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My Sneaky Chef book is apparently being held hostage by the people who own our old house. And, since I’m still trying to get the horror of the Fat Free cream cheese macaroni and cheese off my tongue, I’m taking a break from the sneaky thing.
I have made a couple new recipes this week and I thought maybe I’d try out the Did They Eat It? format I used to do as a side blog at my own personal site, over here. A few people have emailed saying they miss the feature and I enjoyed doing it but let it fall to the side with other projects.
The thing I like about the Did They Eat It? format for the Work It Mom audience is that I do not cook gourmet food for my family. These are recipes you can make with 15 to 20 minutes of prep and just about as long for cooking. I, probably like you, don’t have the time for much else. Probably unlike you I am also exceedingly lazy and not really a very good cook. Reasonably quick, simple and easy is about as good as the cooking gets around here.
With that I bring you “Bacon Rice Bowl“……Did They Eat It?
I know a lot of people don’t like Rachel Ray, I’m not sure I get it. Probably my only issue is that she’s pretty much everywhere but until her friendly face shows up on my box of tampons I say go for it! Love that money!
This recipe includes Canadian bacon, there’s a lot to love about Canada and their bacon is right up there. It also included basmati rice, which as I mentioned, is over my head because I know how to cook brown or white minute rice. I never made it before and managed to burn it to the bottom of my pan. A quick batch of brown rice in the microwave saved dinner, to the dismay of my children.
I decided on this recipe because my whole family loves Canada and bacon, they also all agree cucumbers and grape tomatoes are delicious. However, I pressed my luck by introducing lentils into my family’s diet. Look at the ingredients though, not a single puree or fat free product in sight, but still…..very little fat. Mind blowing!
The tomatoes looked like candy while they cooked, I showed the kids thinking they’d get pumped up!
Finally we ended up with this.
Did they eat it?
Logan: These lentils are scaring me, plus I don’t believe you didn’t shove something weird in here and hide the evidence. However, I also know you’re going to write about my reaction and blame me for our kid’s picky eating habits. So….”I LOVE THIS!”
Madison: Sometimes I say I like things but I hate the sauce. So I lick all the sauce off of each individual item in my bowl and eat the things I like. Memo To Madison: YOU ARE STILL EATING THE SAUCE (a little lemon juice) IF YOU LICK IT OFF!!!!! She picked at it but made a valiant effort to appear as though she was eating it.
Max: I like everything in this bowl, except sometimes I’m particular about tomatoes. I can’t see the lentils and I haven’t even mentioned that they’re in here. And yet I am going to moan through three bites of this dinner and decide I’m not eating it.
Melissa: I liked this dish. It was the first time I ate lentils and I liked their flavor. I felt like there was a touch too much lemon juice and I used half what the recipe called for. Still it was quick and easy and aside from burning the basmati rice pretty fool proof.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 4:45 pm and is filed under Cooking, Food, Meal Planning.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
I’ve found a bunch of Rachael Ray recipes that work in the time cruch I’ve got after work. Not sure how keen your family is on mexican food, but this RR recipe was a big hit in my house - Sloppy Taco Stoup. http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/sloppy-taco-stoup/ I give my son a small bowl of chips rather than crushing them on top - he didn’t like how quickly they got soggy. Anyway, thought I’d share in case it appealed to you. Easy to make, seemed healthy enough, and made a big batch which is happily eaten the next day.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
I find basmati rice really easy to cook in the microwave. I follow Sandi Richard’s instructions for cooking from her last book and since this recipe really just calls for cooked rice that could work. Basmati rice is just a little more flavourful I find. But that might not be a good thing with kids.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Keep the quick and easy recipes, coming Melissa! Tell Logan, Madison and Max they’re suffering for the good of the internet.
October 18th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Yeah! I’m so glad to see the return of “Did They Eat it?” I think it looks pretty good.
October 18th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
I am going to ask a really stupid question - how soft should lentils be when they are ready to eat? I’ve made them 2x in my life and each time they felt too rough, although I cooked them for longer than the recipe suggested.
October 18th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
Nataly…did you use dried lentils? I always have that problem with dried lentils in a bag, too. From the pictures it looks like Melissa used canned, which are pretty soft to start out.
October 19th, 2007 at 12:21 am
Scientific evidence that you can blame their father…
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/dining/10pick.html?_r=1&incamp=article_popular_1&oref=slogin
October 19th, 2007 at 12:44 am
I think it looks pretty good. My son wouldn’t like the whole tomatoes, but I’m thinking they could be diced.
I like that you have added this to a new place. COOL BEANS!!!
October 19th, 2007 at 12:45 am
Yes, I did. Ok, good idea re using canned lentils. So they should be pretty soft when they are ready, right?
October 19th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Being a bona fide picky eater, married to one even pickier, and raising the pickiest, I ask this: can you substitute regular bacon? Canadian bacon is too hammy for me. Me no likey the ham.
October 19th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Whoa! I just clicked over to Rachael Ray’s site and no wonder your basmati got burned! Her directions are whack — about 10 minutes too long on the cooking time, not enough water, and I’d also suggest low heat, not medium-low (my stove dials go from 1-10, and I do rice a little past 2). If you’re interested in doing basmati again you might try this:
1 3/4 cups water
1 cup Basmati rice
In a saucepan bring water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
For a little color you could also stir in 1/2 cup frozen peas after the rice is done cooking. (Let sit about 5 minutes for the peas to warm up)
October 19th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Oh, I’d also leave out the oil on the rice.
October 19th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Yum, looks totally delicious and my family would gobble it up. I’ll have to give it a try. Straight up lentils don’t do it here but when I jazz them up…thanks for the idea!
October 19th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
A rice cooker is absolutely the best invention. You put in the rice and water, press a button, and it stops when the rice is done, 20-ish minutes later. Perfect rice every time. Throw the cooking bowl in the dishwasher. You can get a 3 or 6 cup model from Target for $15.
October 20th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
One thought if the lentil flavor is too strong for your family is to substitute a different kind of legume. I bet that small white beans or even pigeon peas - both of which have a milder flavor - would be equally good in this. Personally I love lentils, but I know lots of people who don’t.
October 24th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
The responses from the kids cracked me up…I love you let us read their honest (and so spot on) takes on the food they eat. It’s such a great thing that you listen to them when they talk about food. Not a lot of people do, gourmet or not.
And really, you can never go wrong with bacon…Canadian or otherwise…