Brazilian Limonada

Do you ever find a recipe that is so tasty that you find yourself thinking about how and when you can fit it into your menus for the week, who you can share it with, or how you can justify making it?

This is the case with this Brazilian Lemonade. My friend, Melissa S., was coming to have pizza with us last spring and brought the stuff to make this recipe.  She had seen it online and had been wanting to make it.  She knew I would love it.  And she was right. 

I need to share my angst about the name of this beverage. When Melissa told me it was called Brazilian Lemonade, but was made with limes, I was perplexed.  I asked her if she was sure it wasn't called Brazilian Limeade.  She showed me the recipe from the blog where she found it, and I told her I couldn't do it!  I just can't call a thing what it is not.  So, I decided to do a little further research.  I googled around and found that in other places online there was discussion about why brazilian lemonade was made with limes.  The information I gathered was that in Portuguese a lemon is "lima" and lime is "limão".  This made some sense to me.  I also read that limes are much more prevelant in Brazil than lemons.  In addition ironically, in Brazil, some people call this recipe "Swiss Lemonade".  Naturally!  One place I found it called Limãnada, (pronounced LEE-mah-na-tha).   This made more sense to me than Lemonade.  So maybe it's not Lemon-ade, nor Lime-ade, but rather, a truer pronunciation of Limonada, reflecting its Brazilian origin.

I felt much better.  Now I call it Brazilian Limonada (or sometimes Brazilian Limonade) and I make it as often as I can justify it.  Now I just have to work on saying it with a straight face, as I shift from my southern accent to my Brahhzzillian accent in one sentence – (from Shelby of Steel Magnolias to Gloria of Modern Family).  "Hey y'all, do ya want me to make some Brazilian Limãnada tonight?" It makes me think of my witty friends Angela and Ray, who lived in Chile for a while after we finished college.  We always laughed as Angela told stories about Chile (pronounced Chee-lay as opposed to our incorrect pronunciation of Chill-E).  She would dramatically flip back and forth between her Tennessee and Chilean accents and we would all die laughing.  

The ingredients to this recipe are super simple but special. Are you ready for this? Limes, sugar, water and sweetened condensed milk (the nectar of the gods).  What is it about sweetened condensed milk? It makes everything better!  My favorite banana pudding calls for it.   Cold Coconut cake, I recently posted, is delicious because of this great ingredient. Coffee is better with it.  [There is a wonderful local coffee spot in downtown Nashville, Crema, that has a coffee drink called a Cuban.  The first time I went there I was told I must get the Cuban- it's espresso, steamed milk and sweetened condensed milk! It is ridiculous! I have been many times in the years since and I can't seem to bring myself to NOT order it.] Simply stated, sweetened condensed milk just seems to make everything better.

Back to the Brazilian Lime Drink.  

It's delicious! 

It is easy, and so creamy, zippy, and unique! 

I wanted to post it this week, in honor of Spring and the upcoming Cinco de Mayo.  It's a great non-alcoholic, warm-weather drink for your mexican fiesta, or just about any event.

Brazilian Limonada

4 juicy limes (ones with thin, smooth skins are the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)

1 cup sugar


6 cups cold water


6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk

Make a “simple syrup” or “sugar water” by mixing cold water and sugar in a large jar or liquid measuring cup very well until sugar is dissolved. Chill until ready to use. (This step can be done ahead of time.)

Wash limes thoroughly with soap. Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.

Place 1/2 of the limes in a blender.

Add 1/2 of the sugar water into a blender, place the lid on the blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon (or your hand) to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. 

Dump the parts of the limes left in the strainer into the trash. 

Repeat with the remaining limes and sugar water. Stir together. 

Add sweetened condensed milk. 

Test it. You may want to dilute it with water if it’s too thick or sweet for your liking. If it’s bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more milk. 
 

Serve immediately over lots of ice.

Call it what you want to, attach it to any culture you would like: Brazil, Switzerland, Mexico, or the United States. Use a Portuguese accent if you'd like, or a southern drawl.  But whatever you do, don't omit the sweetened condensed milk! 

'Tis the Season for Wrap-Making

Seasons.  I am so thankful that there are seasons in life.  I know in Tennessee, we really get to experience all of the seasons of the year while in other parts of the country/world the shift is not as obvious.  There is great therapeutic value for me in living life by seasons.  Forming and maintaining rituals in these sections of the year gives me something to look forward to and to ground me.  Robert Fulghum, in his book From Beginning to End: the Rituals of Our Lives states,
"... for everyone of us, there is still an annual cycle of personal seasons.

A productive time and a fallow time.

A time to generate new ideas and a time to make them work. 

A time to invest and a time to sell.

A time to get organized and a time to let go. 

A time to get in shape and a time to be lazy. 

This paradoxical swing of the rhythmic pendulum of life is not to be ignored or disallowed."

Spring is my favorite. I am so thankful for the vibrant green of grass and trees and the blossoming of flowers, the wearing of flip flops, and enjoying being outside.  

This week I have been engaging in some of my springtime rituals. It is April and that means it's time to plant.  So, we have tended our little garden, and bought ferns to hang on the front porch. We have planted some things and we'll see what happens.  (Last year I wrote about my very amateur gardening skills. READ HERE if you want to hear how a not-very-green-thumb gardens.) When I start to feel overwhelmed by the pending weeding and watering of the next few months and am tempted to call the garden thing off, I remember last year and the bounty that our little garden produced.

Having jars of Zinnias and daisies to have in my house, take to people, and even put on a friend's fall birthday cake make it worth it!

and tomatoes for days... 

this bounty was the harvest from our garden before the first fall frost

And Spring also means fun, zippy, fresh food.
This past week
I made my first Key Lime Pie of the season.
When Becca made Baked Alaska for Easter Lunch and used 1/2 dozen egg whites and left a nice bowl of egg yolks for me, I was inspired to make the Key Lime, since it calls for lots of yolks.  (If you are ever in a similar situation, where you have remaining yolks, hang on to them and make a key lime pie!)  Asher and Dave were especially happy.




And I made some WRAPS for lunches, and it made me excited about picnic food.  My sister brought a couple of creative wraps over from a sandwich shop last Friday and we split them: one was a turkey strawberry wrap and one was hummus and veggie.  Lucy loved the veggie one with crunchy lettuce and cucumber being her favorite parts and I especially loved the turkey strawberry one.  It prompted me to make some for lunches this week. A wrap seems much more exciting than an average sandwich, don't you agree?

Dave has been a wrap fan for years! When we would go on vacation, Dave would always ensure that we had tortillas so that he could wrap up whatever was leftover from dinner into a tortilla and heat it up for a midnight snack!  We are believers in throwing all kinds of things into a wrap!

Here's what I do.
Open my fridge and pull out every POSSIBLE thing that I could put in a wrap, look in my fruit bowl and see if there are any fruits of vegetables that could work,
and think about what flavors would be compatible,
and then pile all of those items into a tortilla,
and wrap them up,
and there you have a tasty, convenient, transportable meal!
I tend to like wraps that are like a hand-held salad.

Last summer we were having sandwiches and salads for a dinner meeting at church.  I thought of making wraps because you can make them beforehand without ruining the bread and they seem a little more exciting for a dinner sandwich.  It worked out.  They were a hit – with kids and adults.

You can make them really basic or get creative and more gourmet!
You can make them all the same or custom make them and label them when you pack them up.
You can serve them with different dipping sauces.
You can make big ones and cut them in 1/2 or you can make regular sized ones.

I must give credit to my dear friend Connie who taught me much about picnic-ing.  Back when we would go to the park or go to the YMCA to swim and picnic, Connie taught me.  She picnicked in a big way.  She brought leftover pasta for us to share, and she brought wraps for the kids, often times.  She brought containers of cut fruit: melons, berries, whatever she had.  She brought plates and forks and served the meal.  It was so much more exciting than individually wrapped PB and Js. I adopted her picnicking practices immediately!  It's fun when you picnic with friends and you both do this.  Melissa and I will coordinate as to who's bringing the main dish, who's bringing which fruit, and who has time to make a batch of cookies to bring.  We find that our kids would rather eat what their friends have in their picnic than what they brought (no matter what it is), so we might as well do this "family style".


Here are 4 wraps we love.


1. Smoked Deli Turkey/Havarti Cheese/ Green Leaf Lettuce
with honey mustard on the side for dipping.

2. The Manly Wrap with co-jack cheese, turkey and bacon.

3. The Grilled Chicken Salad Wrap

This week we had some leftover grilled chicken tenderloins from dinner.  I added salad greens, cucumbers, apples and crumbled goat cheese, salt and pepper.  (I tossed the meat with some balsamic viniagrette before putting it in the wrap so that it wouldn't get the wrap soggy by pouring on the dressing, but would add the touch of dressing to the mix. It worked.)

 grilled chicken tossed with vinaigrette 

4. And my PBPB&S (Peanut Butter, chopped Peanuts, Bananas, and Strawberries) – inspired by strawberry season last year! (Or it's delicious without bananas- it's like PBJ on steroids)!

So in honor of spring. Plant something, make a key lime pie, make some wraps, and by all means, have a picnic!  I suggest you look deep within your fridge and start pulling stuff out that looks like the makings of a sandwich: meat, cheese, cream cheese, lettuce, fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, dressings, condiments, etc. and see what creative concoction you come up with.

wrapped and ready for a picnic

Roasted Vegetable Hash and Eggs

We have a new favorite dinner that I couldn’t wait to share with you!

It is kind of a merger of these previous posts: Roasted Veggies (HERE and HERE) and Poached Eggs.

Roasted Veggies + Poached (or Fried) Eggs = Vegetable Hash with Eggs

It is super versatile and so tasty! It’s easy and filling.  It’s meatless, but a great main dish, thanks to the egg.  (And if you want or “need” meat, you can crumble bacon on top as a salty, savory garnish.  It ramps it up a bit.)  When I announced the other night that we were having this for dinner, the troops cheered shouts of "hooray!".  I was taken aback that they liked this meal so much.  Dave asked me as I was writing this post, "Why do we like this so much?!" I don't know.  It's just darn good. You just have to see for yourself!

I have made it a few times for the family and have roasted a variety of vegetables: potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, bell pepper, carrots, asparagus, zucchini.  So you can use what you have on hand and what you and your people like! (I do think potatoes and onions are essential, though.) And then roasting is just a matter of chopping, tossing in oil, sprinkling with coarse salt and pepper and cooking in a hot oven for a while. 

 

The only challenge is timing the eggs.  The first time I made it, I wanted to top the hash with poached eggs (read HERE for my journey of learning how to poach an egg). I think the consistency of the poached egg yolk – not liquid-y but thick and creamy- is the right one for the hash.  It creates a creamy sauce.  The complication was trying to poach all 5 eggs for my family at the same time.  I decided that 3 in a pot were all I could handle.  I then proceeded to fry the other 3 on a skillet.  (I made 3 instead of 2 so I could have a back-up egg). The trick is getting them the right yolk consistency.  (I am aware that some people are grossed out by eggs that are runny.  You just have to work through that.  Or prepare a fully cooked egg, if you must). The second time we made this, we decided to make fried eggs, rather than poached, and make them on our large skillet, in hopes that we could simultaneously cook 5 or 6 eggs.   It worked.  I set the table, scooped the veggies into a bowl and had everything ready for when the eggs were done, then served up the eggs on our plates piled with veggies.

Dave is far better at frying eggs than me.  He is the egg-man in the morning.  In fact, he flips the egg in a pan and I’m quite envious of this technique.  I’ve been trying to learn.  After many attempts, leading to half cooked eggs splattered on the toaster oven, in the burners, and on the counter, I have declared that this must be an athletic ability.  Since I am more skilled in the kitchen and he is far more athletically inclined than me, I think it must be a sports-skill.  At least that's what I'm telling myself.

Take a look.

It reminds me of other skills he has that he thinks are “normal” but I deem as extraordinary. Take spitting out the car window while driving down the interstate, for instance.  Have you ever done this? Or throwing the end of a drink out of the window? If you have, you know that it requires skills. Dave is skilled.  When I have tried to spit out of the moving car, I end up getting spit flown back into my hair.  When I try to throw a drink out of my window it flies directly onto (or worse, into) the passenger window.  I just don’t have the skills. I think it's athletic ability.

I am reading a book with my book club, An Everlasting Meal  by Tamar Adler, which is a book about cooking with economy and grace.  It's really interesting.  One chapter is devoted to cooking eggs.  Which is right up my alley, as it seems to be the popular protein at our house these days!  When we can’t figure out what to have for dinner, Asher usually pipes in his suggestion: “What about eggs?”  

In her chapter on eggs, Tamar writes, "For my taste, meals still qualify as meals if they are eggless.  But an egg can turn anything into a meal and is never so pleased as when it is allowed to." I'm beginning to agree with her.

We like topping the hash and eggs with some freshly grated parmesan cheese. 

"crusty" bread

We also like serving this dish with "crusty" bread- it's great for sopping up the egg and scooping up the vegetables. 


 I served a little fruit on the side for the kids and a side of fancy greens and grape tomatoes tossed in a little oil and vinegar for the adults.


Here's a printable recipe, but basically: Roast some veggies.  Cook an egg- fry it, poach it, flip it – you choose. Place it on top of your veggies.  Add any garnishes you like and enjoy a fresh, easy, savory meal!

So, what's your egg technique? Do you have any egg flippin' skills? I'd love to hear!  Have you tried Roasted Vegetable Hash and Eggs at home or at a restaurant? Enjoy!

Granola Bars (and meeting Joy the Baker...kinda)

I have been on the pursuit of a really yummy homemade granola bar.  I make granola regularly and keep in a jar with a clamp lid on my counter most all of the time, to have with yogurt and fruit. It's a staple in our home and a treat I enjoy sharing with others. However, I've been wanting to find a bar that could become a staple in our home because they are so easy to pick up and take with you (for breakfast, or lunch, or a snack)!

I have made 4 different recipes over the past several months and have found my favorite! It is Joy the Baker’s from her brand new, beautiful cookbook! (I raved about her HERE.  If you haven't read her blog, you should, and get her cookbook too!) I am so excited to have the cookbook and was looking through it, marking pages with Lainey of all the recipes that we want to make.  (Thank you, Joy,  for having a photograph of EVERY recipe!!  If I ever get to publish a cookbook in my life, I would like to do that too!)  I saw a granola bar recipe and was so excited because it looked like my kind of bar: chewy, fruity, nutty, and simple. I made them and they are super-delicious.   

a taste taste from Nashville to Vermont.

Several months ago when I was first trying different recipes, I sent my dear friend Karin a package for her new baby and decided that I would try a traveling-taste-test.  I mailed a couple of types of granola bars from Tennessee to Vermont for her to sample.
They made it there safely. She and I were able to discuss the pros and cons of both types of bars.  (I miss cooking and creating with Karin, so this was the next best thing.)  One was a recipe that was more bar cookie-like, with peanut butter and whole wheat flour.  It was a winner.  And the other was the Barefoot Contessa Recipe, which is totally different but equally delicious.  It is a honey-dominant, sticky, chewy bar with great flavor but felt more like candy to me.  (I also tried a very labor intensive fruit and nut bar…like a Larabar from a Real Simple recipe I clipped a while back, which was my least favorite, and the most work, so I quickly marked it off of the list).

Bar #2 - Barefoot Contessa Granola Bars

Bar #1 - Peanut Butter Granola Bars

This Joy the Baker Bar is my favorite.  It has golden raisins and coconut, which I love, but my husband doesn’t necessarily.  However, when baked with almonds, oats, brown sugar and other yummy ingredients, they provide the sweet and chewy elements to the bar and you don’t notice them in particular (Dave was able to really enjoy the bars in spite of those ingredients). The only trouble I encountered when I made them for the first time, was that they fell apart when I sliced them and then they fell apart when I ate them.  So, I learned from this and did a couple of things differently the second batch, so as to make them more cohesive.  I baked them in a little bit larger pan so that they were thinner and then pressed them down really firmly all over before baking. (Which Joy actually instructs to do in her recipe, but I didn't take her literally enough).  I also cooked them until they were a tad more brown the second go-around.  It worked.  They are so tasty.

Portland... I think you're great!

Speaking of Joy the Baker and her new cookbook, I have to tell you about my encounter with her.  I had noticed on her blog that she was traveling around, hosting book signings in various cities.  I was excited for her and thought, "if only she would come to Nashville!" Then, in the airport a couple of weeks ago, when I was going on a trip to Portland, OR with my social work students and colleagues, my student, Becca, told me that Joy was going to be in Portland doing a book signing that night! I was so excited, as were a few of our students.  We decided it was destiny! We had to go! After reading further, Becca realized that the bookstore where Joy would be was not within walking or subway riding distance to our downtown hotel.  We would have to take a cab.  Being cheap, like I am, I figured that wasn’t in the cards for us.  But the adventurous students were persistent and decided to go for it.  I was in! So we piled into a cab, paid the pricy fare and traveled in the dark, rainy night to Powell Books, in the suburbs, to see Joy the Baker.

Q & A with Joy the Baker at Powell Books
in Portland, OR : Our view of her

And there she was.  Adorable, funny, down to earth, endearing.  There were more than 100 other adoring fans there as well.  We realized pretty quickly that we were not going to be able to stand in that long line to meet her.  In addition, there was no book to have her sign, as mine was sitting in my kitchen in Nashville and the bookstore sold out before the signing began.  So, we took a couple of photos, and just admired her from afar!

It was crazy.  People were bringing her gifts and baked goods, whole cakes, cards, who knows what else.

Her view of us!

She posted this photo on her blog that she took of us (the crowd at the signing), from her vantage point, and there I was/am, along with 4 of my students.

It was a moment to remember.  

The closest we could get to her without standing
in the 100 + person line.  (Check out
 the freaky book in the foreground!)

So, I kinda met Joy the Baker.  Not really.  I had questions ready to ask her, and accolades to share with her, but alas, I didn't get the chance.  So, more accurately, I saw Joy the Baker.

Chewy Coconut Almond Raisin Granola Bars (from Joy the Baker)

1 1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup oat flour (made by putting oats in a food processor or blender until powdered)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed meal

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground ginger

1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

1 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. honey

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

1 Tbsp. orange juice

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.  Line an 8 inch square (or I used a 9 X11 jelly roll pan) with foil so that foil hangs over the edges of the pan. Butter the foil.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine oats, oat flour, sugar, flaxseed meal, salt, cinnamon, ginger, coconut, raisins, and almonds.

In a small bowl, whisk together honey, melted butter, and orange juice.  Pour over the flour mixture and toss together with a fork.  The mixture will be dry but still sticky.  Blend together until all of the dry ingredients are moistened by the honey mixture.

Dump oat mixture into prepared baking dish.  With clean, slightly oiled fingers, press the oat mixture into the dish until tight and solid in the pan! (very important)

Bake for 35 minutes, or until browned around the edges.  The baked granola will be soft even after it's fully baked, but will harden as it cools.

Remove baked granola from the oven and cool for 30 minutes.  Place the baking dish in the refrigerator for about an hour before slicing.  This will help to further cool the bars and keep them from crumbling when sliced.  Use the overhanging foil flaps to remove the baked granola.  Use a large, sharp knife to cut block into bars. Store in an airtight container.

They will last up to 2 weeks, if well wrapped and at room temperature.

lovely ingredients

"oat flour" made from powdered oats

liquid into the dry

pressed firmly into a foil-lined pan

baked to golden perfection

I'll just eat those broken pieces

Party Chicken and Rice – Easter Main Dish

Is "dinner" the evening meal or is it the mid-day meal?  Or is the BIG meal, regardless of what time the meal is served?  At our house, dinner is the evening meal, and although it is not formal, it is the larger, hot meal of the day.  I guess you can call that supper.  Though we never do.  Some people talk about “coming over for Sunday Dinner” and they mean the mid-day meal.  When we have a holiday meal, we tend to call it dinner regardless of the time at which it is served.  At Christmas and Thanksgiving, that is oftentimes 12, or 1, or 2 in the afternoon.  I prefer to have Easter dinner at lunchtime so that friends can linger into the afternoon, we can hunt eggs in the yard and the work of the meal and dishes are done by afternoon.  It is tricky, though, when you are trying to race from an Easter Sunday church service, to get home, and get things cranking for the meal.   And if you are the guest at someone else's home where you are bringing a dish, you have to swing by your house to pick up your items, or have them in the car, in a cooler, or a keeper to have them ready for the meal.  This is all complicated.

For many, many years, Dave has had responsibilities at church on Easter morning, helping with the music for the services.  Which means we don’t travel on this holiday to visit family.  Instead, we stay in town and it has become a friend holiday.  We started a tradition years ago to ask around to see if there are people without a table to join for the holiday, and invite them to ours.  It has been interesting to see who comes and what the mix of people is.  It is sometimes full of college students, sometimes not.  Some years, people know each other, other years it is a mish-mash of our worlds colliding.  But the food is always yummy and it feels like a special celebration.

We usually provide the main dish and cold coconut cake (our favorite Easter dessert) and then people bring the rest (depending on how many people come – sometimes we do more of the providing, if there are less guests.)  One of our favorite main dishes for this meal is Party Chicken.  This was the “special occasion main dish” at my house growing up.  After all, the name is party chicken!  Mom said she got this recipe 40 years ago.  It was printed on the Georgia Power and Light (utility company) bill, of all places.  They had a recipe printed each month on the bill and she remembers keeping it and trying it, because the list of ingredients looked so tasty to her.  Never underestimate the source of a good recipe!

Water chestnut rice

It is a great dish, and you can alter it as you like.  I remember her often serving it with Water Chestnut Rice – which could be called Party Rice, in my opinion.  The Rice is actually my very favorite part of the dish! It’s a savory, moist, highly flavorful rice pilaf with a crunch of water chestnuts.  My mom got the rice recipe from a friend during the same era in which she got the Party Chicken recipe.  She said she had it at a friend’s house for dinner one night.  The host gave a disclaimer that the first time her husband had it, he said, “he liked it, but the potatoes in it weren’t cooked!” There are no potatoes in this dish.... it was the water chestnuts.  Mom wrote down the recipe and has been making it ever since. She even made large quantities of it for groups when she was doing food service for her church, altering it a little to simplify it.

The Rice dish would also be good on a non-holiday with a piece of grilled meat.

So now that Easter is 2 weeks away, we are starting to think about what to eat and who needs a table to join.  I tend to revert to the same menu repeatedly.   

My favorite Easter menu is:

An appetizer (so people can lightly munch while the meal is being put together – maybe nice cheese and crackers)

A green salad with strawberries, nuts, feta, etc.

Party Chicken

Water Chestnut Rice

Fresh Green Beans (or Asparagus)

Rolls or Sweet Potato Biscuits

Fruit Tea

Dessert: Cold Coconut Cake and any other goodies people want to bring!

My friend Melissa and her family usually share this meal with us.  She and I split what's left on the menu after our other guests have signed up.  She also oftentimes brings a dessert: sugar cookies, M & M cookies or tea cakes for the kids to enjoy…and she sometimes brings beautiful flowers for the tables!  It is a beloved tradition in our home!

Party Chicken


6 chicken breasts (pounded until uniform thickness)
12 slices dried beef (canned)
3 slices of bacon (to be cut in half)
1 (10 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream

the can of dried beef and the cool jar
you get to keep- see above as a vase
for a daisy!

A handful of slivered almonds


Place individual slices of dried beef side by side in baking pan.  


Flatten chicken breast, place a slice of dried beef in "rough" side of chicken and roll up.  


Place 1/2 slice bacon around outside of roll and place seam side down in pan.  


Place a rolled breast on each piece 
of dried beef. (All of this can be prepared ahead and refrigerated or frozen). When ready to bake, add combined soup and sour cream and pour over each breast.  


This will seem thick, but the juices from the chicken will dilute it.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour OR 250 for 3 hours (if you want to slow-cook it). Add almonds on top and bake an additional 10 minutes or until toasted.  

done!

Water Chestnut Rice


5 Tbsp. butter
1 onion, chopped finely
1/2 cup canned mushrooms, drained and sliced
8 oz. can water chestnuts, chopped
1 cup white rice, uncooked
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
2 cups water
1 tsp salt
Melt butter in casserole.  Add all other ingredients.  Gently stir together. Cover and cook 1 hour at 350 degrees, or until rice is completely cooked.  (I have made this with brown rice and it works, it just takes much more time!
Also, it easily doubles or triples!)

Dinner time!