Favorite Rice

My children are incredibly picky eaters. I have no idea where they get it from. They get it from me. I was a very picky eater as a kid too (but I've come a long way in recent years). Thus I am sympathetic to their overly sensitive taste buds, even though I still find their pickiness to be enormously frustrating. Each kid has a couple of meals that he will mostly consistently eat (Zeben loves organic, uncured chicken hot dogs (but no other variety, be warned), Jaz loves pasta (and usually mac & cheese), and Lukas loves rice and beans (except for on the days when he doesn't; he is the pickiest of the bunch)), but beyond those, I never really know if the kids are going to eat what I make for dinner. Have we created this situation, allowing our children to be so picky? Maybe. But I don't think so. Our kids would rather not eat than eat something they don't like, and I can absolutely relate (I was exactly the same way as a kid and really didn't enjoy food much at all until adolescence). And I really prefer that my children eat something, lest they turn into the under-fed versions of themselves (not pleasant, I tell you). We've taken a middle ground on this parenting issue: we don't cater to our kids' food preferences, but nor do we make them eat anything that they don't want to eat. The "rules" are as follows:

1. No one is allowed to complain about the food being served, or make any negative comments about it whatsoever (i.e. "I hate this dinner!").

2. It is really appreciated when everyone tries at least one tiny bite of everything on the table (not enforced, but appreciated, and each child starts out with a small serving of each dish on his plate).

3. Kids are allowed to make themselves something else to eat (i.e. PB & J or a bowl of yogurt), but Moms will not help. Clean-up must be included.

Dinnertime with a pack of picky eaters can be a bit stressful. I feel overjoyed when something goes over well with all--or at least 2 out of 3--of the kids. And that is one reason why I am a frequent baker of short grain brown rice. It is the kids' most favorite grain, and they'll nearly always all enjoy it. Which is a huge relief to me.

Yes, you read that right, I bake our brown rice, in the oven. One local restaurant serves its rice baked, and when we discovered a few years ago that all of our kids would eat the rice there, I started baking rice at home too, instead of cooking it on the stove top. It is so very delicious and is quite easy to make. So easy, in fact, that even a 3-year-old could do it. And that is exactly what happened in our house this afternoon.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups short grain brown rice
2.75 cups water
1 TBS butter
1 tsp salt

1. Measure out 1.5 cups of rice into a pitcher or bowl.


2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.


3. Put 2.75 cups of water, 1 TBS of butter and 1 tsp of salt into a oven-safe pot and bring it to a boil on the stove top. Turn off the burner as soon as the water comes to a boil.


4. Stand at the sink and rinse the rice. Do this by filling the pitcher or bowl with water, stirring the rice around, pouring the water off, and repeating with fresh water. Ideally you would continue until the water is no longer getting milky from the rice, or for about 5 minutes.


5. Strain the rice.


Step 6. Add the rice to the boiling hot water--and put the lid on--before putting the pot into the preheated oven.


7. Set a timer for 1 hour.


That's it! You're done! So easy, and yet so very yummy. It really comes out perfectly every time; there's never any rice stuck to the bottom of the pot, and the rice is never to wet or too dry. IMPORTANT REMINDER: the handle of the pot will be VERY hot when it comes out of the oven. Don't attempt to touch it with your bare hands. We usually cover the handle of our rice pot with an oven mitt for at least 20 minutes post-baking since we find it takes a very long time for the pot to cool after having spent an hour at 350°F.

For whatever reason, our kids have grown accustomed to us serving Favorite Rice in a specific way (what was that I said about not catering to our children re: food?). I fill a small bowl with rice, and pack it down.


Then I flip the bowl over onto each kid's plate, making what the kids call a "rice castle."


Does it taste better when served this way? The kids seem to think so. Which makes me wonder if I should start making castles out of everything I cook for them. Hmmm . . . something to think about. Let me know if you try this and what you think!