Minute® Rice + Chopsticks = Fun & Tasty Dinner for the Kids

 I am always looking for tasty, fun and easy dinner recipes.  I am a huge fan of stir fry but my kids (and husband) don't share my enthusiasm.  That is, until I decided to spice it up with chop sticks and Minute® Brown Rice.  The kids were then excited to even help me prepare dinner!

I forgot how easy making Minute® Rice is.  It literally takes just 10 minutes!  All you need is a saucepan, water, and the rice.  It was certainly easier than preparing the stir fry!

I started cooking the chicken in my trusty wok and heated up my saucepan of water to get the rice cooking. 

Once the water was boiling, I simply added and stirred in the rice.

If you like the nutty, rich flavor of brown rice, Minute® 100% Whole Grain Brown Rice is a delicious, healthy option, as it has to the same nutritional values as regular long cooking brown rice, but is ready in just 10 minutes, - just 1/4 the time of regular brown rice.

After the chicken was thoroughly cooked, I added my veggies.  While I do cut some fresh veggies like bell peppers, mushrooms, and broccoli, I have found a fabulous bag of frozen stir fry veggies at the supermarket. It doesn't get much easier than opening the bag and dropping it in the wok!

After adding all of the vegetables, I then put the lid on my wok and let it steam for a couple minutes.  I added my favorite stir fry sauce and Voila...yummy stir fry.

Now that my stir fry was ready, I fluffed the yummy brown rice and it was ready to serve.

By the way, both Minute® Brown and White Rice are gluten free, too!

Here's the finished product...in only about 25 minutes.  (Not bad for a balanced and healthy meal if you ask me!)

But the true test, were the kids as excited at dinner time as they were before dinner time???

That's a rice-in-the-mouth "yes!"

If you aren't a brown rice fan, you can have great-tasting, fluffy white rice in just 5 minutes with Minute® White Rice.

Minute® Rice is so quick and easy to prepare and is great pantry staple. When meal time seems like a hassle, Minute® Rice is a go-to ingredient your whole family will love and allows you to have more quality time doing what your want with your loved ones.

Leftover rotisserie chicken or veggies from a meal earlier in the week? Minute® Rice can easily be paired with some of your leftover ingredients to make a quick, easy and wholesome meal your whole family will love in just a matter of minutes.

Visit http://www.minuterice.com/ to create a great main meal or side dish for your next family get-together or potluck.

Posted by Leslie

{Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Minute® Rice.}

Double Duty Dinners = Easy, Breezy Weeknight Recipeasies!

Having two toddlers, I'm finding I have less and less time to cook except when they are asleep. I like to spend nap time cleaning up around the house and I'm usually exhausted by they time the go to bed. I always have big hopes for dinner when I make my grocery list and then when it comes time for dinner all my plans go out the window and we eat the same thing.

I decided this week to take a look at double duty dinners.  I searched my Recipes file on Pinterest and found two recipes that called for Balsamic Chicken. I thought we'd start with this recipe from Maggie's Bites for Balsamic Chicken and Asparagus and follow up the next night with Multiply Delicious' Balsamic Chicken, Spinach and Tomato Pasta Salad. After reading that the second recipe used Newman's Own Balsamic as the chicken marinade, I took the shortcut and put 6 skinny chicken breasts in that to marinade instead of making my own. I love that both of these recipes require just a few ingredients that I already have on hand.

We just finished the first meal and I loved it, and so did one of my girls. The other one only likes beans, avocados and strawberries, but that is a whole different post. I love that all the extras from meal 1 can be tossed right into menu 2. I went ahead and made the second meal tonight, while I was making a mess in the kitchen. My husband wasn't a fan of the tangy balsamic dressing on the pasta, but I thought it was a great dish to be served hot or cold. It would make a healthy and filling lunch on the go, too.

Meal 1
Balsamic Chicken and Asparagus

Meal 2

Balsamic Chicken, Spinach and Tomato Pasta Salad

Here are some other double duty recipes for cutting down your weeknight cooking.

I love this Honey Garlic Chipotle Flank Steak recipe from She Knows followed by steak fajitas the next night. I can't wait to try this next week.

The crock-pot BBQ chicken found at Stick a Fork in It could be turned into a variety of 2nd night meal options like salad, quesadillas, wraps, pizza or even calzones. This is sure to be a recipe that my husband will love.

Happy Cooking! I would love to know how other moms manage weeknight meals, so please feel free to share your weeknight cooking tips and recipes!

Posted by Liz

Make Dinner Easier...On You!

Making dinner is the last thing any of us wants to do when we come home. Thankfully, some women have decided to make it easier on us. You may have noticed that meal assembly stores are popping up in your area.
They provide the recipes, the fresh ingredients and you make it to your own preferences. It takes a couple of hours, but when you are done, you have meals for weeks. You simply put the pre-made meals in the freezer and pull them out the day before you are ready to pop it in the oven and serve.

Plus, you make a mess at their store, so there is no clean up at your own home! It is a fun activity you can do on your own or with friends. Maybe it is something you and your spouse can do together (that was my husband's idea!).

Dream Dinners is one of the chains that is popping up in this growing market. They have locations throughout the country, so hopefully you can find one close to your home. If not, go to a search engine and enter meal assembly stores. Dinners Divine is just down the street in my area and I can't wait to check it out! Happy cooking!