Spicy Whole Grain Rice

You may think that whole grain rice just doesn't taste as good as the white rice. But I found a recipe that works beautifully with whole grain rice! And guess what? My husband and kids all love it!

Spicy Whole Grain Rice:

375 degrees for 1 hour. Prep time about 10 minutes.

2 TBLS olive oil

1 onion chopped

1 clove of garlic

1 1/2 cups whole grain rice

1 1/2 cups salsa (you choose the heat - we all like mild)

2 cups of water

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen corn

cilantro - fresh, chopped

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

I use a large cast iron skillet here. You sauté on the stove then cover and cook in the oven so you need a pan that you can use on the stove and in the oven OR you can use a pan to sauté and then transfer the onions and rice to a baking dish.

In a pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and sauté the onion for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and rice. Mix well.

Next, add the salsa, peas and corn. Remove from heat, cover, and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. When finished, garnish the dish with chopped cilantro.

Variations: If you only have white rice, then you need to change the recipe a little bit as well as the cooking time. Add 1 cup of water instead of 2 and cook for 25 minutes instead of 1 hour. You can add chicken easily to this recipe. You will need to cook the chicken and then add it to the recipe when you add the corn and peas. Feel free to leave out the corn or the peas it won't matter. It will still taste good. You could add bell peppers or some other veggie.

Notes: I used to make this with medium salsa. I like it that way, but the kids prefer less heat. If the kids will eat it, I'll change whatever I have to! The original recipe didn't call for peas and corn, but I think it is a nice addition.

Love this dish!!! Hope you do to!

Beer Bread

Love this recipe. When you want to have homemade bread and don't want to wait a few hours to eat it, this is a nice alternative. This bread is heavier than sandwich bread, but it is wonderful with soup and beans and just by itself.

375 degrees - 9x5x3 loaf pan - 10 min prep - 45 min to cook

Beer Bread

3 cups flour - unbleached white

3 teas baking powder (I use baking powder without aluminum)

1 1/2 teas salt

3 TBLS sugar (still use sucanat here)

1 12 oz beer

1 TBLS butter, melted for the top

First, grease and flour your pan and preheat your over to 375 degrees.

Next, in a bowl sift all of the dry ingredients together.

Add the beer and combine until just mixed.

Put dough into the loaf pan, then pour melted butter on top.

Bake for 45 minutes. When it's done baking, dump the bread out of the pan and let it cool on a cooling rack.

Notes: It's helpful to sift the ingredients together. Sifting the flour helps to make the bread a bit lighter. The original recipe tells you to just grease the loaf pan but I have problems with the bread sticking to the pan.

Making smaller loafs: Sometimes I like to make smaller loafs. If you do this, just lower the cooking time to about 30 minutes.

Enjoy this one!!!

Just Broccoli

Tonight it's steamed broccoli. Maybe there are some of you that don't eat their broccoli this way. Now is a great time to give it a try. My family loves this one!

Steamed Broccoli (4 servings)

2 crowns of broccoli

water

In a small to medium pan, add 1 - 2 inches of water. Place a flower steamer in the pan of water and place the broccoli in the steamer. Cover the pan and on high heat, steam the broccoli until it is bright green and soft. This takes about 10 minutes.

Toppings: Tonight I sprayed Braggs Liquid Aminos onto the broccoli. You could also shred a bit of parmesan cheese on top. My daughter likes soy sauce.

Notes: This is good for you in so many ways and it's super easy. As the broccoli is cooking, watch it turn to a beautiful bright green. For an even more amazing green color, grow your own. You can cut off what you need and it will grow back. You can use a fork to test for doneness. The fork will insert easily into the broccoli when it is done. A flower steamer (that's my name for it) is a stainless steel contraption that looks like a flower and it folds up for storage.

Enjoy your green vegetable!

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 spear (about 5" long) (31g)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 11 Calories from Fat 1

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 0.1g 0%

Saturated Fat 0g 0%

Polyunsaturated Fat 0g

Monounsaturated Fat 0g

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 10.2mg 0%

Potassium 98mg 3%

Total Carbohydrate 2.1g 1%

Dietary Fiber 0.8g 0%

Sugars 0.5g 0%

Protein 0.9g 2%

Vitamin A 4% • Vitamin C 46% Calcium 1% • Iron 1%

Chinese Tuna Salad

I know I know. Another Salad. But this one has a kick. It's just the thing when you want to eat something that's good for you and you want it to taste yummy too.

Chinese Tuna Salad

1 large can tuna (or chicken)

1/2 cup sliced almonds, sautéed in butter

1 head Romaine Lettuce

1 green bell pepper thinly sliced

4 green onions chopped

Dressing for the tuna

4 TBLS sesame oil

4 TBLS Rice Vinegar

4 TBLS Soy Sauce

4 TBLS Sugar

1 clove Garlic

Black Pepper

Cayenne Pepper

Drain the Tuna, add it to a small dish, and break it up. Add the dressing ingredients to the tuna. Marinate this for about 2 hours. In a serving bowl blend the lettuce, bell pepper, and green onions. When you're ready to eat, toss the meat and dressing with the lettuce. Sprinkle the almonds on last.

Notes: The first time I made this, everyone loved it. Yes, even my children. Sometimes too when I'm in a hurry, I don't wait for the meat to marinate.

The Meat: I don't eat a lot of meat but I do have fish on occasion. This recipe originally called for chicken, but I like the tuna just fine. The tuna shreds more than the chicken.

The lettuce: One time I had some lettuce and I wanted to make it crispy. I put it in a glass baking dish, filled the dish about 1/2 way with water, put the lid on the dish and put it in the fridge. I had some of the lettuce the next day and it was nice and crunchy and it was very fresh. I was able to leave it for several days and it was still crispy and fresh. Since then I've tried soaking it for a few hours and then draining it. It also lasts for several days. It's a great way to prolong lettuce. If I don't do this and just leave it in the package it came in, it doesn't last nearly as long.

Enjoy this fresh and lovely salad!

Bean Dip

It's playoff time and that's a great time to make some snacks. My kids love bean dip (the kind in a can) and I told them I could make some that tasted just as good and it's easy too. They didn't believe me, but I did it anyway. I'm a rebel that way. And guess what, they liked it! My daughter said and I quote "This is great!".

Bean Dip

1 can pinto beans 15 or 16 oz (drained and rinsed)

1/2 cup salsa (whatever you like)

1 TBLS lime juice

1 teas ground cumin

pepper to taste

In a food processor blend the beans until smooth. Add everything else and blend. That's it. You're done!

Notes: This is pretty thick, but not as thick as what you buy in a can. If you want it thicker, you can lessen the salsa. It may be harder to mix in the food processor though. Heating it on the stove will remove some moisture too.

Other possible ingredients: Cilantro may be added as a garnish or in the dip. How about some sautéed garlic. Ground coriander (that is the seed of the cilantro plant) may be added. If you want to give it some heat, add a pinch of cayenne.

Chips: When buying chips, look for those that have only 3 ingredients: corn, oil and salt. Stay away from those that have a paragraph of ingredients. So many chips have hydrogenated oils. Fritos, Santitas, and some Tostitos don't have hydrogenated oils.

My cholesterol: When I first began to watch my eating habits, the first thing I did was to take hydrogenated oils out of my diet. That meant no more margarine so I started eating real butter. I grew up in a time where it was considered "healthier" to eat margarine. Hard to believe now. Although butter isn't great for you, it's a better alternative than hydrogenated oils. I eventually went to using mostly olive oil when it was needed. I started reading packaged foods and looked for that one thing: partially hydrogenated oils. I was surprised to find that it was in almost EVERYTHING that came in a package. Simply changing from margarine to butter caused my cholesterol to go down 10 points. When my children were younger and they asked me for some packaged food, I would have them read the ingredients. I told them if they could pronounce all the ingredients we could get it :). Now they know to look for hydrogenation.

Enjoy the playoffs and Happy Eating!

Spaghetti and Sauce

When you don't know what to make and you're hungry now, one of the easiest and fastest dinners to make is spaghetti with red sauce. We love spaghetti around here! Making your own really tasty sauce is super easy. First, put a separate pan of water on to boil for your pasta.

The DishDiana: Tomato Sauce

1 large can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)

1 crushed tomato can of water

2-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

2-4 TBLS sugar (I use sucanat)

basil - 10-15 leaves - fresh is best, chopped

oregano - teaspoon or so - again I like fresh, chopped

In a medium saucepan, add all ingredients. Heat it up and you're done. You can cook it all day, or just for a few minutes. As with many dishes, the longer you cook it, the better it tastes!

The Pasta

Pasta of your choice

Pan of boiling water

Once your water is boiling you can add your pasta. If you want it quick, use angel hair pasta. It cooks in about 3 minutes. Don't cook it longer or it will get mushy. Other pastas can take anywhere from 8-12 minutes and they are all good. Drain the pasta. Return it to the pan and add a few tablespoons of the sauce to keep it from sticking.

Serve it with grated parmesan. Again you can't beat fresh parmesan. You can buy a 5 oz. wedge of Frigo around here for about $2.50.

Notes: As with anything you make, there are all kinds of little tips and tricks you can do to change things up. I find it difficult sometimes to write about a recipe because all of these little things are going through my head. I'll try to hit the main ideas for you and if you have any questions, let me know. First of all, if you don't have fresh ingredients try it with what you have. You'll appreciate the difference more when you try it with fresh. It will still taste good! You could sauté the garlic before adding it to the sauce. It will soften the intensity. You can leave out the sugar if you cook it long enough. You add the sugar to reduce the acidity. Sometimes I'll cook my sauce for hours and I've actually cooked it for days. The sauce becomes deep red and thick. You do have to continue to add water. You can use oregano flakes, I just prefer it fresh. For the pasta, the directions say you can add oil and salt. I don't.

Garlic: Fresh garlic is better. The jarred garlic is okay, but it still doesn't hold a candle to fresh. If you need other reasons to go fresh, here they are. It's cheap. Maybe 30 or 40 cents a pod. No waste. You don't have to throw away a container. Also, you can grow your own too. Buy a pod and break up the cloves. Stick each clove in the ground with your thumb (rough side down). That's really cheap! And it's fun to watch. They will sprout before you know it.

Basil: You can't beat fresh basil. The difference is huge. I grow my own and it's super easy. Throw some seeds on loosened soil and cover them lightly with soil. You can also store the basil through the winter by mincing it with a little olive oil in a food processor, dividing it into ice cube trays, freezing it for a couple of hours and then store the basil cubes in a freezer container.

About Sucanat: This is cane sugar in it's less processed form. The name comes from SUgar CAne NATural. It is brown and still has molasses in it. I use it for everything that requires sugar. I buy mine online through Amazon.com. It costs between $2 and $3 per pound. You can also get it at Whole Foods, Market Street, Sprouts, Target, and I used to get it at Kroger. It's cheaper in bulk.

Enjoy!

Popcorn in a paper lunch bag!!!

I like this one! Quick, easy and cheap. The DishDiana for the day is POPCORN! Who doesn't love popcorn. The problem with microwave popcorn is that most of them have hydrogenated oils and lots of sodium. Here is a healthier alternative that's simple and fun. If you don't have a microwave popper, you can use a brown paper lunch bag! I tried this years ago and was unsuccessful. I attempted it again tonight and figured out what I did wrong the first time. Here it is:

Popcorn:

1 brown paper bag

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

Put the kernels in the bag (need I say that???) and fold the end of the bag over 3 times. Pop it in the microwave and cook on high for about 2 1/2 minutes. When the popcorn popping slows down to one pop second, take it out.

Toppings:

I'm sure the list could be endless here. Tonight I tried something new.

Bragg Liquid Aminos

Powdered Garlic

I sprayed the popcorn with Bragg's Liquid Aminos and then sprinkled it with garlic powder. Very tasty.

Option 2:

Bragg Liquid Aminos

Nutritional Yeast Flakes

Option 3:

Melted Butter

Salt

This is the old standby. Yes it has fat and dairy and sodium, but it's preferable to any packaged popcorn and it tastes much better.

Notes: The reason my popcorn in a bag didn't work so well the first time I tried it was because I didn't have enough kernels in the bag. You can find Bragg Liquid Aminos and Nutritional yeast at Whole Foods, Sprouts, Market Street and sometimes at Kroger's in their healthy food section. Liquid Aminos is a soy based product that contains 16 amino acids. It is an alternative to soy sauce and Tamari. It contains 160mg of sodium for a 1/2 teas. You use very little with the spray.

I hope you try this and send me some of your ideas for tasty toppings. I'd love to have a healthier version of the caramel or kettle corn flavor.

Thanks for reading and Happy Eating!