White Rice
 

I can pretty much give up anything on the food chart EXCEPT rice. However, I've heard that brown rice is better for you ... so I will try atleast switching to that. But in all honesty, I can just sit and eat a plain bowl of rice with butter. With that being said, I know butter isn't going to be on my menu anymore in that respect haha ... so does anyone have any ideas what to " spice " up plain rice with? I don't like anything IN my rice like veggies ... just always ate rice w/ butter except when I was a kid it was rice and ketchup ( gross I know .. ). So are there any seasonings anyones tried or maybe a " fake " butter that I can purchase??

I also wonder ... if I'm only eating the rice once a week or so ... would it hurt any to add a tab of butter into my rice? Not much but just enough to get the flavor of it ... if I have room in my calories?

I really like rice when you add lime juice and clinantro.... its a really refreshing and clean flavor...also you can try I cant believe its not butter spray...its like butter flavored water....

If you love rice then you should eat rice, what's the big deal? If you're a calorie counter then nothing is off limits. Do you know how many calories are in rice? If you do then you should be able to incorporate it into your calories.

Ok so you like plain rice with flavoring but nothing added to it texturally like veggies etc. Here are some of my rice recipes

Red Rice
- 1 tomato finely diced
- 1 small onion very very finely diced
- 1 tbsp oil (100 calories)
- 1 cup rice
- salt/pepper

1. In a small pot sautee the onion until soft, then add the tomato and saute.
2. Add the rice and sautee
3. Add 2 cups water, salt/pepper, bring to a boil
4. Cover and reduce heat, let it simmer until ready. If you've chopped the onions and tomatoes finely enough (or grated them) they will disolve in the rice leaving no chunks.

Saffron Rice- just add a touch of saffron to the rice as you are cooking it and it will give a lovely yellow color to the rice and a nice aroma.

You can always try smartbalance for your butter and eat smaller portions of the rice :)

The lime and cilantro suggestion sounds great! Thanks!:)

Thank you for your suggestions. :) I know I can eat what I want within calories ... but I guess I'm just trying to make better choices with my foods too ... which is why I thought about switching to brown rice, etc etc.

Mmm..tomato and cilantro..

also try cooking it with different broths to alter flavor..

I like Smart Squeeze 5 calorie butter..

also try diluting coconut milk with water and cooking the rice in that..that is serious YUM

I like plain white rice, Jasmine is the best. I'm not to fond of brown rice, wild rice is better.

These days Uncle Ben's makes a good microwaveable "ready rice," and they have brown rice among others, such as jasmine. I'm pretty picky about rice, but this is easy and good, and might change your mind about brown rice!

Jay

If you're thinking about switching to brown rice, but don't really like it, make sure to give basmati brown rice a try. That comes out completely differently than Uncle Ben's brown rice :o

I got into brown rice about 25 years ago. This is my family's favorite brown rice recipe.

1 onion chopped
butter spray or 1t evoo
1/2 t thyme
1 t. garlic powder
2 t. worstishire sauce
1 cup brown rice
2 cups ff/ls chicken broth.
salt and pepper to taste

Sweat onions in oil. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Put lid on and cook very low for about 40 minutes or so. (what ever the package says)

When my son come's home to visit - he always asks me to make this rice. I think he makes it at his home, too.

Anything you can do with white rice - you can do with brown rice. You can eat rice - just count in the calories.

I eat white rice probably about 3 days a week. I LOVE it :) I'm usually eating it with saucy things, so I don't use butter. What I do do, though, is cook it in chicken broth. I just add some dry chicken bouillon powder to the water. I can then eat it plain with no butter.

If you still want butter, try the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray. I use that when I DO feel like eating my rice with a butter and salt. It's easier to distribute the butter around so you don't use as much of it.

I also like brown rice, but am usually pressed for time when cooking in the evenings. I use my rice cooker like there's no tomorrow, but brown rice does take a lot more time.

Thanks everyone for all the ideas!! I'm going to try them all over the next few weeks to see which ones I like best. : )

If you must must have the butter flavor I recommend that I can't believe it's not butter spray. Lime juice and cilantro is a great idea.

Also, low sodium soy sauce, teriyaki, and hot sauce.

Is the Rice diet white rice?

Many people who try brown rice for the first time don't really cook it properly. For regular brown rice (not the converted rice-like Uncle Ben's, or instant) it's 1 part brown rice to at least 2 parts water or liquid of some sorts, cook for at least 45 minutes in a tightly sealed pot on the stove top on a slow simmer. Unless you like the harder, slightly more chewy rice then a little less then 2 parts water. The best thing to do is just cook a little bit the first time and see how you like the texture, if it's a little too sticky cut back on the water the next time if it's a little too chewy add a little bit more water.

I tend to cook a huge pot, 3 cups rice, 6 cups water on the weekend then let it cook and freeze it in single serving sizes. I take a baking sheet and measure out 1/2 cup cooked rice and plop onto the baking sheet. Stick it in the freezer, the next day all my little rice balls go into a giant zip lock bag and can pull out as much as I want for a meal. Just microwave wth a little moisture-water, smart balance, salsa- so it doesn't dry out.

Coconut rice is very tasty and you can find reduced fat coconut milk now so it's not as bad. Unsweetened coconut flakes added to the co**** rice at the end gives it an even better coconut taste.

Lime Juice and cilantro
 

Okay I tried the white rice with lime juice and cilantro for my lunch just now ... and DELICIOUS!! Thanks!:carrot:

diet white rice?? is this a joke?? lol

I think she meant the "Rice Diet." Which I know nothing about... But there is some information here:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/t...-diet-solution

Jay

It must be brown rice, as it mentions whole grain. thanks Jay for the link.

:D I'm glad you liked it...it is one of my favorite ways to eat rice

I cannot stand brown rice and was unwilling to give up my favourite brand of basmati rice. I flavour my rice with broth. I use the broth in place of the water to cook it in. It comes out great and I do have a teaspoon or two (measured ) of REAL butter on my portion of rice.
I won't give up my butter either.

Wild rice is awesome. :)

On another thread about low-calorie frozen food, someone mentioned Stouffers stuffed peppers - not a diet food but only 150 calories per pepper (two peppers per package) so it really is a good low-calorie food. And the peppers are stuffed with a mixture of tomato sauce, ground beef, and rice.

I am really looking forward to lunch today because this is what I'm having.

There is nothing wrong with having a little butter on your rice. Margarine and butter both have about the same calories and same fat content. The only difference is that butter is natural and margarine isn't. Read the labels and you will not want the margarine again. I switched to a butter and canola oil blend and use much less because it tastes so much better. Also since I switched my cholestrol has dropped to 127 and my triglycerides are cut in half and down to normal. I'll never eat the fake stuff again.

You might want to try mixing your white rice with brown rice at first. Slowly switch over to all brown rice as you run out of your white rice.

I use my rice cooker and add extra water, the brown rice (the good stuff I buy at the Japanese grocery store) cooks up nice and nutty. It only takes a few minutes longer and is so much better for you. :)

Mmm all these idea's sound good! I do the flavored soy sauce one but im interested in the butter with cilantro and lime rice!

What kind of white rice are you eating? I am not that fond of regular white rice but LOVE Japanese sticky white rice. That stuff is like a drug and I can eat it all by itself. OMG SO GOOOOD. I don't even know why. It's not THAT flavorful... but there's something ungodly good about it.

Or use *a little* real butter.

<--- must have 1t on air popped popcorn so it gets worked in.

I buy the frozen brown rice at Trader Joe's. You just slit the package and pop it in the microwave. I never thought I'd convert to brown rice so I was pleasantly surprised when I found I like this one. I never eat it alone though, usually as a side to something else.

i made a yummy cheesy rice the other day sooo delish!!! i got the success boil a bag brown rice. boiled it for 5 mins longer then it suggests I like soft rice.. in a separate pot I took a can of cream of celery soup added one can of water, 2 tbls of light sour cream, 2 tbls of fat free cream cheese and 1/4 cup of reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese. mixed all together good

then grilled or baked 2 chicken breasts cut them up into slices added one bag of steamed broccoli mixed the rice, the chicken, the soup mix all together in a casserole dish and then sprinkled on top another 1/4 cup of shredded cheese put some fresh ground pepper on top baked into oven for 15 mins just to melt cheese on top and then ate! yummy it was glorious!

I can't eat anything but the brown rice that takes 45 minutes to cook. The uncle bens or minute rices that are brown just do not taste very good to me.

I cook mine with chicken broth. I don't really eat it as a meal though, generally just as a side.
My favorite thing to eat brown rice is stir fried veggies with chicken. Than you get the soy sauce with it.