The end of mush...

This week was like ripping off a band aid.  I knew it was inevitably upon us- 5 days straight of work. Nearing the end, I absolutely thought to myself "that didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would."  Winter has become a week by week affair.  One week of uncertain weather, followed by a productive week with some beautiful (70 degree) weather.  Next week is uncertain- but we're not quite there yet, so no need to worry!

Wednesday brought ABSOLUTELY gorgeous weather in Virginia! It was warm, breezy, and full of sunshine.  Hubby had the day off for scheduled maintenance- i.e. physical therapy on his ankle.  I had the day extended... by picking up extra hours of work...boo!  With a to-do list a mile long I made it home ready to tackle the home to dos- PLEASANTLY surprised they had already been tackled!  Chores were scratched off the list and I never had to lift a finger- win win!!!  To top it off dinner was about 20 minutes from being finished and I was sent to the couch to chill out for a few! Part of an awesome marriage is knowing when you need to kick it up a notch so your partner can unwind.  My better half has this skill locked on!

Dinner was Beef Stir Fry over Brown Rice.

beef (we used the stir fry strips from the meat section of the grocery store)

1 cup diced onion

1 green pepper sliced into skinny strips

1/2 cup green peas
5 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp ground ginger-we did not have any fresh on hand

3 Tbsp chili sauce

1 tsp honey

2 Tbsp soy sauce
splash of sherry

fresh cracked black pepper

Mix together honey, soy sauce, sherry, and chili sauce.  Set aside.  On the stove saute onion, garlic, and ginger for about 30 seconds in a tsp of oil. Add peas and peppers and cook for a couple of minutes.  Add in sauce and mix until coated. Remove veggies from pan. Cook beef for 3-5 minutes- crack black pepper over beef. Steve added a ton of pepper- which was perfect for us, but may not suite everyone's taste. Add sauce and veggies mixture in with beef, and mix together.  Serve over brown rice and enjoy. (we also garnished with a quickly sauteed cherry tomato)

We've made more than our fair share of MUSHY brown rice. The dogs have eaten their fair share of unwanted, unusable brown rice. We have had many a kitchen curse word uttered after waiting 45 minutes for rice and having the end result being dog food! Enter GOOGLE... google saved us from our mushy rice!  The original post was found on Saveur.com, however I read repeated re-postings and decided to give it a go.  A few of the posts suggested using less water- which we did, and covering the pot with foil before replacing the lid for the last 10 minutes of steaming- which we also did.  The result was AWESOME brown rice- sans mush!

Here are the 'how to's' thanks to Saveur!

Rinse 1 cup of brown rice for 30 seconds under cold water.

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil, add the rice and boil uncovered for 30 minutes.

Drain rice for 10 seconds.

Place rice back in pan, cover with foil, and replace lid for 10 minutes.

Fluff with fork- and revel in the fluffiness....

Enjoy the weekend!