Saturday with My Sister Lisa and Korean Ground Beef and Rice Bowls Recipe

     Yesterday I went over to my sister Lisa's house to help her organize a room that she is going to be using for her husband while he recuperates from an illness he is going through. She's having a hospital bed delivered tomorrow and we cleared out an extra bedroom. We could not move the treadmill or the couch she had in that room, but we did move a dresser and today my son and hers are supposed to get together and move the big stuff.

    Once we finished cleaning that room, while Lisa kept organizing stuff, I cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed her floors and did basic tidying up, then she made us some delicious Chocolate Iced Coffee and we had some of the lemon cake I had taken over to her.

    She wanted to order a new robot vacuum cleaner as their old one had broken several months ago and while we were searching she found a recipe that she had posted that she wanted to try out. She had most of the ingredients and I had a bag of coleslaw mix at my house so I went to go get it and we started cooking.

    I am a recipe girl, I've said that several times on the blog. I can't just pull ingredients out of the fridge and pantry and come up with a meal, I have to have a plan. Lisa and my mom are magicians in the kitchen, give them 8 items and they will make a fabulous meal with it. Yesterday we used a bit of my system and a bit of Lisa's.

    The recipe was for a Korean Ground Beef and Rice Bowl, you can find the recipe and photos HERE. We had most of the ingredients except for the fresh ginger and eggplant, so we improvised by adding frozen cauliflower rice and coleslaw mix.  Coleslaw mix is a mix of shredded green cabbage and carrots. 

    Lisa browned the ground beef while I chopped the red bell pepper and onion. She doesn't cook with salt, so she added a spice blend of Roasted Garlic and Red Bell Pepper from Dangold, you can find the spice HERE. This has zero sodium and was so good.  She also added lots of coarse black pepper and the onions. Once that was browned she removed it from the pan and added a little olive oil and sautéed the bell peppers and zucchini, cooked that for a couple of minutes, we both like our veggies with a little bite to them.

    Then she added the whole bag of the coleslaw mix and some Asian Salad dressing which has a peanut flavor and a bit of the low sodium soy sauce and sautéed that just enough to wilt it a bit, added the frozen cauliflower rice which she had put in the microwave just long enough to have it break up and then put the ground beef back in.

    Then it was time for the taste test...

    Winner Winner! We both love it. We both added Sriracha Sauce to the top because we love spicy. You can see all the lovely veggies. This is low sodium and low carb. Because of her husbands illness she has been trying to find recipes that will she can make with the specifications given to them by the doctors and this is one that he can eat.

    As I write this, she is at the hospital, hoping to get some news on how he's doing and when he can come home. Because of new Covid restrictions, only one person can be with him, so we can't visit him. This is a serious illness and I am hoping for the sake of my sister, their sons and grandchildren that he is able to get through this and make a full recovery. 

    If you can say a prayer for him and Lisa and their family, please do so. If you can send them positive vibes and energy, please do that as well. I'm a strong believer that everything that comes from love and concern for others can help.

Pico de Gallo meets Jicama Citrus Salad

If you don't like sweet and savory then look away...look away now!

But take a look at this picture first, and I dare you to look away!

I get several recipes weekly via email by Taste of Home, I believe it's one of the best food websites ever! They have realistic recipes that anyone can make!

I love Jicama, but had never prepped one and was a bit scared to try it, so I went to trusty YouTube and Chef John, one of my heroes, had a nice video showing how to prep it and make it into a delicious Cole Slaw, here you go if you want to watch the video.




If you want to see the original recipe on the Taste of Home website, here's the LINK. 

Because I could not find any tangerines in my neck of the woods, I opted to use canned mandarin oranges, which worked out just fine. I also tweaked the recipe by adding Jalapeno (hence my title as Jalapeno is a staple in Pico de Gallo). 

Instead of shallots, I used thinly sliced yellow onion, I love the sweetness of yellow onion. 

We're having this as a side dish with Steak Sandwiches tonight. 

Let me know if you try it and have you ever tasted Jicama?

Cheesy Zucchini and Red Onion Flatbread Recipe

Yet another delicious recipe that I want to save, so I'm blogging about it. 

But before I do post the recipe I just wanted to say that I am so grateful for all those wonderful cooks out there that are willing to share recipes and cooking knowledge. 

I am not a cook, I am a recipe follower, plain and simple. I envy those creative people that can just pull items out of the fridge and pantry and whip up a masterpiece, but I know that's not me!

I do think I'm a pretty good photographer though...isn't this picture gorgeous?

Ok, to the recipe. I made this exactly as the recipe explained, the only difference is I used a different cheese spread than what they called for. I used this one and it was very good, just the perfect amount of garlic.

Recipe:
Cheesy Zucchini and Red Onion Flatbread

Ingredients:

• Nonstick Vegetable oil spray
• 1 10-ounce tube refrigerated pizza dough (mine was actually 13.9 ounces and I used Pillsbury Pizza Crust brand)
• 3/4 cup garlic and herb cheese spread (I used the whole little container pictured above 6.5 oz.)
• 3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley, divided
• 1 small red onion
• 1 7 to 8-inch long zucchini (green) cut crosswise into 1/8 inch thick rounds, divided
• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 400 degree F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper; spray with nonstick spray. 
• Unroll dough onto parchment. 
• Spread half of the herb cheese over one long half of dough, leaving 1/2 inch plain border.
• Sprinkle with half of Parmesan and 2 tablespoons Parsley.
• Using parchment as aid, fold plain half of dough over filled half (do not seal edges.)
• Spread remaining herb cheese over top
• Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.
• Removed enough outer layers of onion to yield 2-inch diameter core; cut into 1/8 inch thick rounds.
• Arrange 1 row of zucchini down 1 long side of dough.
• Arrange onion rounds in row alongside zucchini.
• Arrange 1 more row of zucchini alongside onion.
• Brush vegetables with olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper.
• Bake until puffed and deep brown at edges, about 24 minutes.
• Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley

And that it is. Simple and delicious.

Recipe from the website: www.epicurious.com and you can find the recipe HERE if you want to compare it to mine above.

Oh and by the way...this one is definitely NOT low carb!

Broccoli, Ham, Mozzarella Baked with Eggs

I like to share low-carb recipes on my blog so that I have them handy when I need to make them again.

I am lucky enough to work with a great co-worker that encourages me and helps me with eating low carb...and even better, she shares her food!

The other day she shared this delicious concoction of eggs, broccoli, ham and cheese. I had to ask her for the recipe and today I made it for my mom. She liked it, but thinks I was a little heavy handed with the broccoli, which I probably was, but broccoli is so good for you!

The recipe was developed by Kalyn Denny of Kalyn's Kitchen and you can go HERE to see her original post of this recipe. 

Here's what my version looked like. I thought it was very pretty and hated to cut into it. I hurried to take the picture thinking it would deflate, but it actually stays nice and puffy like this.

But there was no way we could eat it without slicing into it, so I did and wow, wow, wow....just look at all this deliciousness!

So fluffy and cheesy and yummy and little bits of ham...mmmmm, perfect Sunday breakfast food! The great thing is it also keeps well covered in the fridge and re-heats up beautifully in the microwave so it's perfect for eating during that morning break at work.

Recipe:
Ingredients:

• 4 cups very small broccoli florets, blanched about 2 minutes, then drained well. (Next time I will probably cut this down to 2 cups and maybe dice it much more finely.)
• 1 cup diced ham
• 1 cup grated Mozzarella
• 10 eggs well beaten (I added salt & pepper to the eggs to taste)

Preheated my oven to 375F, sprayed my 9 inch round pie pan with non-stick spray.

In a small pot I brought water to boil then I blanched the broccoli florets for 3 minutes and poured them into a colander and let them sit in the sink to drain well. 

While my broccoli was cooking I diced up a small ham steak and grated the mozzarella cheese. That was probably the most labor intensive part. 

You then layer the broccoli in the bottom of your dish then sprinkle around the ham and cheese add some salt and pepper if you haven't already added it to your eggs, then pour the beaten egg over and using a fork stir everything around gently just to make sure all the ingredients are coated with egg. 

I baked mine for 35 minutes and it was perfect, as you can tell from the picture. Kalyn serves hers with sour cream, I just added a side dish of a few slices of avocado.

That's it! Easy Peasy!

Onion, Ham, Jalapeno and Cheese Frittata

July 7th was exactly one year that I have been on my low carb, high fat lifestyle and I've lost and maintained a consistent weight loss of 23 pounds. I was aiming for 1 pound a week which would have been 52 pounds, but I have to be realistic and realize that sometimes life happens and for one reason or another you can't stick to the plan. Don't fret and beat yourself up, just get right back up on that horse and keep on trucking! I know that is mixing up a couple of different quotes, but you get what I mean, you're a smart bunch!

In the spirit of my one year anniversary on LC/HF, I decided to share a great Frittata recipe! Cause why wouldn't I? I mean just look at this deliciousness!

I also love sharing recipes on my blog because that way I can always find the instructions on how to make something because I'm pretty forgetful!

So you start by melting 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a non-stick, oven safe pan. I used my cast iron pan which I love, love, love, but next time I will make sure to use it on a lower heat level. Once the butter is melted I toss in my diced onion and about a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cracked pepper to taste. I just love the smell of onion caramelizing in butter, it makes my heart happy!

I cooked the onions...oh about 4 minutes, then added my chopped ham and diced jalapenos. I would have preferred to use red bell peppers but I didn't have any so I improvised. It's all my training from watching episode upon episode of Chopped and Iron Chef! I stirred and cooked that for about 2 minutes. 

While that was going on, I cracked 8 eggs in a bowl, added a 1/4 cup of half & half, but you can use milk if you so desire. I added a 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper and a dash of paprika and whisked the eggs. Then mixed in 1 cup of grated cheddar and I mixed in a bit of mozzarella as I didn't have enough cheddar to make up a cup. (Again, my Food Network Chef Training) See the little red flakes of Paprika in there? Yummmmm! Gives everything a great smokiness!

Now was the time to marry the ham, onion, jalapenos with the eggs and cheese and I said my blessings over them and they all became one with the world and it was beautiful!

So you gently stir to try to get all the ingredients uniform so they aren't all just clumped together in one spot and then you kinda leave them alone, see how they get along, for about 5 minutes. During this time you heat up your over broiler and then you place the whole pan under the broiler and you add a little heat to this beautiful marriage and see if they still blend beautifully even when things get hot! And they do and they did and it was good!

Wanted to cut into this right away but I know that patience is a virtue and so I covered it with foil and let it sit for about 5 minutes then turned it over onto a plate and then turned it over again onto another plate cause I wanted the pretty top to be showing. Then I cut into it!

And it was good and my heart was happy, especially after I paired that slice with my favorite low carb beverage.

So I enter into another year of low carb/high fat and here's to hoping I can lose another 23 pounds in the coming year.

RECIPE:   4 to 6 servings

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, diced (about a cup)
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Dash of Paprika
• 8 large eggs
• 1/4 cup Half & Half (you can use milk instead
• 1 cup diced ham
• 1 or two jalapenos, seeds removed and diced
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Melt butter in a medium, non-stick, oven safe skillet. Add the onions and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cracked pepper to taste. Cook, stirring often for about 4 minutes until the onion gets soft, then add the diced jalapenos and ham stir and cook 2 or 3 more minutes.

Crack the 8 eggs in a bowl, add the half & half (milk) add 1/4 teaspoon salt, paprika and pepper again to taste and whisk and pour into the pan over the onions, ham and jalapenos. Stir to make sure the fillings are evenly distributed and cook, stirring gently a couple of times during the first minute of cooking, and then let the mixture cook undisturbed until the eggs are just beginning to set, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the skillet to the oven and broil 3 to 5 minutes until the eggs are just set. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and let sit for another 5 minutes, then invert onto a plate, then invert again. Cut into wedges and serve warm. 

Faux Caldo de Papa with Cauliflower - Low Carb Style

Don't you love my multi-lingual title, a little French, a little Spanish, and some English! I'm weird, I know. It's the little things that I find amusing!

So Faux means imitation, fake or false. Caldo is Spanish for Soup. De Papa is of Potato. Be sure you pay attention, there will be a pop quiz! With Cauliflower is the English part and that is pretty self explanatory. So this is a post about how to make an imitation potato soup using cauliflower.

My dad who passed away in July of 2013 was famous for his Caldo de Papa. If we were sick, he made Caldo de Papa. If we were cold, he made Caldo de Papa. If we were pregnant, he made Caldo de Papa. We had to only hint that we wanted his Caldo de Papa and he would make it. It was delicious. Hot and spicy with the jalapenos he used and creamy and cheese with the Monterey Jack Cheese he used. Oh how I miss him!

Last night I got home from work a little later than usual as I stopped to do some Christmas Shopping and no one was home waiting for me and I was cold so I checked the fridge and saw that I had a lot of diced up cauliflower as I had planned to make CauliMash for Thanksgiving and I never did. I remembered that I had made low carb cauliflower soup before using my dad's recipe but I couldn't find the recipe and didn't realize that I had done a post last year in October, see that one HERE for a different version.

So I winged it!

Here's the basics: I'm calling 4 servings since I ate two bowls full and have about the same amount left for dinner tonight. Per bowl and using the website Calorie Count I estimate 2.2 carbs per serving.

2 cups of diced or riced cauliflower
Olive Oil
1 Diced Jalapeno, seeds and all
1 small can of Chicken Stock
1 cup of Half and Half Creamer
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

In a soup pan add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the cauliflower. Saute the cauliflower until it's about half way done. I had to add a few tablespoons of water and cover it with a lid as it was browning more than I wanted. But you're the Master of your own Kitchen, so you do it your way!

I then added the diced jalapeno and stirred it around for a minute or so to let it soften a bit. Add the can of Chicken stock, or your own homemade stock, you choose. Add the Half and Half, Salt and Pepper and let it come to a boil, cover and lower the heat and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes, stirring once in a while. Throw in the cheese and continue to stir until it's melted and it's thickened a bit.

You could at this point puree it using an immersion hand-held blender and I may do that with the leftovers just for a different texture, but I left it as is so I could have the chunkiness I remember of my dad's soup.

I wish I had thought to cook some bacon to add as a topping, but you can certainly do that if you like.

It was warm and soothing and it was almost like daddy was there with me, and knowing how he liked to be in the kitchen all the time I'm sure he was :)

Now writing this I remember when my sister and I were little we had an Easy Bake Oven and we'd bake cakes using random ingredients we found in the kitchen. Lord knows what we used, but daddy always ate them and said they were delicious and I'm sure he would have had a big bowl of this soup as well!

Ok, pop quiz time! For 25 points, what does CALDO mean? Go!

Low Carb - 3 Ingredient - Coconut Macaroons

Oh the sweet crunchiness of Coconut Macaroons! I have always loved them, but I've never made, let alone thought to see if they could be made low carb.

Most of the regular recipes I read said to use sweetened condensed milk, some called for honey, but both of those ingredients are packed with sugar. I found a great 2 ingredient recipe for Macaroons at the blog Rabbit Food For My Bunny Teeth. She used just sweetened coconut and egg white.

I just happened to have recently bought some unsweetened coconut and thought to try it with the egg white and add 1 more ingredient, Stevia sweetener. Because I was using the additional 1/2 cup of Stevia I used 2 egg whites instead of one. 

They came out amazing! Not as pretty as Rabbit Food's but still very light and fluffy and so sweet and crunchy!

Here's the nutrition facts for 24 servings. Very low in carbs! Yes!

I will definitely be making these again!

Recipe - 24 Servings

Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup Stevia  ***see edit tip below***

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a cookie sheet. I lined it with foil and sprayed it with cooking spray, you could also use parchment paper.

Place egg whites in a bowl and whisk them until white and frothy, they don't have to form stiff peaks, they will still be liquid. Add the Stevia and Coconut and mix gently until completely blended.

Using a 1 teaspoon measuring spoon scoop out the mixture pressing against the side of the bowl to solidly pack the mixture then turn out on the cookie sheet. They don't expand so you don't have to leave a lot of room between them.

Bake for about 10 minutes. If you like you can place them under the broiler for a bit to darken the top but I rather like them light on top and browned on the bottom. Then enjoy!

**Editing Tip - Brought these to share with a co-worker and she told me the Stevia left a bad aftertaste. I did some research and some people do experience an aftertaste using Stevia. When I tried it last night I immediately brushed my teeth so didn't have the aftertaste experience. I ate one today and it wasn't pleasant. Next time I make these I will either completely use Splenda which makes each cookie about 1 carb or I will mix 1/2 Splenda and 1/2 Stevia and see how that is. ***

 

Low Carb Bread or Muffin in a Cup

I have a new favorite low-carb website. The reason I love Lynn's website Traveling Low Carb, is that she's like me, she's not a big lover of cooking and loves to keep things simple. So I've been getting lots of great ideas on how to keep this WOE simple.

One of the most basic breakfast items you can eat with a LCHF diet is eggs. I've tried them as an omelet, fried, scrambled with veggies, scrambled with bacon, all kinds of ways and while they are delicious I have to admit I'm a little tired of them.

The other day I saw on Lynn's blog a post about low carb bread sold by Great Low Carb Bread Company. Each slice of their plain bread has 1 net carb! One slice of the Rainbow Brand White Bread I normally buy has 27 net carbs. I try to stick with 20 carbs per day, but no more than 24. I would go through my carbs for the day with just one slice of plain bread!

This sounded like a great alternative, but I held off buying it because the price is $7.99 per loaf plus $5.99 shipping for a total cost per loaf of bread of $13.98! The shipping is a flat cost so I figured I would wait for the weekend and shop the Netrition.com website to see what other low carb items I could order. 

I felt it this bread would be a great alternative to eggs in the morning. I could toast a slice and slather it with avocado, easy and I would get the healthy fats I need for my WOE.

This morning I remembered that I used to make a muffin in a cup with flax seed and looked up the recipe and made it so I would have something "bready" to accompany my coffee.

Easy Peasy and only 1.8 carbs per half a muffin! Each muffin has 3.6 carbs per muffin using the ingredients I will list below, but I cut it in half and ate two slices with my coffee, adding a pat of butter and 1 teaspoon of Smuckers Sugar Free Strawberry Preserves per round which would be roughly 3.6 carbs. 

It was just as satisfying to me as an Entenmanns Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish which has 58 carbs per serving! I didn't even think about it, but I probably could have used cream cheese mixed with the preserves as a topping! Will have to try that next weekend. 

Later in the morning for my actual breakfast I took the last two rounds of this bread and topped it with some homemade guacamole made with tomato and jalapeno and garlic salt. 

Not the prettiest of pictures, but trust me, this was delicious! Much better than my usual eggs breakfast! 1.8 carbs for the muffin and I estimate 1.6 for the guac for a total of 3.4 for my breakfast!

I'm thinking that I'm going to make a muffin in a cup instead of buying the $14 bread! Plus flax seeds are high in fiber and rich in Omega-3 essential fatty acids which are "good" fats that have been known to have heart-healthy effects. 

Here's the recipe for the Muffin in a Cup:

• 1 teaspoon coconut oil (I buy Trader Joe's Organic Virgin)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 cup Flax seed ground (I buy Bob's Red Mill brand)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 packet Truvia or Splenda (more if you want it sweeter)

Mix ingredients well in a microwaveable coffee mug and cook for 50 to 60 minutes in the microwave. Slips right out of the mug, simply enjoy! You could also add some diced walnuts or slivered almonds.

 

Chicken Soup Made Easy - with Beans even!

So I've mentioned a million times in previous posts that I am not a natural born cook like my sister. My sister can open up her pantry and her fridge and see that she has six ingredients in there and she can whip up a meal just using those things!

I can be in the middle of a whole grocery store with tons of ingredients and I couldn't figure out how to boil water without a recipe in writing!

Luckily there are people, like my sister, that are great at being creative with food, and they actually have the good sense to write it down, with pictures and step by step photos! Not that my sister doesn't have sense, she just doesn't have time to write everything down!

So I've been hunting down soup recipes! I know that we're not in the middle of a freeze here in sunny California, but it does get cold people. At least cold for a transplanted Arizonian!

I found a great recipe and a great Chef. And you know why this Chef is so great? Because not only does he create these recipes and write them down, but darned if he doesn't do a video too!

Chef John is an online teaching Chef on the award winning food blog Food Wishes. I love this blog! He has so many recipes and tips and ideas and you know what else? He is damned entertaining. Such a creative, droll, sarcastic sense of humor! Just love him!

The recipe that I tried and loved is Chef John's White Bean and Chicken Breast Chili. This is a photo of his version. Doesn't that look great? Plus I really love the white bowl, that bowl just screams "Soup's on!"

Photo Credit - Food Wishes

This soup called for quite a few ingredients I didn't have on hand, so I had to stop by the store. Is it just me or do you have the experience that you can stop by the grocery store to pick up a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread and you end up at the register with a full shopping cart of $200 in groceries? Every single time!

Here's my version. I made it a bit more soupy as I wanted a soup, not a chili. Verdict? Loved it! So rich and spicy.

Some of the ingredients that Chef John had me get were things I had never tried before, but then again I had never tried making a soup before either. I had to get powdered Ancho Chili and powdered Chipotle Powder and Corn Meal. I had also always wanted to try Cannellini Beans so as long as his recipe called for white beans I bought them, they were good, very meaty.

My peeps are not very fond of onions, but I decided it was time they grew up and ate like real adults and not like five year old kids that can't abide onions, so I did just like Chef John instructs in his video and started out by caramelizing the onions. My peeps loved it! You can taste the onion with all the other ingredients but the onion is almost invisible, just a translucent little gem in there, like you can see in the picture above.

Here's Chef John's video, watch it if you have a chance he's so funny!

***Chef John's Ingredients, watch his video above for instructions***

Ingredients for 4 portions:

2 tsp vegetable oil

2 or 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 1 1/4 lbs

salt and pepper to taste

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic

1 tbsp ancho chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp flour

about 3 cups chicken broth or stock, divided

1 tsp fine cornmeal
2 cans (15oz) white beans

cayenne to taste

1/4 tsp sugar or to taste

1/3 cup chopped green onions

sour cream and cilantro to garnish

I used the toppings he recommended, cilantro, sour cream, chopped green onions and I added chopped jalapenos. I am loving making soup! More soups to come!

 

Arroz Con Leche - Mexican Rice Pudding

I am Posting this recipe simply because I need to have this recipe in my life. My children need to have this recipe in their lives, my nieces and nephews need this recipe in their lives...for this is our childhood. A dish my mom would make when we were sick, sad, cold or just because she wanted to show us how much she loved us. Today mom is sick with the flu. Nothing sounds good to her...nothing! Well she's not starving on my watch! I set to making some Arroz con Leche (Rice with Milk) for her and I need to post it so I always have this recipe.

Mom is sitting over there in her chair at the kitchen table telling me step by step how to make this. First, fill the pot with water. This pot probably holds about 8 to 10 cups of water. Place it on the stove and wait for it to boil. *COMPLETE RECIPE BELOW*

Once it is boiling, add 1 1/2 cups of white rice. Mom uses Mahatma rice, but any rice you use is ok, but don't use the instant Uncle Ben rice or anything like that.

Then you add one can of Carnation Evaporated Milk...very important...please SHAKE THE CAN! Mom made it abundantly clear that all the good stuff has settled to the bottom, (by good stuff she probably means carbs!) so SHAKE YOUR CAN MAN!

Now add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, you can add more later to taste but I found that 1 teaspoon was more than enough, and I love cinnamon!

Add 1 cup of sugar, again you can add more to taste later but C'MON!!! One whole cup of sugar? Yikes! You know this stuff is gonna be good!

Then you give it a gentle stir because you didn't use a big enough pot and you don't want to make a big mess! You stir making sure you get all that cinnamon dissolved in there. Is this a beautiful picture? Minus that alien looking thumb with the thumbnail stained from peeling pomegranates!

Once it comes to a boil, and watch it carefully as it will over-boil in a second, turn down the heat and continue stirring every once in a while just to make sure that you get everything mixed in well. I would say it took about 20 to 30 minutes for it to be cooked to mom's satisfaction! See...needed bigger pot.

Check this out! Not quite done yet, but getting there. You can't imagine how wonderful and homey my house smells right now! See those little flecks of cinnamon? So pretty. You can taste it at this point and adjust the sweetness by adding more sugar and/or cinnamon. Also take a bite of the rice to see if the rice is soft enough for you. Mine wasn't...yet!

If it's not quite done, just keep stirring, just keep stirring and then you can even wonder in amazement about people from my mom's generation. That generation that let nothing go to waste. See what I found in one of my kitchen drawers? Do you know what this is? This is all the twisty-ties from bags of bread, bagels, tortillas. My mom has saved them and tied them together so she has them available to tie up a bag of rice or whatever. She's amazing! That was a wonderful, caring, thrifty generation!

Reminds me of a colorful Grasshopper!

So still stirring every once in a while, just bubbling gently. I'm making sure not to let it over flow, look at all that beautiful scented steam rising from the pot! Mmmmmmm, can't wait! Just so you know, I didn't eat any of this. There are two million carbs in this! I did taste a spoonful and felt my waist expand an inch! *sigh*

It's 57 degrees outside, and I know the sun is shining in through my kitchen window, but it's still cold to us Arizona folk transplanted here in sunny Southern California so this warm bowl of loveliness just warms the cockles of our heart and the rest of our body too!

My Kitchen with the sun shining through the window

And Voila! The finished product. So creamy and sweet with that lovely cinnamon taste. It just makes everything feel right. Mom ate about a cup of this, which is fabulous for her! So make this for someone you love on a cold, dreary day, or on a cold, sunny day, or any day, you will be glad you did!