Recipe for Sour Cherry Rice Pudding

Sour Cherry Rice Pudding

I love to read. Growing up my mother never watched TV, instead she spent all of her free time curled up on the side of the couch with a book. It was thanks to her that I read War and Peace in middle school. She always expected me to read for joy, not grade level and challenged me to read everything I could get my hands on. In college I already had a major when on a whim I decided to tack on a second major, English Literature. This love of reading has followed me to the current day when I have been known to stay up all night finishing a great book. Most of you also know that I love to cook. Cookbooks and food magazines are always all over my house. There is something great about finding a new recipe to try and scouring through pages to find the perfect fit for dinner. Slow cooker recipes are some of my favorites and last week I tried a new recipe for Sour Cherry Rice Pudding from the June 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 6 hours and 35 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make changes to the original recipe. First since I have a larger crock-pot I doubled the recipe. I used fat free evaporated milk and 100 percent cherry juice for the ingredients. For whatever reason my crock-pot never works with rice pudding on low. Instead I decreased the time and cooked the recipe on high for a little under 3 hours. After the pudding has sat to cool it will need to be fluffed back up and you can add more evaporated milk if necessary.

Using fat free evaporated milk worked well in this recipe and I like that there is 11 grams of protein per serving. My kids ate their servings with homemade whipped cream, which was a nice combination. If you want a richer pudding this would be delicious with shaved dark chocolate on top.

For the recipe go to Sour Cherry Rice Pudding.

Cilantro Lentils and Lemon-Cumin Rice

My posts have been slim this week. Normally I post once a day, but between family obligations and sick kids I have had no time for my blog. Right now my youngest is miserable on my lap while I attempt to write something that is at least semi intelligible. Whenever I am sick with a cold I love spicy food, the spicier the better. Especially when I have a stuffy nose I love things that have lots of flavor and kick. One of my favorite types of food to make spicy is Indian cuisine. The flavors can be made mild or intense and many recipes are easy to make at home. Last week I tried a new recipe for Cilantro Lentils with Lemon-Cumin Rice from the March 2013 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients in the lentils and 6 in the rice. The lentils take 1 hour of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. The rice takes 45 minutes, 5 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients. I did make a few changes. Instead of butter in the lentils I used canola oil and I increased the cayenne pepper to 1/2 teaspoon. Additionally, I let my lentils cook longer than the recipe suggested. I increased the total time by approximately 1/2 hour. This increased cooking time allowed the lentils to fully thicken. Make sure to salt again before serving, I needed to add an additional 1/2 tsp of salt.

The lemon juice added at the end of the lentil recipe makes all the difference. It really does add a great flavor that finishes the dish. The lentils and the savory rice are delicious together. The tastes play off of each other and are perfect. The rice would also work well with other recipes and could be modified to be more or less savory.

For the recipes go to Cilantro Lentils and Lemon-Cumin Rice.

Rosemary-Apricot Pork Tenderloin with Curried Apricot Rice

I have already gotten tired of candy and Valentine's Day is still days away. I'm not anti-Valentine's Day, but I do hate all the sweets that go along with the holiday. Many people think that I am mean, but I do not allow candy and pre-packaged sweets in my house. And when I say none I mean none. I bake cookies, cakes and treats from scratch, but I try to limit the amount of granulated sugar that my family consumes so I bake with honey and molasses. Inevitably during holidays my kids receive candy and treats from relatives. Since they don't normally eat foods with large amounts of corn syrup and sugar they tend to get very cranky and melt down after only a few pieces. Today the candy that they have went into a bag for my husband to take to work. This happened after my oldest cried for an hour wanting another piece of candy after he had eaten way too many mini Butterfingers bars. He's lucky that I didn't throw them in the trash, which I have also been known to do. To make up for all the candy eating that happened in my house the last couple of days, I decided for dinner tonight to make a protein that my kids would like. Pork is always a popular favorite and everyone in my house absolutely loves pork tenderloin. Tonight I tried a new recipe for Rosemary-Apricot Pork Tenderloin from the December/January 2012 issue of Taste of Home magazine.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 8 servings. For the rosemary I used crushed dried rosemary. Fresh rosemary is just too expensive at the store and my herb garden was non-existent last summer thanks to squirrels and cats. For the apricot preserves I used all natural preserves. I am not a fan of the cheaper jams that use corn syrup as a main ingredient. They taste too sugary and have more apple juice than actual fruit. Last summer I canned a bunch of jam that I had planned on using this winter, but thanks to my two boys it was eaten within a couple of months. For a side dish I modified the Curried Apricot Couscous recipe from the same page of the magazine. Since I eat gluten free I substituted rice for the couscous, added 3 cups of homemade chicken stock and modified the cooking time to 20 minutes. The recipe cooks the pork to 160 and pulls it out of the oven to rest. That is way too high of a temp. The FDA now states that the temp for pork is 145 with a 5 minute rest. During the rest the temp will go up approximately 5 degrees to 150. If you were to cook the pork to 160 degrees, it would be over done. If you don't already own a well made meat thermometer, buy one. They are a very important kitchen tool that can mean the difference between delicious and over cooked meat. I temp all meat that I cook to ensure that it gets just done without before over done and tough.

 The pork in this dish turned out very tender. My two boys stated they weren't hungry for dinner, but after tasting the pork they ate an entire serving. The glaze has a nice sweetness, without being over sweet and is balanced nicely by the rosemary. I think for this recipe I prefer using the dried rosemary like I did, so it wasn't overpowering and worked well with the glaze.

For the recipe go to Rosemary-Apricot Pork Tenderloin.

Pinto and Rice Burgers

When I turned 14 I decided I was a vegetarian. Having grown up in Seattle I was surrounded by vegetarians and vegans and I thought it was natural for me to become a vegetarian myself. My dad was a huge meat eater, but my mom was great about buying me ingredients to make my own meals. It was during these years that I learned to read and create cookbook recipes and modify ingredients to make dishes vegetarian. I stayed a vegetarian until I was in my mid-twenties. When I moved to West Virginia to attend graduate school I added meat back into my diet. Then I met my husband, who is obsessed with pork. My two boys have followed suit and definitely enjoy meat in their diets. While I do love meat, I also try to have at least 1-2 dinners a week that are vegetarian or vegan and our lunches 99 percent of the time contain no meat. With one of the highest levels of childhood obesity in my state I am determined to keep my kids from following this statistic. Veggie burgers are a household favorite so I was excited when the June issue of Everyday Food had a recipe for Pinto and Rice Burgers, which looked very easy and delicious.

This recipe has 10 ingredients, plus toppings. It takes 15 minutes of prep and cook time and makes 8 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no ingredient modifications. For the toppings I used cucumbers, avocado, mayo and mustard. I found that the burgers took much longer than the 3 minutes per side suggested by the recipe. I prefer that my veggies burgers have a nice brown crunchy exterior so I let my burgers cook approximately five minutes per side. The bunches of scallion available in my area are huge so instead of an entire bunch I used five large scallions in total. Finally I ended up with 6 burgers in total, my family prefers larger burgers so I made mine slightly larger than the recipe. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Everyone in my family loved this recipe! The burger was not dry as many other veggie burger recipes can be and the avocado topping was absolutely perfect. The cilantro added great flavor, without the burger tasting too much like cilantro. The beans, cilantro, scallions and beans blended together perfectly and the burgers browned very nicely in the olive oil. I was very impressed by this recipe and will definitely make it again in the future.

This recipe is currently not available online, but can be found in the June issue of Everyday Food Magazine. Here is a link to another Rice and Pinto Bean Burger recipe.

Bon Appetit Wild Rice, Fruit, and Pecan Stuffing

Growing up Thanksgiving was always a major event. My mother was one of twelve kids, so large family functions were always the norm. Thanksgiving was always exciting. My mother would make lists weeks ahead of everything that needed to be cleaned, cooked, etc. and eventually her bigger lists would span smaller lists and so on and so forth. The menu would normally stay pretty consistent with turkey, stuffing, and lots of sides. For me everything centered around the stuffing. I absolutely love stuffing and every variation that can be made. A couple of years back I made a rice stuffing, which was delicious and different than traditional stuffing recipes. As I was looking through the November issue of Bon Appetit magazine I noticed a recipe for Wild Rice, Fruit, and Pecan Stuffing, which looked low in fat and full of flavor.

This recipe has 16 ingredients. It makes 8 to 10 servings and takes approximately an hour and a half to prepare and cook. The ingredients in this recipe caused me a few problems. I was only able to find 4 ounce packages of wild rice after looking at multiple stores. Apparently wild rice isn't a common ingredient in my area. Luckily they had the small packages of generic wild rice, which is what I bought. I prepared my own chicken broth. The taste of homemade is much better, and it allows me to make it without all the added salt of the store bought variety. I found that the wild rice took even longer than the forty minutes suggested by the recipe. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The wild rice in this recipe had a great slightly nutty flavor, which worked well with the dried fruit and pecans. This recipe is a great alternative to traditional high fat stuffing. Additionally, the minimal amount of fat comes from olive oil, not butter. My two boys particularly enjoyed this dish. Granted they picked out the dried fruit and nuts, but for them that's progress. Overall, a great non-traditional stuffing recipe, that would work well with a variety of main courses.

For the recipe go to Wild Rice, Fruit, and Pecan Stuffing.

Martha Stewart Living Herb and Scallion Rice

I have a soft spot in my heart for rice. I absolutely love rice, as an ingredient or a side dish, however it's prepared I adore it. Now I know that nutritionally I should be eating more brown rice and putting away the white, but try as hard as I may I just can't find the taste for brown rice. I try to eat healthy, but white rice is one area I wont compromise, I would rather sacrifice in other areas. However, the white rice that I make I try to add fresh ingredients and vegetables to in order to make the recipes and dishes as healthy as possible. Recently, Martha Stewart Living magazine had a recipe for Herb and Scallion Rice using fresh herbs and garlic, which looked simple and delicious.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It makes a total of 4 servings and takes approximately 50 minutes to prepare. The ingredients are basic and I had no problems finding any of them at my local grocery store. The only modification I made to this recipe was to substitute olive oil for the vegetable oil and use my food processor to blend the ingredients, instead of the blender suggested by the recipe. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I absolutely loved this recipe. The finished rice has a beautiful green color and tasted delicious. There are many variations this recipe could be modified to using different spices and fresh herbs and is a great base recipe. The best part is that it only takes a couple minutes more than making plain white rice and turns out great. Overall, this recipe is very easy and makes a light, flavorful rice dish.

For the recipe go to Herb and Scallion Rice.

Food Network Magazine Mango-Cucumber Salad

During the summer when fruit prices are inexpensive, I love using as many different types of fruit as I can incorporate into dishes. My two boys love any type of fruit and love going to the grocery store with me and picking out new types and familiar favorites. I have also been trying to introduce my family to more types of  grains, so I was excited when the July/August issue of the Food Network Magazine had a recipe for Mango-Cucumber Rice Salad.

This recipe has 13 ingredients and takes approximately an hour of total time. I had to make a few modifications to the ingredients, due to the fact I was unable to find some of them. I substituted a green jalapeno for the red jalapeno called for in the recipe. I also had made homemade roasted peanuts, but once again my two boys got to them before I was able to prepare the recipe, so they were not included. I followed the remainder of the recipe as stated.

My husband and I loved this recipe, my two boys weren't as big of fans. I liked the combination of the mango and the quinoa, which is very high in protein. This dish made a great side to the seafood dish I prepared with it, and the citrus taste from the lime balanced nicely with the fish. A great side dish for seafood and a good  way to introduce high protein whole grains.

For the recipe go to Food Network Magazine Mango-Cucumber Rice Salad.

Bon Appetit Spelt Pancakes

As I've stated in many of my previous posts, my two sons are hit or miss with eating a well rounded breakfast. They prefer sugary cereal or snacks and I'm lucky if they will eat anything with protein or any form or nutrition. In the last couple of months I have been experimenting with various breakfast recipes in an attempt to add something healthier into my two boys breakfast routine. The July issue of Bon Appetit had a recipe for Spelt Pancakes, which looked like the perfect healthy breakfast idea for my two boys.

This recipe has 13 ingredients and goes together very quickly. I had no problem finding any of the specialized flours in the health food section of my local grocery store. Instead of using rice or soy milk I used whole cow's milk, since that is what I already had on hand. One word of caution for this recipe, the pancakes seemed to brown quicker than pancakes made with all-purpose flour, so I kept the temp lower on my gas stove.

My two year old loved this recipe. I served the pancakes with fresh peaches for breakfast, which was a hit. He went back multiple times throughout the day for more pancakes, which I topped with homemade peanut butter (recipe to be posted later). This recipe is a great for people with a gluten intolerance and according to the magazine, maintaining a low-gluten diet may improve muscle recovery after a work-out.

For the recipe go to Bon Appetit Spelt Pancakes.

Martha Stewart Living Chicken and Chorizo Paella

When my second son began eating table foods, I started trying to introduce both of my sons to a large variety of foods. They have had just about every type of meat, vegetable, fruit and cheese that can be found in my area, in addition to foods that friends and family have shipped from other areas. Some they have fallen in love with and some they have not been thrilled with, but they have been pretty good with at least trying all of them. I have attempted making paella recipes  a number of times and the results have been okay, not great. The June issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine had a recipe for Chicken and Chorizo Paella, which looked simple and I hoped would be a great paella recipe to share with my family.

There are 13 ingredients in this recipe (including salt and pepper). I made a couple of substitutions, the first being with the type of rice. I already had jasmine rice in my pantry, so I used what was available. Second, I had bought a number of packages of linguica when I found in on clearance and froze it, so I substituted the linguica for the chorizo called for in the recipe. The linguica is milder sausage, which is more child friendly for my household. Finally, I used regular paprika, not smoked Spanish. I keep a pretty strict budget and paying to special order one spice for a recipe, isn't something I can justify. However, I did buy new saffron. Saffron is expensive, but lasts a significant amount of time and adds a necessary flavor to a number of dishes. The total time including prep, took approximately an hour and 20 minutes. I did not use a paella pan, but rather my favorite oven-proof skillet.

This dish turned out better than any of the previous paella recipes I have tried. My two sons loved this recipe so much that they ate 5 of the 8 pieces of chicken over the course of the two days following the meal. Additionally, everyone in my family agreed that the best part of the dish was the rice. The chicken cooks on top, leaving the rice with a delicious flavor, that even my two boys went back time and time again to the fridge for leftovers. This is definitely a family friendly recipe, which I will be making again in the future.

For the recipe go to Martha Stewart Living Chicken and Chorizo Paella .

All You Chicken and Chorizo Paella

One of my four-year-old's favorites foods is chicken. If I want to make a recipe that he is sure to eat, it must involve chicken or shrimp. My husband and I get tired of the same old chicken recipes, so I am always on the lookout for new recipes to try. Oftentimes I substitute thighs for chicken breasts, due to breasts tendency to dry out and my family's preference for the darker meat. However, I have been trying to incorporate more recipes utilizing chicken breasts into my menu rotation for health benefits. Recently, All You magazine had a recipe for chicken and chorizo paella using breasts, that looked like a good recipe for my family to try.

None of my local grocery stores carry Spanish chorizo and the international market closed a while back. However, they do sell Portuguese chourico, which I substitute frequently in recipes, including this one. I had no other problems finding any other ingredients. This recipe goes together rather quickly, the total time being about 30 minutes. Most of the time is active cooking time with approximately 10 minutes of prep. I did not use low sodium chicken broth and still had to salt, so didn't go light on the salt.

This is a quick one-dish meal. The chicken breasts did not dry out as common in many other recipes, and my two boys enjoyed this dish. My husband missed the crusty bottom of traditional paella, but thought the flavor from the chourico was delicious. This is a great quick weeknight meal recipe, with minimal clean-up.

For the link go to All You Chicken and Chorizo Paella.