Dinner

Quick and Easy Spanish Rice Bowl With Bacon And Cheese

My family has been getting really bored with the plain white rice I’ve been serving. In an attempt to keep peace in the household, I’ve been looking for some new recipes for rice. I thought I would experiment with layering some traditional flavors of onion and green pepper and bacon. While searching through some recipes I found a few that had the basic ingredients I was looking for. After a few modifications, I came up with this recipe which turned out way better than I had expected and was a big hit at my household this week. I served this as a side dish with baked chicken. However, since it is such a substantial dish, it can really serve as a main course if you just add a protein to it (either shredded chicken and/or black beans).

Below are the steps I took in making the spanish rice bowl. (I’ve listed the ingredients at the bottom of the post).

First, I sauteed bacon in a frying pan. While the bacon was cooking, I chopped up the green pepper and then the onion.

Once the bacon was done cooking, I drained it on a paper towel and set it aside. I discarded all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings and added the chopped green pepper and onion to the skillet. I cooked them over medium heat until they were tender.

Next I added a 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes to the skillet along with the black pepper and cayenne pepper. I did not drain the tomatoes. I let the mixture simmer for 15 minutes. At this point the kitchen was really smelling nice!

While the skillet mixture was simmering, I made a batch of long grain rice. (I combined 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice, brought it to a boil, and then simmered it for 15 minutes.)

Once the skillet mixture had simmered for 20 minutes and the rice was completely cooked, I added the bacon and the rice to the skillet and combined all the ingredients thoroughly.

I served the rice in individual serving bowls, and added shredded cheddar cheese to the top.

Quick & Easy Spanish Style Rice

Ingredients:

3 Pieces Bacon
1 small white onion
1 small green pepper
1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups water
1 cup long grain rice
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Optional
2 cups shredded chicken
1 cup black beans

Quick Oven Baked Chicken Alfredo Pot Pie

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of RAGÚ® Pasta Sauce. All opinions are entirely my own.

I’m always looking for ways to streamline my mealtime. Like most of you, my week has been filled with afterschool events, parent teacher conferences, and morning and afternoon drop-offs and pick-ups. That does not leave much time for cooking. Yet, I know that I will have a houseful of hungry kids at dinner time. For busy weeks like this, I rely on some easy fix recipes to get a meal on the table quickly.

Publix is having a RAGÚ® BOGO event which starts now and runs through Wednesday, October 11th. One of my favorite ways to save money is by using BOGO sales.

Since time is really short this week and I needed a quick go-to meal, I purchased the large RAGÚ Cheese Creations Classic Alfredo Pasta Sauce (Family Size, 21.5 oz.), and because of the BOGO sale I received another one free. Win, Win! RAGÚ Pasta Sauce can easily be found in the pasta sauce aisle at Publix.

We are a cheese loving family and the RAGÚ Classic Alfredo Sauce is packed full of Parmesan and Romano cheeses. It is thick and creamy and wonderful in Chicken Fettucine and Chicken Alfredo. Made with real cheese and fresh cream, this classic Alfredo Sauce is just bursting with cheese flavor. The sauce is available in 16oz and 21.5oz jars (which is the perfect size for feeding a large family like ours).

Here is a quick recipe I developed using RAGÚ Alfredo Sauce. I hope you enjoy!

Quick Oven Baked Chicken Alfredo Pot Pie

Ingredients:
4 Cups shredded rotisserie chicken
2 Cups frozen broccoli, carrots, cauliflower mix
1 21.5 oz jar RAGÚ Family Size Cheese Creations Classic Alfredo Pasta Sauce
2 Cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 Container refrigerator biscuits

Directions:
Spray a 9 x 12 baking dish with cooking spray.
Place the cooked rotisserie chicken and broccoli/carrot/cauliflower mixture into the dish and stir to mix. Pour the RAGÚ Classic Alfredo Sauce across the mixture and stir to combine. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly across the mixture. Separate the biscuits and cut them into fourths. Layer them on the top.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes to 40 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown and are thoroughly cooked.