Pup at the Lake & Perfect Brown Rice

After 11 straight days of work, my hunnie finally had the day off on Sunday, so we headed up to the lake to visit his folks and introduce them to their first grand-pup.  We're finding out she loves being in vehicles...a true engineering pup if ya' ask me.  She loved being in the boat and watching me stand up (and fall) on my first attempts at water skiing.  I'm finding out that with rescue dogs, the key is exposing them to as much as possible, but doing it at their pace.  We're pretty certain Georgia had never been in water before, seeing as how she's a desert pup.  It took more coaxing to get her to step in the water along the shore than it did to get her in the boat.  I got her through it in puppy steps...I'd take two steps into the water, wait a bit, talking to her the whole time...and then eventually she'd take two steps into the water.  With the water halfway up her legs, I took off her leash, and within 30 seconds she dove towards the deep end of the lake and started doggie paddling.  I felt like a proud mama watching little Georgia swim.

We're back in the desert and I have to admit, I'm a bit sore from our water skiing adventure.  The thought of making a complicated dinner made my muscles ache even more, so instead I went for something easy after work today.  Brown rice can be a challenge to get right, especially if you attempt to cook it the same way you cook white rice.  I've come up with the perfect brown rice recipe, which by the way does NOT require you to hover over the stove top, stirring for an hour.  Meaning you can turn on the heat, sit down and rest those achy muscles (or be productive if you so choose) for near an hour. 

Perfect Brown Rice
1 cup brown rice
2 1/2 cup water + 1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon butter

In a saucepan, pour 1 cup of rice.  Pour about 1/2 cup of water into pot and use fingers to move rice around.  Then use your hand (or a strainer) to drain out all the water and any gritty stuff from the rice.  Add 2 1/2 cups of water and the butter to the rice in the saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until water begins to boil.  Stir rice with spoon; then reduce heat to low, place lid on saucepan, and let rice simmer (undisturbed by fork or spoon) for 45-50 minutes.  Serve with sauteed veggies and/or meat. Pin It