Hi Jeanne,

I read your posting and had to put my "two cents worth" in...I cannot cook rice to save my life. My Mom cooks beautiful rice but not me.

What has been a true life-saver for me has been the VIGO Yellow Rice packages sold in supermarkets. They even surprised my Mom so much that now that is what she does instead of going thru the trouble of doing a sofrito. The seasonings area already with the rice, just follow the instructions for gorgeous rice. The rice comes out fluffy and tastes exactly like what going thru all that trouble tastes like. And as for prices, they can't be beat. 49 cents for the small package which serves 3 people and the big package which serves 6 people is 89 cents. That's good prices!!

The same goes for fried sweet plantains. My sister from New Jersey passed on this little gem...

Goya makes packages of sweet fried plantains already cooked. All you do is micro-wave them and they taste just like Mom makes. Homemade and delicious, without all the grease and frying and trouble.

Goya can be found in the frozen foods section of the latin foods. Very, very delicious.

Happy Cooking, Gina