soup beans

Well, we got the snow storm that was promised and I got the day off work!! It looks like there might be more snow coming tonight and luckily we have plenty of food in the house. Last night I made my first batch of vegetarian soup beans and they turned out great. The recipe made a TON...I really had no idea how much it was going to make. I'm glad though. I've been inspired by Elise who writes the blog Hungry Hungry Hippie (specifically this post) to start making big batches of a protein, a whole grain and veggies to have on hand for the week. It really is a simple way to have healthy, inexpensive food in the house when you're too busy or too tired to cook a whole meal from scratch.

This time I did the soup beans, a big batch of brown rice, and roasted butternut squash, brussels sprouts, and onion.

Ah, the crock pot and the rice cooker...2 appliances I could never live without.

This was my first time cooking brussels sprouts and I am hooked. I know a lot of people had bad experiences with them as kids, but give them another try. Just remove the darker, outer leaves and cut the tough stem up, then roast in a 400 degree oven in olive oil, kosher salt and pepper for 45 minutes. So tasty!

Once everything was ready I just threw it all in a big bowl and had a yummy, very filling dinner that cost next to nothing per serving.

I didn't make quite as many veggies or rice as I should have (there's just a little bit of each left), but I have tons of beans for the week. Tonight I'm going to make some cornbread from a mix and have traditional soup beans and cornbread for dinner. And since I can't get to the grocery store tonight b/c of the snow, I might heat up some frozen green beans just so there's something green on the plate :)