Bonding with Rice

Disclosure

There are some things about past jobs that have really stuck with me.  In some cases, it has been a co-worker who has intentionally tried to make things difficult for me.  Other times, it has been a challenging project that has pushed me to learn something new.

At one of my jobs, they encouraged coworker bonding whenever possible.  Since we were accountants, trying to gather on a regular basis for lunch was virtually impossible.  Instead, for the monthly staff meeting, employees in the department would rotate who would coordinate the food items, the theme or whatever.

I remember putting a lot of effort into the luncheon that I planned, only to have someone follow up by putting together a very extravagant “tea party”.  She said that I had set the bar high for her and she ran with it.  It was awesome.  Staff meetings are a whole lot more tolerable when you have something to look forward to besides the usual, well, staff meeting agenda.

Other times, they just kept it simple.  Like chipping in and having someone run to pick up lunch  – or since it was California, breakfast burritos were a big hit.  One very memorable experience I had was when a coworker and I were brainstorming about something and we started talking about a rice dish.  It was one of those “Is it a breakfast or a dessert?” discussions.

Growing up, I recall my mom making a rice and raisin dish all the time but I didn’t remember the specifics.  All I could think of was rice, raisins, milk and cinnamon/sugar.   She used to make is specifically for us but I’ve never bothered to ask her for a recipe.  Instead, if I ever had leftover rice after dinner, I would mix it up as a dessert.  Wasn’t as good as moms but it was a close enough resemblance to make me happy.

Anyway… so this coworker and I were chatting about it and she said it’s a staple around her house.  For breakfast.  Rice, milk, raisins, cinnamon/sugar and butter.  I was certain it was the same thing.

So what did we do?  Planned some bonding with rice.  We brought the ingredients to work, and I toted in my Sunbeam instant steam to cook the rice on site.  When the rice was ready, we set it all up buffet style and planned breakfast for coworkers.  Everyone could add whatever they liked to their bowl of rice… and we all enjoyed it.

Things have changed now.  I don’t work full time and I seldom buy white rice.  We’re trying to plan some healthier meals, so we switched to whole grain brown rice.  We also purchase microwave rice like Uncle Ben’s Chicken Brown Rice in their Ready Rice microwave packets.  Brown rice has a different flavor (and texture in my opinion) than white rice, but I’ve really enjoyed the switch.

So when I was asked s to test Uncle Ben’s rice, I immediately replied.  I was completely honest with them that I had switched to brown rice so if there was an option, that’s what I wanted to review.  As it turns out, the review is for white rice.  Uncle Ben’s new WHOLE GRAIN white rice.  Sounded like a perfect addition to our pantry.  Shortly after, Mom Central launched a blog tour for Uncle Ben’s brown rice but since I was already working on the white rice campaign, I didn’t sign up.  I’ve really enjoyed the brown rice and despite not participating on the campaign, I want to put in a good word for it.