It is almost that time… Back to school for both the kiddos and myself. In fact, as I write this, I am enjoying my last 2 days before I head back to college on Wednesday. The kids have another few weeks, lucky ducks. I am hoping to have a smooth transition this year though, since I will be taking classes while all 4 kids are in school. Hard to believe my youngest will be starting Kindergarten. Where has the time gone?
Since I will be starting school again here soon, I can’t promise very many posts but I will make an effort to post every week or two. Between my 5 classes this semester, helping the kids with their homework, my normal wifely duties, and soccer this next month or so will be swamped. Hopefully some time will open up once soccer is over in October.
Now for my CSA last week…. I did not get a picture 😦 What I did get was a bunch of basil, 4 more gigantic green peppers, 4 heirloom tomatoes, a bag of fingerling potatoes, a head of red lettuce, 1 Spanish onion, 1 red onion,1 large cucumber, patty pan squash, and 8 peaches.
The peaches never even stood a chance. My kids LOVE fruit, so any time we get some in our CSA its gone in a flash (not that I’m complaining). The lettuce, red onion, and tomatoes got tossed into a salad we topped off with some of the Olive Garden salad dressing we got from Walmart (Soooo excited they bottled it and sell it now!! I get to have the Olive Garden taste without worry of being cross contaminated!) The rest I’m not sure what to do with…
Now for a recipe… How about some Rice-a-Roni from scratch?! I found a pin while surfing pinterest for the almost perfect recipe for me to use… After a few tweeks, this is what the end result is!!
Homemade Rice-a-Roni (gluten free and reg) Serves 2
1 c rice (reg white rice, not the minute stuff)
1/4 lb of angel hair pasta broken into small pieces (I use Hodgson Mill gluten free angel hair pasta for mine)
2 T butter
1/8 t salt (more or less depending on your tastes)
1/8 t white pepper (more or less depending on your tastes- start with a pinch and go from there)
1/4 t paprika
1/4 t Italian seasoning
1 packet of Swanson chicken flavor boost
2 c Chicken broth (Make sure if you are making this gluten free that your broth is gluten free as well!! Some are not!)
Directions:
1. Place butter, rice, and pasta pieces in a medium skillet. Cook on medium heat until rice and pasta start to brown a little.
2. Add in all remaining ingredients, stirring to make sure they are mixed well.
3. Put the lid on and cook on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes or until rice is cooked through and there is no liquid remaining.
That’s it!! Simple and good, and as a bonus you know what’s in it!! No extra added chemicals or preservatives!!
Sometimes, if I am in a hurry, I will mix up a big bunch of this and prepackage it for days I am in a hurry. Just mix together the rice and pasta, place in a Ziploc bag with a smaller bag with the spices, and add the wet ingredients when you go to make it.
Easy peasy and so much better for you!!