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

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.