Beans and Rice – a Review

1. Beans and Rice did not leave me craving meat. Instead, I wanted bread. So we did add bread back into our diet after a bit.
2. Brian struggles to survive if he cannot have peanut butter and jelly toast for breakfast.
3. I have lots of beans and rice left. A little less than half of it left??? Hard to say.

April’s thoughts:

Beans and rice allowed
Vegetables, fruits, oils and spices allowed
Tortillas and tortilla chips allowed
Yogurt allowed
If we cheat, it will be in adding cheese, although we minimized this.
Wish we could have had tons of sour cream.
The girls will only participate somewhat. Mac and cheese, peanut butter and jelly are still their staples.
Steak dinner on May 1st.

Our meal plan… plus comments:

Bean and rice tacos – never got to these.
Macho Mexican Rice – Pretty good. We liked the different texture (firmer) of the added millet and Quinoa in our white rice. We made it with simple cooked black or red beans (don’t remember) and ate with salsa with a spoon or with chips.
Rice and Beans with a Bam – Didn’t dislike these. Didn’t love them. Filled my tummy. If I make this again, I’ll put it on tortillas for tacos.
Gallo Pinto Again, not exciting, but filling and pleasant.
Mexican Rice and Beans I really liked these! But I am a Mexican rice and beans fan… eating tons of chips with salsa and beans and Mexican restaurants. I also LOVE fresh cilantro, so I put tons of it in the beans.
Spicy Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup – I was worried I would really dislike this. But I liked it. And it was spicy. Mixed up leftover rice with it so I didn’t breath fire. Surprisingly, (you know you were wondering) all these beans didn’t make us nearly as stinky as I expected. Maybe because I soaked with lemon juice?
Turmeric Rice – Very pretty (the picture in a couple blog posts back?)… very bland, simple flavor. So-so.
Cajun Skillet Beans Forgettable.
Honolulu Skillet Beans – I wish I could forget these. GROSS. Fed it to the chickens after eating a few servings.
Koshary – This one has a really neat, international flavor. It’s very simple in ingredients… a very simple dish. Simple and enjoyable. I made Naan bread to go with it, which was both fun and yummy. HOWEVER, this recipe requires like fourteen pots and pans and bowls and steps! It’s silly! I would definitely simplify it a LOT if I made it again.
Majedra – Use lots and lots of yummy, sauteed sweet onions. Good.
Middle Eastern Rice with Black Beans and Chickpeas – Didn’t get to this.
Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas – We topped this with a little bit of Tillamook smoked italian (preshredded) cheese. Not much. But oooh, it was delicious all together!
Herbed Lentils and Rice – Didn’t get to this either

So you see, we don’t get to that many recipes in a month. But wen survived and feel healthy and satisfied. We did eat out a couple times with our usual dining out budget. (That’s $30… our kids eat like birds and we aren’t fast food snobs 😉 I also baked a few desserts with forbidden ingredients and we had hamburgers on Anna’s birthday.