If It's White - It Ain't Right

Tonight, we had the most amazing dinner.  Baked Garlic & Lemon Basa Fish, Steamed Broccoli with a little butter, and Brown Rice with Cranberries and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds.  I'm sure it helped that the girls had just gotten home from swimming lessons, but this was a dinner that was gobbled down quickly by all.  I kept saying, "I'm sorry, this sounds really self serving, but I just made the BEST supper!"

Brown rice is something that our family switched over to about a year ago.  We've been eating whole wheat bread for our entire marriage, so our kids are used to that.  Then, thanks to my friend Andrea Lewis who is an amazing and health conscious cook, I started buying whole wheat flour to do all my baking.  Then, I finally made the switch to brown rice, and I'll never go back.  As the saying goes, "If it's white, it ain't right."  It didn't take our family long to get used to the new taste.

Who says our rice has to be so heavily polished till it turns white?  Brown is beautiful!

Brown rice is the same as white rice, but  it hasn't had it's outer bran layers polished off. It is higher in fiber, has a sweet, nutty flavor, and offers more overall health benefits. The only downside is that it takes longer to cook, so you just have to plan your meal ahead with it.  The extra cost isn't much of a downside, because as with all things "brown vs. white" you don't need to eat as much to feel satisfied, and you stay fuller longer.

Next time rice is on your shopping list, if you haven't already, why not try grabbing a bag of brown?  Sometimes it's just our shopping habits that need a change.

I didn't use a recipe for anything I made tonight, but here's my best shot at the rice dish.

Brown Rice With Cranberries & Pumpkin Seeds
Place 1 cup brown rice & two cups water in saucepan to boil.
Stir when reached boil, cover with tight lid, turn heat to low, and simmer about one hour.
When desired tenderness is reached, stir in half a cup of cranberries.
Serve with a handful of toasted pumpkin seeds.

Enjoy!