Zucchini Breakfast Bars with Alfalfa Sprouts

I've been having fun growing sprouts in the dead of winter. I was looking for recipes that I could add them to and decided to try making a zucchini muffin bar. Alfalfa sprouts hide very well in these since you expect some green flecks from the zucchini anyway. The sprouts add a ton of vitamins but don't change the flavor at all. Hooray! My kids have devoured these and don't even care that I hid sprouts in them!

Home Canned Sweet and Sour Sauce

This is one of our family's favortie ways to use up garden produce. We've outgrown the pint-size jars and so this year I chose to can this sauce in 3 cup jars. I didn't even know they existed until I started searching for them, knowing a quart of sauce would be too much. They are as tall as quart jars, but skinnier. I hope they will be the perfect size for our needs.

Coconut Milk Ice Cream

We have many family members with food allergies so it can be challenging to feed them when they come for a visit. I always like to do my best at being a hostess and allow my sister-in-laws a bit of a break from planning all the meals so they can have a bit of a vacation. They always jump in and help in the preparation of meals when they are here, but they are so thankful that the planning and shopping has been done.

Sautéed Garden Vegetables

Side dishes during garden season are quick and easy. We enjoyed grilled hamburgers with fresh corn on the cob grown at my brother's house and a zucchini carrot stir-fry - simple and delicious!

To sauté vegetables, pour 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan. Add sliced zucchini and carrots. I also like to add 2-3 Tbsp chopped onion. Heat to med high and cook, stirring occasionally until veggies are tender. Season with your favorite mix of herbs. We love a garlic herb mix we can get in bulk at our local grocery store. Simple and delicious!

Note: If you lost your zucchini in the garden jungle and it grew too big, just scoop the seeds out before slicing. It still sautés up to be delicious.

Raspberry Syrup with Ultra Gel

We got to pick my parent's raspberry patch recently. It is a highlight of the summer - the kids are getting old enough that they can actually be helpers and know that we will make some delicious items with what we pick. I often make freezer jam with all of them, but this year I decided to make some raspberry syrup as well. 

I stretched my berry puree with applesauce for the syrup just like I do with the freezer jam recipe. I used about 6 cups of berry puree and 2 cups of applesauce to get my 8 cups of fruit puree called for in the recipe. It was a little bit of guessing since I just poured some puree into my 2 qt measuring bowl and added applesauce and tasted to make sure it still tasted as much like raspberries as I wanted. You can use all berry puree if you want to. The applesauce just stretches the more expensive berries and we can make more syrup or jam that way.

This recipe is very versatile. You can use whatever variety or mix of fruit puree you would like. You can also buy the frozen juice concentrate at the store and turn it into syrup - let your imagination dictate the flavor you want to try.

Soft Set Jelly/Syrup
8 cups fruit juice or puree	1 cup corn syrup
½ cup lemon juice	1 ½–2 cups Ultra Gel*
4 cups sugar
Combine fruit puree and lemon juice in a non-reactive pan. Combine sugar with 1 cup ultra gel and then add to fruit puree. Sweeten to taste with corn syrup (or honey or agave nectar - use the sweetener that you prefer) Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and whisk in additional ultra gel gradually until it reaches the thickness you desire - leave it thinner for syrup or thicker for jelly. Return to heat and boil 1 minute. Ladle into jars immediately and process for 35 minutes in hot water bath. Makes approximately 5 ½ pints. *Ultra Gel is the same as ultra sperse and instant clear-jel and these can be used interchangeably as the thickener in the above recipe. **This recipe can be frozen instead of processed with great results. ***If you are on a sugar-free diet, use whatever you desire to sweeten this syrup. Just store it in the freezer instead of canning it since we are cautioned against canning an untested recipe.

Taco Filling or Taco Soup for 100

Every now and then, I get the assignment to be in charge of feeding a large crowd. Sometimes it is a family reunion, a neighborhood party, or a church social. I decided I should start recording what I did so I could refer back to it the next time an assignment comes around. I figured there were others out there like me. You could easily reduce this recipe if you didn't have such a large crowd. It freezes very well so I always make it ahead and store in the fridge or freezer until the day of the event. When ready to serve, just heat and eat. This served 100 when we had about 40 kids in our group. If you were serving only adults, you should plan on it feeding 80.

Taco Filling for 100

4 lbs dry red beans (or pinto)

4 cups brown rice

10 lbs hamburger

2 large onions, chopped

2 cups taco seasoning mix

1-2 lbs frozen corn

3 #10 cans crushed tomatoes

Toppings - 

6-9 lbs of lettuce salad mix (2-3 large bags lettuce from Costco)

2 quarts Ranch dressing

4 lbs sour cream

3-4 lbs shredded cheese

2 quarts salsa

9 lbs tortilla chips (3 large bags of Costco tortilla chips)

Soak and cook the dry beans. Cook the brown rice. Brown the hamburger with the onions. (See my trick on how to do this large quantity here.) Mix the beans, rice and hamburger with the remaining ingredients. Store in gallon ziplock bags until ready to heat and serve. It fills 6-7 gallon bags. This mixture freezes well so you can do it well ahead of the big day.


To serve - Place tortilla chips on the plate and top with taco mix. Add additional toppings as desired. This mix could also be rolled in flour tortillas.


To make taco soup, add 2 more #10 cans of crushed tomatoes, adjust taco seasoning amount to taste, and add water if needed. Serve in bowls and top with chips and other toppings as desired.

Campfire Fajitas

Camping season is upon us - a few quick, easy to prepare ahead meals are essential for the family cook to enjoy the trip. Here is one that we enjoyed on our first outing this year.

We prepped the food the night before. We were only staying one night this time around. When that is the case, I've learned to prepare the meal at home in my own kitchen and then take the food in a thermos. By the time we leave after James gets home from work, we get to camp right at dinner time. Everyone is hungry and the food is hot so we can eat right away. It works out nicely and really cuts down on the complaining from hungry children.

We have a couple of thermoses I use just for this purpose.

This one holds about 6 cups of food which is plenty big for this fajita recipe or taco filling or sloppy joes, etc. It is supposed to keep hot foods hot for up to 6 hours. We have only tested it for 2-3 hours, but it has worked great!

You can also use a little hard sided cooler like this one. If doing so, I wrap the food in foil packets and tuck them inside. I have taken foil (hobo) dinners in this thermos after baking them about halfway in the oven. The thermos acts like a crockpot and continues to slow cook the meals while we drive. We will open them up and they are still piping hot 5-6 hours later. We can do an entire day trip without needing to pack any cooking equipment - it is great!

Campfire Fajitas

1 lb boneless chicken breast

2 large peppers, any color

1 med onion

4-5 cloves minced garlic

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 Tbsp dried cilantro

1 Tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp liquid smoke

2 Tbsp lime juice

Flour tortillas

sour cream 

guacamole

shredded cheese

At home: Slice chicken into strips and place in ziplock bag. Add garlic, vegetable oil, spices, liquid smoke, and lime juice. Allow to marinate while getting to the campsite. (You could even do this step way ahead and place the bag in the freezer. Then it could just thaw in the cooler until you need it.) Slice peppers and onions (being sure to remove the seeds from the peppers) and place in a second ziplock bag.

At camp: Remove the chicken from the marinade and cook in a large frying pan over an open fire or camp stove. When the chicken is nearly done, add the peppers and onions and cook until the onions become translucent. Combine everything in a flour tortilla and top with your choice of toppings.

Freezer to Crockpot Cranberry Lemon Pork Roast

Another successful freezer to crockpot recipe. This method is quickly becoming something to love. You don't always have 5-6 weeks without a kitchen like we are living through right now with our remodel, but everyone always has at least one day each week with some reason why preparing dinner just won't work into the schedule. This method of preparing quite a few meals all at once and then freezing them for later can help us eat healthier and stay within our food budget since we wont' be feeling the need to run out for take-out or fast food. I've decided I will probably keep a few of these meals in my freezer all the time even after the new kitchen is done.

Freezer to Crockpot Cranberry Lemon Pork Roast

2-3 lb pork roast

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1-2 tsp minced garlic

1 16oz can whole berry cranberry sauce

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp cornstach (added later)

Place all ingredients into a gallon ziplock freezer bag except for the cornstarch. Label bag with instructions to add 2 Tbsp cornstarch just before cooking. Thaw before cooking. Dump everything into the crockpot. Mix cornstarch with a little cold water and add to crockpot. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over rice.

Asian Sesame Salmon

Here's a new recipe we tried recently and loved. I found it on my friend's blog here. The flavor was delicious and it was quick to put together. I made a few changes to the original recipe so I could make it with what I had at home. It was delicious. This makes a large amount. I actually only did half the recipe and used 1 lb of salmon. Hope you enjoy it as well.

Asian Sesame Salmon

1/3 cup honey

2 Tbsp dried, minced onioin, rehydrated

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp dried, minced garlic

3/4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)

2 lbs salmon fillets

Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Place salmon in 9x13 pan.  Spoon  honey mixture evenly over salmon. Roast salmon in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork, basting occasionally with honey mixture.

You could also wrap the salmon in foil packets and cook them on the grill. This is what we will be doing this time around since I don't have an oven hooked up right now with the remodel happening. Dry wall work is finishing up this week and then painting and flooring begin - we are making progress!

Freezer to Crockpot Orange Chicken

My family cheers every time they learn we are having this for dinner! It pleases everyone which is a difficult task with seven of us. They would probably not mind if we ate it every week. I've adapted the recipe over the years to make it very easy which allows me to cheer too!

Our remodel continues - this recipe was easy to cook on the bathroom counter. I did the chicken in the crockpot and the egg rolls (pre-made and in the freezer a few months ago) and stir-fry veggies in an electric frying pan. I had pre-cooked rice also waiting in the freezer that we warmed in the microwave.

Freezer to Crockpot Orange Chicken
3 chicken breasts	1 cup orange juice
1 cup brown sugar, packed	½ cup apple cider vinegar
1–2  Tbsp soy sauce	5-6 Tbsp cornstarch
1 cup orange juice
Combine brown sugar, soy sauce, orange juice and vinegar in a gallon size ziplock freezer bag. Add 3 fresh or frozen chicken breasts.  Label bag and freeze. Thaw before cooking. Dump everything into the crockpot and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 5-6 hours. Fish the chicken out of the crockpot and set aside. Use a slotted spoon to remove any unwanted material that may be floating in the sauce. Discard. To thicken the sauce, mix cornstarch with a little bit of cold water. Add to crockpot and mix. Dice chicken and return to crockpot. Allow to simmer 30 minutes on high to complete the thickening process. (I always use Ultra Sperse to thicken my sauce.  It is an instant thickener. This means that I can just sprinkle a little in and stir then decide if I need a bit more. I can get it to "just the right" thickness without guessing and I don't have to wait 30 minutes.) Once the sauce is thick, serve over rice.

Apple Cherry Pandowdy and Pie Crust Recipe

Pandowdy is a fun word to say - it is also very easy to make. I always try to keep some pie crust in the freezer so this becomes a quick dessert. Double crust pies have always intimidated me a bit because I always have a tricky time getting my top crust to look just right. With a pandowdy, there is no "perfect" about it - so no reason to be afraid.

Fill your pan - whatever shape or size you want with pie filling. I used 1 quart of home canned cherry pie filling and sliced in a few apples to cut down on the sweetness of the pie filling a little.

Then roll out your pie crust. (Mine is 1/2 white flour 1/2 whole wheat flour which is why it looks a little darker.) Cut your crust with a pizza cutter into small pieces about 1 1/2 inches square - remember there is nothing perfect about this. Lay them across the top in a haphazard pattern, covering most of the filling.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes - until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown.

Enjoy warm with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream - delicious!

Try some other flavor combinations. We like apples mixed with any kind of berry. We have also done apple, cherry, rhubarb. And when the garden is going crazy with zucchini, we use it in place of the apples - that is a recipe for another post another day. Enjoy!

Pie Crust
This crust recipe freezes very well. Double or triple the batch and freeze in individual crust sizes. It will keep for 6 months or more in the freezer.
2 cups all-purpose flour	1 cup shortening
½ tsp salt	Ice water
Cut the shortening into the flour and salt mixture with a fork until the pieces of shortening are between the size of quarters and nickels (no smaller.) Add ice water a tablespoon at a time. Toss the moistened area with a fork until it begins to pull together into a ball. Set it aside and add more ice water to the dry parts, tossing as you go. When all the dough is moistened, but not sticky, separate into two parts. Shape into disks about 4 inches across and wrap in plastic wrap. (You can freeze the dough at this point to use later. Thaw and roll out when it is still cold.) Refrigerate the dough for at least 10 minutes, but 2–3 hours is best. (The trick to a crispy crust is larger pieces of fat that are cold so they can create pockets of steam in the crust when it bakes.) Roll out between two pieces of plastic wrap to fit the pan. If baking empty, place a piece of foil over the crust and fill with a hand full of dry beans. This will keep bubbles from forming in the crust. Bake at 400° F for 8–10 minutes until lightly browned. If filling crust, use a precooked filling that is already thickened to speed up the baking process. Top with crust, cut a few vent holes, and bake at 400° F for 30–35 minutes or until golden brown. Check after 25 minutes and cover edges with foil if crust is browning too quickly.

Holiday Cranberry Relish

I always make this relish ahead of Thanksgiving and then use it throughout the holiday season. It keeps for 6 weeks in the refrigerator. I've labeled it a pantry mix, but technically it is a "refrigerator mix." Making a large batch at Thanksgiving time gives me the freedom to use it in many ways between then and New Year's.

The recipe was shared with me soon after I was married by a good friend from church. It was her "neighbor" gift for the year and we loved it!

I always put a bit into a few jars to share with family at Thanksgiving and then I get creative with the rest of the batch. It is good with turkey or ham, just as a relish served alongside the meat. We also love to mix it with cream cheese, cool whip, and pineapple chunks for a delicious holiday salad. (Sometimes I add a little more sugar, to taste.) Mixed with cream cheese, it is also delicious as a cracker spread. You really can try it in lots of ways. My husband has been known to spread it on his toast like jam. It's good any way you want to try it. You won't have trouble using up the large batch it makes.

Watch for fresh cranberries to be marked down after Christmas. Buy a few packages and store in your freezer until next year. All you do is throw the bag in the freezer - it is that simple. They have always lasted just fine for me this way. Hope your family enjoys it as much as we do.

Holiday Cranberry Relish

1 lb fresh or frozen cranberries, finely diced

1/2 cup orange marmalade

1 cup sugar

2 tart green apples, peeled and finely chopped

10 oz. frozen raspberries, thawed and drained

1 tsp lemon juice

I chop the cranberries and apples in the food processor and then mix everything together. It makes about 6 cups.

This year, I replaced the orange marmalade with the zest from one orange and a little more sugar. The orange marmalade I had in the fridge had corn syrup in it and one of my relatives cannot eat corn. The taste was just a good.

Our New Favorite Garden Salsa

Garden season means fresh salsa! This is our new favorite recipe. It comes from the Aug/Sept 2012 issue of Taste of Home. I don't usually copy and paste a recipe as is on this blog - but this one is perfect just as it's written. My sister brought me a bottle of this for my birthday recently and we fell in love! My little 5-year-old said, "This is the best salsa on earth! Mom, how long will it take you to figure out making this?" I had to chuckle. He has figured out that I am willing to experiment and try and copy a taste that we love. I replied,"It won't take long at all. I just have to call Aunt Amber and she'll tell me what she did."

I love that this calls for cucumbers and zucchini - it really doesn't need that many tomatoes. The last batch I made was heavy on the cucumber and zucchini and we still loved it. I stored it in a quart jar in the fridge and it stayed good at least a week - we just snacked on it whenever we wanted it. I took a quart of it to a family reunion and everyone wanted the recipe. Yesterday we mixed in about 1 cup of this salsa with a bunch of mashed avocado - it was amazing! I hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

Garden Veg Salsa Recipe

Garden Veg Salsa Recipe photo by Taste of Home

Garden Veg Salsa Recipe

Garden Veg Salsa Recipe

• Prep: 20 min.
• Yield: 12 Servings

2020

Ingredients

• 3 large tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup chopped cucumber
• 1 medium sweet yellow or red pepper, chopped
• 3/4 cup chopped zucchini
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• Tortilla chips

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine all ingredients; toss to combine. Refrigerate, covered, until serving. Serve with chips. Yield: 6 cups.

Favorite All-purpose Marinade for Summer Grilling Season

This makes a large amount. I mix up a double batch at the beginning of the summer and store it in a glass jar in the fridge. Then grilling is a cinch even on a busy day. Just pour what you need into a gallon ziplock bag and add either chicken, pork, or beef and allow to marinate in the fridge for between 30 minutes and 4 hours. We have loved it every time. Mix up a salad or a quick rice pilaf and dinner is done before you know it - with very little mess.


All-purpose Marinade

1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp dry mustard
1 Tbsp black pepper
2 tsp dry parsley flakes
2 tsp refrigerated, minced garlic

Mix all ingredients together. Use to marinate chicken, pork, or beef before grilling. The longer it marinates, the stronger the flavor.

Homemade Fruit by the Foot

Here is a great family experiment that turned out fabulously!

I mixed sugar free jello with applesauce. I did about one quart of applesauce to one small box of jello, but really you can just do it to taste.

I then spread the mixture onto parchment paper as thin and uniform as I could get it right on my dehydrator racks. (I have a huge, old dehydrator that takes a while to get things done, but lets me do huge batches.)

I fit three quarts of applesauce in. We did three different flavors - raspberry, peach, and strawberry-banana.

Here is my big, behemoth! Without a thermostat, it doesn't do as well with evenly drying so I have to rotate the racks, but I can sure get a lot done. I had to leave these in all day and over night.

Here is my more common sized dehydrator with a thermostat. It probably would have dried a batch in about 6 hours so I could have completed just as much in the same amount of time I just would have had to refill it a few times - and worry about getting up after only 6 hours of sleep to turn it off. It also has round trays so the parchment paper would have had to be trimmed and it wouldn't do the long "fruit by the foot" I was imagining. I opted for the big behemoth.

When it was thoroughly dry and leathery, I cut it in long strips.

Rolled them up.

And packaged them all ready for school lunches. So easy, no sugar added, rolls of sweet goodness - 

The kids have been loving them!

Drop Sugar Cookie Mix

I love the convenience of a mix but the health benefits of homemade. I'm sure many of you are right there with me. Here is a new recipe to add to your list for pantry mixes you can make from scratch. They go together so quickly when you have the mix all ready to go.

Mix all the ingredients together.  I have made these cookies lots of times over the years for my extended family members that cannot have milk. This is the first time I am trying this recipe with bean puree instead of oil though.

Drop them onto a baking sheet.

Flatten slightly with a glass that you have dipped in sugar to keep it from sticking. Sometimes I spray the bottom of the glass with Pam instead of dipping in sugar.

Top with sprinkles or colored sugar. This is always the kids favorite part about helping. You can also sprinkle with jello powder to add some fun color and flavor.

Bake and enjoy! The beans made these cookies a bit more cake-like in texture. They still taste great, they just don't have the crispy texture or light brown color that the oil gives them. They are more like a pumpkin cookie in texture. The kids devoured them so they didn't seem to care at all - Hooray - a new, more healthy snack I can keep as a mix in the pantry!

Drop Sugar Cookie Mix

Combine the following ingredients in a ziplock bag:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

To make cookies add:
2 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil (or bean puree)
2 tsp vanilla

Mix well. Drop spoonfuls onto baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Flatten with the bottom of a glass you have dipped in sugar. Sprinkle with colored sugar or other sprinkles. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool for a couple of minutes on baking sheet before moving to wire rack. Enjoy! Makes 2-3 dozen.

Note: I am just beginning to experiment with bean puree in this recipe. Using vegetable oil gives you a nice, crispy cookie. When I replaced the oil with bean puree, the cookie rose more and was softer, more cake-like in texture - more like a pumpkin cookie. The cookies were still very good, just be aware that they are more cake-like and not too sweet. I will update this post as I experiment a little more.

Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

Doesn't it just look pretty? It tastes as good as it looks. My family is really enjoying this recipe. I think I'm going to make another batch for end of year teacher gifts. It is probably the quickest canning recipe I have ever tried!

Wash your berries or use frozen berries that you allow to thaw.

Cut off the tops and puree in a blender or food processor.

Measure out 4 cups of puree and pour into a large pan. I quadrupled the batch so I used my large pressure canning pot.

Add four cups of lemon juice. You can squeeze your own lemons or use bottled juice. Next, add 5 1/2 - 6 cups of sugar. Heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. You do not want the mixture to boil, you just want the sugar to dissolve. You also don't want it too hot to pour into your jars. (If you pour hot liquid into cool jars, they will break.)

I scooped my mixture up with a 2 qt picture to make the pouring into jars go quickly. You could ladle it in if you wanted to. I chose to process mine in quart jars since we have a large family. Each jar will make 4-5 quarts once we add the water later.

Here it is all ready to put in the canning pot.

Boil pints for 15 minutes and quarts for 20.

My 4 batches made 12 quarts. Mix the concentrate with 3-4 jars of water to serve - it all depends on how you like it.

Recipe adapted every so slightly from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. 

Please note: You have to be careful when altering canning recipes. You do not want to change the acidity level of the finished product to insure safety. The original recipe called for a certain amount of cups of berries, I measured how much puree that made and gave you that measurement instead. I find it much quicker to just puree the berries and measure once it is pureed. I also did mine in quarts instead of pints so I lengthened the boiling time. Neither of these changes altered the acid level.

If you haven't ever tried canning before, this would be a great recipe to start on! Enjoy!

Strawberry Season is Here!

Picture source: www.ccof.org

My kids are so excited! Strawberry season is here! My mom was able to find strawberries last week at a local fruit stand for $.98/lb. That is about the lowest price I have seen in many years. I usually buy bunches when I see it hit $1.25/lb. I called my husband at work and he stopped on his way home and brought me 3 flats. We made 3 batches of strawberry freezer jam and 4 batches of strawberry lemonade concentrate. (This is my new favorite canning recipe. I'll post the recipe when I get a free moment.) I froze a gallon of washed strawberries to use later and we ate fresh strawberries to our hearts content for the next couple of days.

Keep your eyes open the next couple of months - it really is the time of year you will find the best prices on strawberries here in the Boise area.

Mexican Rice

A one-pot meal is always a welcome sight to my children when it is their dish night. This dish is hearty enough to be a meal all on it's own or you can serve it beside another favorite Mexican dish.

I made some quick cheese quesadillas on the griddle and served tortilla chips on the side. You can freeze any leftovers that remain and add them to taco filling the next time you make tacos. The other way I have used the leftovers is as a filling in quesadillas. Add a little shredded pork or chicken and top with shredded cheese before sandwiching it between tortillas and cooking on a hot griddle. It is also great with some salsa, sour cream, and shredded cheese stirred in and then you can serve it as a chip dip. There really are endless possibilities with this recipe. I hope your family enjoys it as much as we do.

Mexican Rice
⅓ cup dried, minced onion	8 oz tomato sauce
1 tsp garlic powder	2 Tbsp bacon bits
1 cup rice	1–1½ cups cooked kidney beans
1 tsp chicken bouillon	1 can corn, drained
1 cup water	Salt and pepper to taste
Mix together onion, garlic, rice, bouillon, water, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer 20–25 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in bacon, beans, and corn. Heat through. You can use 1 can of kidney beans, rinsed. I love the precooked real bacon bits for this recipe. They make it convenient and easy.