Spanish Rice and Beans

I wasn't feeling well yesterday so Jeremy kicked it into high gear and was nice enough to make dinner for the family! :)  He decided to go with a "Mexican" theme and it turned out really good. Probably much better than it looks in the picture!

I wanted something with rice, so he decided to make Spanish rice and then find things to go with it. Everyone enjoyed the meal except Alexandra (she is 2). It was so cute to see the kids all trying "mixed" bites and getting excited. Nathan tried some of the quesadilla with rice on it and said, "Mmmmmm! Try this together - it's SO GOOD!" So Samantha put rice, beans, olives, sour cream and quesadilla in her mouth at the same time and did the same thing. So then the 3 older kids mixed and matched their bites and had quite an evening of discovery! I love seeing them be willing to try new things and actually get excited about the mix of flavors. I'll share how we made it all.

Spanish Tomato Rice
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1/4 c. green pepper, chopped
1 qt. whole tomatoes
3/4 c. rice
1/4 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp. pepper

Add all ingredients together in skillet. Stir and bring to boil. Simmer 45 minutes or until rice is tender. Note: For the tomatoes, I used home canned tomatoes and blended them to get rid of the big tomato pieces.

Refried Beans with Cheese
Put 1 can of refried beans into a glass dish and mix with a little water for a scooping consistency. Sprinkle the top with cumin and onion powder. Mix it all together. Add cheese on top and cook in a 350 degree oven until the cheese is melted.

Quesadillas
Place tortilla on a cookie sheet. Cover the tortilla with cheese and put on the top rack in the oven on broil. When cheese is melted, pull out the cookie sheet and place the 2nd tortilla on top of the melted cheese. Return the covered quesadilla back to the oven until the top tortilla is browned. Then take it out, cut it into pizza-like slices and serve. Sometimes I add green chilis to the cheese when I'm heating it up, but not this time.