp. lime zest
1/4 c. lime juice

Prepare soybeans according to package. Drain. In a large bowl combine beans, onion, and cilantro. Whisk together all other ingredients, adding up to 1/2 tsp. salt to taste. Pour over bean mixture and toss to coat. Refrigerate covered. Serve cold.

Version two: Replace soybeans, kidney and garbanzo beans with a can each of drained kernel corn, black beans and a chopped tomato or avacado. Also very good. We choose the first recipe while on phase 1 (South Beach Diet) and the second after we have given up.

Three Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuits

Yep, three. These are the best, too. I would have taken a picture if I hadn't eaten them all before I made it to the camera.

3 c. self-rising flour*
6 Tb. butter
1 c. buttermilk (8 oz. carton)

Cut butter into half the flour, add remaining flour and stir. Add milk, stir and knead until smooth. Roll to 1/2 inch and cut biscuits. Freeze if you like. Bake at 425* 12-15 min.

*can substitute 1 c. all purpose flour, 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder and a pinch of salt per cup of self-rising flour. I make up a container of it.

If you freeze them, thaw under wrap before baking. They don't rise as much if they're still frozen. Also, I stacked two on top of each other, so I'd have those nice biscuits that pull right apart. They didn't turn out that way. They turned out like two biscuits stacked on top of each other and I was sad because I'd missed out on half of the crusty bottoms I could have enjoyed.

RS Birthday Dinner Menu

Last March, I was put in charge of planning the Relief Society Birthday Dinner. Because of the program, it was to be a four-course meal for sixty people. I was given a budget of $100. Did I stay under my limit? The answer is no. I spent 52 cents more. I will admit, though, that it was meatless. But with these pretty babies, no one noticed.

Course one--Fruit Kabobs
You know, skewers and fresh fruit. Grapes and apples in two colors, pineapple and melons.

Course two--Dinner Salad
Lettuce, shredded carrot, grape tomatoes & cucumber slices. Oh, and my famous "Rancher Bob" dressing.

Course three--Lasagna Rollups
Super-impressive and very easy. Rhodes' roll on the side brushed with olive oil & garlic salt.

Course four--Strawberry Shortcake
Purchased angel food or pound cake, topped with strawberry sauce and whip cream.

Now here comes January. That means another RS dinner to plan (and again in March). Spaghetti is off limits because the boy scouts do that in February. If you have any super ideas, leave them in my comments box, otherwise, we may have a repeat potato bar...

Eat your veggies

We love veggies! Really! Those greens are good for you. Here are some of our favorite side dishes.

Roasted Broccoli: Broccoli Crowns cut into 1/2" florets, stem and all
Olive oil, salt, pepper
Preheat oven to 425*. Toss broccoli with Olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Place on a cookie sheet. Roast away. At least 25 minutes should do the trick. The point is for the little bobbled ends to burn a little (or a lot!) so they get crunchy. Seriously, this is a treat, and the kids love it.

Italian Green Beans: Saute 8 oz. frozen green beans (half a bag) in a tablespoon of butter until heated through. Sprinkle on a tablespoon of Italian dressing mix powder. Stir & Serve.

Spinach Salad: Saute one chopped yellow onion until caramelized (at some point they taste sweet) Add 3 Tb. balsamic vinegar and boil it a minute. Watch out, it fumes! Take off heat and stir in 2 Tb. dijon mustard and enough olive oil to make it fluid. It does separate, that is fine. This is your dressing and too good to overlook. Salad as follows: baby spinach leaves, toasted pecans, shredded parmesan cheese and onion dressing. A tomato slice for color and you'll be addicted.