Drinking From My Saucer {'cause my cup has overflowed!}: Recipe: Spanish Rice Pronto!

Did ya'all have a nice Memorial Day Weekend? We sure did. We have family that visits traditionally every year, staying with my parents. We typically gather together a couple of times while they are here. We really enjoy one another's company, and look forward to this tradition so much!

cheese popcorn goody bags

TODAY, we are chill-axin' around here. We thought this coming Wednesday would be our son's last day of school, but by the time he got his exam schedule figured out, he realized that he would be finished on Friday. LAST Friday. Isn't that happy news?

So, I'm kickin' back today and relaxing with NOTHING on the schedule. I thought I'd share an easy post, and an easy recipe with you.

This is an old family stand-by -- a recipe that my mom often made for our family. I believe it came from a cookbook that was compiled by a mom's club that my mom used to attend when my sister and I were small. "Spanish Rice Pronto" (always just known as Spanish Rice to us) was an inexpensive meatless dinner for us - as Mom served it as a main dish. Nowadays, Mexican food is so popular. This could easily be used as a side dish, accompanying your favorite Mexican food. It's not "hot" -- but could easily be adapted to add more heat. Remember the key words: inexpensive, and EASY. It's also a quick recipe to put together with ingredients that you might often have on hand. Here are most of them:

[looks like I forgot the salt]

Spanish Rice Pronto (makes 4 generous servings)

¼ c. margarine
1 tsp. onion flakes
1.5 c. Minute Rice
1.5 c. hot water
1 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
½ tsp. prepared mustard
8 oz. tomato sauce

Melt margarine in skillet. Add onion flakes and rice (uncooked). Cook and stir over high heat until you see a few grains of rice browning lightly. Add hot water, salt, pepper, mustard, and tomato sauce. Mix well. Bring quickly to a boil, reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 5-15 minutes until liquid is absorbed.