Thrifty Thursday: Serving rice with meals

0 Flares Filament.io 0 Flares ×

Rice is a budgeting mom’s best friend.  It can easily go from a side dish to a main component in a meal.   You can even change up the menu by using different varieties of white rice, wild rice, or brown rice.   Strangely enough, sometimes serving rice with meals can be a bit of a dilemma.  Finding the appropriate rice to water ratio is a fine-tuned skill.  Coming from an Asian home made a big impact on my cooking style.  We eat sticky rice quite regularly in our house.  If you’ve been cooking your rice in a pan, let me tell you the wonders of using a rice cooker.   With the right rice cooker, your rice is all steamy and fluffy—just perfect—with the touch of a button.  No worries about undercooking, burning, or how long to leave it on the burner.  Now you just need to find the right cooker!  I used to have a Japanese rice cooker but it was way too big and required a lot of storage space.  I opted for the smaller versions that you can get in the department store, but because we use them so often our rice cookers typically have a short life span.  Eventually they all start to give out, requiring two or more cycles to completely cook the rice.

Recently I was given an opportunity to try an Oster saute rice cooker.  The Oster cooker is larger than the other rice cookers I’ve used in the past few years, so I had to pay attention to how much rice and water I put in it.  Once started, the cooking cycle was extremely fast!  The rice cooker got very hot and I was afraid it would boil over.  If you use this appliance, I would suggest keeping it pushed back on your counter so that your little ones are in no danger of getting burned.  When the rice was finished cooking, I was thrilled to find that it was perfectly cooked!   The texture and moisture was just right.  Also, the bowl of the rice cooker was large enough that we were able to store the rice and stirfry leftovers in it; we just added the food to the leftover rice and put the whole pot in the fridge.  This model also has a saute feature which I haven’t used yet, but it would be perfect for the recipe that I posted below.  Overall, I really liked the Oster rice cooker and will be on the lookout for more appliances by Oster.

So, what meal will you make with your rice cooker?  Here’s one of my daughter’s favorite recipes.  And yes, she even eats the vegetables.   Enjoy!

Smoked Sausage with Veggies and Rice  (I apologize for guessing at the measurements, I don’t use a recipe)
1 pkg. beef smoked sausage, cut into bite-size pieces
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced

any other fresh veggies you want to use—we like corn, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, yellow squash, edamame…..whatever is in our garden.
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbs cornstarch mixed in water
steamed white rice

Cook the sausage and onions in a large skillet or stockpot.  Drain well.  Add the other vegetables and soy sauce; cover the pan.  Cook until the veggies are tender.  A few minutes before serving, add the cornstarch-water mixture and stir until the sauce is thickened.  Serve over the hot rice.

 

Check this out….




Comments

  1. Rice is a must in our home too! This cooker sounds great, I’d love to have one 🙂
    Thanks for sharing!
    Molly recently posted…Make a Summer Fun Banner for Kids with my Guest Hostess Danielle from Blissful and DomesticMy Profile

  2. Janelle Prentice says

    The recipe sounds yummy! My son and husband love smoke sausage. I don’t have a rice cooker yet myself, but perhaps I should look into getting one soon.
    Janelle Prentice recently posted…Small Concept Review and a Giveaway!My Profile

  3. Rachel Cotterill says

    I quite often think about getting a rice cooker – haven’t caved in yet, though!
    Rachel Cotterill recently posted…Friday Conversation 20/7My Profile

  4. Ashley Montgomery says

    Thanks for sharing. I love rice!

    Ashley @ Dr. Pepper Diva
    Ashley Montgomery recently posted…Thriftbooks ~ Spend Less, Read MoreMy Profile

  5. We are big on rice in our home, but we don’t have a rice cooker! This looks like a nice one, and I’m thinking we really should look into getting a rice cooker!
    Emilee recently posted…Computer Networks (infographic)My Profile

  6. Mara Briggs (Adventures of the Mommy Homemaker) says

    The Oster rice cooker with the saute option sounds awesome! Rice is always a must in our house too! Thank you for sharing your review and recipe!

  7. Rice is a very nice and healthy yet delicious serving to have on the table. I thank you for your insight.

  8. I like your recipe! Thanks for the inspiration. I must admit, rice is one of the few foods in our house that not only everyone enjoys but can’t get enough of!

  9. Very nice ideas, I eat rice everyday.

Speak Your Mind

*

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Flares Twitter 0 Facebook 0 StumbleUpon 0 Pin It Share 0 Google+ 0 Filament.io 0 Flares ×
badge