I’ve been making variations of this for over thirty years - since the time I lived in San Francisco and was eating fanatically well in order to nurture my first pregnancy.

Two cups of short-grain brown rice
Four cups of water
1 tablespoon salt

Heat the above ingredients until boiling, then stir once with a wooden spoon and cover. Turn the heat down very low. Continue to let this cook for twenty-five or thirty minutes then turn it off but keep it covered so it can steam. Don’t be tempted to look inside for at least ten or fifteen minutes.

While that’s cooking heat a bit of vegetable oil in a skillet and add spices. Typically I’ll add any spices I can find in my cupboard that look like they’ll fit. I smell them to decide if I want them. I always use salt and pepper.

Then chop some onion and garlic and toss that into the pan. Chop some fresh vegetables and toss them in too. I like to use carrots and celery, and whatever else I have on hand that looks good.

Keep stirring and warming these gently on a low to medium heat. If you get impatient like I usually do, add 1/4 cup water and cover the skillet to let the vegetables steam a while. Stir often.

When the vegetables are tender and the rice is cooked, serve by putting the rice on the plate, then veggies on top. If you like cheese, put grated cheddar or monterey jack on top.

This recipe feeds my soul.

Brown Rice Burritos

A way to use leftovers from the recipe above.

Warm up a big flour tortilla. If you have a gas stove just turn on the burner and toss the tortilla onto it… no pan needed. Wait until it wilts a bit then turn it over. Repeat until little air pockets start to rise inside the tortilla.

On the tortilla place some brown rice with your cooked veggies. Add spices, jalapenos, or whatever makes you happy, along with a lot of cheddar cheese. Then wrap it up.

Since I usually get cold rice leftovers out of the fridge I then put this burrito in the microwave and warm it up… or at least I would if it were not for the fact that my microwave broke and my dear boyfriend won’t agree to buying another one - he points out the certain dangers - so now I’m warming these in my cast iron skillet.

My favorite taco sauce is La Victoria Salsa Brava, HOT.

This makes a quick, easy but filling snack so I can get right back into my writing without losing my train of thought too much.

It is product day here at Country Kitchen Pantry, and today I’m going to tell you what I’ve been eating for breakfast every day lately.

Clif Bars are perfect for taking on a long hike, and eating in the woods. Alternatively, they’re great for a quick, nutritious breakfast when you’re in a hurry to blog then get ready for work. They are clean and neat to eat right at the computer keyboard. No crumbs! And they taste wonderful. At least I like them, especially my current favorite flavor, “Peanut Toffee Buzz”.

The buzz comes from a bit of green tea content. Not a lot, but it is a bit of a pick-me-up which I appreciate due to the fact I quit drinking coffee over a year ago. Green tea is much better for us than coffee. We all know that!

Here are the ingredients for the Clif Bar I ate this morning:

Organic Brown Rice Syrup, ClifPro: (Soy Rice Crisps [Soy Protein Isolate, Rice Flour, Malt Extract], Organic Roasted Soybeans, Organic Soy Flour), Organic Rolled Oats, Dry Roasted Peanuts, ClifCrunch: (Apple Fiber, Organic Oat Fiber, Organic Milled Flaxseed, Inulin [Chicory Extract], Psyllium), Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Peanut Toffee (Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Peanuts, Cocoa Butter, Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Dry Roasted Peanuts, Natural Flavors, Salt, Soy Lecithin), Organic Peanut Butter (Organic Dry Roasted Peanuts, Salt), Icing (Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Cocoa Butter, Soy Milk, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavors), Peanut Flour, Natural Flavors, Sea Salt, Green Tea Extract (50mg caffeine equivalent).

There’s a warning for allergic people: Contains soy and peanuts. May contain traces of dairy and tree nuts. We source ingredients which do not contain wheat, dairy, and are not genetically engineered.

As you can see, Clif Bars use lots of organic ingredients. The label says, “70% Organic Ingredients”. I think that’s pretty good. Sure tastes good, anyhow.

There’s also a cute story on the label about how the founder of Clif Bars had an epiphany in 1990 when he was eating an energy bar, and realized he could make better energy bars at home. He experimented for two years in his mother’s kitchen. His business is an incredible success because his products are outstandingly good. If you haven’t tried a Clif Bar yet, maybe you will now that you’ve read about how much I’m enjoying them.

[Note: I'm not being paid for my recommendation. I don't do pay-per-post blogging.]

[Update, 12/5/08 - I just looked this post up as I intend to use it as a link on my page about Natural and Artificial Sweeteners because Clif Bars use Brown Rice Syrup to sweeten naturally. I noticed that the date on this post is from eighteen months ago, and I'm still eating Clif Bars for breakfast every day! I found some Clif Bars links on Amazon and am adding those here today.]

My grandmother made rice pudding for us when I was a child. Back then, we looked forward to it… but I rarely hear about anyone eating it these days. Here’s a simple recipe for delicious rice pudding:

Boil one cup of already-cooked rice with two cups of milk. As soon as it boils, turn down the heat! Then add half a cup of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt. Some people might want to add a beaten egg yolk at this point however I don’t do that. Cook it over a very low flame, stirring constantly so it won’t burn. After it is quite thick, remove it from the heat. At this point egg-users can whip the egg white into a froth and fold it in. Add half a teaspoon of vanilla or lemon juice. If you like, before serving you might want to add some raisins or canned peaches, or some other type of fruit.