Have you wondered how to make rice that is perfectly tender? Have you made rice but it turned out to be sticky blob or so dry you thought it was made in the desert?

Rice is an important and versatile staple that works well with so many different kinds of meals, so learning how to cook rice will make your life easier. Rice is great with chicken, beef, pork and more!

You can make perfect homemade rice. It’s easy to make with ingredients and pans you already have at home. No need to buy a rice maker and have another appliance hanging around the house, but if you prefer to use one, you can use this same recipe with your rice cooker.

The one big secret to perfectly cooked white rice is to not take the lid off at all while it’s cooking! The steam is what helps it cook so you don’t want to let that escape.

How To Cook Rice Recipe

Use the given amounts of water, salt and rice to make the number of servings you need. To retain vitamins and minerals, do not rinse the rice.

Heat water and salt to boiling. Stir in the rice. Cover tightly and cook slowly for about 25 minutes, until rice is tender.

Add a little water during cooking if the rice becomes dry. Gently stir only if needed to keep the rice from sticking.

Once you’ve learned how to cook rice, here are some recipes that go well with it!

The BEST EVER Roast Sticky Chicken Recipe!

3 Ingredient Chicken Recipes Your Family Will Love!

Easy Orange Chicken Recipe

Honey Baked Chicken Recipe – Easy And Delicious!

This easy white rice recipe and instructions for how to cook rice is from volume 1 of our cookbook:

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You can make EASY and delicious meals at home in less time than eating out! You’ll save a ton of money on food and your family will thank you!

Click here to get our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks SALE Up To 50% Off NOW! They’re filled with tasty recipes and tips to make your life easier!

Easy Lemon Bars Recipe

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• Author: Tawra

Ingredients

Crust

2 cups flour

1 cup butter or margarine, melted

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Filling

4 eggs, well beaten

2 cups granulated sugar

1/3 cup lemon juice (1 lemon)

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Mix all the crust ingredients in a bowl.
3. Press into a greased 9×13 inch pan. Make sure the edges are higher than the center to contain the filling.
4. Bake the crust for 20 minutes or until it begins to brown.
5. Combine, eggs, sugar and lemon juice and mix well.
6. Stir in flour and baking powder.
7. Pour into the baked crust and bake 20 minutes at 350°.

 

The lemon bars are done when they are firm to the touch. Cut into small squares and dust with powdered sugar. These lemon bars are extremely rich, so cut into small pieces.

This easy lemon bars recipe is from volume 1 of our cookbook:

Save Money On Groceries And Make Meals Easier! (Sale Up To 50% Off!)

You can make EASY and delicious meals at home in less time than eating out! You’ll save a ton of money on food and your family will thank you!

Click here to get our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks SALE Up To 50% Off NOW! They’re filled with tasty recipes and tips to make your life easier!

This cheesy cauliflower recipe is a favorite in our family and even the kids love it! We make it whenever we feel like something different and yummy, but it’s especially good at holidays and family get-togethers!

Cheesy Cauliflower Recipe

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This cheesy cauliflower recipe makes a quick and easy vegetable side dish perfect to serve with many popular meals. Its cheesy, tangy flavor and tender texture really makes this cauliflower extra delicious! It’s great served with chicken, beef, ham and more!

 

• Author: Tawra Kellam
• Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 medium head cauliflower

Topping

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 tsp. onion salt or 1 tsp. onion, finely chopped

1 tsp. mustard

1/2 cup Cheddar cheese

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Instructions

1. Wash the cauliflower (don’t dry).
2. Place the cauliflower into a casserole dish.
3. Cover with plastic wrap.
4. Microwave 8-9 minutes, until tender.
5. Combine mayonnaise, onion salt or onion and mustard.
6. Spoon onto the cauliflower.
7. Sprinkle cheese on top.
8. Microwave 1-2 minutes to melt the cheese. Serves 4.

This easy cheesy cauliflower recipe is from our cookbook:

Save Money On Groceries And Make Meals Easier! (Sale Up To 50% Off!)

You can make EASY and delicious meals at home in less time than eating out! You’ll save a ton of money on food and your family will thank you!

Click here to get our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks SALE Up To 50% Off NOW! They’re filled with tasty recipes and tips to make your life easier!

Simple Family Budget Ideas and Easy Printable Budget Forms

Jeff from Maryland writes:

My wife and I would like to use some kind of simple budget program on the computer. Can you give any suggestions or what you use? Thanks for your help.

We have created a simple version of our family budget template that you can download and use. We have three versions available (below).

If you prefer to have the form perform the calculations and you have a program that can use Excel files, the Excel Budget form below will calculate your income and expenses and also project your budget surplus or shortfall.

Tawra: Mike and I use a paper budgeting system, listing all of our income and expenses.

We don’t recommend using complex computer programs, like those that require you to enter every receipt for every purchase, though a simple spreadsheet works well. If you make things too complex, you will get frustrated with it and quit.

Here is an example of one of our previous budgets. We rarely have to look at our family budget since we pretty much have it memorized. The budget is just a guideline for spending.

We tend to re-make the budget whenever we have a significant change in our income so we can determine what we need to cut or where we’d like the surplus to go. If you have an increase in income and don’t budget it, you will find that the money will get spent even if you don’t know where it goes, so it is best to decide where you want it and budget accordingly.

If you have trouble tracking small expenses, like purchases of convenience store soft drinks or bubble gum, try the envelope system. After you make your budget, make separate envelopes for each budget item. Put a set amount of money in each envelope and then when the money is gone, don’t spend any more until the next month. If you end up with extra money in any envelope at the end of the month, add it to your savings or use it for something special. Never use money from one envelope to fund things in another envelope.

The envelope system can help you identify areas where you typically spend more than your budget. Most people spend much more than they realize on small “nickel and dime” items. If you keep yourself to a set spending limit for these items, you’d be surprised how much you can get from your budget.

-Michael and Tawra

If you want to spend less on groceries while still eating easy and delicious meals, check out our cookbooks:

Save Money On Groceries And Make Meals Easier! (Sale Up To 50% Off!)

You can make EASY and delicious meals at home in less time than eating out! You’ll save a ton of money on food and your family will thank you!

Click here to get our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks SALE Up To 50% Off NOW! They’re filled with tasty recipes and tips to make your life easier!

Here Are The Super Simple Budget Template Forms that you can download:

• Monthly Budget – PDF File (A Form you can print to help you budget manually)
• Monthly Budget Excel File (performs calculations if you use Excel or another spreadsheet application.)
• Monthly Budget – Word Document (You can enter Data into fields, but must do the calculations yourself)

More Budgeting Ideas You Might Like

How To Stick To A Budget – Easy Ideas To Make It Work!

Sample Family Budget

What is an Appropriate Food Budget?

Easier Budgeting – Don’t Make It So Complicated!

Prize Winning White Chili Recipe

When I decided to take something to the chili cookoff I was looking for something different from the regular chili. I love chili but I wanted a change and this white chili was definitely it! You will find yourself making this chili time and time again!

The best part is it just takes about 10 minutes prep time and you’re done! It’s quick easy and delicious! If you want something your family will talk about for years and if you want an easy recipe to take to family dinners and potlucks this it!

Prize Winning Best White Chili Recipe

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• Author: Tawra Kellam

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 (15.5 oz.) cans great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 oz.) can chicken broth
2 (4 oz.) cans chopped green chiles
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 Tbsp. butter
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

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Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan.
2. Saute the chicken, onion and garlic until the chicken is cooked through.
3. Mix the great Northern beans, chicken broth, green chiles, salt, cumin, oregano, black pepper and cayenne pepper into the chicken mixture.
4. Bring it to a boil.
5. Reduce the heat and simmer until the flavors have blended, about 30 minutes.
6. Mix the cornstarch with about 1/4 cup of water.
7. Pour it into the pan and bring it to a boil until the chili is thickened.
8. Remove from the heat.
9. Add butter, sour cream and whipped cream.

Save Money On Groceries And Make Meals Easier! (Sale Up To 50% Off!)

You can make EASY and delicious meals at home in less time than eating out! You’ll save a ton of money on food and your family will thank you!

Click here to get our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks SALE Up To 50% Off NOW! They’re filled with tasty recipes and tips to make your life easier!

Mom’s Best Homemade Sweet Muffins Recipe

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This best homemade sweet muffins recipe makes moist, sweet and delicious muffins! It is our most favorite muffins recipe! Our family loves them and your family and friends are sure to love them, too!

• Author: Jill
• Yield: 1 dozen muffins

Ingredients

Units USM

1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
1 1/2 cups flour

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. The batter will be slightly lumpy.
3. Place batter 2/3 full into greased muffin tins or muffin tins lined with papers.
4. Bake 15-20 minutes.

Mom’s best homemade sweet muffins recipe is from volume 1 of our cookbook:

Save Money On Groceries And Make Meals Easier! (Sale Up To 50% Off!)

You can make EASY and delicious meals at home in less time than eating out! You’ll save a ton of money on food and your family will thank you!

Click here to get our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks SALE Up To 50% Off NOW! They’re filled with tasty recipes and tips to make your life easier!

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup Recipe

Cream of chicken soup is a very versatile recipe that you can eat just as it is, but it is also useful for many kinds of recipes or casseroles. It’s perfect as a base for many common recipes. If you don’t have any on hand or if you’d just like to make your own, here is an easy recipe for cream of chicken soup.

This recipe can be adapted to make other cream soups as well. For example, we include instructions here for how to make it into cream of mushroom soup using canned mushrooms. You could also slice fresh mushrooms and add them shortly before cooking.

5. Use broken mini-blind slats to make labels for the garden. Cut them down to the right size (3-4 inches works well) and use a permanent marker to label them. I can get 175 plant markers out of a small mini-blind and up to 500 markers out of a large mini-blind. You can also cut up a yogurt container or other container into 1-2 inch pieces to use for garden markers.
6. Use a shoe organizer to store your small tools. They’re great for storing all kinds of small garden tools and supplies. Many shoe organizers don’t work so well for organizing shoes, so they’re cheap and plentiful at garage sales!
7. Use cardboard and newspaper for mulch. Just put the newspaper and cardboard under your mulch. This way, you don’t need as much mulch and it completely smothers the weeds so you don’t have weeds coming up.
8. Use buckets or planters to water new trees. Drill a few holes in the bottom of a bucket or planter. Fill with some rocks so it doesn’t blow away. You can also use the rocks to partially obstruct any large holes that might let the water out too quickly. Then just fill the bucket with water and it will slowly water your plants.
9. Set a small plastic or clay pot over plants to protect them from frost. Just put one pot on top of each plant. Remove in the morning so they don’t get too hot.
10. Use toilet paper cores for planters. Just snip four small cuts along the bottom edge and fold inward to close one end. Then plant the tiny cardboard “pot” with soil and your seed. When the plants come up, just put the entire thing in the garden. The cardboard will decompose as the plant grows.

Save Money On Groceries And Make Meals Easier! (Sale Up To 50% Off!)

You can make EASY and delicious meals at home in less time than eating out! You’ll save a ton of money on food and your family will thank you!

Click here to get our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks SALE Up To 50% Off NOW! They’re filled with tasty recipes and tips to make your life easier!