Wild and brown rice with dried cherries and pumpkin seeds

 Today I decided to make some room in my pantry since it is overcrowded like crazy. I reached in and pulled out a bag of brown rice. I knew I was going to make country style pork ribs so I figured that would work perfectly. My next stop was my stash of nuts, fruits and other power busters. I grabbed some dried cherries, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), and hemp hearts.  My final stop was the fridge. I found the last bits of a veggie tray leftover from thanksgiving. 

There was also some carrots and celery in the tray. I thought they would work as a base for the rice and I could roast the broccoli and cauliflower while the rice and pork cooked. 

I started by chopping the carrots, celery and onion. Then I added them along with 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to my hot rice cooker.  I sautéed the veggies for about five minutes. 

Next, I added the brown rice, wild rice, 1/4 cup dried cherries, 1 Tablespoon of chicken bullion and water to the cooker.  I chose the brown rice setting and let it go.  

When the rice was done, I added 2 tablespoons of hemp hearts and 1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds.  I gave it a quick mix and voile.

The rice was very tasty. A little sweet from the cherries with lots of crunch from the wild rice and pepitas. This was definitely a winner.

Wild and Brown Rice with Dried Cherries and Pepitas 

Ingredients 

1c Brown rice

2 T Wild rice

2T Chicken Bullion 

1/4 c Dried Cherries 

2T Hemp Hearts

1/4 c Pumpkin Seeds 

Diced carrots, celery, and onions (about 1/2 c each)

2T Butter

1 T Olive Oil

2 1/2 c Water

Directions:  Add butter and olive oil to rice cooker. sauté carrots, celery, and onions until tender and rice cooker. Add brown rice, wild rice, chicken bouillon, dried cherries.  Add water. Turn rice cooker onto brown setting and wait until it’s done. After Rice is finished, add hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds and stir well.  Serve hot...or maybe cold, I haven’t tried that yet😜

Now let’s talk a little bit about this power packed dish.

*First, the brown rice:  brown rice as an excellent source of manganese, and a good source of selenium, phosphorus, copper, magnesium, and niacin (vitamin B3). 

*Wild rice:  Here are the top 10 amazing health benefits of wild rice.

*Dried cherries:  8 incredible benefits of dried 

*Hemp hearts:  Evidence based health benefits of hemp seeds.

*Pumpkin seeds:  Science based health benefits of pumpkin seeds  

So today I decided to make some chili.  It has been rainy all week and according to the weather it was supposed to be raining until next Wednesday.  Guess what?  Today...no so much.  Nice sunny day.  Well making chili anyway.  I cooked pinto beans last week so I had those all ready to go.  I browned my ground beef and discovered I was out of my chili seasoning.  So......

We make chili seasoning today.

First, gather the ingredients.  My father in law always marvels at my seasoning section in my pantry and this is why.

Chili Seasoning Ingredients
1 C Flour
4 T Chili Powder
4 T Crushed Red Pepper
4 T Minced Onion (Dried)
4 T Minced Garlic (Dried)
3 T Sugar
3 T Cumin
2 T Oregano
2 T Cayenne Pepper
2 T Paprika
1 T Onion Powder
1 T Garlic Powder


Directions:  Measure out powdered ingredients into a fine sieve or sifter.  Measure larger ingredients directly into the bowl.

Tap or sift powdered ingredients into bowl.

Mix thoroughly.

Finished product in mason Jar. Which then lends to the next step.  LOL

I put the rest into an empty seasoning container for me.  It made about three cups but I can do the math and give a better idea of the finished volume.  There are 16 tablespoons in a cup.  30 tablespoons in the recipe (not including the cup of flour).  So that means 1.875 cups in addition to the flour.  Should be almost 3 cups total.

I printed out a label and tied some raffia on the jar.

I got the labels off Amazon.  They fit perfectly on the small mouth mason jar.  They are Avery 22808 2 1/2" Round Kraft labels.  You can go on Avery.com/print for the template and print directly from there.

Directions:  Brown ground beef (I use 1-2 lbs.).  Sprinkle 1/4 C chili seasoning over beef and stir.  Add chili "fixins" or a bit of water if you are using meat as a stand alone for tacos, burritos, or taco salad and finish cooking. 


The cuteness of this made me think it would be a great gift to make a chili basket.

My friend Ginger has been working night and day on her two stores.  I am so proud of her.  She is amazing.  I thought it would be the perfect gift to give her for a quick meal...she could even have her kiddos do it.

Next time I make chili, I will share the process.

Blog has been down or changed...aaaak

I made this rug from recycled grocery bags.  It really didn't take all that long to complete.  (Except for my procrastinating.)

Here is a close up view.

Take your bag and flatten it out.

Then fold it in half.

And in half again.

Then cut off the top and bottom.

Toss the top and bottom pieces and then fold your strip in half and cut it.

Cut each of these strips into four pieces

Now you have eight loops to work with.

I do several bags at once and then I have lots of strips to add as I crochet

Her is how you add loops to lengthen.

 I did a simple single crochet for the whole thing using a Size N hook.

Good luck.  Feel free to ask any questions.

Home made laundry soap for about $2.  This works very well and my laundry smells great.

Grate the Zote soap with a cheese grater add 2 cups borax and 2 cups washing soda.  Blend in blender.  I use 1 T per load of laundry.  This will last a couple of months in my house.

I woke up early this morning so I decided to make these delicious treats.  I got the recipe for the cinnamon bread from plainchicken.com  It is awesome.  For the quiche, I just chopped up some ham, drained some spinach and about 1/2c of swiss cheese.  I put these in the bottom of a frozen pie shell and then whipped up three eggs 1/2 c milk and 1/2 c sour cream in my bullet blender.  I poured them over the top and put the mix in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes.  Easy quiche.

Rice Cooker Mac n Cheese

This is easy and so delicious.

All you need is a rice cooker and a few ingredients.

Ingredients:

1- 12 oz box elbow macaroni (or shells or whatever)

1-can condensed milk
1-can milk
2-cans water
2 T chicken bullion
1 1/3 c shredded cheddar
1 1/3 c shredded swiss
1/4 c shredded parmesean

Here is the plan.

Put macaroni, condensed milk, milk, water and chicken bullion into rice cooker. Give it all a stir. Cook on the White Rice setting. When done, stir in cheeses. Viola...Perfect mac-n-cheese.