SaS- Quick Fixes

Welcome Seekers and Happy Thursday!  It's time to get out your recipes and link up with my sissy over at Think Tank Momma to Share a Spoon!  Today is quick fixes.  Ya know your easy "go-to" recipes.  The ones you've been making all your life that you lurve!  Or atleast that's what Imma sharing!  This is another one of my momma's recipes.  (Which is funny to me, because I thought I rarely ever made her recipes, but apparently I do)!  Anyways, I grew up cooking and eating this one all of the time!

My mother is a southern woman but she doesn't really cook like it.  She rarely, if EVER, cooks like my granny.  My granny makes good 'ol fashion southern cooking.  You know, fried chicken, biscuits (the best in the world), chicken-n-rice, chicken-n-dumplings, greens, country fried steak, rice and gravy, REAL SOUTHERN COOKING.  So I'm not really sure where my momma learned to cook?  I guess she taught herself?  Anyway, she made "ethnic" cuisines growing up, or atleast what she called ethnic food!  Stuff like Spanish Rice, Mexican Roll-Ups, Chinese Stir-fry, Hawaiian Chicken, none of which was really ethnic.  Don't get me wrong, she's a great cook, but I think she just made up her own ideas and went with them!  Because the first time I tried any of these things in a restaurant, it was NOTING like what momma made!  God love her!  

One of my favorites was her "Spanish Rice"!  Which is what I'm sharing today.  (I even cooked it and have pictures to share)!  She calls it Spanish Rice, so I'm calling it Spanish Rice.  It's kind of like stuffed peppers without stuffing the peppers!  My good friend, Val, is Puerto Rican and when I told her about it, she said it sounded very similar to a Puerto Rican dish that she makes, minus the cheese.  Go figure!  Maybe momma did know a little something about ethnic dishes after all!    

Spanish Rice

1 lb ground beef

1 onion chopped

1 green pepper chopped

2-3 cups cooked rice (totally guessing on the amount)

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes in sauce

(you can forgo the tomatoes and just use 2- 15 oz cans of tomato sauce)

2 cups (1 bag) shredded cheddar cheese

olive oil

salt/pepper/red pepper flakes to taste

I know it's a little more than five ingredients, but it's still super easy. 

First I start the rice, so it can be cooking while I'm doing everything else.  If you want to make this super easy, use the Steam Fresh bags of rice in the Freezer Section!  I'd say about 2 bags, depending on how much you're making.  I usually make 2 cups of uncooked rice, so I can have left overs to make Fried Rice or something else another night.  

Next I saute the onion and green pepper in some olive oil.  I like to add the red pepper flakes while I'm sauteing them.  (My mom didn't put red pepper in hers, that's a Usina Family thing, we like things HOT, so I put red pepper or jalapenos in everything)!  I cook those just until they start to become translucent.  I remove them from the pan and brown the ground beef.  Once the ground beef is ready, I add the sauteed onion/green peppers, tomato sauce, tomatoes, salt and pepper, and the cooked rice.  (You can eat this as is now, the last step is completely optional.  And it's what makes it less Spanish, and more of a casserole dish, if you will).

I pour the rice mixture in a baking dish and top with cheese.  Then bake it in the oven for about 25 minutes on 375 degrees.  (Just until the cheese is melted and it's bubbling around the edges)!  That's it!  Comfort food made easy!  And it's simply delicioso!