Easy, Basic, Low Fat Rice Pudding. Part One

2 cups 2% milk
1/2 cup rice
2-4 tbls sugar*
pinch of salt

Bring the sugar and milk just to a boil, add the rice and reduce heat to low. Simmer until the rice is tender and most of the milk is absorbed, ~30 minutes (maybe more). Chill in the fridge for a few hours or eat warm.

*different sugars will give you different flavors. I've used brown sugar, white sugar and honey, they are all fantastic.

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Mmm, rice pudding. Who knew something so awesome would be so easy? So this isn't going to be a big post where I do a lot of talking and share a lot of pics. Mostly because I don't have a lot of pics, but also because I'm going to be making it again soon and will post about variations in the future. This way I can just link back to this post for the basic recipe. Also I realized I hadn't posted this week... heh. Anyway, is this recipe awesome? Yes. Is it low fat? Yes! Which is good because my doctor very gently guilt tripped me into eating better. So, stay tuned for more puddingy adventures kids, for they are imminent.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Pudding

A while ago a buddy of mine came over and brought a couple mini banana breads. We ate one while he was here and the other on got wrapped up and, sadly, forgotten for a week. So it was pretty stale by the time I rediscovered it. I certainly didn't want it to go to waste, so I decided to make some bread pudding out of it. You might have already figured that out by the title. Heh.

Now, I'm not known for following recipes, especially when I'm doing something on a whim. And this was no exception. Also it was quite a while ago that I made it, I really kind of tossed it together and frankly, I don't have any idea what I did. But I'm going to post about it anyway because I have the pictures.

What I do remember is that the banana was frozen, so it put out a bunch of liquid when I thawed it. And I remember there was about two cups of bread cubes. Ah, photography. So much better than my memory. Anyway, I put it together like you would any kind of bread pudding. Eggs, sugar, milk, mixing. Pouring the goop, which I should have made more of, onto the bread and chocolate chips. Then baking the whole thing until it's cooked through and brown on top. It was good, but not great. Needed more goop, like I said before. Tasty though it may be, it isn't really very pretty once you scoop it onto a plate. Heh. The concept is sound though and I'll be doing it again. Maybe even with a recipe.

Weird, I just went to look at the other time I made bread pudding, when I did a croissant one, and it was posted on December 23rd. Apparently something about the end of the year makes me think about bread pudding. Hm.

Anyway, I'm definitely making it again soon and I'd love some advice. Who wants to share their favorite bread pudding recipe with me?