Reviews

Pre-Holiday Dinner Ideas

November 17, 2014 /

The holidays are creeping up on us at my house and, for once in my life, I am trying to prepare ahead of time for a house full of family and friends this Thanksgiving. This year, we will host Thanksgiving at our house for Chris’s family and then have some of my family over the night after Thanksgiving so both sides of our family can see each other. Sprinkle in some friends and neighbors here and there, and Thanksgiving has suddenly become so much more than just one big meal. IMG_4523 IMG_4517 One of the things I always forget when it is my turn to host a holiday meal is that there is more to hosting than just cooking the day. There will be people in my house for almost a week. This is a hostessing marathon, not a sprint. Which is why I have been scouring my cookbooks and Pinterest boards for good, comfort food that can feed a crowd during the holidays.
 
I can tell you one thing, on busy holiday weeks when family and friends are around for days at a time, Success® Rice is my best friend.  I especially like their boil-in-a-bag rice because (get this…) Success®is quick and ready in 10 minutes! And I like that I don’t have to measure out and exact amount of water or rice.  I just fill a pot with water and throw the bags in and let it all boil together all pretty-like and in about ten minutes – VOILA! – perfect rice every time! This is especially helpful when you’re in the middle of cooking and your doorbell rings with friends and neighbors who have popped by throughout the holidays, and you don’t have time to watch the rice on the stove – ®Success Rice can be left in hot water after the heat is off for up to 30 minutes.

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I also like it because the rice doesn’t get all clumpy.  With Boil-in-a-Bag Success Rice, my dishes look like I slaved away in the kitchen. But let’s not talk in hypotheticals.  Let’s talk in recipes. This weekend was the first cooler weekend we’ve had this fall.  With temperatures finally down in the 50’s and 60’s during the day, it was the perfect day to test out a recipe for the week of Thanksgiving. That week, my in-laws will be arriving in town around dinner time on Tuesday night, and I want to have something warm and cozy for them when they get here. I think a bowl of creamy chicken and rice soup will do the trick.

ENTER SUCCESS RICE FOR THE WIN! IMG_1583

I started by sautéing half a medium onion, two stalks of celery, 15-20 baby carrots, and 2 tsps of minced garlic in butter. (Excuse my poorly lit, not very professional pictures. I’m no P-Dub in the kitchen, y’all.)

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When the onions were nice and translucent, I added a box of one of those easy creamy-broth starters because I can’t make a roux to save my life (approximately 4 cups).

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I let that simmer for about 15 minutes or so while my Success® White Rice boiled away and I ran to throw a few loads in the washing machine.

IMG_1584 When the rice was done, I simply tossed it into the pot of soup. But then, we randomly had family show up the afternoon I was making this, and I had to figure out how to stretch the soup to fill more bowls. So, I made some more rice and threw that in with the soup and it filled it out so that there was enough for everyone!

This sealed the deal for me, and now I will definitely be serving this to family and friends the week of Thanksgiving because it can accommodate any number of people so easily.

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By the time the bread was done crisping in the oven, the soup was hot and ready to eat. I fed six people with this one little pot of soup, thanks to Success Rice!

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With the holidays coming just around the corner, don’t forget to serve your family up some easy, homemade meals every day of their visit, not just on Turkey Day! And let Success Rice help make your holiday meal planning simple and dependable!

Check out www.successrice.com for recipe ideas and more info. about cooking with the 4 different rice varieties. For recipe inspiration, lifestyle tips and more, like and follow Success Rice’s social pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Time for a giveaway! To enter for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, leave a comment below answering this question: During the holidays, what’s your family’s favorite go-to rice dish?

Sweepstakes Rules:

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You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

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  2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SuccessRice” and “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
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This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 11/17/14 – 12/26/14.

Be sure to visit the Success Rice brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

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