Last week was a crazy and busy week. There were ups and downs like a roller-coaster ride. The good, no wait, great moments really stood out and got me through it all. As the week ended, I found myself in the kitchen needing a quick side dish to prepare and thinking about things I’m thankful for. Those thoughts flooded in while I made Vegetable Rice and the rest of the evening’s meal.
Vegetable rice is colorful and flavorful too. Orange and shades of green really brings brightness to any meal or any day for that matter. Fluffy rice with added goodness of carrots, celery, and green onion, plus crunchiness of cashews equals a tasty side to go along with most any kind of meat or seafood. The best part is that it is done in about 20 minutes and half of that is simply letting it sit covered while the rice soaks in broth.
What do I have to be thankful for? Lots. One thing in particular about last week is what all went behind the re-design of my website. The story begins well before last week though. It’s a long story so forgive me for the length of this post.
The story goes way back from the moment I decided to start a blog. My friend Terry of tbg design was then and still is one of my biggest supporters in this endeavor. She is a brilliant and incredibly talented artist that incorporated parts of my life and things I enjoy and created the beautiful header and logo for this site. I love it so much I knew it had to stay when the rest of the site changed.
The next part came back in January of this year. Actually, a year ago is when I got another domain and had big plans of setting up a test site to work on a re-design. It was supposed to be an easy process and yet it failed each time I tried. I reached out to the Atlanta WordPress community and Mickey Mellen of Green Mellen Media came to my rescue. I asked him if he would walk me through it so I could learn and he agreed. I went to his office and he guided me through it all. He knew exactly how to handle the errors and never flinched with any of them. He was so calm and it was no big deal. Well, no big deal to him as I have to admit my hands were shaking through the whole thing. That calmness resonated with me along with seeing his expertise first hand.
Later in the year there came another step. All the things that go into this blog and what I do for the Sunday Supper Movement was making it difficult find the time to do the behind the scenes updates to my website. I decided to sign up for Mickey’s site maintenance plan. This was a giant step for me. It was the first time I’ve ever given anyone aside from my web host access to my site. I had faith and, most of all, trust behind the decision. It is a decision I am so very glad I made.
A sneaking suspicion caused the next step. The theme I was using was an outdated version. While it was still supported I suspected one day there would be a big conflict with WordPress and other updates. So what did I do? Yep, I called on Mickey again. My site re-design when into full gear. I met with him and Susanna to go over what I wanted. Susanna worked on the design layout and I was amazed each time I saw it in progress on my test site. I can’t say enough great things about what she did to make it even better than expected. When the checklist was complete, it was time to implement the new design.
The final step happened last week. Once again I went to their office to witness expertise in full action. The implementation went exactly as planned and exactly on schedule. I now have a beautiful new site design thanks to them and I am beyond thrilled with it. It goes to show how true professionals can really make a difference.
So what is the next step? That’s easy! I’ll be working on sharing tasty recipes like this Vegetable Rice and other exciting things with Sunday Supper, the Food and Wine Conference, WordCamp, and more. Oh and with Thanksgiving being this week, check out my Turkey Reuben Panini or Turkey Noodle Soup for something to make with leftover turkey or the turkey carcass.
Vegetable Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup shredded carrot
- 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup instant rice
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped cashews
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
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Combine broth, carrot, celery, green onion, butter, salt, and pepper in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil then remove from heat.
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Stir in rice. Cover and let stand for 5 to 8 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
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Transfer vegetable rice to a serving dish. Sprinkle cashews and chopped parsley on top.
Recipe Notes
Vegetable Rice is a quick and easy side dish recipe. It is filled with carrots, celery, green onion and topped with cashews and parsley.
Recipe adapted from Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks Issue #115 published in 1990.
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious
Monday 1st of December 2014
Your site is beautiful!
Nancy @ gottagetbaked
Tuesday 25th of November 2014
Wahoo! I love the redesign, Renee! Thanks for sharing details of your journey. I wouldn't even know how to get started with a blog redesign. You, Terry and Mickey did a fantastic job. I can't wait to try this vegetable rice - it looks delicious!
Linda | Brunch with joy
Tuesday 25th of November 2014
What a fun start, Renee and your stories are always inspiring. This vegetable rice will be a hit at our home since rice is our staple food. :)
Terry Gardner
Tuesday 25th of November 2014
Awww...thanks! Keep up the great work!
Anita at Hungry Couple
Tuesday 25th of November 2014
I love vegetable ride! And your redesign looks great. After all you effort and time you describe, I'm glad you got exactly what you want.