This is a sponsored post.

***Be sure to scroll down for the awesome giveaway!***

I was recently approached by The Motherhood for an opportunity to get together with a few local bloggers as part of the “Fabulous Summer of Flavor” challenge and cook a meal together using Lawry’s products. Unfortunately, as is the life of busy moms and bloggers, we were unable to find a date that worked for all of us. So, we did the next best thing and had ourselves a virtual potluck. That’s the beauty of social media and blogging; we can get together without actually getting together!

Our challenge was to collectively create a meal that fit the theme of “On the Go” and included the following Lawry’s products: Seasoned Salt, Balsamic Herb Marinade, and Seasoned Salt Marinade. Our Orlando team came up with an appetizer, main entree, and side dish that take about 40 minutes to prepare; not bad for a healthy, easy, and fast meal! Plus, the entree requires only THREE ingredients! After you check out these super simple recipes, be sure to scroll down for the chance to win some Lawry’s products, so that you too can create this quick and easy dinner!

Appetizer: Crostini with white bean spread, arugula and prosciutto

by Leigh of ThemeParkMom.com and me! (ModernMami™.com)
(Makes 20-30 appetizers, depending on size of your baguette)
Prep time: 10 minutes or less

INGREDIENTS
1 baguette, sliced into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 can cannelini beans (or other white bean, such as Great Northern)
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Baby arugula (about 1/2 cup)
Thinly-sliced prosciutto (about 1/4 pound)

1. Toast your bread slices on both sides. This can be done in an oven, or the Florida summer method, which doesn’t require heating up the oven: Heat a dry skillet over medium high heat. Add bread slices and toast for about 30 seconds per side. Watch closely so they don’t burn.
2.  Make the white bean spread. Drain the liquid from the can of beans. Add to a food processor and puree. Add olive oil, Lawry’s Seasoned Salt and pepper and process until well blended.
3. Assemble the crostini. Spread about 2 tsp. of the bean spread on each baguette. Top with 3-4 pieces of baby arugula and a small slice of the prosciutto.

Main Entree: Balsamic Pineapple Salmon

by Amanda of The Mamma Mia Blog and Angie of A Whole Lot of Nothing
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes, plus marinade time
Cook time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS
(4) 4 oz. salmon fillets
Lawry’s Balsamic Herb Marinade
2 cups pineapple chunks

1. Marinade salmon fillet with Lawry’s Balsamic Herb Marinade (no less than 30 minutes)
2. Place salmon in baking dish
3. Cover salmon with pineapples
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour or until salmon flakes
5. Remove from oven
6. Drizzle with Lawry’s Balsamic Herb Marinade

Side Dish: Sauteed Asparagus

by Jen of The Suburban Mom and Jessica of The Unemployed Mom
Prep & cook time: 7 minutes

INGREDIENTS
Olive Oil
Lemon
Asparagus
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
Grated Parmesan Cheese

1. Heat olive oil in saute pan (after cleaning asparagus).
2. Place asparagus in pan and then squeeze lemon juice on top.
3. Top with lemon zest and a few dashes of Lawry’s Seasoned Salt.
4. Turn the asparagus while cooking until desired tenderness.
5. Remove from pan then sprinkle fresh parmesan cheese, lemon zest and Lawry’s Seasoned Salt on top prior to serving.

ModernMami™.com Reader Giveaway

Enter for your chance to win a package of the following Lawry’s products: 16 oz Seasoned Salt, Balsamic Herb Marinade, Seasoned Salt Marinade.

How to Enter

Required entry: If you’d like to enter this contest, simply leave a comment below telling us how Lawry’s products can help you create an on-the-go meal.

Extra entries (optional):

Each of the following will count as 1 extra entry. You’ll need to leave a separate comment for each entry.

1. Follow @modernmami on twitter.
2. Tweet the following: Enter to win #lawrys products for your on-the-go meal from @modernmami! http://bit.ly/lawrysdinner #foodie #giveaway #contest #recipes
3. Receive post updates by subscribing to our RSS feed. You can do so either via email or through a RSS reader. Leave a comment saying you did so or are already a subscriber.
4. Subscribe on friendfeed and leave a comment with your friendfeed ID.
5. Like ModernMami™.com on Facebook.
6. Write a blog post on your own blog sharing the details of this contest. Be sure to include a link back to this post. Leave a comment with your post link.

All entries must be in by Monday, August 22, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST. You must be 18 or older and have a valid U.S. address to enter. Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be notified via email. (Please be sure to provide a valid email address with your entry.) Winner will have 48 hours to respond and claim prize, otherwise a new winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: I was compensated for participating in this challenge and working with Lawry’s and The Motherhood.

Photo credits: Amanda Keefer, Leigh Caldwell, and Jessica Kirby

Late last year, General Mills launched its first Spanish-language application for the iPad, providing more than 900 Latin-inspired recipes completely in Spanish. The app, Qué Rica Vida Recetario, is free and includes a variety of recipes, from appetizers to desserts. The Qué Rica Vida brand is General Mills’ Hispanic marketing platform, providing a Spanish-language web site and free magazine for consumers. You may remember I mentioned Qué Rica Vida last year after our introduction to the brand and highlighted them as a brand that gets it when it comes to marketing to Latinas and engaging Latina bloggers. Since their launch event in Miami, they have continued to support our digital Latina community and have been both personal sponsors to many bloggers, including myself, as well as conference and event sponsors; they sponsored both the Blogalicious 2010 conference and the ­¡Parranda! party I co-hosted during the conference.

The recipes provided in the app are all in Spanish, but you can find many of the same recipes in English on the Qué Rica Vida web site. What I like about the app is that you can search not just by category, but also by ingredient. The app also provides a conversion tool in case you need to figure out how to go from pounds to ounces or cups, etc. A fun aspect is that you can share each recipe via Facebook directly from the app, which is good for sharing with your friends and especially good for food bloggers to share with their communities. I’ve been playing around with the app for a few months now and wanted to share with you a few recipes that are quick and easy to make. This is important to me, because though I enjoy cooking, I don’t necessarily want to be in the kitchen for hours cooking just one meal. I grew up eating rice nearly every day, but I equally love pasta dishes. It helps that I find pasta dishes are just as easy and fast to cook as rice.

The following are a few pasta recipes from the Qué Rica Vida Recetario app that will give you a break from the traditional spaghetti meal. For the English versions, just click on each recipe’s name and choose to view it in English.

Espagueti con Pollo en Salsa de Chile Poblano (Spaghetti and Chicken in Poblano Sauce)

Ingredientes:

Modo de preparación:

Pasta Ramen con Carne y Verduras (Ramen Stir Fry)

Ingredientes:

Modo de preparación:

Fideos con Chipotle (Vermicelli with Chipotle Sauce)

Ingredientes:

Modo de preparación:

Do you have staple dishes that you often cook because they are quick to make?

Disclosure: Qué Rica Vida sponsored me to attend the Blogalicious 2010 conference.

All recipes courtesy of General Mills/Qué Rica Vida. © 2011 ®/™ General Mills

This is a sponsored post.

Growing up in Puerto Rico, I remember Easter being kind of a big deal. We went to mass dressed in our brand new Easter outfits and celebrated amongst family. Though we didn’t have any Easter-specific special dishes for our meal that day, we often did get together with extended family on Easter and shared a traditional Puerto Rican menu with foods such as pernil y arroz con gandules.

What I don’t remember are the traditions of the Easter bunny, receiving Easter baskets, or Easter egg hunts. I did not learn about any of those until we moved to Florida. That is when my parents began to do the Easter baskets for us, well really me, since my brothers were already too old for it.

Something else that changed after we moved to Florida is that we no longer had a big Easter meal with extended family. After going to mass in the morning, the rest of our Easter Sundays were spent much like any other Sunday. I asked my husband, and his family was much the same way. Of course, that means that we are now doing pretty much the same thing with our own family.

Sometimes I actually miss the fact that we got together with extended family and had a traditional Easter meal. I’ve been thinking more and more that we should start the tradition back up. So, perhaps next year, I will give it a try. Of course, keeping with our cultural traditions, the menu will include typical Puerto Rican and Trinidadian foods. Let me share with you what I envision will be served at our Easter meal.

• Pernil – Literally translated as roast pork shoulder, pernil is a staple of Puerto Rican cuisine and can be found on just about everyone’s dinner table for special meals, especially Christmas.
• Arroz con Gandules – This is a very traditional rice for Puerto Ricans. We eat it at most special occasions and family get-togethers. Here is a recipe for how to make arroz con gandules in a rice cooker.
• Potato Salad – I have never made potato salad, but it’s a dish I like quite a bit. It’s probably time I learn how to make it. I found a potato salad recipe on Walmart’s Easter Recipes page that looks simple enough.
• Macaroni Pie – Similar to macaroni and cheese, this is a dish from my husband’s native Trinidad that I’ve come to love. Plus, it’s very easy to make.

Hopefully next year we can celebrate Easter in a larger manner than we’ve been doing. This year, though, we’ll have another relaxed and laid-back day full of family time. No big meal is necessary when you’ve got that.

If you’re still planning your Easter meal, you can get more ideas for your Easter lunch or dinner on the Walmart site. They have a variety of recipes and some cute dessert options – like these flower cupcakes that I know my daughter would love to make with me.

Does your family have a big Easter meal? What do you traditionally serve?

Disclosure:  As a member of the Walmart Moms program, I was compensated for this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

This is a sponsored post.

When I think of tasty food, I immediately think of the Puerto Rican food I grew up eating. It equals comfort food for me. Of course, I eat other types of food as well, but the food from Puerto Rico that I know and love is first on my list. It’s also the food I know how to cook without needing a recipe. I have my mom to thank for teaching me; thanks mami!

A favorite meal of mine is carne guisada (or carne guisa as we Puerto Ricans sometimes say). It’s basically a beef stew, with different flavors than the American beef stew known to most. Puerto Rican carne guisada is normally served with white rice and is definitely a meal that hits home. The great thing about this meal is that it is inexpensive. Even when adding beans and plantains as I did, you still get a meal with a cost per serving of about $1.90!

Luckily, here in Orlando (as I’m sure is the case in other cities with a high population of Caribbean folks) I’m able to find all the ingredients I need at my local Walmart. This is convenient for me since I can do all of my grocery and household shopping in one stop, without the need for special stops at the local bodega, as my mom used to do when we first moved here.

I’m going to share with you the recipe for each item in the meal I cooked: carne guisada, white rice, red beans, amarillos/platanos maduros (fried ripe plantains), and tostones (fried green plantains). Both the carne guisada and the red beans use sofrito as a base. To see pictures and links for the basic ingredients used in Puerto Rican sofrito, click on over and read 5 Must-Have Ingredients for Cooking Puerto Rican Food. As with previous recipes I’ve posted, I apologize for the lack in detail with the ingredients and the steps, but it is true to how I and everyone in my family cooks. We do not measure and just go along pouring items into the pot.

Puerto Rican Carne Guisada/Guisa (Beef Stew)

Ingredients:

• Beef stew meat
• Adobo
• Meat Tenderizer
• Cooking Oil
• Sazón
• Tomato Sauce
• Tomato Paste
• Sofrito or Recaito
• Olives (use the Spanish salad olives with pimientos)
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced or cubed

Steps:

1. Clean the stew meat and cut, if necessary, into smaller chunks. Add the meat to a large pot along with enough water to completely cover the meat. Season the mix with adobo and meat tenderizer. Cook uncovered on low-medium heat for about 40 minutes or until the meat is tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Add a serving-spoon’s worth of cooking oil. Not a tablespoon, but the bigger spoon one uses to stir a pot.
3. Add 1 packet of sazón.
4. Add 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce.
5. Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.
6. Add 1 tablespoon of sofrito or recaito.
7. Add 5-6 olives with a teaspoon of the vinegar from the olives.
8. Add potatoes and carrots.
9. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 20-25 minutes until the potatoes and carrots are tender. Stir occasionally.
10. Raise heat to medium-high for about 10 minutes to let the sauce thicken a bit, again stirring occasionally.

Arroz Blanco (White Rice) in a Rice Cooker

Ingredients:

• Rice (about 1 handful per person) – Note that this is plain, non-instant white rice.
• Cooking Oil
• Salt

Steps:

1. Put rice into your rice cooker’s pot and clean the rice. If you’re not familiar with how to clean rice, it just means that you run it under water a couple of times and pick out the dark grains, pebbles, etc. To do this:
   • Fill pot with water and press rice with your hands.
   • Pick out anything that’s not a rice grain.
   • Pour out water, being careful not to lose any of the rice.
   • Repeat a few times until water pours out clear.
2. Add water to the pot until the water sits just above the rice. (I’ve heard that normally it is a 2-1 ratio: for every cup of rice, you add 2 cups of water. I’ve never cooked it this way, as I don’t measure when I cook.)
3. Add a serving-spoon’s worth of cooking oil. Not a tablespoon, but the bigger spoon one uses to stir a pot.
4. Season with salt.
5. Stir.
6. Taste the water. If you feel it needs more seasoning, you can add a little more salt to your liking.
7. Cover and set the rice cooker to cook.

There will be no need to stir the rice while it cooks, though you certainly can do so once about mid-way through. Your arroz should be done in about 30 minutes or so. You will know it’s done when you taste the rice and it’s neither mushy nor tough.

Habichuelas Rojas (Stewed Red Beans)

Ingredients:

• 1 can of red kidney beans
• Cooking Oil
• Sazón
• Tomato Sauce
• Tomato Paste
• Sofrito or Recaito
• Olives (use the Spanish salad olives with pimientos)

Steps:

1. Drain and rinse beans from the can and pour into a medium saucepan.
2. Using the same bean can, fill to top and add to saucepan.
3. Add ½ a serving-spoon’s worth of cooking oil. Not a tablespoon, but the bigger spoon one uses to stir a pot.
4. Add 1 packet of sazón.
5. Add 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce.
6. Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.
7. Add 1 tablespoon of sofrito or recaito.
8. Add 5-6 olives with a teaspoon of the vinegar from the olives.
9. Cover and bring to a boil.
10. Once boiling, reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
11. Sauce should thicken a bit while cooking.

Amarillos/Platanos Maduros (Fried Ripe Plantains)

You can make amarillos, or maduros as other cultures call them, one of two ways. You can buy ripe plantains, peel, cut, and fry them yourself. Or, you can take a shortcut by buying them already peeled and cut in the frozen section. I’ve done both and normally prefer to buy fresh plantains, but opted for the shortcut version this time around. It really is as simple as opening the packet and either deep or pan-frying them in vegetable oil. A modern twist is to bake them in the oven, if you wish.

Tostones (Fried Green Plantains)

Similar to the amarillos, you can either make tostones from fresh green plantains or buy them frozen. I used to make tostones fresh, but with the busy lifestyle we lead, buying them frozen saves a lot of time.

To make them fresh:

• Peel the green plantain.
• Cut into thick slices.
• Soak the slices in salted water.
• Fry the slices until half-done. Deep frying works great, but you can also pan-fry them.
• Remove from oil and press into a flat circle. You can use a tostonera if you have one, or you can use the bottom of a bowl.
• Re-fry the tostones until golden brown.
• Remove from oil and place on paper towels to absorb the oil. Sprinkle salt on top for seasoning.

To cook frozen tostones:

• Open the packet and either deep-fry or pan-fry in vegetable oil.
• Remove from oil and place on paper towels to absorb the oil. Sprinkle salt on top for seasoning.

If you try this meal with your family, I would love to hear how you/they liked it! What are some favorite meals in your home?

Disclosure:  As a member of the Walmart Moms program, I was compensated for this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

Eggs are a great way to get dinner on the table quickly. They’re fast to cook, inexpensive, and a good way to feed a hungry bunch.

Tortilla Española is the Spanish version of an egg and potato omelette. Despite its name, the only similarity to corn and flour tortillas is its circular shape. Tortilla Española can be eaten as a dinner, or smaller pieces can be served as “tapas” (snacks).

Francisca y Antonio, circa 1920s

My grandmother Francisca from Spain cooked this dish often. My mother remembers:

My mom used a chunk of ‘unto’ with a fork stuck in to grease the pan . There were 7 to feed and not mucho dinero, but we always ate till we were full–no one ever went hungry. My mother must have been a good money manager.  I remember grandpa making $25 a week forever!

My mom, one of the hungry 7, learned how to cook this and passed the recipe down to me.  This recipe is relatively fast but you’ll need some cooking time for the potatoes.  Some modern tips to speed things up: chop the onions and potatoes the night before, and keep the potatoes submerged in cold water in the fridge, then drain before cooking.  You can also cook the entire tortilla ahead of time and it will heat up nicely in the microwave.

Tortilla Española is typically thick – I prefer to keep mine thin so I use a larger pan.  You can control the thickness by the size of the pan – the smaller the pan, the thicker it will be.

Francisca’s Tortilla Española Recipe (Spanish Egg and Potato Omelette)

Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, thinly chopped
• 3 potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced, and halved
• 4 to 6 eggs
• Sea salt to taste

Directions

• Use a good pan that won’t stick
• You’ll need a plate that is bigger than the pan to do the “flipping”
• Heat  olive oil
• Add 1 large onion chopped. Cook on medium/high until translucent.
• Add sliced/halved potatoes
• Cook potatoes until tender but not falling apart
• Beat 4-6 eggs and add sea salt
• Pour eggs over cooked potatoes
• Cover and cook slowly for 5-10 minutes until set
• Flip over with spatula OR use the better method —> Cover pan completely with a large plate. Turn pan upside down so eggs are on plate. Slide eggs back into pan. Try to not break the omelette
• Brown other side

Does your family have any recipes that have been passed down from one generation to another?

All photos courtesy of Micaela Vega.

When Melanie invited me to participate in this Rice Krispies challenge I got very excited and I immediately started to brainstorm what would I create?? The challenge was to create a Holiday Show-Stopper. Just the name sounds pretty ambitious!

I haven’t made Rice Krispies treats before this, so I was nervous just of the fact that I didn’t know how to make them! But I soon found out that they are so easy to make. That helped. The basic recipe lends itself for many variations and additions, that’s why these challenges are here; with creativity and Rice Krispies there are a million options!!

I think I took it as a design project (I’m a graphic designer), I got really excited with all my ideas and kept thinking of more but there was a point that I had to stop and decide. Once I decided, I wrote my list of supplies and went shopping. It’s been a long time since I do anything this crafty, so I was so happy to go and start it. Then, during the assembly, my favorite part was deciding which icing color each set of balls gets and which sprinkles. Also, matching the colors to each tree, arranging the decorations plus taking the pictures, I think I loved every step! This is something that took me out of my usual computer design work and made me use my creativity in a different way, I love it! Click on the Rice Krispies badge and it will take you to a page were there is a link to all the other posts with the challenge, it’s really fun to see them all!

In my mind there are so many variations of this, you can make 1 tree only, you can paint the trees and balls in other colors (Even if they aren’t Christmas colors, it will look Holiday because of the cones and arrangement plus kids would love some rainbow color sprinkles, for example!), you can make other shapes as ornaments (candy canes, bells, stars, etc), you can add sparkle to make it shiny, add flowers and so on… I could keep going and going here!

I did get my 4 year old, Adrian, to help me with it and we had lots of fun. He helped me get the mix together, make the balls, paint the trees and when he ate them he said: it’s like a lollipop!! But I have to confess there were many moments that I wanted the project all to myself and the designer instinct kicked in more than the mami instinct; I had to balance it!

Without further ado, here is the recipe so you can make this Show-Stopper too if you wish:

Holiday Rice Krispies Trees

Ingredients for the ball ornaments:

• 9 tbsp of butter
• 3 regular bags (10 oz) of marshmallows
• 18 cups of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies (About 2 boxes)
• Bag of 100 Lollipop sticks (cut in 3 pieces each)

Directions for the ornaments:

1. In a saucepan melt the 3 tbsp of butter over low heat.
2. Once its melted add 1 bag of marshmallows and stir until completely melted.
3. Remove from heat and add 6 cups of Rice Krispies, stir until its all mixed. Let it cool for a couple of minutes.
4. Butter a baking sheet and butter your hands, start making the balls and place them on the tray. Try to make them no bigger than 3/4″ and the smallest you can will be probably about 1/2″. The different sizes will work well on the the different cone sizes.
5. Attach a stick to each ball.
6. Repeat step 1 to 5 for 2 times more. So in total you will make 3 ornament batches. The mix has to be molded warm so that’s why you have to work in separate batches.

Ingredients for the decorations:

• 2 tubes of white decorating incing (4.25 oz each)
• 1 tube of red decorating incing (4.25 oz)
• 1 tube of green decorating incing (4.25 oz)
• Assorted Sprinkles and icing to decorate
• 3 Styrofoam cones in different sizes (The biggest one is about 13″ tall)

Directions for assembly and decorations:

1. With a brush, paint the cones with the icing (If it is too thick add a hint of water) in 3 different colors, one white, one red and one green. Let it dry.
2. Meanwhile place each icing color on a little container (Again, if it’s too thick add 1 or 2 tsp of water) and dip the balls 3/4 of the way in the icing.
3. Top each ball with your favorite holiday sprinkle combination. Let them dry. You can use a Styrofoam base to stick them to dry and maybe place them in the fridge or let them dry overnight.
4. After they are all very dry, stick them to each tree in an imaginary ribbon of balls from top to bottom until you fill all the tree. You will need about 55 balls for each tree!
5. Have fun arranging the trees in a circular base with real or imitation pine!

Thanks so much Melanie and ModernMami readers for having me here and now there is a great giveaway for you readers!

Reader Giveaway

One of you will win a $100 Visa Gift card!

How to Enter

Required entry: If you’d like to enter this contest, simply leave a comment below letting me know if you have made other Rice Krispies treats recipes and which one is your favorite.

The rules of this giveaway only allow 1 entry per person, so just by leaving a comment answering the question above you’ll be entered.

All entries must be in by Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be notified via email. (Please be sure to provide a valid email address with your entry.) Winner will have 48 hours to respond and claim prize, otherwise a new winner will be chosen.

Abbreviated Rules: No Purchase Necessary. Open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older at time of entry. Subject to complete Official Rules. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: TheMotherhood.com

Disclosure: As a Rice Krispies Brand Ambassador for TheMotherhood.com, I was compensated for participating in this challenge.

I am very fond of rice. Fond doesn’t even cover it. I’m actually quite in love with rice. You ask me what the ultimate comfort food is and I’ll quickly tell you rice and beans. I grew up eating rice on a daily basis, practically. There were days my mami made vegetables (of the root kind) instead of rice. Or days she made spaghetti (though, even then she served it with white rice on the side, but that’s another story). But, overall, most days out of my childhood were spent eating rice for dinner. I’m sure if you ask most Puerto Ricans, they too will tell you that they have a special place in their hearts for arroz y habichuelas.

Rice can be served in so many different ways. You can have white rice alone, white rice with a variety of beans (served on top of the rice, not on the side), and yellow rice. Yellow rice is when you really get a variety since you can add just about anything into yellow rice: beans, vegetables, meat, etc. But, perhaps the most well-known Puerto Rican rice is arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas). Traditionally served for Noche Buena, arroz con gandules is also a big hit for a family get-together or just for your everyday weeknight dinner. (Side note: In Trinidad, where my husband is from, they call it Rice and Peas. I’m lucky he loves it as much as I do.)

Being a busy working mom with not as much time to dedicate to cooking, I’m known for cooking Puerto Rican food in non-traditional ways and using shortcuts. See my post on planning a weekly dinner menu – using shortcuts. My number one favorite appliance in my house is my rice cooker. I must kiss the person who invented a rice cooker. It cooks my Puerto Rican rice just the same as my mom’s iron pot – well almost the same – unfortunately, it doesn’t make any pegao. But, otherwise, it tastes the same and requires a lot less maintenance to cook.

Photo by yasmapaz & ace_heart

How to Make Puerto Rican Arroz con Gandules in a Rice Cooker (Rice with Pigeon Peas)

Ingredients:

• Rice (about 1 handful per person) – Note that this is plain, non-instant white rice.
• Cooking Oil
• Sazón
• Tomato Sauce
• Tomato Paste
• Sofrito or Recaito
• Olives (use the Spanish salad olives with pimientos)
• 1 can of Gandules (Pigeon Peas)*

To see pictures and links for these ingredients, see 5 Must-Have Ingredients for Cooking Puerto Rican Food

Steps:

1. Put rice into your rice cooker’s pot and clean the rice. If you’re not familiar with how to clean rice, it just means that you run it under water a couple of times and pick out the dark grains, pebbles, etc. To do this:
   • Fill pot with water and press rice with your hands.
   • Pick out anything that’s not a rice grain.
   • Pour out water, being careful not to lose any of the rice.
   • Repeat a few times until water pours out clear.
2. Add water to the pot until the water sits just above the rice. (I’ve heard that normally it is a 2-1 ratio: for every cup of rice, you add 2 cups of water. I’ve never cooked it this way, as I don’t measure when I cook.)
3. Add a serving-spoon’s worth of cooking oil. Not a tablespoon, but the bigger spoon one uses to stir a pot.
4. Add 1 packet of sazón.
5. Add 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce.
6. Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.
7. Add 1 tablespoon of sofrito or recaito.
8. Add 5-6 olives with a teaspoon of the vinegar from the olives.
9. Add 1 can of washed and drained gandules.
10. Stir.
11. Taste the water. If you feel it needs more seasoning, you can add a little of either salt or Adobo to your liking.
12. Cover and set the rice cooker to cook.

There will be no need to stir the rice while it cooks, though you certainly can do so once about mid-way through. Your arroz should be done in about 30 minutes or so. You will know it’s done when you taste the rice and it’s neither mushy nor tough.

*The beauty of this recipe? You can swap out that can of gandules and make many other varieties of yellow rice.

• Rice with corn (arroz con maíz): Use 1 can of drained corn instead.
• Rice with beans (arroz con habichuelas): Use 1 can of washed and drained beans – any color.
• Rice with vegetables (arroz con vegetales): Use 1 can of drained mixed vegetables.
• Rice with chicken (arroz con pollo): Add cubed, cooked, grilled chicken. (Traditional arroz con pollo would use chicken on a bone and would cook the chicken first in the same pot before adding the rice and other ingredients. But, this will give you a decent version.)

I hope you enjoy this simple and easy recipe for traditional Puerto Rican rice using a rice cooker. I have found it to be much easier than cooking it in a regular pot and it tastes just the same. It allows for me to do other things (i.e., play with my daughter after work/school) without worrying about getting up every few minutes to stir and watch the rice.

Do you have a favorite shortcut for cooking rice? If you try this recipe, please come back and let us know how you liked it!

This post is part of a paid campaign.

I don’t know about you, but cereal has been around a really long time in my family. I grew up eating cereal, for breakfast and as a snack. From the stories he tells me, it seems my husband ate a ton more cereal than I did growing up. So, naturally, cereal continues to be a staple in our pantry now that we have our own family. Though you might think that we only buy kid cereals, the truth is that we buy a variety – from those with fun characters on the box, to the traditionally “grown-up” cereals. Our baby girl will eat from both types too.

This past Thursday, I hosted a Kellogg’s Mom’s Breakfast Club Love Your Cereal breakfast with a few of my friends and family. Mine was 1 of 18 breakfasts hosted across the nation that provided an online and offline discussion with moms about the benefits of cereal.

My friends enjoyed a variety of Kellogg’s cereals, Kellogg’s Granola Parfaits, and homemade Kellogg’s Breakfast pie – which everyone loved. (Recipes for both shared below.) We also had a conference call with a Kellogg company representative and discussed cereal and morning routines. Everyone enjoyed the information provided and appreciated being able to ask questions from Kellogg’s directly. Some of the topics we talked about amongst the group included challenges and tips for the morning routine. Here’s what they had to say:

What are some challenges you face regarding morning/breakfast routine and your kids?

• Those with young kids (toddler/preschool age) all agreed that getting them to eat anything was a huge challenge.
• Picky eaters of all varieties (some don’t eat meat, others no bread) caused for creative ideas to be shared amongst the group for trying new breakfast foods.

What tips do you have for making the morning routine a little easier?

• One mom of three shared that she just makes sure to have all of her kid’s preferred cereals on-hand, so that they each know their choices and can help in serving themselves breakfast.
• A lot of the moms agreed that preparing the bags, clothes, etc. the night before is a big help.

As I mentioned, the group also had a chance to ask questions of the Kellogg’s representative. Most of the questions revolved around sugar content:

Which cereals do not have high fructose corn syrup?

• The representative from Kellogg’s believed that Rice Krispies and the Kashi line do not have high fructose corn syrup, but a definitive list is to be provided for my guests.

Which cereals are the lowest in sugar content?

• Apple Jacks and Froot Loops were mentioned as being on the lower-end of the scale, again with a more definitive list to be provided.

Some other fun facts we learned:

• Everyone was surprised that the sugar consumed from kids’ cereals only accounts for 5% of their daily sugar intake.
• 90% of moms surveyed by Kellogg’s said their kids eat cereal for breakfast.

*For more information on cereals and other facts, check out the Love Your Cereal site.

It was great to take some time in the morning to connect with other moms, introduce them to one another and be able to relate on something we all deal with. What are some of your biggest morning/breakfast challenges?

Breakfast Recipes

Kellogg’s Granola Parfait

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 2

Ingredients
1 container (8 oz.) low-fat vanilla flavored yogurt
1/2 cup fresh fruit (sliced strawberries, sliced banana, blueberries or raspberries)
1 cup Kellogg’s® Special K® Low Fat Granola

Directions

1. In 2 tall glasses, layer yogurt, fruit and Kellogg’s® Special K® Low Fat Granola until glass is full.
2. Top with extra fruit.
3. Serve immediately.

Kellogg’s Breakfast Pie

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients
8 slices bacon cooked and crumbled reserving 1 tablespoon drippings
1/2 cup Kellogg’s® Corn Flake Crumbs
5 eggs
2 1/2 cups frozen hashbrown potatoes
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (I actually used Mozarella cheese.)
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/3 cup milk
1 green onion chopped
1 teaspoon pepper
4 drops liquid pepper sauce

Directions

1. Mix Kellogg’s® Corn Flake Crumbs with drippings. Set aside.
2. In medium-size bowl beat eggs until foamy. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into greased 9-inch pie pan. Sprinkle with crumbs mixture and bacon. Cover. Refrigerate overnight.
3. Remove pan from refrigerator. Uncover and bake at 350° F about 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Disclosure: For hosting a Kellogg’s Mom’s Breakfast Club breakfast and working with TheMotherhood.com and Kellogg on this campaign, I was compensated for my time.

Photo by Penny (pengrin™)

Earlier this year, I wrote about how my family is comprised of meat lovers. In that post, I shared a story from when my husband and I were newlyweds and I made the mistake of serving him dinner with no meat. The recipe I included in that post was for Bistec Encebollado (Puerto Rican Cubed Steak), which has been a popular recipe, but I felt it got a little lost in the post due to the giveaway I held at that time. So, I decided to share the recipe with you again.

As I shared before, we often ate beef growing up in a Puerto Rican house. From carne molida to bistec encebollado to barbecuing steaks at parties, many meals I grew up eating – and some of my favorites – involve beef. One of my all time favorites is bistec encebollado.

Image from CSU Meat Sciences

The key to making bistec encebollado is that you have to use cubed steak. If you can’t find it pre-packaged, just ask the butcher to run a piece of beef through the machine and it’ll come out cubed for you. Then, you really only need some onions and the basic ingredients for making sofrito – a staple when cooking Puerto Rican food.

Image from Puerto Rican Recipes Online

Bistec Encebollado Recipe {Puerto Rican Cubed Steak with Onions}

Ingredients

• Cubed Steak
• Onions
• Cooking Oil
• Adobo
• Meat Tenderizer
• Black Pepper

Cooking the Steak

1. Season el bistec with adobo, black pepper, and meat tenderizer.
2. Cut your onions into nice ring slices.
3. Using a large covered pan, heat a bit of cooking oil.
4. Put your steaks in and drizzle a little water under to help create steam.
5. Cover the pan and cook on low-medium heat.
6. When the steak is tender and nearly done, add your onions on top of the steaks.
7. The steak will cook slowly on low heat and the onions will wilt creating a perfect combination of steak and onions.
8. I highly suggest you serve over white rice and red beans with a side of tostones. Heaven!

I apologize for the lack in detail with the ingredients and the steps, but it is true to how I and everyone in my family cooks. We do not measure and just go along pouring items into the pot.

Have you ever had bistec encebollado before? If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear how it turns out!

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When I was little, my mami taught me how to cook as soon as I could reach the back-burner of the stove. I helped make rice, beans, soup, and any other dish she thought I could handle. As I got older and into my tween/teenage years, I no longer helped her cook, but instead would often cook half of the meal when I got home from school by myself.

My daughter has shown an interest in helping to cook since she was about 2 years old. At first, we’d let her “stir” things or have her play with a bowl and spoon as either one of us did the real cooking. But, now that she’s 4 and becoming (a little) more coordinated and can reach better, she actually helps quite a bit. She still stirs, but she can also put ingredients together, layer, and “cut” with some help. She loves to help and I love to see her be so proud of helping the family. Plus, I love that she has an interest in cooking. It makes for some fun times in the kitchen.

Of course, one of the very first things she “cooked” was Rice Krispies Treats with her dad. How easy is it for her to throw the marshmallows into the pot and help stir? So, when I was contacted by The Motherhood about participating in the Rice Krispies Summer Recipe Challenge, I happily accepted knowing it would give my baby girl and I a chance to have some fun creating a Rice Krispies recipe.

The challenge included working with 9 other bloggers and figuring out the clues we each received in a mystery box. After putting the clues together, we realized our challenge was Fourth of July’s “cooler” when kids help create Rice Krispies Treats recipes. This meant that our recipes needed to include a “cooler” (i.e., frozen or cold) ingredient. Here’s what we made.

Cheesecake Rice Krispies Treats Squares

Instead of using a traditional honey graham crust for your cheesecake, I used the Rice Krispies Treats as the “crust.” Here’s what you’ll need.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 package (10 oz.) regular marshmallows
• 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
• 1 box No-Bake Cheesecake dessert (minus crust)

To make the rice krispies treats, melt the butter and add the marshmallows. Once the marshmallows are fully melted, remove from heat and add in the cereal. Stir to coat well and press into a 9 in. pie pan to make the “crust.” This is the really tricky part, since it can be quite messy and the rice krispies treats are a little sticky to work with. But, after much laughter and work, my baby girl and I were able to get it pressed into the bottom of the pan to make our “crust.”

While the rice krispies treats cool and settle, prepare the cheesecake according to the box instructions. Remember you won’t need the crust included in the box, just the filling. Pour the filling into your pie pan over the rice krispies treats and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Once you take it out of the fridge, cut into square pieces, serve and enjoy!

Oreo Rice Krispies Treats Squares

This is a variation of the above recipe, using Oreo No-Bake dessert, for the chocolate lovers out there.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 package (10 oz.) regular marshmallows
• 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
• 1 box Oreo No-Bake dessert (minus crust)

Prepare this dish, the same way as the cheesecake squares, except that you’ll use a 8 in. square pan instead of a pie pan (though you really could use a pie pan, if you wanted to). Again, remember you won’t need the crust that comes with the box, since your rice krispies treats will be the “crust.”

If you want to see what the other bloggers participating in this challenge created, visit their blogs for some yummy recipes:

• Mommy Mandy: http://www.mommymandy.com
• Naptime Chef: http://www.thenaptimechef.com/
• Mom’s Favorite Stuff: http://www.momsfavoritestuff.com
• The Plus Size Mommy: http://www.theplussizemommy.com
• GirlyMama: http://www.girlymama.typepad.com/
• Zen Mama Ventures: http://zenforyou.dalefg.net
• The Mommy Insider: http://www.themommyinsider.com
• Mommin’ It Up: http://momminitup.com/
• Pretty Pink Momma: http://prettypinkmomma.blogspot.com

I also have a quick 24-hour giveaway in conjunction with this challenge. One of you can win a Rice Krispies Treats Cookbook. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and let me know what fun Rice Krispies Treats recipes you’ve tried in the past, or if you stick to the traditional treats. Contest ends at 5 pm EST on June 24th. I’ll choose a winner using random.org and contact him/her via e-mail. Note: View official giveaway rules here.

Disclosure: As a Rice Krispies Brand Ambassador for TheMotherhood.com, I was compensated for participating in this challenge.

Photos by Melanie Edwards (apologies for the blurriness – I am no good at food photography apparently). Badge provided by The Motherhood.