Sometimes it’s really difficult to stick to your personal cooking convictions. Take, for example, my insistence that we eat homemade as much as possible. There are definitely days where I want to chuck that homemade part, walk down the convenience aisles of the grocery store, and fill my cart with boxes of food that will take little or no effort on my part to put together. I always look at those products, but for the most part, I just walk away.
About a month or so ago, though, we were given some groceries, for which I was quite grateful at the time. But one of the items in one of the bags was a box of Hamburger Helper- it was basic, the cheeseburger flavor, but it’s not something I make for my family. Ever. I put that box on the shelf for a while, and every time I walked past it, I would look at it. I really had a hard time with that silly box of flavored pasta! I couldn’t decide if I should cook it up, since it was given to us in the spirit of keeping my family fed through the winter, or if it would be okay to take that box and donate it. I went back and forth for about two weeks, before having a day where I needed a quick meal to take with us to dance. I quickly thawed a pound of ground beef and the Hamburger Helper was dinner.
And you know what happened? Abigail ate hers and said it was okay. I ate mine and thought to myself “Oh, that’s what processed tastes like.” Andy ate his (I assume, I wasn’t home to witness), but it was Zander who spoke the truth. “This does not taste good.” He ate two bites and chose to spend the evening hungry, rather than eat that abomination. I was both proud and frustrated at the same time. Honestly? I was kind of hoping we’d all like it so that I could consider stocking up on a few boxes, because it certainly was a quick and easy dinner. But no one really liked it, so lesson learned, right?
Well, a few weeks later, there I am staring at a sale on rice mixes. You know, those packages of rice and seasonings that you add to boiling water and you have tasty rice in twenty minutes? I wanted some. I looked at them, and what made me put them back, actually, was the serving size on the package. I would have needed at least two- even for a side dish- and that kind of negated the idea of these products being on sale and being a good deal for me.
But did you know that you can make your own rice mixes and store them in the pantry for a quick side dish? True story! I did just that last night, and it’s embarrassing how easy it was to do. I gathered my ingredients, three mason jars, a measuring cup and my measuring spoons. Then, assembly line style, I poured the ingredients into my mason jars, shook them up, covered them, and then added a label. I used one jar right away for dinner, but in less than a minute, I had two more jars of rice mix in the pantry, ready for another day. It just doesn’t get easier than this!
I only made three jars because I checked on the supplies I had on hand, and found I was running low on both dried thyme and dried onions. As easy as it was to make three jars, had I had enough on hand, I would have made at least six. One jar of mix was more than enough as a side dish for our family of four. Depending on appetites, anyway, I could have served six last night, as I had a bit leftover.
You can change this up however you want too- that’s another thing I love about it. The original recipe I was following called for one tablespoon of dried parsley, I didn’t have that at all, so instead I used 1/2 a teaspoon of dried tarragon. While I’m sure the parsley is good, I loved the flavor the tarragon brought to the dish. To make one jar of mix, you simply bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil with 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the mix, stir, cover with a lid, and then turn way down to a simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, stir with a fork, cover, and let sit for another five minutes. Perfect rice, perfectly flavored, exactly how you want it. If you don’t have chicken broth granules on hand, you could use beef, veggie, ham, whatever flavors you prefer.
Homemade convenience- now that makes me smile. Oh, and if you happen to be a fan of rice mixes with pasta- such as Rice-A-Roni, leave out 1/4 cup of the rice, and add 1/4 cup broken bits of spaghetti to your jar.
Chicken Rice Mix
makes 1 jar
1 cup long-grain rice (white or brown) (or use 3/4 cup rice, 1/4 cup broken spaghetti) 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules (or 3 bouillon cubes, crushed) 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1 tablespoon dried minced onion flakes 1/4 teaspoon dried garlic 1 tablespoon dried parsley (I used 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon) (use whatever herbs you like)Combine the rice and all the ingredients in a pint size mason jar. Shake to distribute the contents. Cover, label, and store for future use.
To make the rice mix, bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil over high heat with 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the rice mix, stir, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork, put the cover back on, and let sit off of the heat for five minutes before serving.
Makes 4-6 servings.