Menu Plan - Week of March 2

Last week I tried making risotto with short grain brown rice. I decided to use the same risotto recipe I always use, Roasted Beet Risotto, so that we could decide if the brown rice was truly a good substitute without needing to evaluate a new recipe. The flavor was still good, the texture perhaps not quite as creamy. But. The biggest difference was the time involved. You know how brown rice takes about twice as long to cook as white rice? Well, apparently that's true with risotto too. And now I'm wondering why that wasn't obvious to me before I tried it.

At 5:18 pm I started stirring:


And at 6:41 pm, it was done:


So it took about an hour and 20 minutes to make risotto with brown rice, whereas I normally spend about 40 minutes making risotto. Considering that we only eat risotto about once a month, I think maybe I'll go with the quicker-cooking, less-healthy arborio rice.

Besides experimenting with risotto last week, we also got our seeds planted! I'll plan to post some pictures of our indoor seed-starting set up this week, maybe on Tuesday.

My menu for this week is very uninspired. I'm not sure if I'm just not feeling creative, or if I'd rather just stick to some of the simple, easier things that I usually make.
Monday - Rice and beans
Tuesday - Hearty supper salad
Wednesday - Veggie stir fry, coconut rice
Thursday - Simple bean soup, veggies
Friday - Homemade vegetable pizza
Saturday - Leftovers

I just realized that Daylight Saving Time begins in less than a week! Wow! I'm not thrilled about getting the kids to adjust to the change, but it does make it feel like maybe, just maybe, spring will be here soon!

To see more Menu Plan Monday, check out the links over at Organizing Junkie.