Wild Rice Soup

I live in Georgia.

My best friend lives in California.

No, it wasn't always that way- we grew up together in Northern MN.


We have had a lot of Skype dates in our time. (Skype is an online video chat service) We have introduced our spouses and fur babies (they have three cats, we have our furry walrus) via our video chats. We have shared ups and downs, tears, laughter and pure silliness together, in real time even though we are 2,521 miles apart.

We have had many a dinner date this way as well. In recent history, Alan has been stuck on a cheesy wild rice soup. He insisted I make it and share a bowl with him one night via skype.

So, he sent me the recipe. I of course, had to make it my own.... It was scrumptious! I asked Jon's opinion, but he was too busy trying to get every last drop out of his bowl to give me a response. :)

I used a country brown rice blend from Whole Foods Market. It had brown rice, wild rice, a black rice of some sort, and a few other rices.

TANGENT ALERT:

If you have a whole foods market within um, anywhere of you. Go. Bring your cooler. Fill it up with all the amazing finds you are bound to acquire. I found Gluten Free waffles by Van's. (My oh my, the blueberry flavor- out of this world) gluten free panko bread crumbs, some fun gluten free flours by Bob's Red Mill, Tinkyada vegetable spiral pasta, Synders Gluten Free pretzels, quinoa, and some fun cheese samples from around the world.

A note about the waffles and the pretzels. These two products are made by companies who have perfected the wheat based versions. Snyders does pretzels right- all the time, and the gluten free version is no exception. Same goes for Van's. They make frozen waffles and french toast sticks they way they should be done. That care and dedication shines through with the gluten free version as well.

Tangent over. Back to the soup.

I made the soup. It was a hit, and the leftovers were divine. Shout out to my best friend for the great recipe idea!

I am so excited to tell you that in 14 1/2 days I get to share a meal with my best friend. In person. I look forward to our adventures!

Here's to you and your culinary adventures, friends. Cheers!

Cheesy Wild Rice Soup

1 cup wild rice blend or country brown rice blend*
1 cup water
1 cup chicken broth
season with garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and adobo seasoning to taste

1 tsp olive oil
2 chicken breasts, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 large carrots, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dry Italian herbs
1/2 cup milk
2-3 cups chicken broth
6 oz velvetta cheese
1/2 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese
2 TBS corn starch

Prepare the rice first. 

Simmer the rice blend in water, broth, and seasoning for 50 minutes, covered.

In a large pot, add the oil. Saute the chicken until no longer pink. Remove from pot. Add veggies. Saute until slightly softened. Return the chicken to the pot. Add cooked rice.

Add herbs, milk, broth, and cheese.  Bring to a simmer. 

Mix the corn starch with a little cold water to make a thin, running paste. Stir into the simmering soup. Allow to thicken to desired consistency. If the soup becomes too thick, simply add additional broth to thin.

*The rice blend I used called for 1 cup dry rice and two cups liquid. Follow your rice blend directions to fully cook the rice.

Creamy Chicken & Spinach Bake

Today we got some much needed rain at our house. It was one of the most beautiful sounds I've heard in a long time.

When I got home from work it was pouring rain and the house needed to be warmed up a bit with some good home cooking. Jon didn't have any ideas so I was left to my creative mind.

When we lived in MN one of my favorite go to meals was chicken and rice bake. It's one of those meals I can pull together quickly at the end of a long day. It's inexpensive and very adaptable.

Tonight I decided the recipe needed some veggies. On a whim I put some frozen, chopped spinach in the mix. We agreed that the addition was just the right thing for the recipe.


It was a cozy way to end a cool, rainy day.

Here's to you and your culinary adventures, friends. Cheers!


Creamy Chicken & Spinach Bake
Serves 4

10 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast- diced
1/2 large onion, diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup raw minute rice
1 cup water
1/3 cup sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup
5 oz chopped, frozen spinach
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/3-1/2 cup crushed corn tortilla chips
Jane's Crazy Mixed up Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large skillet, brown the chicken,garlic, and onion in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Once browned, remove from skillet. Add the sour cream, water, and mushroom soup. Stir to combine. Return chicken mixture to the soup. Stir in spinach, rice, Italian seasoning, Jane's Crazy Salt and pepper. (Taste for seasoning)

Pour into a prepared casserole dish or 8x8 baking dish.

Top with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes until bubbly. Sprinkle with crushed tortilla chips. Return to oven for 3-5 minutes.

Remove from oven, let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Pork Stir Fry

Jon loves stir fry. One of the very first meals he ever made for me was a beef stir fry. It consisted of beef, onions, bell peppers, bottled stir fry sauce, and rice.

Over the years we've tried dozens of variations. I've come to love the recipes that use rice noodles instead of traditional rice. I also prefer to make my own sauces, that way I know what's in them (good stuff) and what's not (MSG and other icky surprises)

This pork stir fry is excellent, and it makes a lot. I always make a full batch of stir fry because Jon really likes the leftover in his lunches.

It is super simple and cooks up quickly. Perfect for weeknight meal.

Here's to you and your culinary adventures, friends. Cheers!

Pork Stir Fry
Serves 4-6

5 oz maifun rice noodles, soaked in hot water to soften
10 oz ground pork
4 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
2 cups angel hair coleslaw
1 large carrot, shredded
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 TBS fresh grated ginger
1/4 cup chicken broth
3 TBS hoisin sauce
salt and pepper

Using a kitchen shears, cut noodles into bite size pieces. Set aside.

In a large wok, heat olive oil. Add onion, garlic, pork, salt and pepper. Stir fry until pork is no longer pink and onions are softened.

Add  1 1/2 cups  of the coleslaw, shredded carrot, and grated ginger to the pan. Stir fry 2 minutes until softened.

Stir in broth and hoisin sauce. Cook until bubbly (1-2 minutes).

Toss remaining 1/2 cup of slaw, rice noodles, and sesame oil with the meat and veggie mixture. Serve hot.

Pork Fried Rice!

Jon loves pork fried rice. He always has it when we go out to eat at a Chinese buffet. I have been searching for a recipe that tastes restaurant fried rice without all the calories and msg. After several years of trial and error, I finally found it!

Jon said it was the closest recipe we've tried. It was really good. I think the combination of bacon and pork really was what made it work. I used diced leftover honey-hoisin pork chop meat and Oscar Mayer real bacon pieces.

Here's to you and your culinary adventures, friends. Cheers!


Pork Fried Rice
Makes 4 main course servings

1-2 TBS oil
2 eggs or 1/2 cup egg beaters
4 TBS soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small red onion, diced
4 oz cooked pork, diced small
4 oz cooked bacon, crumbled
2 large carrots, shredded
2 cups cooked rice
2 TBS rice vinegar
black pepper to taste
2 thinly sliced scallions, greens only (optional)

Mix together 1TBS of soy sauce with the eggs and beat well. Heat 1TBS of oil in a large skillet or wok. Add egg to pan and soft scramble (Do not over cook the eggs. Pull them out of the pan still slightly under done).You will be adding this back to the pan later on. Set aside.

Add the diced pork and bacon to the pan. Fry until warm and crispy.Remove from pan.

Drain off all but about a tablespoon of fat. If you are using a lean mean you will not have any fat to drain off. Add remaining 1 TBS of oil if needed. Add garlic, carrot, onion, and rice and cook for 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are tender and rice is starting to brown.

Return the egg and meat to the pan along with the remaining soy sauce and the rice vinegar. Mix well. Let cook for 2-3 minutes more. Season with pepper to taste. Garnish with scallions.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day to all you love birds out there!

My husband and I usually like to celebrate UN-Valentines day aka Just Because Days. We feel like we should give each other reminders of our love and affection throughout the year instead of just one single day. So, once in a while we give each other a card or flowers or even a special dinner. Why? Just because.

It's a tradition I grew up with. My parents always had just because days. Dad would leave little notes for Mom on heart shaped doilies. Mom would request a song to be played on the radio for Dad. Sweet gestures to let the other know- hey, I love you more today than I did yesterday.

I call Jon my sweetheart, and he calls me his babe.

My parents (who may read this and be slightly embarrassed, but I am gonna tell you anyway!) called each other "my sweet baboo" I still don't know why. Perhaps my father could enlighten me???

I was very pleasantly surprised to find this on my kitchen table today when I got up-

A happy little sock monkey (he has a cute tail, you just can't see it in the picture), a card, and flowers. He knows I am not a rose girl, so he bought me this beautiful mix of spring flowers. It was just what I would have picked.

Ok, disclaimer-the card in this picture is actually the one I made for him. I got to use my fun new stamp that says "Olive Juice!" for the inside note. I was so excited :)

He bought me a very cute card that reads, "To my beautiful wife on Valentine's Day. Honey, I hope you know that all of your hard work has NOT gone unnoticed." Then you open the card and it says, "I've been watching you from the couch during commercials. LOVE YOU!" Then he hand wrote some squishy, sweet nothings to me.

*Sigh* Yep, he still knows how to make me swoon after all these years.

Before I headed to work I threw some chili in the crock pot for my sweetheart. It was a new recipe from the CLP.

Mixed reviews on this puppy. I thought it was pretty good. He said it was too much like gumbo for him. That's fair. It's definitely not what comes to mind when I say chili, but, it was still delicious. :)

Here's to you and your culinary adventures, friends. Cheers!

Slow Cooker Chili (Gumbo)
Serves 4 (easily could feed 5-6)
412 calories per

Chili ingredients:
1 1/4 cups bottled salsa
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup diced yellow bell pepper
1 TBS chili powder
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 12 oz package chicken or turkey sausage cut into 1/2 inch pieces*

Remaining ingredients:
2 cups hot cooked rice
1/4 cup baked tortilla chips
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro**
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream

In a slow cooker combine all the chili ingredients. Cook on low for 8 hours.

To serve- in each serving bowl place 1/2 cup rice, top with 1 1/4 cups chili, 1 TBS chips, 1 TBS cilantro, 1 TBS onion, and 1 TBS sour cream.

* I used a smoked turkey kielbasa.
** I used parsley due to a cilantro intolerance.

Broccoli and Rice casserole

First of all, thank you to SnoWhite for giving me yet another great recipe!

When I was planning out our menu for the week I needed something to go with my rice casserole. I went to her blog and found this recipe for Ranch Chicken Parmesan. It was amazing!

I didn't have boneless, skinless chicken breast so I used skinless, bone in chicken quarters. I baked them for about 45 minutes to account for the bone being in. Loved them :)

Tonight's other new recipe was part of the CLP. It was a definite hit.

I took some pictures, again, no judging my photography skills!

Seriously, everything was so good. And the casserole was the perfect side for the chicken. We served some quartered tomato wedges for a pop of color. Super tasty. Jon gave the meal a 9 out of 10.

Here's to you and your culinary adventures friend. Cheers!

Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Serves 4
186 calories per

1/2 cup medium grain white rice

1/4 cup raw onion, diced
1/8 cup skim milk
2 oz Velveeta cheese, diced
1 TBS best life margarine
1 (12 oz) bag frozen broccoli florets
1/2 can cream of chicken soup
salt and pepper to taste

Par boil the rice for 10 minutes, drain well. Cool slightly

In a large bowl combine all ingredients until well mixed.

Pour into a casserole dish that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake, uncovered in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Cool 3-5 minutes before dishing out.

**Once I plated up our supper, I stirred my rice a bit to better distribute the cheese. It gave a more creamy consistency**

Gone Fishin

I don't spend a lot of time in the kitchen during the summer, I prefer to be out gardening, fishing, swimming, and hiking. As a result we do a lot of quick grilled meals. But, the same old sides get boring really fast. Once in a while I like to mix it up and throw in a pasta or rice side. The problem is store bought sides are loaded with sodium. I want flavor, not salt.

I came up with this homemade version of rice a roni at Jon's request. And you know what? It turned out pretty good! We've had it a few times over the last couple of months so I am finally ready to share it with you.

Here's to you and your culinary adventures, friend. Cheers!


Mock Rice-a-roni
Serves 3
165 calories per

1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TBS chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup white rice
1/4 cup angel hair pasta, broken into small pieces
1 tsp dry Italian seasoning
1 bay leaf
2 TBS Parmesan cheese
1/8 cup chopped pecans

In a medium sized pot, saute onion, garlic, and pasta in olive oil until golden brown.

Add rice, Italian seasoning, bay leaf, water, and broth to the pot. Cover and bring to a simmer.
Simmer over medium heat for 15-20 minutes.

Remove pot from heat. Let sit, covered for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and pecans. Serve immediately.