Brown rice

This is a common side dish at my house. It goes with just about anything, I like it best with fish or chicken. It's nothing fancy, just an easy way I figured out to make rice a little more flavorful.

1 cup brown rice
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 tbsp butter (I use land o'lakes light salted sweet cream stick butter)

Add all to pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 40-50 minutes, til tender and water is absorbed.
You need to stir it every 10 minutes or so. I don't care what the package says, it normally says to not lift the lid and do not stir for the entire cooking time. Fuck that. Do you know how many damn pots I have burned up by following those directions?? Rice is the only thing I have ever burned. And I have done it more than once. But not since I started stirring the shit more often during the cooking process! Also, keep an eye on the water amount. If the water seems to be absorbing too quickly, add a little bit, about 1/4 cup or less. The water should not be gone at the 20-30 minute mark, for instance.

Restaurant Style Smashed Potatoes

We had these with steak a few nights ago, and it is my new favorite way to eat potatoes!!!

6 whole Large Red Potatoes
1 stick Butter, Softened And Cut Into Pieces (I used light butter)
5 slices Bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 whole Green Onions, Sliced
3/4 cups Sour Cream (I used reduced fat)
Salt To Taste (add Plenty!)
Freshly Ground Black Pepper To Taste (ditto!)
3/4 cups French Fried Onions, More For Topping ( I didn't use these, didn't think that sounded good. I shredded up some sharp cheddar instead to use as a topping!)

Instructions
Microwave potatoes or bake in the oven until fork-tender (don't forget to pierce them!). Add to a large bowl and smash with a potato masher, leave them chunky, you don't want smooth. Immediately add softened butter, green onions, bacon, and sour cream and stir with a rubber spatula. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add french fried onions and fold in (like I said, I left these out). Serve hot, sprinkling on extra french fried onions and green onions (I sprinkled on cheddar and more green onions instead).

Classic Herbed Bread Dressing

This is not the dressing I am making for Thanksgiving, but it is already in my recipe files on my computer, so I'm pasting it here. I'll try to get around to typing up my dressing recipe later, or in the next few days.

8 cups (3/4 inch cubed) french baguette (about 12 oz)
3 tbsp butter, divided
8 oz sliced cremini mushrooms (baby portabellas)
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced celery
1 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh sage
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp kosher salt (use less if using canned broth)
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups homemade turkey or chicken broth (or low fat, low sodium canned chicken broth)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 325. Place bread on baking sheet, bake for 25 minutes, stirring once. Place bread in large bowl; increase oven temp to 375. Melt 2 tbsp butter in large skillet over medium heat. Addmushrooms, onion, and celery; cover and cook 5 min. Uncover; cook 17 min. or til tender. Stir in herbs.Add mushroom mixture, salt, and pepper to bread. Bring broth to boil in small saucepan; boil 15 min. or til reduced to 1 1/2 cups. Cool to room temp. Combine broth and egg in medium bowl, stir with whisk.Add to bread mixture, tossing to coat. Spoon bread mixture into a 3 quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and bake at 375 for 15 min. Melt 1 tbsp butter. Uncover dressing; brush with butter. Bake uncovered, 25 min. or til top is lightly browned. Makes 12 servings, about 3/4 cup per serving.

Scalloped Potatoes

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 1/2 lb red potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 tsp salt, divided
1 tsp pepper, divided
1 cup shredded Gruyere, divided
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 425. Grease a 9 inch round baking dish. Arrange half of onion slices in a circular pattern in dish, overlapping slightly. Repeat with potato, then sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt and pepper,and 1/2 cup Gruyere. Drizzle with 2 tbsp butter. Repeat with remaining ingredients, finishing with a toplayer of potato slices. Bring milk to boil and carefully pour over potatoes. Bake til tender and golden,45-55 minutes.

Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

2 lbs frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
1/2 C margarine or butter, melted
1 can Cream Of Chicken Soup
1/2 C onion, chopped
2 C cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt

Combine soup, onion, melted butter, and seasonings, stir well. Stir in cheese and frozen hash browns. Place in 9×13 dish and bake at 350 for thirty minutes, or until bubbly. Very similar to Cracker Barrel's hashbrown casserole.

Apple Cheese Casserole

Sounds disgusting, right? But damn, it's good.

2 cups canned, sliced apples, drained (not apple pie filling, and not sweetened)
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
8 oz. grated velveeta
1/2 cup butter, melted (do not use margarine)

Put apples in bottom of 8x9 baking dish, or similar size. Mix together flour, sugar, cheese, and butter to make a "dough". Pat out on top apples and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. If doubling the recipe, use only 12 oz. velveeta instead of 16 oz.

Recipe tonight is for applesauce. Tonight's dinner will be shake 'n bake pork chops, homemade applesauce, can of green beans, and a box of Betty Crocker skillet hashbrowns. Applesauce is cooking right now and smells so good. I love how it makes the house smell like fall, even though it's like 86 outside. This is the doubled version of the recipe coz I like to make a bigger pot so we can have some leftovers. Here we go:

2 tbsp butter
6 apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped (I use 3 granny smith and 3 braeburn, a little tart and a little sweet)
1 cup water
6 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice (usually 1 1/2 to 2 lemons)
1/4 tsp salt

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add apples; cook about 6 minutes, stirring frequently. Add water, sugar, lemon juice, and salt; cover and cook 30 minutes or til apples are tender, stirring occasionally. Mash gently with back of a spoon. Perfect with pork!

WW Mushroom Couscous

This is part of dinner tonight. Along with a whole roasted chicken seasoned with Tuscan chicken seasoning and a sliced lemon stuffed inside, sliced carrots roasted along with the chicken, salad, and Hawaiian rolls. Another weight watchers (WW) recipe. Mmmmm.

Butter cooking spray
4 cups fresh sliced mushrooms (about 3/4 pound)
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp minced fresh thyme
1 cup fat free, reduced sodium beef broth
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2/3 cup uncooked couscous

Heat a 4-quart saucepan over med-hi heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add mushrooms and next 3 ingredients; coat veggies with cooking spray. Saute' 2-3 minutes or til tender. Stir in broth, salt, and pepper; bring to boil. Stir in couscous and remove from heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes; fluff with fork. Yield: 4 servings (serving size about 3/4 cup).

Low Fat Corn Casserole

You may know this as corn casserole or corn souffle. This is a lower fat version, may have been weight watchers but I can't remember, but tastes just like the full fat version. It's a favorite of the boys.

1/4 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup melted butter
1 can no salt cream corn
1 can no salt whole kernel corn
1 pkg. corn muffin mix
1 (8 oz.) carton plain FF yogurt

Preheat oven to 350. Combine in a medium bowl; stir well. Pour into an 8 inch square baking dish coated with nonstick spray. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or til set. 8 servings.