BBQ Pork Loin and Jasmine Rice~by Kelsey

My mother-in-law has made this for us a couple of times and we all loved it, so I had to try it out myself.  It is simple, makes good left overs, and is easy to transport for tailgating, etc.

Ingredients:
Pork Loin
Bottle of BBQ Sauce, your choice of brand, but we insist on Sweet Baby Ray's
Jasmine Rice (I had no idea that there was such a thing.  I used white rice the first time and it just didn't work.  Then I found out that there is actually JASMINE rice, so make sure you get that!)

Put the pork loin in the slow cooker and dump the bottle of bbq sauce over it.  Cook on low all day, or on high half the day.  When you are ready to eat, grab a couple forks and shred the pork in the slow cooker.  It should pretty much just fall apart as you stir it around.  Cook the rice according to the package directions and based on how many servings you need.  Spoon the pork and sauce over the rice and enjoy!  Trust me, you won't be sorry that you made this!

Crunchy Rice Casserole~by Kelsey

This comes from my Taste of Home Ground Beef Cookbook, it's a must-have cookbook that I use ALL the time.  The kids LOVED this casserole, which is rare, and it disappeared so fast that I didn't even get a picture.  I will take one next time I make it.

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups cooked long grain rice
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups corn flakes, coarsely crushed
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

In a skillet, cook beef, onion, and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink.  Add the ketchup, mustard and salt.  Mix well.  Transfer to a greased 2-qt baking dish.  Top with cooked rice.  In a bowl, combine the cheese, soup, milk, and Worcestershire sauce.  Pour over rice.  Combine cornflakes and butter, sprinkle over top.  Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 35 minutes or until heated through.

Cajun Rice Dish~by Kelsey

This recipe came from my super-fantastic Ground Beef Cookbook from Taste of Home.  Seriously, you need to have that cookbook and 50 lbs of ground beef from the Wasco Market.  This recipe calls for Cajun seasoning, which I could not find at Fred Meyer, so I made up my own mix of garlic, chili, cayenne, and onion powder.

Ingredients:
5 cups of beef broth
2 cups of uncooked long grain rice
1 pound of ground beef
1 medium onion
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper (I used orange)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

In a roasting pan, combine broth and rice.  Mix well.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink.  Add to rice with vegetables, salt, and Cajun seasoning.  Mix well.  Cover and bake for 30 minutes more, or until rice is tender.  ( I found it took almost an hour more for my rice to be tender.)

I put soy sauce on mine, Josh added Frank's hot sauce.

Salsa Chicken Rice Bake ~ by Sarah

I got this recipe from Mary Hunt--she has the Everyday Cheapskate column in the newspaper.  It was good--my kids loved it! **Note...this was WAY better the second day. Absolutely delicious! So much better that next time I might make it the night before and refrigerate it all day before baking it.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups uncooked white rice
2 2/3 cups water
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (10.75-ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups mild salsa

Directions:
Place rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, place chicken breast halves into a separate saucepan, and fill the pan with water. Bring to a boil, and then turn heat to low and cook covered for 20 minutes, or until done. Remove chicken from water. When cool enough to handle, cut meat into bite-size pieces.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses. In a separate bowl, mix together cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, onion, and salsa. Layer half of the rice, half of the chicken, half of the soup and salsa mixture, and half of the cheese mixture in the prepared dish. Repeat layers, ending with cheese. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until bubbly.

Pork Chop Rice Casserole ~ by Kelsey

Last week the Wasco Market had assorted pork chops for only 99 cents per pound.  We bought a few packages, so we had pork chops again last night.  I got this recipe from Mom.  I still prefer to cook them in the crock pot because they come out so tender, but this recipe is good for a little variety.

Ingredients:
pork chops
one package of dry onion soup
1 cup of uncooked rice, NOT quick-cooking rice
1 can of mushrooms

Brown the pork chops and season as desired.  Put the rice in a 9 X 13 pan.  It won't look like much rice, but it grows!  Sprinkle the onion soup on top of the rice.  Open the mushrooms, drain the juice into a measuring cup.  Spread the mushrooms on top of the rice.  Add enough water to the mushroom juice to make 2 1/2 cups of liquid.  Pour it on the rice.  Place the chops on the rice.  Cover with tin foil.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.