Sweet Rice!!!! Arkansas Grown!

With the hustle and bustle of school back in full swing, I thought I would share with you one of my go-to breakfast "treats" for the kiddos.  They are rice lovers and as some of you already know, Arkansas is the nation's largest rice growing state and we love to support local!!!!! GO ARKANSAS!!!!!!! Arkansas Grown!!!!

Anyhow, back on topic.  To make this recipe easy peasy, I simply make a double batch of rice for dinner the night before and set half of it in the refrigerator.  So this is great on taco night, just remember to set aside the rice ahead of time or your vermin kids will eat the rice and this plan won't work.

I usually set aside about 3-4 cups cooked rice.  We usually use brown rice, but on this particular occasion, we had white rice for whatever reason.  Either is fine.  Don't kill over with the details here.

When I sleepily awake, I preheat the oven to 350 degrees

I then generously butter a 9x9 Pyrex pan. A round glass pan works fine too. Don't get caught up in the details here.  Use what you have on hand.  If you are anti-butter, use non-stick spray.

At this point, I again get creative. Depending on what you have on hand and what you prefer in taste is what you can use.  We are sugar-free around here, so our mix is a bit different.  If you aren't, then tweak it a bit with milk and a bit of sugar.  (I didn't die growing up and that was what my mom used.)  The combo we use is as follows - 1 cup coconut milk, 1 cup whole milk, 2-4 tablespoons honey depending on if you like sweet or not, 1 tablespoon good vanilla, 1 good dash of cinnamon and a sprinkle of nutmeg and cloves.  Stir it together.  It will be a bit soupy.  Rice is starchy so it will absorb more of the liquids as it bakes and thicken slightly.

Pour into your baking dish.  Add a few dollops of butter (or not if you aren't into that kind of thing).  It just kind of melts into the sauce and makes it a bit richer.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes till it starts to get bubbly around the edges.  If you want to hurry this process along a bit more, you can raise the oven temp to 375 degrees during the last 10 minutes of baking for a more golden brown topping on the rice.  Just be warned, the edges will also brown a bit more.

Dish into bowls and watch your kiddos lap up like little kittens.  I serve this with scrambled eggs and toast to round out the meal.  This is such a treat.

PS - all the prep work for this can be done the night before and simply placed in the oven while you are scurrying around getting the kiddos ready for school.  Seriously, it's that easy.  Just be warned, your kids might love you a little more and think you are a super fab mom after this and you might get morning kisses with bad kid breath!



Sweet Rice Recipe

Ingredients

3-4 Cups Rice (brown or white)

2 cups milk type liquid (we use 1 cup coconut milk & 1 cup whole milk)

2-4 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon good vanilla

1 good dash cinnamon

sprinkle of nutmeg & cloves

Few dollops of butter for top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9x9 dish. Mix all ingredients.  Pour ingredients into pan. Place dollops of butter on top.  Bake 20-25 minutes till bubbly around edges. Serve in bowls.  Accept hugs gratefully.