Hi Helen, yes there are many ways to serve this and it would be a fun food for kids. I think my grandkids would love playing with it, especially the youngest one. She's a little character anyway and very headstrong. Hmmm....... wonder where she gets that?? :)

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I guess you could do this with precooked meatballs or Italian sausage instead if one was so inclined.

This also might be a good way to get children to eat their veggies although I am a great believer in serving vegetables raw as much as possible. Just about any raw vegetable can be put in a salad if they are cut small enough. Nothing is worse than having big chunks of vegs in your mouth if you don't especially care for a particular veggie so if you want your children to eat raw vegs cut them small. But I digress.

I must send my recipe for the best coleslaw in the world.

Helen

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I bet kids would love the novelty of this. Just add spaghetti sauce. :)

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Lunch, anyone?






Just add some tomato sauce.

Hi Helen, cole slaw is one of my favorite things to eat but to be honest I am at the point where I rarely use my grater for anything. When I make slaw I use my electric food chopper, getting lazy you might say but this sounds really good. :)

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How to make the best Cole Slaw....

You will need a grater like those square box-like graters used for grating cheese. This or any Cole Slaw recipe will just not taste as good if you just slice the cabbage, no matter how thin you might slice it. The trick is >> you must grate the cabbage.

Grate raw cabbage using the medium-sized cutter holes on the grater. (First, cut the cabbage in wedges that you can hold easily while grating). This is not the easiest thing to do but it is worth it. If you have a food processor with a grater blade, you might try that but since consistency is important in this recipe, it might be a good idea to do your first grating on a grater.

Using the medium sized cutter holes, grate a half or a full apple.

Using the smallest cutter holes on your grater, grate one medium carrot.

Mix the grated stuff > > the cabbage, the apple and the carrot and then add the following:

A sprinkling of parsley leaves, dried or chopped fine.
A teaspoon of sugar or so (I know this is not healthy but it seems to taste better with sugar. Do NOT use aspartame or sucralose or splenda and such. You could try a drop or two of Stevia instead of sugar but be careful. Stevia is extremely sweet.)
Mayonnaise, enough to coat all the vegs. I use a bit of water, milk or apple juice to make the mayo less thick for this recipe. I absolutely do not recommend Cole Slaw dressing. It has a different taste and will ruin this recipe.
A bit of Salt

This recipe tastes so good because of the grating. Adding apple also helps. If you make it, let us know how it turned out.

While I'm on a roll, I will do another post on how to cook brown rice, Helen style.

Helen

Another time saver for me is to buy the instant brown rice that takes about 10 minutes to cook. I use it a lot and love putting it in my homemade chili instead of using crackers. It may not be as nutritious as the non instant but I find myself using any shortcut I can nowadays but this is good info for those who want to cook it from scratch.

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Hi y'all

Normally when we cook brown rice, it takes about 45 to 50 minutes and that is a problem. For one thing you are using electricity for an hour. Also waiting an hour for it to cook is not always convenient. With my method, you use electricity for about 10 minutes or so and the rice is ready waiting for you when you come home from work or wherever.

My method takes all day :))

How to cook brown rice

These instructions assume you have decided ahead of time that this is the night you will serve a rice pilaf or whatever for dinner to your family. It also assumes you will be gone all day until you come home to make supper. You might not be going out at all.

Starting in the morning or noon or whatever works best for you, do the following:

Wash the raw rice before cooking.
Using the normal directions for cooking brown rice, place the water and the rice in the cooking pot that has a snug fitting lid. Add a bit of salt if desired. Bring the water to a boil, immediately shut off the burner, and place the lid on the pot. Let it sit there on the stove all day. If you are home later in the day, you can bring the water to a boil again and immediately shut off the burner again and leave the rice on the stove until it is time to make supper.

When you come home, the rice will be mostly cooked but not fully. Turn on the stove and cook it until all the water is absorbed. Use the rice in your favorite dish. See my favorite dish below. Mmm, Mmm, Yummy!

NOTE: A word about precooking the rice. In some climates, it would not be a good idea to leave the pot sitting on the stove all day long. The rice might go sour if left too long at a very warm room temperature. It normally is not a problem in most climates especially in the winter. I've done it many times and never had a problem. If you are not leaving for work first thing in the morning, you could start cooking the rice at noon, perhaps. It doesn't have to sit all day but it can if you won't be home.

You could start it before leaving for work and when someone gets home, ask them to put it in the fridge for you and you can finish cooking it when you get home. Did you change your mind about having rice tonight? No problem ...just put the rice in the fridge or the freezer when you get home and use it when you are ready.

You also might start cooking the rice in the evening, put a lid on it and let it sit on the stove until you go to bed and then put it in the fridge or just leave it on the stove all night. Try different things until you find what works for you.

Sticky Brown Rice and Vegs - Recipe

Here's my favorite dish ..it's a complete meal. You may add a salad if you wish. Either way it will be very nutritious.

You will need a fairly good-sized skillet or you could do it all, including frying the meat, in a dutch oven type of pot. Did you know that you can use a dutch oven or a soup pot as a frying pan. Well, you can. Just cook at lower heat. If you make lots, it can be warmed the next day. It even tastes better then or you can freeze it.

My rice has been 'cooking' since morning. When I get home, I will add my favorite spices and a bit more salt to the rice. For this recipe, that is Italian spices. You might like something else. Then I turn on the burner and finish cooking the rice, covered, until the water is absorbed or evaporated. Check it often because you don't want it to burn. I like sticky rice for this recipe so I stir it occasionally.

In a saucepan, cook a few sliced or cut up carrots, cook them for a few minutes and then add about 3/4 cup of cut-up broccoli and 1/2 cup yellow bell peppers. Choose any 3 or 4 vegs colored green, orange and yellow ...or green, red and yellow ...or green, white and orange. Whatever turns you on. Cook or steam vegs to desired softness.

NOTE: Always cook vegs separately, no matter which dish you are cooking ...like this one or stews, soups, etc. Drain off the water and throw it out or drink it. I often use a skillet to boil vegs. I use just a 1/4 cup of water and I watch it carefully, cooking the vegs, covered, until the water is gone.

In a skillet or a dutch oven or a soup pot, I saute onions. I remove the onions. Then I saute some mushrooms. I remove the mushrooms and then I fry some pieces of cut-up raw chicken or some cut-up beef such as sirloin strips. I am careful not to cook at too high heat. I don't use much meat of any kind. I add it mostly for the flavor.

The trick is not to use too much of any one thing.

When the meat is cooked through, I put the onions and mushrooms back in the skillet with the meat. Then I add the cooked brown rice and the veggies. I may add a sprinkle of parsley and pepper. I like a taste of cayenne pepper sometimes. Just be careful not to make it too spicy hot. Stir it all together and serve.

This dish is a complete meal but you might want to stretch it by serving something else with it.

If you make this, let me know how you liked it or ask me any questions. I would also like to hear of your ideas on how you might do this differently.

Helen