Black Bean & Lime Rice Tacos

1/4lb Ground Chuck

1 15oz Can of Black Beans

1 10oz Can of Rotel

2 Cobs of Fresh Corn

1/4 Large Onion

1 1/2 tsp. Cumin

1 1/2 tsp. Chili Powder

Salt & Pepper

1 1/2 + 1/4 Cups Water

1 Cup Rice

1 Lime

10 Flour Tortillas

Toppings:

Cheese

Salsa

Cilantro

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Preheat oven to 275 F.

In a large skillet brown the ground chuck and drain off excess fat.

In the same skillet add onion and cook for 3-4 min until onion is translucent.

Add the black beans (drained and rinsed), corn (cut from the cob), rotel, ground chuck, cumin, chili powder, salt & pepper and 1/4 cup of water. Mix together and let simmer on medium-low heat string occasionally. Once the black bean mixture is reduced and is thick, it is ready to eat.

Take a pot and bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling add 1 cup of rice, stir and place a lid on the pot. Turn heat to medium-low and cook for 15 min.

Wrap your tortillas in foil and place in the oven to get warm.

After 15 min, remove rice from heat and let sit for an additional 5 min. (do not take the lid off)

When your rice is done, zest one lime and add to the rice along with the lime juice. Mix together.

Present every component “family-style” (separately) at the table. Also include cheese, salsa and cilantro for toppings.

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TIPS:

If you don’t have cumin or chili powder in your pantry, you can use 1 packet of taco seasoning instead.

When taking the corn off the cob, be careful! Just run a sharp knife down the cob and the kernels will fall off. Go slowly so that you don’t hurt yourself. If you don’t want to use fresh corn it is ok to use 1 can of corn.

Don’t have an instrument to zest a lime? No worries, just add the juice. If you still can’t taste lime go ahead and add more lime juice.

You can always omit the beef and have this be a vegetarian dish!

Want it spicy? Add 1 jalapeno when you are first cooking the onion for the black bean mixture.

Easy Fried Rice

I have been working hard with this recipe and I am happy to dedicate this to my sister, Ashlie. I know that she loves Chinese and now she can make this for her family!

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1 1/2 Cups Water

1 Cup Rice

1/2 Onion

1/2 Cup Peas

1/2 Cup Carrots

3 Eggs (scrambled)

2 tsp. Olive Oil

3-4 TBSP Soy Sauce

1 1/2 tsp. Toasted Sesame Oil

1/4 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

2 TSBP Garlic Butter

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In a medium pot boil 1 1/2 cups of water. Once it comes to a boil add rice, stir and place a lid on the pot. Lower heat to medium low for 15 min.

After 15 min take the pot off the heat and let sit for an additional 5 min.

Place a large skillet over medium high heat and add olive oil.

When the oil starts to ripple and the pan is hot add onion and cook for 3 min.

Push the onion to the outside of the pan and add eggs. While cooking eggs keep stirring them around until they are cooked.

Now add rice, peas, and carrots. Mix all together and cook for 2 min.

Add soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, red pepper flakes. Stir everything together and spread out evenly and let cook for 3 min. Now add garlic butter. Stir everything together, again and repeat spreading the mixture out in the pan and cook for an additional 3 min.

It is now ready to eat!

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TIPS:

You can make this ahead of time by putting the rice in the fridge overnight and it will be even better. But I have done this several times without using leftover rice and it turns out just fine.

DO NOT TAKE LID OFF RICE! Wait until the entire 20 minutes have expired, then take the lid off. That is the #1 mistake when making rice. No worries, it will cook.

“Scrambled” eggs is just put the eggs in a separate container and whip together before adding to the skillet.

If you have the frozen mixed peas and carrots just use 1 cup. I like to use the frozen veggies because it is easy, no chopping!

I make my own garlic butter. I use 2 TBSP of butter and 1 TBSP garlic salt. Mix together and it is ready.

Toasted Sesame Oil can be found in the Asian section of the store near the soy sauce. This is the one flavoring that makes your fried rice taste like the fried rice you have at a restaurant.

Keeping your skillet HOT is the key to fried rice. Once you start getting the brown toasted rice throughout the mixture you know that it is done.If you don’t get the brown toasted rice, keep cooking for 3 min intervals after mixing and spreading it out in the skillet.

Make this your own! Add chicken, broccoli, snow peas, etc. I have been wanting to add pineapple.. yum!

Chicken With Rice &Veggies

My husband and I are trying to lose weight and I am changing up the food on the menu. This is a healthy meal that can be prepared quickly.

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1 Chicken Breast

1 Cup Rice

1 1/2 Cup Water

1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/2 Cup Milk

1 TBSP Parsley Flakes

Asparagus

Broccolli

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

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Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a pot bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil, add rice and cover with a lid.

Reduce heat to medium low and cook for 15 min.

After rice is done take off the heat and wait 5 min before removing lid and fluff with a fork.

Drizzle about 1 TBSP of olive oil, salt & pepper over the veggies and place them onto a sheet pan.

Cook in the oven for 10-15 min until tender.

Take chicken breast and cut into medium size pieces and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a skillet to medium heat with 2 TBSP of olive oil.

Add chicken pieces and cook for 2 min each side. Remove chicken and let rest.

Add water to the skillet to De-glaze the pan then add cream of mushroom soup, milk, parsley and chicken.

Cook mixture for 10-15 min.

Serve chicken and sauce over the rice.

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TIPS:

Start cooking the rice first, then while it is cooking work on the veggies. By the time the rice is done, so should the veggies. Work on the chicken last. The meal should be ready around the same time.

Chicken is a very healthy protein, but you do want to watch your portions. I found a great way to get more out of your chicken breasts. Cut the breast in half length ways. You should have two thinner cuts of breasts. So now instead of using 2 breasts, you can use 1 per two people.

Also, if you cut the chicken breast in half it makes it easier for you to cut it into even pieces.

One more tip about the chicken, when you are cooking them don’t worry if they are not cooked all the way. When you put them back into the sauce they will cook the rest of the way.

Now I know that cream of mushroom isn’t exactly “healthy,” but I think if you were to buy the low sodium option it is better than the regular. It also saves you time, so you don’t have to make a cream sauce from scratch.

Make sure to De-glaze the pan! This is where your flavor comes from. I just added about 2 TBSP of water, you can use about the same amount of white wine or chicken stock.

Feel free to use fresh parsley. I have a hard time keeping herbs fresh in the fridge, so I use dried most of the time. Either way, it won’t make too much of a difference.

 

Sweet & Spicy Meatballs with Rice

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Meatballs

1 lb Ground Chuck

2 tsp. Worcestershire

2 Garlic Cloves

1 Egg (beaten)

2 Green Onions

1/4 Cup Bread Crumbs

Salt/Pepper

Sauce

1/2 Cup Peach Preserves

1/2 Cup BBQ Sauce

1 Garlic Clove

1 Jalapeno (cut in half)

1/2 Cup Water

Salt/Pepper

Rice

1 Cup Rice

1 1/2 Cups Water

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In a large bowl combine all the ingredients for the meatballs and mix until it comes together as one mixture.

Form meat mixture into meatballs, try to keep them the same size. Then place onto a greased sheet pan and place into the fridge.

In a medium sauce pot mix peach preserves, bbq sauce, garlic, jalapeno, water, salt and pepper. Set stove to medium and bring to a simmer for about 25 min. After 25 min, take the jalapeno out of the sauce and toss away. Continue to keep warm over low heat.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a separate pot and then add 1 cup of rice. Mix to combine and place lid over pot and turn heat down to medium low and let cook for 15 min. After 15 min, remove from heat and let sit for another 5 min. Fluff rice with a fork .

While rice is cooking, place your meatballs into the oven and cook for 10-12 min. Once they are done let meatballs rest for 5 min. Then mix into your sweet & spicy sauce.

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Tips:

If you saw my previous post (Banana Bread Muffins) I used ice cream scoops to keep everything the same size. This is also what I did for the meatballs. Only this time I used the small size. Now keep in mind if you want bigger meatballs, cook them a few minutes longer. You are looking for the meatballs to be brown and just about cooked through.

Make sure to let your meatball rest for 5 min! This gives them a chance to continue to cook and importantly soak moisture back into the meatballs. This makes sure they are not dry.

For the sauce I used peach preserves, but you can use anything you like. Options are: apricots, orange marmalade or grape. Also, this recipe just has a small “Kick” of heat. If you want more heat add 1/4 tsp. of red pepper flakes.

Make this ahead of time by putting meatballs into the freezer. Jar the sauce. Place cooked rice into a container and keep in the fridge.

Looking for a side dish? I cooked 2 Zucchini & 1 Yellow Squash with butter, salt and pepper.. simple but yummy!