It’s been a while since I did one of these. I have been cooking, but I’ve been trying to figure out how to cook with a new tiny one at my feet.

Todays recipe is from….the mother in-law! Haha 😂 Our relationship was rocky at first but now we have found a common ground. Cooking. I share recipes and she does too. This recipe actually comes from one of my many cookbooks; she discovered it when she visited many years ago.

It’s called…Southwestern Rice Bake

This is the picture she sent me. I love getting recipes like this. Where you’ve changed things to be more delicious!! And I did make it the same as she wrote.

The ingredients. I was also making pickles at the same time. I’ll write about the pickles on a different post.

Cheese, rice, beef, garlic, cilantro, etc. What could go wrong.

First comes the tomatoes.

This lone tomato came from our garden. 😎

Chopping tomatoes, chopping tomatoes, chopping, chopping, chopping. I’m making the salsa for the top first. She wrote that you should let it sit and stew I. The fridge while you make the other part. (My new spiffy knife!! That thing awesome.)

Super easy to make. Just Tomatoes, onion, green chilies, cilantro, salt, pepper, garlic, and fat. I didn’t know about the fat, but she insisted it would taste good. I might just use oil next time. I don’t need to eat extra fat.

The meat! Definitely going to drain off the fat. I’m always looking for ways to be healthier. I’m not too old; my body shouldn’t be hurting.

The gathering…

Mixing!! Mix, mix, mix the stuff up. (I don’t know why I’ve got the shake my wiggles out song stuck in my head… but I do.

Well I did it again. I forgot to take a before picture. I was doing the pickles, the casserole, and the dishes all at once. Ignore the ugliness of my oven. Ewww….I’m going to need a day of scrubbing.

The smaller casserole dish was just left half plain. But look at that delicious salsa. 🤤

Finished! And I must say that mother in law recipe looks amazing. Let’s taste it…!

Taste: 10/10!! I’m happy I did one extra tomato. The salsa makes this dish!!

Easiness: 10! It’s actually not too hard. I just started making dinner a little too late. Took me about 2hrs total. But I also had a baby on my ankles for maybe 30min.

Overall: 10! I will be definitely making this again. So all you daughter-in-laws out there. This is mother-in-law approved. If you want to try it out. My daughter loved it without the salsa. And my son ate maybe a 1/8 cup. He is a hungry thing.

Hope this recipe works for you. Have a good Wednesday.