Accidental Dirty Rice

There comes a time when you need to make some meals and clean out the pantry. I have several containers in various forms that are leftover from other meals or were just never used. Your pantry may be in the same condition, and it's always a good way to save some money on this week's grocery bill.

So last week I realized I had several packages of ground beef in the freezer. I'm not quite sure where they came from, but I was incredibly happy to stumble across them.

I also had three boxes of brown rice — two of them open for some reason — and I decided to make a one-skillet meal. That way I could use up some other cans of things in the pantry. Not only is it easy, it's fun and economical.

Danny loved it and I decided to share it with you here. I asked what I should call it since it was just a mishmash of ingredients. Danny looked at me a little strange and said, I thought you made dirty rice. I stopped dead in my tracks — I was thinking of it as a ground beef dish with a bunch of other ingredients. But he was right. I had just made my own dirty rice mixture. Of course the Louisiana boy would catch that.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup uncooked rice
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 can mushrooms, chopped
shredded cheese

1. Brown the ground beef in your largest skillet. Cast iron is my favorite just for the flavor.

2. Stir in the onion soup mix, water, tomatoes and mushrooms.

3. Add the rice last and mix all together.

4. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes or so. The rice should be tender.

5. Serve with cheese on top.