Rice is a mainstay in my pantry. I love to stock up on a 3 lb bag of rice whenever I make an Aldi run, and serve it several ways with dinner or lunch. I thought I would share a few of my favorite ways to serve this staple, and maybe you might share a few recipes too.

• Rice and Lentils. Delicious on their own, and delicious made into cakes as well. I like to add salt, pepper, garlic salt, and soy sauce to my rice and lentils, and eat it with Tortilla Chips, so tasty.
• Salsa Rice. I add 1/2 cup of Salsa, and a few packets of whatever drive-thru taco sauce I have on hand to cooked rice. This is tasty on its own, but delicious in burritos, and quesadillas too.
• Lemon-Lime Rice. Add the juice of 1/4 lemon, 1/4 lime, and a little salt and pepper to cooked rice, and you’ve got a delicious dish to serve along with steamed fish and veggies.
• Chili Rice. Sounds weird, but trust me it is really good, and super versatile too. You know when you have that itty bit of Chili left in the crock pot, and you don’t know what to do with it, add it to cooked rice, and it is delicious and hearty.  You can also layer it with cheese, and serve it with Fritos or Tortilla Chips for a delicious dip. Try this one in a burrito too, o.k. now I’m super hungry.
• Sweet Rice. Warm cooked rice in the microwave, add in a little sugar, and your favorite flavoring (I like vanilla and almond), and pour a little milk or half&half over top, and it makes a sweet treat or even dessert. I eat this one late at night, when I am starving…
• and you can never go wrong with Sweet & Sour Sauce over rice, Cashew Sauce over rice, and Soy Sauce over rice too. Those are three of my very favorites. The only way I can get Dylan to eat rice, is to add soy sauce to it… he takes after his mommy!

Now it is your turn, share a recipe or two with me, and it just might become a family favorite of ours too.

Sunday I was working on a Vanilla-Raspberry Muffin recipe, and I decided to bake a free-form Apricot pie too.

The muffins turned out really pretty, but they could use a bit more sweetness…

I loved how the free-form Apricot Pie turned out though, it was super simple to make, and took about 1/2 the time to bake.

Today I have another day of baking planned. We have our MOPS kick-off party this evening and three of us have volunteered to bring baked goods. I’m making Iced Vanilla Cookies, and I hope to get 6 dozen done this morning. The weather is nice and cool for baking too… Time to get to it!

Well, I have searched and searched for the magic coconut cake recipe, and it looks like I’m going to be baking a lot of cakes in my future.  I compared a lot of recipes, and decided for my first attempt, I’ll just wing it… but will my hubby approve.

For the Coconut Cake you’ll need:

• 1 yellow cake mix
• 1 bag of  shredded Coconut
• 1 tub of Whipped Cream
• 1 can of Coconut Milk
• 1 adorable helper, to shake up the Coconut Milk

This cake is simple, simple, simple… Mix your cake mix according to package directions, and add in 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups of the shredded coconut, then pop it in the oven to bake. I made a 9×13 cake. Once the cake is out of the oven, poke holes into it with a fork, and pour the can of coconut milk over the cake.  Have your super-cute helper shake the coconut milk can, so that way he’ll stop bugging you about when the cake is going to be done.

After you have the coconut milk on the cake, put it in the fridge for at least 5 hours. You want the cake to absorb all of the coconut milk. After that frost the cake with the tub of Whipped cream, and sprinkle a handful or two of shredded coconut on top, and serve it up.

James said that this cake was pretty darn close to the one that he had when he was in school. Next time I make this cake, I’m going to use a White Cake mix instead, and see if  it is a perfect match.

Dylan says this one is just fine!