Pizza Rice Casserole

We made it our mission to use stuff in the house this weekend for our meals.  So I pulled out my copy of the More-with-Less Cookbook and went hunting.  I came across this delightfully simple little casserole.  I admit it sounds a little odd—cottage cheese and rice???—and yet the taste is very nice.  We served it alongside a fresh fruit salad.

2⁄3 c raw rice, brown or white, or 2 cups plain cooked rice
1 1⁄3 c water or vegetable broth
3⁄4 lb ground beef  (we had leftover ground turkey)
1 onion, chopped
1 cn 15oz., tomato sauce 
1⁄4 t garlic powder or 1 clove minced fresh garlic
1 t sugar
t salt and pepper to taste
1⁄4 t dried oregano
1 t parlsey flakes or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 1⁄2 c cottage cheese
1⁄2 c shredded cheese

Cook raw rice in water or broth until tender, 15 minutes for white rice or about 40 minutes for brown rice; cool slightly. 

While rice is cooking, brown ground beef and onion in a large skillet. Add tomato sauce and seasonings; cover and simmer 15 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 325°F; butter a 2-qt. casserole. 

Combine cooked rice with cottage cheese. Spread one-third of the rice mixture in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with one-third of the meat sauce. Continue to alternate layers, ending with tomato sauce. Sprinkle with the shredded cheese. 

Bake in preheated oven about 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

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Good Friday Vegetable Soup

I’ll be breaking my fast tomorrow evening after the service.  This is the soup I’ll be eating at that time, a classic from More with Less with some fresh bread.

Heat in soup pot:

3 T. oil

Add:

3 medium carrots, sliced

2 medium onions, sliced

1-2 stalks of celery, sliced

1 c. shredded cabbage

1/4 c. chopped parsley

1/4 t. salt

Cook over medium heat about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Add:

4 c. vegetable broth (or chicken)

2 c. fresh or frozen French-cut green beans

1/4-1/2 t. caraway seed

Heat to boiling.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Dice into soup bowls

1/4 lb. cheese

Ladle soup onto cheese to melt slightly.  Serve.

Homemade Pizza

I love pizza a lot.  I’m a carbs guy, I guess, and toss on some cheese and toppings and giddyup!  My favorite pizza comes from the More with Less cookbook.  Homemade dough and sauce.  Definitely tastes better than the store bought sauce.

Oven to 450.

Crust

Combine in a bowl

1 c. warm water

1 package (1 Tbs) yeast

When dissolved, add

1 T sugar

1 1/2 t salt

2 T olive oil (EVOO)

1 1/4 c flour

combine (or beat) until smooth. Add:

2 c additional flour or enough to make a stiff dough

Knead until elastic, about 5 minutes.  Let rest 10-15 minutes, or, if you have time, put in greased bowl and let rise until double about 45 minutes.  Form 2 balls (or 1 deep dish) and stretch into 2 greased pizza pans.  Let rise 10 minutes.

Sauce

1 small onion, chopped

2 1/2 c canned tomatoes, OR 2 c tom. sauce OR 3 cups fresh tomatoes chopped

1 bay leaf

1 t. salt

1 t oregano

1/2 t basil

1 clove garlic, minced

Combine in saucepan, bring to a boil.  Crush whole tomatoes, cover and cook slowly for 30 minutes until sauce slightly thickens.  Discard bay leaf. 

Toppings

Add your favorite toppings (green pepper, onion, pepperoni, sausage, mushroom) and add cheese (1/2-1 lb of moz. cheddar or swiss (or a mixture)), bake for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!

More with Less Cookbook

I love a very simple cookbook that comes from the Mennonite community called More with Less Cookbook.  I highly recommend it for simple recipes–nothing gourmet here, but hey, there’s a need for the basic recipes in life!  The book deals a lot with how we as American’s can consume less.  It’s got quite a bit about that in the beginning, and is fairly convicting.

Recipes we’ve done:

Beef Curry (love this one!)

Pizza Sauce/Dough

Peanut butter popcorn

Creamed Chicken with Corn Bread Dressing

Oatmeal Bread

Quick Chocolate Pudding

Fried Rice

I know we’ve done more but this should give you a sample.  Lots of people on Amazon talk about the simplicity of it, how it was great during tough financial times too.  Master Baking Mix, granola, lots of egg dishes, Chicken pot pie, ginger-glazed carrots, and lots of other things as well!  Each chapter ends with a “Gathering up the fragments” section with ideas on how to use what is leftover (like using bread to make your own croutons or bread crumbs).

I have the spiral bound version, and would highly recommend that over the paperback version.

Melissa’s Birthday Dinner

Basic Meat Curry from “More with Less” Cookbook

Sauté in heavy deep skillet

2 T. of oil

2 onions, finely chopped

1-2 clove of garlic, minced

Blend in small bowl

2 T. lemon juice (or vinegar)

2-4 t. curry powder

Stir curry mixture into sautéed onions and fry lightly for 1-2 minutes. This is a mild curry, and you can add more spices if you want more seasoning (I do! You can add more curry or some of the spices of curry: cloves, cardamom, coriander, ginger, tumeric, cumin, cinnamon).

Add one of the following:

1-3lb. chicken fryer cut into pieces

2 lbs beef, cut into 1″ chunks (we usually do this)

2 lbs lamb, cut into 1″ chunks

2 lbs of fish, cut into chunks,

Stir fry briefly to coat meat with spices.

Add:

2 cans tomato sauce

1 t salt

Bring to a boil and simmer for 1-3 hours (beef and lamb longer than chicken), or 20 minutes for fish. Add liquid if you need it. You can thicken with flour before serving. Sometimes I add in a small can of tomato paste.

Serve over rice. Sprinkle condiments which we put out in small bowls:

peanuts

cut apples

cut bananas

coconut

raisins

Even better Day 2!

Happy Birthday, Melissa!