Cheesy Brown Rice & Black Bean Loaf

Hi!

Happy Monday :D. We had the most perfect November weather over here. Cold but not too cold and extra sunny! We deserved it though. The week leading up to it was pretty gross.

I basically have a river in my backyard with a path beside it that you can walk along for as long as you feel like walking. You might come across the odd black bear, but they generally won’t even give you the time of day. When we moved to the neighborhood almost 5 years ago, I just about died when I saw a bear up close for the first time, right by my house. Neighbors kept saying “don’t worry, they’re harmless,” and so far that’s proven to be true. But at the same time, they’re wild animals and us humans need to respect that and be cautious. Better safe than sorry!

My “backyard”

On Saturday we walked along the river for awhile and then headed over to a local high school that was hosting their annual Winter Market. There were tons of really crafty, cool, yummy goodies. I easily could’ve spent way too much money because I’m such a sucker for things like that, but I managed to walk out with my wallet still intact. I bought Ryland the Charlie Brown Christmas Story but the best part is that it’s a handmade quilt book. He buries his face in it and my heart explodes, as per usual with everything he does. I won’t deny that I’m an obsessed Mom. We also had some chocolate covered pretzels. Had to support the bake sale!!

OK, so back to the title of this post, the purpose of this post. I usually try to make something on Sundays that Ryland and I can take to work/daycare for lunch throughout the week. I also try to make sure that whatever I come up with has a good balance of protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats. Since I’m not a huge meat eater, I rely on beans and eggs quite often to get my protein and iron intake. Beans are also high in fibre, and we all know how important that is! I also love brown rice which is a plus because it’s full of fiber, antioxidants and slow-releasing sugars, which promote stable blood sugar. And last but not least, cheesy goodness. A little more protein, a good does of calcium, and of course, YUM.

OK…so it doesn’t look all that appetizing, but the lighting was bad and I used my cell phone. It turned out to be pretty tasty though, promise!

Cheesy Brown Rice & Black Bean Loaf

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 1 tbsp taco seasoning
• 1 tbsp coconut oil (melted) or olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375° and grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan
2. In a large bowl, mix together rice, beans, and taco seasoning
3. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and coconut oil or olive oil. Pour into large bowl and mix all ingredients well.
4. Gradually add shredded cheese to bowl, mixing gently.
5. Pour into loaf pan, pressing down gently until level.
6. Bake 40-45 minutes.
7. Let cool in pan for 10-15 minutes before removing.

I would say this is good in the fridge for 3 days max so I recommend freezing any that might not get eaten within that time. I had a slice for dinner last night and topped it with chopped green onions and hot sauce (because I’m addicted, I admit it). My fingers are crossed that Ryland gobbles it up at daycare today! Duncan turned his nose up at the brown rice but that’s fine. He can stick to white rice covered in MSG-filled soy sauce! I have a LOT of work to do on that guy :/.

Time to get to it. Have a great day!

A Crafty Weekend

Hi! I hope your weekend was a great one. We went for a hike, hung out at the park, had a visit with some friends and did a little grocery shopping. We also got pretty crafty around here. Ryland had his first finger painting experience and I made a little something for my dad’s upcoming birthday. Being a toddler, Ryland puts everything in his mouth, so I had to make sure the paint was “edible.” I searched the good old internet for toddler-safe paint and ended up mixing a few drops of food colouring with sour cream. I was thinking that it might smell funny once it dried, but nope! Hopefully that doesn’t change. I put the kiddo in the bathtub with the paint and a couple of canvases and he got right to it.

 

He obviously had a little taste…apparently he does NOT like sour cream. I was going to use yogurt but he loves that stuff and I figured he’d end up eating it instead of painting with it ;). One of his masterpieces will be a birthday present for his grandpa and the other is already up on our wall. My little Picasso!

My dad is turning 60, so with some help from my good friend Pinterest, I put together this little booklet:

I bought a few sheets of pearly white card stock from Michaels and used a paper cutter at work to cut out 62 4″ x 4″ pages. I hole punched the top left corners and secured them all together with a metal ring/clasp that I happened to have in my craft box. I honestly don’t even know where it came from, but it was very handy for this project. I also bought a sheet of “dad” related stickers to stick on every few pages. Then I wrote out a list of all the reason I love my pops, picked my 60 favorite, and wrote one per page, plus a front and back page. Some are funny, some are cheeky, some are serious, but they’re all right from the heart. I thought it was a pretty cool way to let him know that he’s the best dad out there. In my opinion of course :). He’s not overly excited about turning 60, so hopefully our “artwork” makes it a little easier for him to enter a new decade ;).

I made some Cheesy Black Bean & Brown Rice Mini Muffins for dinner last night and they were a hit! I put a few in Ryland’s lunchbox for daycare and froze the rest so that I can take a few out here and there for quick lunches or dinners. They are a perfect toddler meal. Basically, all the rice actually makes it in his mouth and they have a great balance of fiber and protein. I’ll post the recipe on Wednesday in case you’re interested.

Enjoy the rest of your day :).