So Easy Spanish Rice

So I don’t know if this is technically Spanish rice….I mean what really makes Spanish rice Spanish rice?

Please don’t answer that and make me feel dumb for not really researching anything before I posted this blog.

Thank you.

So I guess I really should have called this “So Easy Jamie’s Spanish Rice”, but that is just a mouthful.

That’s what she said.

Tee Hee. I couldn’t help myself.

So, I think you will enjoy it anyway, even if the origins are unknown and the ingredients don’t hold any validity.

Just say you love me and we will move on (that’s what I ask my husband to do all the time. Although I think there is a “you’re right dear” in there somewhere)…

I started toying around with this idea after buying rice in a packet or box at the store. I wish I could say that my motives were derived from my desire to feed my family much healthier, non-packaged or highly processed, over salted food, but alas, they were really not.

My quest for saving a buck was the true force. Health is an added bonus!!!

Yippee for saving money AND being healthier. Who knew that the world could work that way?????

Enough rambling….On with the recipe….

Ingredients:

I apologize for this picture in particular…I really need to just have my husband teach my how to use that darn camera…

2 Cups Rice

4 Cups Water

1 Can Southwest Style Diced Tomatoes

2 Tbsp Taco Seasoning

2 Stalks Celery (please use the neon green variety…does that picture not make it look like I went shopping in a radioactive field???)

1 Onion

This is how you do it:

Get out your handy-dandy rice cooker with flowers on it (don’t worry if yours doesn’t have flowers it will taste ok, mine just came from an Asian market and for some reason it has flowers on it…) oh and if you don’t have one at all, you could always use the slow cooker or a pot on the stove

Pour in the rice… I used brown, long grain rice cause it was on sale!!! you can use whatever you want 🙂

and the water…

and the tomatoes…

the taco seasoning… (if you don’t have taco seasoning here is a good recipe that I use all the time for tacos, fajitas, rice…you name it!! Taco Seasoning

Chop some of that radioactive celery and throw it in…

Chop some onion…cry….throw it in the cooker

Now here is the had part…

Push the cook button on the rice cooker and wait!!!

I told you it was hard…well it’s hard for me to wait for anything because I have the same level of patience as my 3-year-old son, but if you are not in fact like me, then this might not be the most difficult step.

When it’s all done…

Eat it because it is amazing. And you have been waiting for it for so long…. 🙂

I made some super yummy grilled bean and cheese burritos too. They were delicious. And easy. and cheap. The triple threat.

Finished product…

Happy Cooking!!!

Printable Version

Ingredients

2 Cups Rice

4 Cups Water

1 Can Southwest Style Diced Tomatoes

2 Tbsp Taco Seasoning

2 Stalks Celery (please use the neon green variety…does that picture not make it look like I went shopping in a radioactive field???)

1 Onion

Preparation

Chop onion and celery into bite size pieces. Pour all ingredients into a rice cooker. Turn to cook. Serve with something yummy.

If you don’t have a rice cooker, pour all ingredients into a pot on the stove. Cook on high until boiling. Cover and reduce heat to low or medium low until rice is tender. Usually about 30-45 minutes.

Reinvent Your Leftovers

Ok. Raise your hand if you eat leftovers….and I am not talking about the yummy leftover spicy chicken chipotle pasta that you indulged in last night at Cheesecake Factory.

I am talking about eating last night’s food again. And again. And again until it’s gone.

I’m not a waster and I absolutely abhor throwing away food so my family gets to eat meals until they disappear.

Boring! I know. But, in an effort to quell familial unrest and uprising, I have started to get creative.

And here is the beauty…you can too!!!

Are you ready? Here is what you need:

Last nights leftovers
An Imagination

Here is my example:
Last nights veggie stir fry that I really don’t feel like eating again cause its just not that great reheated.

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Add some cheese, fajita/taco seasoning, tortillas… (and if you are me….lots and lots and lots of Tapatio)

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and some sour cream and you have a fajita quesadilla!!! That. Just. Happened!!!

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It was delicious by the way 😉

I plan meals for the week and intentionally plan some meals using the previous nights leftovers. Here are a few examples of “reinventions” that you could use:

Turn last nights Chili into:
– Taco meat
– Burritos
– The base for Tamale pie
– Filling for Stuffed Bell Peppers

You get the point right?

Ooh another one of my favorites that’s sooooo easy – make meatloaf and mashed potatoes one night and use them the next night with some cheese and frozen veggies for Shepard’s Pie.

Seriously, get creative and you will be amazed at not only how much money you can save on groceries but at how much your family will adore you even more.

You might even be able to get your husband to take out the trash without asking!!!  (I haven’t taken the trash out in….I don’t even remember how long!!! I know I have an amazing husband!)

Or get the kids to go to bed without a fight!!!! Could there be such a world????

Have fun reinventing your leftovers, and please, If you have any great “reinventions”, comment and share them with us 🙂