Cheeseburger Rice

Here is yet another casserole that I learned how to make from my Step-Mom Rhonda. You know...I have always given credit to my Grandma Murphy and my Dad for showing me how to cook but seeing that this is the third recipe in about a week and a half that gives credit to my Step-Mom I am wondering just how much help my Grandma and Dad provided me. Who am I kidding, my Grandma was the best and boy how I miss some of her meals. I love using the bowls and other dishes that I got from her estate when she passed, it helps to keep her memories alive.

Boy did I get way off track there for a minute, let's get back to the dish. This is another very easy dish to make and I can guarantee that you have every ingredient ready and waiting in your fridge/pantry. Daniel loves it when I make this dish and I will admit to eating two helpings whenever I make this.
Cheeseburger Rice~

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef

1/2 onion, chopped
1-3/4 cups water
2/3 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
2 cups instant white rice, uncooked
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

1.) Brown meat in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Add onion and cook until translucent.

2.) Add water, ketchup and mustard; mix well. Bring to boil.
3.) Stir in rice. Sprinkle with cheese; cover. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5 min. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 min. Stir.

I actually found this recipe on kraftfoods.com but I can almost guarantee she cut it out of a magazine somewhere. You should see the box of recipes that she has collected over the years. Piles and piles of recipes cut out from magazines, newspapers, the back of food boxes, and written down by hand. She and my Dad have been divorced for quite awhile now and it has been years since I have been to her house so I haven't seen the recipe box for quite a bit of time, but I can guarantee it's still a frightful, unorganized mess. It's the reason why even in high school I started my own box, even though it's not quite as large and it's packed away somewhere. Now I just print everything off of the Internet so I have piles on desks, in the kitchen, even in the car.

A few tips when making this, we added the onion to the dish, the original recipe doesn't call for it but I couldn't imagine making this dish without it. Also, we like ours really cheesy so I put more than a cup of cheese in it, probably closer to two. Another big tip is once you have added the cheese turn off the heat. If you aren't careful the bottom will burn and you might as well forget about it then. Keep an eye on this dish once you have added the cheese and the rice has absorbed the liquid.

Hope you enjoy, these casseroles have been bringing back a lot of memories for me.