Made it, Ate it, Loved it: Black Beans and Rice

Hi everyone!
Happy Thursday (yay!!!!)
First off: holy moly, i have been hungry ALL DAY. I decided to write down everything I ate today and quickly realized why- the only fat I'd had all day was little bit of cheese in my lunch. So i promptly opened the fridge and had a spoonful of peanut butter. feel much better :) this will hold me over until dinner (which is salmon so there is a lot of fat there.) Case in point: be aware of what you eat- and if you track your food intake, you will quickly notice trends in hunger level and energy level associated to what you have been eating.

Anyway, I wanted to get to one of the meals I made on Sunday.  After a few weeks of dinner chaos (well what I would call chaos, I dare say most people wouldn't have a problem with this) in which I would just throw random food together, often eggs, for dinner, I decided I needed to make some meals ahead of time, and plan to make some during the week by having everything on hand. It took all over 2 hours to plan, shop and make the food!

The first meal I made was Black Beans and Rice (adapted from allrecipes.com):
(FYI: I totally dropped the ball on taking pictures of this meal, but thats because it was so yummy!)

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup uncooked brown rice
• 1 1/2 cups low sodium, low fat vegetable broth (I used Better than Boullion, and love it!) 
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 1/2 cups canned black beans, drained
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a stockpot over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 4 minutes. Add the rice and saute for 2 minutes.
2. Add the vegetable broth, bring to a boil, cover and lower the heat and cook for 20 minutes. Add the spices and black beans.

Better than Boullion: After reading this blog post on Cheap Healthy Good, I was on the hunt for the product and was happy to find it at my local Save-On Foods. It cost just over 8 bucks, and yields a lot more stock than your typical 3 dollar container of the stuff. I'd recommend it too. As usual, CHG knows what they are talking about!

Little Jar- Big Results!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this recipe. It is SUPER EASY and really nutritious (140 cals per 1/2 cup!) so no excuses people!!