Spanish Rice

Need some Spanish Rice to go with your carne asada?

I learned how to make it from a close friend whose parents came from Mexico, and ever since, it's come out good every time.

It's easy to make, you can season it any way you like.

Start out by chopping half an onion and a couple of cloves of garlic and saute them in about two tablespoons olive or canola oil.

You can make it without onion and garlic, too, just start with the rice.

When the onions are wilted, add four cups of long grain rice.

Fry the rice over medium heat for a few minutes being careful not to let it burn.

My sister says it reminds her of making Rice-A-Roni when we were kids.

If you're an omnivore, you can add a heaping tablespoon of Knorr Caldo de Pollo. Chicken bouillon will give it good flavor.

Today I'm going to try seasoning the rice with a half-package of Lipton's Onion Soup Mix. According to petakids.com, it's vegetarian.

You can also use Knorr Vegetable Soup Mix or vegetable bouillon.

Add 5 cups of water and 1 14 oz. can of stewed tomatoes.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

You can also add 2 teaspoons of cumin. 

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

Oregano is good in here too.

Give the tomatoes a rough chop or puree them in the blender.

Today I used the Magic Bullet. It only takes a few seconds.

Add the tomatoes to the rice mixture and bring to boil.

When the rice comes to a boil, cover and turn down the heat to the lowest setting and cook for 45 minutes.

When I got my new stove, the lowest setting was higher than my old stove, so it took some getting used to, the rice was burning and just not the same.

It took some figuring out to find a lower flame setting, and now the rice is back to normal.

I even thought about transferring the rice to my rice cooker to see if that would solve my problem.

After 45 minutes, turn off the heat and let the rice steam for 10 - 15 minutes without opening the lid.

When it's done, gently stir the tomatoes into the rice--they settle on the top usually.

It's done!

Serve the rice alongside your carne asada.

I like to make it into a main dish by adding some pinto beans, pico de gallo, avocado slices and crumbled cotija cheese.

The rice is really good the next morning with some fried eggs!

Buen provecho!

(Enjoy your meal!)

***

I had a birthday this weekend.

Because of that famous social networking site, I was flooded all day with birthday wishes.

I was feeling the love.

It made me think of this birthday.

When I turned 8, everyone came to the party dressed up in their mother's clothes. How much fun that was!

I've reconnected with some of these girlfriends through Facebook and got to thinking about them, me, and our youth.

Here we are, a chorus line of eight-year-olds, many of whom I went from kindergarten through 12th grade with-- now reconnecting with with one another and with other high school friends. It's fun.

They remember me when I was 8.

And they remember me when I was this young girl.

What bonds us together is our shared youth.

What has been great about Facebook, is the opportunity to become reacquainted with those that shared our youth, spread out all over the country and beyond, and to get to know them again as adults with lifetimes in-between.

From personal messaging, chats, wall-postings, comments and photos, I can see the same girls I knew in my youth, especially in their current photos of themselves with their families and friends.

I see glimpses of Sally in photos of her grandsons, and I love it because I know that face, I remember her when she was little. 

Same with my other friends, we grew up together. It's so much fun catching-up and finding out what has changed about them and what's remained the same.

I love reunions.

One of the things that's so great about them is that we're all the same age--we're all having the same birthday this year!

No printable recipe for this one yet.