Friday, October 16, 2009

I Got Nothin'


Sorry, folks. I'm totally unprepared for this week. The kids and I have spent the last few days sick, so today totally snuck up on me. In fact, the only reason I remembered is that Taylor left me a message on Facebook. So, I guess I'll share with you one of our most frugal recipes. I found it here, but it originally came from the book The Tightwad Gazette. Here's how we've the recipe was originally written, and some variations that we've used to changed it up a bit:

Brown Rice and Lentil Casserole:

3 cups broth (chicken or veggie) or water
3/4 cup lentils
1/2 cup brown rice
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 cup grated cheese

Variations:

Italian - Substitute 1 can of diced tomatoes for 1 cup of broth, add chopped onions and garlic and Italian seasoning. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Greek - Substitute 1 can of diced tomatoes for 1 cup of broth, add chopped onions, garlic, broccoli and rosemary. Top with feta cheese.

Pizza - Substitute 1 can of tomato sauce for 1 cup of broth, add chopped pizza toppings (like pepperoni, ham, ,sausage, onion, green peppers, olives), Italian seasonings, and cheddar cheese.

Taco - Substitute 1 can of diced tomatoes for 1 cup of broth, add chopped onion, taco seasoning and ground beef (or leftover taco meat). Top with cheddar cheese.

Leftovers - Toss in any leftover meat and veggies. It always tastes good =)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300
2. Mix all ingredients (except cheese) into baking dish
3. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour 10 min
4. Remove foil, add cheese, and bake for 20 min more

The times I've tried making it in the oven, it always needed much more cooking time. I usually cook it in the crock-pot on low for 4 hour or high for 8, adding the cheese during the last 30 min or so.

This may sound like a strange meal, but trust me...it's good. The kids always enjoy eating it, even Kelsi! Well, as long as I chop the onions small enough ;)

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the recipe. Hope you feel better soon. :( My kids have all been sick, but thankfully, I have remained healthy.

J. Stuppy said...

Hey, I really like the sounds of that and the versatility is great! Thanks for sharing - and sorry you've been sick - don't share!