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Tag: rice

Gluten Free / Latin Inspired Cuisine / Recipes

Mexican Rice Recipe – Restaurant Style

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Mexican Rice - Restaurant Style

When I lived in Omaha I used to go to the South side all the time to a tiny little tienda that was well known for their beans, salsa, and their rice! Now that we've moved to Chicago I find myself missing home; tonight was one of those nights. So I decided to suck it up and make some Mexican rice! It tasted just like the one from the store and it just warmed my soul. I hope you enjoy!
Course Mexican
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 277 kcal
Author FaylinaMeir

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of long grain rice
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons lard or a neutral flavored oil
  • 2 cups chicken stock unsalted (water is okay too!)
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder or to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin or to taste
  • 1/2 a large white onion finely chopped
  • 150 g frozen mixed peas and carrots I used pictsweet brand
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. In a large pot with a tight fitting lid, add your lard/oil and get it heating over medium-high heat. Rinse your rice under warm water VERY well until the water runs clear. Shake off all extra water.
  2. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, carefully add in your rice and stir to coat with oil. Continue to stir the rice every so often until the rice goes from clear to milky in color. Do NOT let the rice burn it will be become very bitter.
  3. Add in your onion and stir well. Cook until the rice just starts to brown. Add your carrots and peas, then add in your tomato paste. Thoroughly mix in the tomato paste so there are no clumps.
  4. Once you remove the lumps add in your chicken stock (or water) in two portions to ensure your tomato paste mixes properly.
  5. Add in your garlic powder, cumin, and salt. Put the top on and boil on medium-high for 5 minutes.
  6. After 5 minutes remove the cover, stir thoroughly, and replace the cover. Turn down heat to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes minimum.DO NOT REMOVE THE LID. It's tempting to stir and oogle over your delicious rice, but you must resist temptation.
  7. After 25 minutes test the rice, adjust the salt, and if need be continue to cook until the rice is done. This rice is more on the dry side, so don't be alarmed. Once finished turn off the heat, stir well, and let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe Notes

To reheat rice add into preheated pan on medium-high and mix for 2 minutes. Then add a spoon or two of water and cover. Cook for 2 more minutes and mix. Rice should be soft like when it was fresh!

If making vegan/vegetarian I recommend refined coconut oil for best results.

 

Grocery Hauls / Haul Videos

Main Grocery Haul July 2015 | Asian Market, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, & Costco!

Here are the totals for each place I shopped at. I spent more than what I wanted, but I now don’t need to do much shopping the rest of the month.

Asian Market:

15lb bag of Nishiki Rice – $17.50
Bell Peppers – $6.02
Green Onions – $1.00
jalapeno – $0.13
ginger – $0.32
cabbage – $1.86
pork bellies – $7.86
mochi red bean cake – $1.79
Total: $36.48

Costco:
My mother-in-law accidentally kept my receipt, but I spent $161.22 , but I also returned $106 of items, so really wasn’t much.

Whole Foods:

Kahlona Organic milk – $5.39
2.41lb organic gold potatoes – $2.36
Pork sausage – $3.77
total: $11.52

Trader Joe’s:

Joe’s O’s – $1.99
TJ’s Mini wheats – $2.99
linguine – $0.99
penne – $0.99
frozen pineapple – $1.99
Madras lentils – $1.99
organic ketchup – $1.99
3 bananas – $0.57
REFUNDS -$15.15
total: -$2.13 (they paid me)

Grocery Hauls / Haul Videos

Asian Market Grocery Haul 1-24-2015

This grocery haul was all about stocking up on the essentials that aren’t that common. Of course we need our staple: rice, but also things like sesame oil, and kimchi making supplies. My main reason for going was to purchase pig fat to render into lard, that video will be coming soon I promise!. Life has been fast paced lately so I apologize for not uploading recipes this week.

My total was $84.49

15lb bag of Sweet rice $16.49
jicama $0.53
ginger $1.35
Japanese sweet potato $2.15
yellow onions $1.45
assi noodles $1.49
rice noodles $1.39
Chinese style noodles $0.99
rice stick noodles $0.99
crushed red pepper $3.99 (for kimchi)
potato powder (starch) $1.49
glutinous rice flour $0.99
tapioca starch $0.75
young Thai coconut $1.59
Napa cabbage $1.82
2 green onions $1.50
cilantro $0.50
red onion $0.31
Tianjin (yali) pear $0.32
burro banana $0.20
daikon radish $1.57
sesame oil $15.99
pork fat $4.89
bento box $12.99
bamboo skewers $1.99
Bonito flakes $3.99
Chinese soup spoons $1.38

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Uncategorized

Healthy Lunchbox Ideas – #2

Hey guys! Today I threw together a super simple and insanely cheap lunchbox!


This lunchbox is definately a sesasonal delight for me! Not only that but you’ll notice I reused a plastic throwaway container to hold the salad in. Healthy  veggies + recycling = <3

LunchBox idea #2 is a whole wheat multi-grain peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich. The bread is fresh made at a local grocery store from local ingredients. The jam I made myself from strawberries purchased from the farmers market. Jam is super easy to make: get instant pectin, fresh strawberries, and sweetener if needed. Blend the ingredients together and store in fridge overnight until it sets. Not only does it taste better, is better for you, but you control the ingredients! The peanut butter is organic all natural peanut butter with nothing but peanuts in it. ( for those with allergies you could definately use a different nut butter like almond, brazil, or cashew. You could also do a seed better like sunflower or sesame (tahini)). There is also sliced up cucumbers, in season and cheap right now so of course we’re eating a lot of them. They are served with a side of dressing. There is also a simple salad made entirely from ingredients from my farmers market. Three large romaine lettuce leafs sliced up with a handful of snow peas (removed from pod, but left raw), shredded carrot, and sliced bell pepper. A small serving of rice, approxomately 3/4 cup, with chili sauce on the side. (chili sauce is our guilty pleasure, we pretty much always put it on rice). Last, but definately not last, is my swiss chard chips (Recipe Here). Ignavius did not finish all his lunch tomorrow so I decided just to toss in the chips again. (definately nothing wrong with that!).

Pros of this lunch:
*cheap! – this meal is about $2.00, made with all organic, local ingredients (except the peanuts… can’t be helped! they don’t grow in Nebraska to my knowledge LOL)
*  This meal is vegan/vegetarian friendly, plus most people will have all the ingredients available.
* Kid friendly, & adult approved! – the simplicity of this meal attracts everyone. Who doesn’t love a good peanut butter and Jelly sandwich?! Kids will never know how healthy and fresh it is, while adults will love how low calorie it is. Bright colors will attract children and encourage them to eat their food, aswell as adults.
* Can be eaten without reheating it. The rice is fully cooked and doesn’t require heating, nor does the sandwich, and obviously the rest is fresh veggies!
* Minus the chard “chips” this meal took me 5 minutes to put together (using precooked rice).
* low calorie!
* high in vitamins & minerals

 

(This next photo shows how I reused a plastic take-out container. I’ll probably use this 5 or 6 times before recycling it, basically until it gets funky. This is a great way to save money, aswell as “fancy-up” any meal and make someone feel important. Remember though, if possible don’t get throw away plastic boxes!)
(click to see full photo breakdown of nutritional values)