Fast Rice Fritata

I like to cook but I also like the evening where the cooking doesn’t keep me in the kitchen for TOO many hours! This was always a favorite growing up and it is a quick standby for those busy days. I like to cook extra rice just to have some on hand for something like this.

Fast Rice Fritata
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon butter
8 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon chili flakes
2 cups cooked rice
4-ounce can chopped green chilies, undrained
1 tomato, chopped
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

In a large frying pan, brown the onions in the butter until tender.

Beat eggs with milk and seasonings. Stir in Rice, chilies and tomato. Pour into the frying pan with the onions. Turn the heat down low, cover and cook until top is almost set, about 12-15 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, cover, and remove from heat. Let stand about ten minutes before serving.

Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding

Okay, the sun is still shining, the sky is clear with no chance of rain or cold yet hope springs eternal and I’m sharing a great dessert for a cold evening. Rice Pudding has always been a favorite and it never lasts to be eaten cold the next day.

Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding

1 cup white rice (don’t use the instant rice!)
4 cups whole milk
½ cup butter
5 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
½ cup raisins or crasins (optional)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground clove

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine rice, milk, and butter in large pot. Bring to a boil, cover and cook over low heat until most of the milk has absorbed and rice is tender. Keep watch and give it a good stir ever so often.

Add eggs, sugar, raisins/crasins, vanilla, and spices together and mix thoroughly. Add and stir into the rice mixture quickly to avoid scrambled eggs! Sprinkle a little dusting of cinnamon on top and bake for about 20 minutes.

Rice is Nice . . . Or Not

Rice has always been a favorite of mine and we used to serve it with meals at least twice a week. About two years ago, we went on an eating plan that didn’t have a place for grains especially rice. Since we had read that many brands of rice have trace amounts of arsenic, we figured it was just as well to have this eliminated from our diet. The fact that is is basically a non-fiber foodstuff with little to recommend it but carbs, it was relatively easy to take it off our shelf.

Today, however, rice has taken on a whole new view . . . at least the rice produced in China which isn’t rice but a mixture of some food items . . . and plastic! What is the world coming to and why would a country allow the poisoning of a major menu item especially among the poorer people who rely on this to stretch their already, in many cases, meager diet.