What to do with leftover cheesy broccoli rice...

I love when we have Chinese take-out, it's like the dinner that never ends :)  There are so many uses and creations that can come for it.  Over the New Year's holiday we got Chinese take out.  We had several cartons of rice left over.  Earlier in the week I made a batch of cheesy, broccoli rice with it.  Apparently it miraculously grew because it felt like we had more leftover than I started with.  Well you know how I hate to throw away food, so our cheesy broccoli rice became meatballs.  The nice thing about this recipe is if you don't feel like taking the time to make meatballs, you can use the mixture to make meatloaf or even hamburgers.  While the meatballs were baking, I made a gravy to serve with them, but they would be great by themsevles or as a sandwich with cheese melted on top.  Enjoy!

Easy, Cheesy, Meatballs
2 cups Broccoli Cheese Rice
1 lb Ground Beef
1 Egg
1/2 TBSP Onion Powder
1/2 tsp salt

Browned Meatballs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Form 1" to 1 and 1/2" meatballs.  Spray a large frying pan with non-stick spray.  Brown meatballs on all sides.  Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.  Makes around 15 meatballs.



My Helper :)

*Your meat mixture should have the consistency of a meatloaf mixture.  If your rice is dry, add a little milk to the mixture to moisten it up.  Be cautious though, if it is too moist, your meatballs will fall apart!

What to do with leftover pork and white rice?

For some people, the crockpot or slow cooker is a winter time cooking tool.  For me, it is useful all year long.  You can cook other things besides soups and stews in them, they are easy to use and they require very little energy.  On Monday, we grilled pork steaks at my brother Mike's.  We had a large pack and at the end was a small roast.  It seemed like the butcher got tired of cutting the steaks.  It wasn't a problem because I knew I'd be able to make a What's for Leftovers recipe with it.  So after we were finished grilling all of the pork steaks, we threw the little roast on the bbq and let it cook while we ate.  On Tuesday, when I was planning our dinner, I realized I still had a carton of white rice left from Chinese takeout over the weekend.  Presto, Apple Butter Pork and Rice was born.

Apple Butter Pork and Rice
Ingredients:
1 to 2 Lbs of Cooked Pork*
1/4 Cup White Wine
4 Packs Soy Sauce
1 TBSP Apple Butter
1 Cup Apple Juice
1 TBSP Garlic
2 Packs Sweet n' Sour Sauce
1 TBSP BBQ Sauce
1 1/2 Cups White Rice, Cooked or 1 Small Take-Out Carton

*You can use any kind of pork.  I used the little pork butt roast and a pork steak.  Feel free to use roast, steaks, or chops; whatever you have leftover.

1. Cut pork into thin slices and place on the bottom of the slow cooker.
2. In a separate bowl combine wine, soy sauce, apple butter, apple juice, garlic, sweet n' sour sauce, and bbq sauce.  Pour over pork.
3. Cook on high for 1 hour, stirring occasionaly
4. Pour rice into slow cooker, mixing into liquid.  Cook on low for another 20 to 30 minutes.  It's finished when your rice is completely heated.

What to do with extra white rice?

We have had Chinese 3 times in the past week- that's a lot!  Each time it was delicious, but once again I was faced with the dilemma of what to do with another carton of white rice.  I made the rice into a tangy salad, that you'll hopefully love.  It's a great change from all of the 'winter' foods we've been eating lately.




Tangy Rice Salad


Ingredients:
3 Cups Cooked White Rice
1/2 Large Green Pepper- diced
20 Small Green Olives- sliced
1/4 Cup Large Red Onion
1/2 Cup Small Cubes of Colby Cheese
1 Cup Frozen Peas
3/4 Cup Mayonnaise
1/4 Cup Italian Salad Dressing (I used the Pasta House dressing)
1 TBSP Dijon Style Mustard


Pour the rice into a large bowl, breaking up the clumps as you pour it into the bowl.  Mix the Mayonnaise, Salad Dressing, and Mustard into the rice.  Add the Veggies and Cheese and stir.


The vegetables I added to the salad are what I had on hand.  Other veggies that would be good in this are artichoke hearts and black olives.

What to do with leftover takeout rice?

My husband and I had a date-night Saturday night.  We went out for sushi and had a fabulous time.  You don't realize how nice it is to sit down and eat without interruptions until you have a two and a three year old.  Our dinner was fabulous and we took home an entire to-go box of fried and white rice.  I normally make a Chinese dish when I take home fried rice, but since winter came back to St. Charles today, I decided to make a soup.  Here's a super easy recipe for Creamy Broccoli and Rice Soup.  Remember to top off your bowls with sharp cheddar cheese to add a little extra zing.  Stay Warm!


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Creamy Broccoli and Rice Soup



Ingredients:
2 Cups Cooked Rice (Mine was a combination of white and chicken fried rice.)
1 1/2 Cups of Frozen Chopped Broccoli, thawed
1- 12 oz Can of Fat Free Evaporated Milk
1 Can Fat Free Condensed Broccoli and Cheese Soup
1 Cup water
1/2 Packet of Ramen Noodle Chicken Flavoring
Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese


Pour Evaporated milk into a pan.  Add Rice, Broccoli, Broccoli Soup, and Water to the pan.  Cook until boiling.  While stirring, make sure you break up the chunks of rice.  Add 1/2 packet of Ramen Noodle Chicken Flavoring and stir.  Continue cooking and stirring (so it won't burn) until soup starts to thicken.  When serving, top each bowl with a generous sprinkle of Sharp Cheddar Cheese.