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Rice Maker: Curried Rice Pilaf

6/1/2013

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If you're looking for a new side dish that is inexpensive and able to use up those canned soup pantry items hanging on your shelf, than give this one a try.  Simple and easy, yet loaded with flavor, your family will love this one.  Plus it allows diversity from that ever nagging need to open up a boxed wheat product to serve during dinner time.

1 medium chopped onion
1 tab. oil
1 tab. curry
1 tab. dried parsy
1 tab. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 cans of vegetable soup drained keeping only liquid
2 cups of rice according to manufacturer's rice cup
Water to fill

Add all ingredients to rice cooker except water.  Top with water to the "level 2" water line.  Set it and forget it!  Solids from vegetable soup can be incorporated into your pets dinner!
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Chicken Flavored Rice - Rice Cooker

8/14/2012

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I have just found the most wonderful, thrifty recipe - that turned out just perfectly with little ingredients.  This one has to be one of the cheapest recipes I've ever entered here and will be completely from your food pantry bag.  The sheer fact that it was delicious amazes me still as I seek to find new recipes through trial and error. 

You just ladle everything into your rice cooker, and in 40 min. you have a delicious side to your dinner meal.  So, if those canned soups are piling up again, give this a try to rid yourself a few.

2 cups premeasured rice (from rice cooker amounts)
3 cans chicken soup (from food pantry)
2 tsp. parsley
1/4 tsp. pepper

Drain chicken soup.  Set noodles aside, or give to your pets mixed with dry food.  This helps the budget on pet food, too.  Place rice in rice cooker.  Add broth from cans of soup.  Fill the cooker to the two cup line with additional water.  Add parsley and pepper.  Close lid and allow to cook.
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Beef Rice - Slow Cooker

7/3/2012

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You know those dog-days of summer; just wants you out of the kitchen. I'm finding this to be true as I improvise recipes without the stove top. I've dug out and have been using my rice cooker more. It makes perfect rice, a great accompaniment to grilled fare. I've been inundated with soups from the food bank, and trying to find recipes for these varieties has been trying. My kids just don't seem to appreciate those store brand cheap varieties
of soup. I've tried to doctor them up, but they still are void of the essential tastes of my home cooked types.

Here is a recipe I've tried with great results to use up those vegetable beef brands.  It makes a flavorable rice that is delicious with some grilled pork.  You just set that timer and grill those chops, and all will come together when the meat is cooked.

3 cups of rice (using your measuring device from rice cooker)
3 cans of vegetable beef soup drained (beef broth set aside)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp. herbs de Provence
1 tab. oil
water

Add rice to rice cooker.  Take drained soup from cans and add to rice.  Discard soup contents to pets mixed with dry food (got to keep those pets fed too during this recession, too!).  Add the rest of the ingredients and fill with water to the third water line.  Finally, cook according to rice cooker instructions.
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Yellow Rice - Rice Cooker

6/28/2012

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Well, the inevitable has happened. My stove is on the fritz, and being unemployed, makes the flexibility of ordering a new one near to impossible at the moment. But, keeping my spirits up, I realized I have several gadgets in
the kitchen that can come to my rescue while I am on pursuit of a used model. 


Needless to say, dinner was actually quite good last night consisting of toaster ready chicken, rice cooker Yellow Rice, and microwave corn. What you can do when you keep optimistic outlook is encouraging! This is one component of my disposition I rely on often these days; I do try to keep on the positive side. I encourage a new adventure, and due to this, you'll be getting more recipes for grilling and other quick sides that will enhance your summer fun.

This turned out quite good, and I am anxious to share it with you.  If you don't have a rice cooker, use a conventional stove top pot.  Both work well for this recipe.

3 cups rice (use measuring cup provided by rice cooker if you're using one)
3 cans of chicken soup (cheap kind provided by food bank)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 small chopped onion
1/2 tsp. curry
1/4 tsp. turmeric
water
1 tab. oil

Place rice in rice cooker or stove top pan.  Drain chicken soup and place noodles aside or give them to your beloved pets.  Mixes great with dry food and a little water for an added treat.  Place broth in rice cooker or measuring cup if you are using the stove top.  Add the rest of the indgredients to cooker or pan.  In the rice cooker, fill to the desired 3-cup line after all ingredients are placed.  If using regular pan, fill your measuring cup, that already has broth in it to make three cups.  Cook according to directions from manual if using rice cooker.  If you are cooking on stove top, stir mixutre after adding water/broth and cook on low/medium for 20 minutes with lid.
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Rice Cooker Chinese Rice

2/10/2012

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I came up with this concoction last evening reminiscing about my
Green Tea visits. I had acquired quite a bit of packaging materials when I could
scrounge together a few dollars to secure my kids  a Chinese dinner. For those
that are not familiar with the Green Tea, it is a local establishment here in
Florida.  Noted as a small "hole in the wall" that offers great Chinese food. They
have superb lunch specials, and if you get there before 3:00 pm, you can get
quite a large portion for only $3.99. I can actually buy two of these and feed
the three of us for a special treat.  There are establishments like this all over the
U.S.  If you check your local listings, you'll be able to enjoy the same fare.

Yesterday, I was cleaning out my meat drawer and noticed several soy a sauce
packets, duck sauce from the Green Tea, and a bit of dried rice seasoning from
my local EXTREME discount store. I thought why not put these together in the rice
cooker and make something unique and different? It turned out spectacular!

 
3 cups of rice (rice cooker amount)
1/4 cup dried rice seasoning
3 packets of left over soy a sauce
2 packets of left over duck sauce
2 tab. oil
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup of peas

Add
rice and fill with water to the third line in your rice cooker. Add remaining
ingredients and stir briefly. Set your cooker on White Rice. When bell tings,
fluff and your ready to serve. Great with grilled chicken!

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Rice Cooker Italian Rice

12/10/2011

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I have incorporated many wonderful side recipes from the many available canned items in my pantry.  This version uses a Rice Cooker.  If you don't have one, and enjoy delicious homemade sides instead of boxed items, this is a needed item in your kitchen.  You can pop all ingredients in, set the timer, and in 40 min. you'll have delicious, easily separated rice.  It is simple, and the recipe comes out consistently delightful everytime you cook it.

If you don't have a rice cooker, they are actually inexpensive.  Prices start around $15.  You can pick one up at a garage sale, or thrift shop for around $5.  Well worth the investment!  This recipe calls for the amount of rice asked for in your rice cooker recipe.  Be sure to use the plastic measuring cup included in the box.

3 cups of rice (I use the longer basmati version - plastic measurer)
1 1/2 cups canned spaghetti sauce
1 cup of water (plastic measurer)
1 cup of Frozen Seasoning Blend (Recipe in Vegetables)
 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
2 tab. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Oregano
1/2 tsp. Basil
1 1/2 tsp. Seasoned Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper

Place rice and sauce in the bottom of your rice cooker.  Fill the water maker to the number 3.  Add the cup of water. Add the rest of the ingredients.  Stir slightly.  Set time for "White Rice" if you have the edition that lets you cook brown and white rice intermittently.
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    Food Facts

    Today 1 in 7 families, 46 million people, rely on food pantries and meal service programs to feed themselves and their families. Hunger exists in literally every county in America, It's an urban problem, it's a suburban problem, and it's a rural problem. People who come to food banks are hard workers. They are employed. They are the school bus drivers, lab techs, receptionists, and sanitation engineers.They just can't make ends meet. Find nutritious ways to do that here.

    Author

    Valerie Bourbour is a writer/blogger and certified English teacher.  She enjoys finding new recipes that are thrifty so that readers can create desired food budgets in today's economy.

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