Homemade Mexican Rice

I've come up with a homemade Mexican rice that works for us - I read how much sodium is in the box mixes and I nearly had a heart attack. Wow! The Ingredients- brown rice (or white rice), tomatoes (canned or fresh or Rotel), onion, garlic, jalapenos (mine are frozen from my summer garden), cumin, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper and olive oil.

Directions- Cook rice according to package. For this recipe, I use 1 cup rice and two cups water. Salt as desired.

I blend my tomatoes in the blender because I don't like chunky tomato. A can of Rotel works great but I was out of it this time. Chop 1/4 cup onion, 1 or 2 garlic cloves, and 1-2 jalapenos.


Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add garlic, onion and pepper. Saute for a few minutes to soften them up.

Pour tomatoes into skillet (If using canned - use about 3/4 of the can. For Rotel, use the whole can). Add 1 T each of chili powder, cumin & paprika and 1/2 t cayenne pepper. Stir and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir mixture into rice. Taste and season as needed.

Hope this recipe works for you! I'm not good at measuring - I kind of throw it all in but I tried my best to guesstimate!

Thanksgiving Prep Time

I am hosting a small Thanksgiving in my small house... it will just be my parents, grandpa, hubby, and the tot. I know most are thinking, "Small and easy!" BUT, I just can't leave it at simple & easy... I just keep piling on the work... because, of course, everything should be made from scratch and we should have everything required of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I've hosted before but I didn't have a tot to entertain while trying to accomplish it all. Oh, did I mention that the hubby will be working so I have to do everything with a tot clinging to my jean clad legs? Yeah, that oughtta be fun... I just willingly volunteer myself for these situations.

I have been trying to figure out a Thanksgiving Plan... very unsuccessfully. Guess it'll just somehow come together. Here's my plan so far...

Monday: Wash china, good silver wear, crystal pitchers, turkey platter, etc. Press cloth napkins.
(I've now decided to use my everyday dishes... that way I can just stick them in the dishwasher. Guess I'll take the easy way out... I kind of like my everyday dishes better than my china anyway.)
Tuesday: Get turkey out to thaw. Go to grocery store and get stressed out by all the crowds and the grocery store will probably be out of everything I need.
Wednesday: Run around the house in mismatched clothing (actually, I'll probably just wear pajamas all day) carrying a broom trying to figure out what I should be doing.
Thursday: Do everything (whatever that entails), entertain a toddler, watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, freak out, send hubby to Walgreen's three times (the only local place open on Thanksgiving), a few tears will be shed.

As you can see, my plan stinks! It's nothing like all these fancy and organized plans I keep seeing on everyone's blog. Like, I seriously should be deep cleaning my house or something instead of typing a blog. What's wrong with me!?!

Okay, so here's a recipe to share too. I decided to make my granny's Au Gratin Potato Casserole instead of mashed potatoes. Yes, I am a rebel. I just thought this would be easy because I can make them ahead of time and then just have to bake them on Thanksgiving. I made two of these yesterday - 1 for our church Thanksgiving and one for Thanksgiving.

Au Gratin Potato Casserole

1 - 32 oz. package Southern style hash browns, slightly thawed
1 -16 oz. sour cream (I use light)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup (I try to use the healthier version)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 ts pepper
2 cups crushed cornflakes
1/4 cup melted butter

Stir the first 6 ingredients together in a large bowl. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with cornflakes and then drizzle with butter. Bake at 325 for 1 hour 20 minutes.