This month’s recipe is something I made for my mother the other day. With Mother’s Day around the corner, for those of you with moms that are preposterously hard to buy for, as mine is, I may have the answer for you.
My mom lives alone, does not have many/any hobbies beyond doing things for her 6 grown kids and 9 grandkids, and rarely bothers to take the time to cook decent meals for herself. So, after spending considerable time wracking my brain, last year on her birthday I gave her 3 certificates:
Homecooked dinner every month
Fruit every month
Coffee every month
I package the meals into individual servings that she can either warmup or freeze. She was lukewarm about the whole scheme at first but it quickly grew on her. Now she really looks forward each month to my ‘gift that keeps on giving!’
Serves 4
1/2 lb. thick-cut bacon cut into bite-sized pieces*
2-1/4t soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4t to 1/2t red pepper flakes
1/2 head broccoli florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
1C sliced mushrooms
1/2 red bell pepper cut in strips
2 scallions sliced
5C cooked brown rice
1/4C low sodium chicken broth
4 large eggs
1C fresh spinach
*Bacon is optional. Shrimp and chicken also work well. This is also great as a veggie side dish. If not using bacon, saute spices and veggies in 1T olive oil.
Serve with mustard or chili sauce if desired and enjoy!
First of all, kudos for such a great, creative idea! It does get harder every year to come up with gifts for parents. Secondly, that recipe looks awesome–I think my kids would love it too. Thanks for sharing.
what a nice idea! I love that you added bacon to this. I'm going to send this to my friend who has a bacon blog!
Yummo! This looks good! Thanks for the recipe. And, what a great idea about the certificates for your mom!
That looks great! I am going to have to try it out 🙂
That looks so good. I love brown rice – I wish the rest of the family loved it as much as me.
Oh boy, that looks so good! I am a huge fan of brown rice…and who and the heck doesn't like bacon?
What a great idea for your mom! I'm sure she loves it! 🙂
Ohmigosh, what a wonderful idea! *stealing*
You are amazing! That's the perfect gift.
Man this looks awfully yummy! What a great gift idea; I wish my mom was closer…..
That's a great idea! The meal looks delicious.
What a fabulous idea! Your mom is so lucky!
ahhh! Thank you SOOO much for the great mother's day idea! seriously perfect!
What??? You cook, too? Here's what I made 5 days/week for dinner, when I'm eating well (and we both know that never happened during Boston training 😛 ): grilled chicken, plain brown rice, broccoli. Sometimes I get a little crazy and substitute edamame for the Broccoli. I can't cook. Obviously. I think this is the super-duper souped-up version of my bland, boring dinner and I am sooo excited to try this out this weekend (with Chicken, of course) – Thanks, girlfriend. Oh, and tell Julie that I, for one, does not like bacon. xo
I think those are such great ideas!!!
Brown rice is my staple! I always keep some cooked in my fridge and just add different things each day. My fav…steamed snow peas with toasted almond slices. YUM! I'm all for healthy but it has to be easy too. I'm definetly adding your recipe to my menu.
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
That looks delish! Thanks for sharing!
And what a great idea for your mom – is she renewing this year?? Have a great weekend!! Hugs!
Nice recipe, and I love the gift idea, I never know what to buy my mum or my gran, they never seem to need or want anything!
I'm a huge fried rice fan but usually only make it once a month. I'll have to try your version!