Mexican Rice Casserole ... Instant Pot version!

Having recently moved out of the States, I had to purchase several new appliances to meet different electricity such 'n such.  So instead of choosing a regular crock pot, I opted for the increasingly popular Instant Pot.  I've toyed with it a few times and not had anything turn out "off-ish" nor has it been too hard to learn.  That's a good thing!  One thing is for sure.  I have NEVER had such tasty and easy brown rice in my life!*  Which led me to try one of our family favorites, Spanish Rice Casserole.  Which we now have to call Mexican Rice Casserole thanks to mine and Hubz's trip to Spain last year where we learned real Spanish rice involves sea food and junk...I mean...stuff.  Mexican rice is the kind with the tomatoes and chili powder and such.  Or Rice 'a Roni style, if boxed is your thing.  But why?  It's so easy and much better for you to do homemade!

Four out of five people in my family are not too keen on brown rice.  I love the stuff!  It's so much better for you and has such a nice body and bite compared to plain ol' long grain white rice.  Well, guess what.  Making our Mexican Rice Casserole with brown rice in the Instant Pot went off smashingly!  EVERYONE loved it...even though it was brown rice.  Hubz didn't even realize it until I told him.  Success!

I am blogging the "recipe" so I can have a place to return to it (read: Pin it).  Just in case you thought this blog was dead.  ;-)

Mexican Rice Casserole - IP Style
Dawn E.

1 1/2 cups brown rice
4 Tbs butter
1 lb. ground beef
15 oz chicken stock (canned or homemade)
1 1/4  cups tomato salsa of your choice
2 Tbs onion flakes
1/2 - 1 Tbs chili powder
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
1/2 - 1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 - 1/2 tsp pepper
Shredded cheddar & sour cream

Set Instant Pot to Saute mode.  Melt butter; add rice and saute until toasted.  Remove and set aside.

Add ground beef and saute until browned and crumbly.

Add chicken stock, salsa, and spices (adjusting to your preference).  Add rice back in and stir well.

Lock on Instant Pot lid, making sure valve is set to pressurize.  Cook on Manual - High Pressure for 22 minutes.  Use Natural Release for 20 minutes.  Remove lid and stir well.

Dish up and top with shredded cheddar and sour cream!

Our favorite sides are sauted green beans seasoned with soy sauce, pepper, and sesame oil/seeds as well as tortilla chips.

....unfortunately, there were no leftovers.  ;-)

---------------------------------------------------------------------

*Brown Rice - 1.5 cups liquid and 1/4 tsp salt per 1 cup rice.  I made 2 cups for an Asian dinner and froze the leftovers in a muffin tin, 1/2 cup rice per muffin cup.  Boy it was sticky to accomplish!  Once frozen, dip the bottom of the pan in warm water and pop out the rice "muffins" to put in a freezer bag/container.  Perfect for quickly heating in the morning as a bed for a couple of fried eggs!  Great whole grain carb and excellent protein to start your day!  And perhaps one of the BEST food ideas I gained from a wonderful trip to Hawaii with my Hubz last December.  :-)

Mexican Rice Casserole ... Instant Pot version!

Having recently moved out of the States, I had to purchase several new appliances to meet different electricity such 'n such.  So instead of choosing a regular crock pot, I opted for the increasingly popular Instant Pot.  I've toyed with it a few times and not had anything turn out "off-ish" nor has it been too hard to learn.  That's a good thing!  One thing is for sure.  I have NEVER had such tasty and easy brown rice in my life!*  Which led me to try one of our family favorites, Spanish Rice Casserole.  Which we now have to call Mexican Rice Casserole thanks to mine and Hubz's trip to Spain last year where we learned real Spanish rice involves sea food and junk...I mean...stuff.  Mexican rice is the kind with the tomatoes and chili powder and such.  Or Rice 'a Roni style, if boxed is your thing.  But why?  It's so easy and much better for you to do homemade!

Four out of five people in my family are not too keen on brown rice.  I love the stuff!  It's so much better for you and has such a nice body and bite compared to plain ol' long grain white rice.  Well, guess what.  Making our Mexican Rice Casserole with brown rice in the Instant Pot went off smashingly!  EVERYONE loved it...even though it was brown rice.  Hubz didn't even realize it until I told him.  Success!

I am blogging the "recipe" so I can have a place to return to it (read: Pin it).  Just in case you thought this blog was dead.  ;-)

Mexican Rice Casserole - IP Style
Dawn E.

1 1/2 cups brown rice
4 Tbs butter
1 lb. ground beef
15 oz chicken stock (canned or homemade)
1 1/4  cups tomato salsa of your choice
2 Tbs onion flakes
1/2 - 1 Tbs chili powder
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
1/2 - 1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 - 1/2 tsp pepper
Shredded cheddar & sour cream

Set Instant Pot to Saute mode.  Melt butter; add rice and saute until toasted.  Remove and set aside.

Add ground beef and saute until browned and crumbly.

Add chicken stock, salsa, and spices (adjusting to your preference).  Add rice back in and stir well.

Lock on Instant Pot lid, making sure valve is set to pressurize.  Cook on Manual - High Pressure for 22 minutes.  Use Natural Release for 20 minutes.  Remove lid and stir well.

Dish up and top with shredded cheddar and sour cream!

Our favorite sides are sauted green beans seasoned with soy sauce, pepper, and sesame oil/seeds as well as tortilla chips.

....unfortunately, there were no leftovers.  ;-)

---------------------------------------------------------------------

*Brown Rice - 1.5 cups liquid and 1/4 tsp salt per 1 cup rice.  I made 2 cups for an Asian dinner and froze the leftovers in a muffin tin, 1/2 cup rice per muffin cup.  Boy it was sticky to accomplish!  Once frozen, dip the bottom of the pan in warm water and pop out the rice "muffins" to put in a freezer bag/container.  Perfect for quickly heating in the morning as a bed for a couple of fried eggs!  Great whole grain carb and excellent protein to start your day!  And perhaps one of the BEST food ideas I gained from a wonderful trip to Hawaii with my Hubz last December.  :-)

Pinteresting Recipes & Reviews

So the last week or two I have endeavored to actually make some of the recipes I have pinned on my Pinterest food board.  I have made bread, dessert, and a couple main dishes that I'd like to share with you.

FYI: I have included the links to the original recipes because I believe it is important to help fellow bloggers with their traffic and credit should go to whom credit is due for recipes!

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

Though I have made quick breads before, this was the first yeast bread I have ever made.  It was quite tasty!  The reason I haven't made bread before is because I was afraid of failure.  And I saw success!  I was so nervous about making bread that I forgot to put the egg wash on until the last five minutes.  I realize now how silly I was to be afraid of making bread.  I encourage you to find something in the food world you've been hesitant to try, and go for it!

As for the recipe review... I was a teeny bit disappointed because the Pinterest user I found the recipe from said it was like the bread at Macaroni Grill.  I did think the flavor was better than Macaroni Grill, but it didn't have a hard crust on it.  Now, being a brand new bread maker, I don't know why the bread did not turn out crusty (perhaps from forgetting the egg whites)...and it certainly did NOT keep me from eating the bread.   :)  Also, I thought it needed more salt.  Perhaps sprinkling sea salt on top before baking would help.  I just put some salted butter on it which was really good.  I think you could dip it in olive oil with a little salt and pepper; and that would work, too.  I used fresh rosemary in the bread and dried rosemary on top.  I will make this again!

Beer Crockpot Chicken

The recipe will be found here.  Let me preface this review with a disclaimer (?) I started this early in the day, before I go volunteer at church for a few hours in the morning.  I don't know if I set my crock pot wrong or it malfunctioned or what happened but when I got home the crockpot was off.  I had no idea how long the chicken had already cooked but it didn't look cooked.  I needed dinner to be ready in a few hours so I re-set the crockpot for 4 hours on high.

So, I found this dry and tasteless.  I shredded two chicken breasts and mixed the meat with black beans and brown rice.  Then served it with tortillas, sour cream, cheese and taco sauce.  Once it was fixed up it tasted fine, good actually.  I saved the rest of the meat, in the freezer, to make chicken salad and maybe some sort of chicken casserole later.  I will try this recipe again because I don't know if the crock pot situation is what made it not taste as good as the reviews.

Main Dish #2: Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
You can find this yummy recipe here.  This was so delicious!!  For people who are low-carbing, this is a great meal.  This is easy as well.  One word of warning, though it is a simple recipe, it takes a while.  I thought it would be a thirty minutes or less meal (the danger of not reading through a recipe).  It actually says to cook the onions and mushrooms for about 25-30 minutes to get them caramelized then you cook the actual stuffed peppers for about 20 more minutes.  But, seriously, don't let the time keep you from making these.  They are delicious.  I will definitely be making these again.


Dessert!:  Apple Enchiladas
This recipe is so good!  Another easy recipe.  We had this as part of my dad's birthday dinner.  We had Dawn's Chicken Tortillas soup.  I'm not sure we have posted that here but if we haven't we need to do that :)  It was fun to have a main dish and a dessert with a spanish/mexican flair.  I served vanilla ice cream along side the enchiladas.  The sauce that you make so pour over the enchiladas before baking is so good, I have thought about making it just as an ice cream topper.  I will make this again, but I think next time I may try it with cherries, since that is my Honey's preferred cooked fruit.

Let us know if you try any of these and what you think of them.  Remember Pinterest is only a worth while thing if you actually USE/DO the ideas that you pin...otherwise it is simply a time waster.

Update: Why update you ask? Well I actually typed this a while ago and forgot to publish it :P  I have another one that I did the same thing with that I will post in a day or so :)

Mexican Hamburger Casserole

I tried this recipe the other night when we had the Arkansas 3 over for dinner.  They are coming over more often than they used to, and I'm enjoying spending more time with them.  When we took Belle to college, I thought my days of cooking for more than two were sort of over.  I'm glad they are not!  I try to experiment with kid-friendly foods when the grandchildren are here.  So earlier this week I thought I would try Dining on a Dime's Mexican Hamburger Casserole.  It sure sounded good to me and looked quick and easy to boot!  Here is the recipe (p. 187 ):

1/2 lb. ground beef, browned (I used 1 pound)
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of chicken soup (or use the cream soup base)
1/2 lb. Cheddar cheese (I used more than 1/2 lb.)
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 sm. can green chilies, diced (I used a large can...should have followed the recipe!)
1 (10 count) pkg. corn tortillas (do they even make little packages of corn tortillas?  I got a big one.)

Mix browned ground beef, chicken soup (or the prepared cream soup base...easy peasy, I promise), tomato sauce, and green chilies in a bowl.  Put a layer of tortillas on the bottom of a 9x13 pan, then layer of meat, a layer of tortillas and sprinkle with cheese on top.  Bake 300 degrees 30-45 minutes.  Serves 6-8

Notes: I just put the ground beef, chicken soup, and green chilies in the pan with the browned ground beef instead of dirtying bowl.  Also, maybe I read the recipe wrong but I did the layer of tortillas on the bottom then all of the meat sauce/mixture, then a layer of tortillas on top, then the cheese.  I served it with sour cream.

It was a really quick and easy meal to make.  My Honey and I really liked it.  I thought it tasted like an enchilada casserole.  The kids, on the other hand, didn't think much of it except the Youngest.  He thought it was "okay, not great."  The biggest problem seemed to be the corn tortillas.  I told them they were like tortilla chips, just not fried.  That didn't make any difference to them.  The Oldest really didn't like the green chilies either.  The one thing that ended up encouraging them to eat at least the meat portion was when they realized there would be no dessert without eating dinner.  ;)  It is not bribery -- they have a choice.  The Youngest ate his food lickety split.  The other two managed to eat what they had to so they could get some dessert.  I think this would be a good meal to take to a potluck.  I will make it again but will halve the recipe since My Honey and I would be eating too much if I made a whole portion...  Did I tell you we really liked it?

Dawn's Thought:  As their aunt, I don't blame my dear nephews and niece for the corn tortilla issue.  They are not like tortilla chips at ALL, Mother!  I never really liked corn tortillas anyway... but a week in Guatemala while 6 weeks pregnant made me ill for an entire YEAR whenever I passed the corn tortilla end cap in the grocery store.  ::shiver::  Never underestimate the power of smell!  :-P  And they just taste, well, yucky and grainy.  Ok.  Aunt-ish advocacy accomplished.  :-)

Mexican Brownies

From my kitchen to yours!  My church had an international foods night a while back during one of our missions emphasis weekends.  I wanted to take something easy.  Something Mexican -- since I like Mexican and my last name fits that bill.  :-)  After looking at several recipes for "Mexican Brownies," I came up with something super simple with great results!

About the cayenne...  While I love Mexican and Tex-Mex foods, I can't really do a lot of spice.  Love me some mild Pace.  And I can do medium, but that is my limit.  Medium is like, "Woo, this is tasty ::sniff:: and kinda fun!"  The only reason I have cayenne is in my spice drawer is for the taco seasoning.  I've never used it in anything else except the brownies.  The first time I made the brownies (for the missions event), I think I used 1/8 tsp.  And they had quite the kick!  Almost too much for me.  (Or maybe just right since it would keep me from eating most of them...).  The second time I made the Mexican Brownies, I used maybe 1/16 of a teaspoon.  Basically a few sprinkles that I thought wouldn't make any difference and would probably be pointless.  I don't know what cayenne is on an atomic level -- but those few sprinkles were amazing!  It gave the brownies a depth of flavor that said "Mexican spice" without being spicy.  You could just add the cinnamon.  It'd still be tasty.  But the cayenne really does take it up a notch and makes it something special!

1 box brownie mix plus ingredients needed to make them
1 Tbs cinnamon
1/16 - 1/4 tsp cayenne

Combine brownie mix with cinnamon and cayenne.  Add wet ingredients and follow package directions for mixing and baking!  Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Taco Seasoning

Dining on a Dime, p. 305

My favorite ethnic food?  Mexican.  Well, ok, Italian, too.  But I LOVE me some Mexican food.  So taco seasoning is a staple in my food world.  For years I've used the little packets, whether brand name or generic.  Then dear Nonie (my grandmother) gave me Dining on a Dime which contains a homemade taco seasoning recipe.  I tried it.  AND I WILL NEVER GO BACK!!!  Not only does it taste incredibly delicious -- full of flavor and void of fakeness -- but it is also free of anything a factory would add (msg, preservatives, etc.).  The recipe doesn't even call for salt, though you can add some to your taste if you'd like.  This taco seasoning produces meat that is NOT greasy-looking or that weird orange color.  You know what I'm talking about.  And the flavors develop over time, meaning the meat is even better the next day.  It's also very nice to not have to remember to put taco seasoning on my grocery list -- it's made of on-hand spices and in the long run is cheaper than ready-made taco seasoning.  Here's a great post to back me up on this.  :-)

6        tsp chili powder
4 1/2  tsp cumin
5        tsp paprika
1/4     tsp oregano
3        tsp onion powder
2 1/2  tsp garlic powder
1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container.  One teaspoon of homemade taco seasoning equals 2 teaspoons store-bought.  (If my own math is correct, 2 Tbs of this home-made taco seasoning would equal a store-bought packet.  But obviously you can add more or less to your dish -- that's the beauty of using a non-packet seasoning!)