Mexican Rice

I found this recipe on one of my favorite websites for recipes: The Pioneer Woman. Everything I have made from her website is FAB, and I highly recommend spending a few hours reading her blog.

Anyway, this Mexican Rice recipe is a part of the Mexican Lasagna recipe listed here (I will post my version of the lasagna, soon). I have altered the Mexican Rice to suit our tastes, so without further ado, here's the Y Family version of Mexican Rice...(don't make fun of my photography! This is a food blog...not a picture taking blog! Haha!)

Mexican Rice

Ingredients:
2 C rice (I use Premium Minute)
2 C chicken broth (I like reduced sodium)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes or fresh tomatoes (I use canned w/chiles)
1 can whole kernel corn or fresh corn
1 package taco seasoning
1-2 tsp minced garlic (I use the kind in the jar with the blue top)
1 can black beans (optional)

Assembly:
Cook rice as directed on the package (I use Minute Premium rice, so 2 C rice + 2 C chicken broth, in the micro for 8 minutes).

While the rice is cooking, put the chopped onion, garlic & tomatoes in a large pan and cook over medium heat (I use a wok). Add your taco seasoning and mix. I tend to cook until the onions are just tender (not brown).

Add the corn (and black beans, if you want) and stir again. Cook until heated through.

Mix the tomato/corn/onion/other yummies with the rice.

Serve as a side dish, or in burritos and tacos. (Or, use in the Mexican Lasagna recipe...soon to come!)

***Note*** This recipe is super easy to customize. I tried to list everything we used in our version, but play around with it and make it your own. I have a feeling this recipe will be ever-evolving in our house!

Sucess! Spicy Giant Meatballs

I have a successful recipe to put on here! Hurray! I just made it the other night, so it's still fresh in my mind. Hopefully, I'll be adding some of my "old standby" recipes, too (like my Stuffed Peppers for Molly, Apple Stuffed Chicken Breasts, Matt's Citrus Herb Salmon, Mexican Lasagna, and on and on...)

Spicy Giant Meatballs

Ingredients:
2 lbs lean ground beef (I used about 1 2/3 lbs ground chuck)
2 lbs ground pork (again, I used about 1 2/3 lbs)
1 medium onion, minced
2 slices bread, no crust, torn up (I used 1/4 C plain bread crumbs - I happen to like them better)
5 garlic cloves
2 eggs
1/2 C fresh parsley (I didn't have fresh, so I used dried...it worked just as well)
1/4 olive oil
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
1 tbsp. salt
1 1/2 C parmesan cheese (I used grated)
3 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 C ricotta cheese

Assembly:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the first 10 ingredients in a large mixing bowl (that's the ground beef thru the salt). I like to use my hands to mix this up. Add in 1 cup of the parmesan and 2 tsp. of the pepper. Mix again. Shape into giant meatballs (I got 15 tennis ball sized meatballs out of this recipe) and place on a cookie sheet.

In a separate bowl, combine the ricotta cheese and the remaining parmesan cheese and pepper. Set aside.

Bake the meatballs on the top 1/3 of the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, turn on the broiler.

Top each meatball with a spoonful of the ricotta/parmesan/pepper mixture. Place in broiler for 5 minutes, or until cheese browns. Top with your favorite red pasta sauce (we used Newman's Own Cabernet Marinara).

Eat & enjoy!


Photo and recipe courtesy of Real Simple. For more information on the recipe, click here.

PS - I know this font color is different than the other posts...I can't figure out why, and it's driving me insane!

Welcome!

Hi there! You've found the newest blog in the Y Family - the cooking blog! Let me explain how this came about...

No matter what anyone else tells you, I really do enjoy cooking. And even more so, I enjoy eating (as evidenced by my growing waistline...grrrr!). Matt likes to cook, too - and he's great at it! Now that we've got Ben, I'm trying to cook with ease - i.e. meals that are easy to assemble, cook & freeze.

Ben likes to be in the kitchen, too, though he's not much help, yet! He loves to pull things out of the fridge, move the garbage can around, bang pots and pans together, pull on the dishwasher racks...

So I thought this might be a good place to gather all of our successful recipes, restaurant reviews, favorite new wines, fab food shows, etc. At the very least, it will help me organize my recipes and ideas! We really hope you find something you love within these posts - and if you do, let me know! (If you hate it, don't tell me! ;) )

Happy cooking and eating!