Foodie!

My Auntie Jan has always claimed she'd rather be fat and happy than thin and miserable. I never planned on adopting that mantra but it seems it's been imprinted in my attitude towards life. That being said, I LOVE FOOD! I love to cook food. I love to eat food. I love to watch people cook food. I have a passion for all things edible.

Enter the blog. I know there are a billion foodie blogs out there but I don't care. A lot of times, when I mention what I've made for dinner, many of my friends ask for the recipe. So when I stumble upon something tasty, you'll find it here. If I find an awesome product out there, I'll tell you what I think here. Also, if I find a restaurant somewhere with exceptional fare, you'll hear about it here. (You'll probably hear about the bad ones too!)

So tonight, here's a simple recipe that'll spice up your Mexican food night at home! I call it "Rice and Beans, Beans and Rice." It's a reference to Dave Ramsey's financial plan that tells new savers to live on beans and rice to save money. While I could never live only on beans and rice, this recipe is pretty good!

I'm also going to include what I'd like to call "The Husband Rating." My hubby likes to eat food as much as I do. He'll give the recipes/restaurants a one to five star rating. Hopefully, I'll score high! (P.S. You'll find my rating, as well as a rating from my six year old daughter there too!)

Rice and Beans, Beans and Rice
Husaband rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Wife rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Kid rating: 1 out of 5 stars (She doesn't like tomatoes!)

1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans
Approx. 1 1/2 cups water
salt to taste
1 cup of white long grain rice

Note: A typical rice recipe calls for two cups of water to one cup of rice. If you have a bigger crowd to feed, increase your measurements. Just be sure to keep the 2 to 1 ratio.

Open the can of tomatoes and empty the juice into a 4 cup measuring cup. It'll probably give you 1/4-1/2 cup of juice. You need a total of two cups of liquid so fill the rest of the way to two cups with water. (I like to fill the tomato can with water a few times, draining them each time, to get as much tomatoey goodness out of the can as I can.)

Pour the two cups of liquid into your favorite rice pot. Drain and rinse the black beans and add to the pot. Add the diced tomatoes. Salt to taste. (I like to use garlic salt to give it a little extra flavor, but regular salt is great too!)

Bring the pot to a boil. Once boiling, add 1 cup of white, long-grain rice. Let it come back up to a boil. Then cover, TURN TO LOW, and cook for twenty minutes.

After twenty minutes, fluff and mix rice and beans with a fork. Serve hot!

EXTRAS!

If you want to add a little extra flavor, in the Mexican aisle at the grocery store, you can get tomato consume. It's kind of like a bullion cube but with tomato flavor instead of chicken or beef. Break it up to help it dissolve and add it at the beginning when you add the salt.

Also, for a little spice, add some red pepper flakes when you add the salt. Beware! A little goes a long way!