Baked Rice with Sausage Recipe

Hey hey guys and dolls, your loyal blog mistress is back along with ma to bring you another week's worth of yumtastic food. Can you believe Christmas is already over with and the new year is just a few days away? Nuts I tell ya. Fear not though, we'll be rolling out more recipes for you all throughout "2012". Speaking of Christmas Ma and I hope the portly white bearded fella brought you everything you wanted and more. I know he spoiled us over here. I am in a love affair with my new Betsey Johnson bag and bracelet as well as my Gleeful stuff. Ma is also digging her new snuggy...yes I said snuggy. *shrugs* who knew? OH! and I got some amazing cookbooks for Christmas. Including Ms. Nadia G's Bitchin' Kitchen cookbook. If you're unfamiliar with Ms. G...well lift up that rock and head on over the cooking channel and give her a watch. Trust me she is awesome and we plan on making a few of her "bitchin'"(<--ha, bitchin'...get it?...no?) recipes.
So enough about Christmas let's get to the real reason we meet here every Tuesday, the recipes!

This week was Ma's pick and it's a casserole that she found from the awesome Taste of Home website. I know you're probably saying "UGH, not another one from them" but hey they've given us some home runs and besides if it ain't broke don't fix it. It's something hearty and for you cheese haters out there (like Ma). *mumbles "cheese haters you ever heard of such a thing?"* Anywho, intruiged? Ah, come on I know you are so here's what you'll need:


Baked Rice with Sausage Recipe




12-14 Servings
Prep: 30 min.
Bake: 50 min.

Ingredients:
2 pounds bulk Italian sausage
4 celery ribs, thinly sliced
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
4-1/2 cups water
3/4 cup dry chicken noodle soup mix
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted


Directions:
*In a large skillet, cook the sausage, celery, onion and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender; drain. In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil; add dry soup mix. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until the noodles are tender. Stir in canned soup, rice and sausage mixture; mix well.
*Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 40 minutes. Toss bread crumbs and butter; sprinkle over rice mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes or until rice is tender. Let stand for 10minutes before serving. Yield: 12-14 servings.





This was actually pretty good. I enjoyed the bread crumb topping the creaminess of the actual dish.
So let's move on shall we? Oh you noticed there are no pictures from us?....*crickets* how about them Lions?
OH FINE! I acidentally deleted them. *hangs head* I know I should've saved them immediately but somehow they went to the land of never seen again photo's. I blame our poodle Charlie. You never know he could've stepped on my phone and zip it was gone. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.



Tid Bits:
*As always not a fan of the sausage? Try turkey with it or even veggie meat.

*We wanna throw out there that they do make low sodium soups. So if you're not into high salt or you just think the stuff is bad for ya then use the low sodium soup.


Ma's Spot: I love one pot dinners. Thery're so simple and easy clean up. I really enjoyed this recipe. The rice was great and the combination of the canned soup/dry soup really went well together. So if you're looking for an easy fast meal I encourage you to try this.





Baking Corner: Chocolate Trifle






Prep Time: 30 Min
Cook Time: 25 Min
Ready In: 8 Hrs 55 Min
Servings: 12

Ingredients
1 (19.8 ounce) package brownie mix
1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1/2 cup water
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (1.5 ounce) bar chocolate candy


Directions
1.Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and cool completely. Cut into 1inch squares.
2.In a large bowl, combine pudding mix, water and sweetened condensed milk. Mix until smooth, then fold in 8 ounces whipped topping until no streaks remain.
3.In a trifle bowl or glass serving dish, place half of the brownies, half of the pudding mixture and half of the 12 ounce container of whipped topping. Repeat layers. Shave chocolate onto top layer for garnish. Refrigerate 8 hours before serving.



Dinah: This is one of my all time favorite desserts to make, especially for a party. My only variation is I swap the brownies for chocolate cake and it seems to give it a creamier texture. Brownies can have a very dense texture and with the other components (<---big word for the day, ha.) it would give off a weirdness all the way around. I like my desserts to gel nicely together. So if you are a lover of chocolate then this is something right up your alley.

Ma: The only bad thing about this was my family wouldn't give up their shares of the trifle and let me eat the whole damn thing! You have to...I repeat you have to fix this recipe. The wonderful taste of the cake and cream was unbelievable. I could never make this recipe by myself because the outcome would be me eating all by myself. It's too good to share! Out of all the desserts my daughter has made me this is one of my favorites.




That's all folks until "2012". Have a wonderful and SAFE New Years peeps and we'll see you in the new year!


Spoons & Spatula's,
~Dinah & Ma