Twisted Black Beans & Rice

Let me introduce you to my new favorite twist on Jambalaya. I've had a hard time finding a recipe my husband and I could both enjoy because he prefers his food to have a lot of heat and I'm a spicy food wimp. I needed a compromise. Instead, I got a win-win! He loves it, and it won't burn off my tongue. Ding, ding!

I compiled a few of my favorite rice and beans recipes, tweaked them, made some additions and came up with this Black Beans & Rice (with a twist) recipe. I had no idea how it would turn out, but it was a huge hit, and has found its way onto our favorite meals list.

Twisted Black Beans & Rice
1/2 C chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 T olive oil
1 C uncooked brown rice
1 can chicken broth
1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can stewed tomatoes
2 T lime juice
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 t paprika
1 t chili powder
1 1/2 t garlic powder
salt & pepper
1 (14 oz) package smoked sausage, cut into quarters

Saute onion and garlic in oil until tender. {I use a nonstick wok.} Add rice and saute for 3 minutes. Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Cover, and reduce heat to simmer. Cook covered for 25 minutes until rice is fluffy and there is no liquid remaining.

Pour in beans and tomatoes. Add lime juice and spices and stir well. Add sausage and combine.

Cover and cook on medium-low heat until all ingredients are heated through.

I can't imagine taking the incredible flavor of the smoked sausage out of the mix, but if you have the willpower to do so, this is a show-stopping low-fat, high fiber meal option. I hope your family enjoys it, too!

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A big thank you to Sumo's Sweet Stuff for featuring me today! What a treat!

Creamy, Dreamy Banana Pudding

Before all of you banana pudding-haters go clicking away, let me assure you that I've got the same feelings. Not. A. Fan. But there's something about this recipe...

Maybe it's the creaminess of the pudding, but it's more like eating ice cream with wafers and a hint of banana mixed in. Either way, I'm absolutely hooked.

This recipe is a bit nostalgic for me. It came from an elderly woman at the small country church I attended growing up who was the epitome of the Proverbs 31 woman. She and her daughter made the Bible come alive for me as a little girl in Sunday School. I still remember their flannel graph lessons, and the tent she set up in the corner of our Bible class so we could better imagine what it was like for Moses to wander in the wilderness. She was a notoriously fantastic cook and our small town preacher practically begged her to make this whenever we had Sunday potluck dinners.

It's a treasure I'm glad to share with all of you.

Daisy's Banana Pudding
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 C cold water
1 (3 3/4 oz) package instant vanilla pudding mix (I use French Vanilla flavor)
1 (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
36 vanilla wafers
3 bananas, sliced, dipped in lemon juice to prevent browning

Combine the condensed milk and water in large bowl. Add pudding mix and beat well. Chill for five minutes. Fold in whipped topping. Spoon 1 C pudding mixture into a glass serving bowl. Top with 1/3 each of the wafers and bananas. Repeat layering (pudding, wafers, bananas) twice, ending with pudding and topping with wafers. Cover and chill. Keep refrigerated.


If you're trying to eat light, this can be a good option to satisfy a sweet tooth craving. I use fat free versions of the sweetened condensed milk and whipped topping and I can't taste any sacrifice in taste or texture. This is one rich dessert! Enjoy!

Upcycling Halloween Candy

I've already admitted I'm not a Halloween fan. But remember how candy was one of its redeeming factors? It most certainly is. And I stand by my claim. But I'm also noticing there's a little too much of it hanging out in my pantry. Maybe you can relate?

I also noticed that my name was next to "dessert" in the email sign-up for our weekly potluck dinner with friends. Perfect timing, perfect combination.

Halloween candy galore

+ not wanting to go to the grocery store again

= this heavenly concoction

But it's not all saturated fats and hydrogenated oils around here. You already know about my sneaky recipes, so this one should come as no surprise. Have you been hearing the buzz about Black Bean Brownies? I have. And I just did not believe it. It seemed a little too good to be true, in my opinion. But this Halloween Leftovers Trifle calls for brownies, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to test it out.

The basic idea is that you drain and rinse a can of black beans, then fill the can (with beans in it) with water, then puree it all. Then you add the puree to the brownie mix instead of the traditional ingredients that go along with it. No oil. No eggs. No nothing. Just brownie mix and beans. Sounds absolutely disgusting, doesn't it?

I wish I had a picture of my facial expression as I poured pureed black beans into my beautiful, chocolatey brownie mix.

The results?
Not too bad, actually. They are super dense, and not quite as chocolately as the real thing. But all in all, I'd make them again. Hey, a brownie packed with fiber and protein that doesn't tempt me every time I pass by? Sounds like a winner to me.

Which leads me to the reason the brownies are here...and a recipe that will tempt you every time you open the fridge.

Halloween Leftovers Trifle

1 brownie recipe, prepared

1 pkg instant chocolate pudding (6 serving size)

16 oz frozen whipped topping

1 1/2 C milk

Candy bars, crushed

Chocolate syrup, for garnish

Prepare brownie mix and bake according to package directions in a 13x9 pan. Cool and crumble.

Prepare chocolate pudding mix according to package directions, omitting half of the milk. Let cool, then fold in 8 oz of the whipped topping.

Layer brownies, chocolate pudding, crushed candy bars, whipped topping.

Repeat, finishing with whipped topping. Garnish with crushed candy bars, and chocolate syrup.

Chill 8 hours.

If you can keep your hands off of it for 8 hours, you'll have this:

Not a bad way to use up leftover Halloween candy, huh? I can't wait to see the reactions from our friends after they realize they just devoured a dessert filled with black beans. Have you tried these sneaky brownies yet?

Chocolate Makes Me Healthy

That's the only logical conclusion to draw from this picture.

{Excuse the sloppy picture. There was chocolate involved. I couldn't dilly dally.}

When I eat frosted chocolate brownies, I have to have strawberries on top.

See?

chocolate + strawberries = healthy

Makes perfect sense to me.

Healthy "Hawaiian" Chicken

I put Hawaiian in quotes for a reason. This is not gourmet. If you're looking for authentic, keep on clicking. If you're looking for 2 cans, a seasoning packet and 10 minutes, you're in the right place.

I had a friend in college who was actually from Hawaii. We were talking one day about his favorite foods and I got all excited and said, "Oh, I make Hawaiian chicken!" He cut me off, shot me a look and flatly said, "Do you call it Hawaiian chicken just because it has pineapple in it?" Touche.

Nevertheless, we enjoy it. And it's another of my favorite no-recipe-recipes. In other words, you'll remember how to make this forever, and it's likely you'll always have the ingredients on hand.

Start off by browning chicken in a little oil. I use EVOO. I've made this with chicken strip cuts and it served fewer. I've found if I'll start by cutting the chicken into bite-sized pieces, it goes further and there's less waste.

Pour a 15oz (-ish...this isn't an exact science) can of pineapple chunks and a small can of mandarin orange slices into a bowl. Don't drain off the juices! Mix in an envelope of dry onion soup mix. Stir.

Once the chicken is mostly browned, pour the mixture on top of the chicken. Cover and cook on medium low heat for about 10 minutes, or until warmed through. I highly recommend using a wok for this recipe to prevent a clean kitchen massacre...

And that's it, friends. We serve ours over brown rice with green beans and crescent rolls. I know, it was so healthy until I got to that bread part, wasn't it?

Healthy Eating for Kiddos

I'm blessed with a not-too-picky eater, but I still have to sneak healthy foods in amidst the lunch meat and cheese slices he loves to devour. And while I'm no expert on healthy eating, we've learned a few tricks of the trade to help our toddler eat well. Maybe they can be of use to you, too!

Secret #1: Chocolate

These chocolate chip muffins taste fantastic and my toddler has no idea that they're made with pumpkin and bananas. There's still chocolate involved, so it's possible to over-indulge, but they make for a much better option than cookies or other sweets.

You can find the recipe for the above muffins in Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious. Last time I glanced through our local used book store, there were approximately 1645 copies available for half the retail price. Not all of the recipes are home runs for our family, but her premise of sneaking in pureed veggies and fruits has been my staple for adding nutrition to our plates in addition to the plain veggies and fruits I offer up at mealtime.

Secret #2: Cook from scratch

Don't hate me. I served a frozen pizza last night. It happens. But from time to time I'll invest an afternoon to make a large serving of something my family will eat - from scratch. No preservatives. No food colorings. Just whole food. The chicken nuggets above are an example of one of my favorite from-scratch recipes. It's not perfect, or super low in fat (it would be better had I baked them), but it's missing all the additives that frozen foods often carry. You can see my recipe for chicken nuggets here.

Secret #3: Add sprinkles

Any pasta I serve my son is almost always accompanied by "sprinkles" of broccoli. I started this when he was old enough to eat solids, but not really old enough to chew bites of broccoli. Even now that he's old enough to have actual bites, I still trim the edges of broccoli florets into his sauce. That way, even if he balks at eating his peas (or broccoli bites), he'll still receive additional nutrition.

Secret #4: Lead by example

There are days when the only thing that will get my son to eat is by laughing and saying, "Look! Daddy's eating the same thing you are!" or "You take a bite, and Mommy will take a bite." He wants to be just like us, and that means we need to be eating well, too.

Secret #5: Pick your battles

I don't want mealtime to be any more exhausting than it already is. And I want my son to grow up enjoying his time around our table. When I look back on my time around my parents' dining table, it was filled with laughter, a few sermonettes from my father, and looking forward to the eldest child moving out so you could scoot up one chair closer to the best seat (the one next to Dad, of course). And while kids absolutely need good guidance and instruction, I don't want my kids to look back and only remember me harping at them to eat their veggies. That's why I use veggie/fruit purees. It may be culinary fibbing, but if I've already mixed half a cup of squash into the sauce of the chicken pasta (this works, by the way, and tastes fantastic), then if one night my toddler just cannot stand the thought of putting a spoonful of peas into his mouth, so be it. No big deal.

Secret #6: Vitamins, vitamins, vitamins

Maybe you don't agree with me on this one, but our pediatrician is all about the liquid vitamins. My son absolutely refused them when I tried to give them to him straight (have you smelled that awful stuff?!) but he has no problem when I mix it with juice. My bestie's kids love gummy vitamins, other moms swear by the chewables. Find what works for your kiddos and go with it. Some days are filled with ball games and birthday parties and the closest to a vegetable they're going to get is ketchup. On those days, I just take a deep breath and say, "Well, at least he's taking his vitamins."

What are your healthy eating tricks?

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