New Favorite Meal

Sometimes I make something for dinner and say to myself, "That was okay...but I probably won't make it again".

Other times I make something and say, "Mmmm, pretty good...need to remember to make this again". And then I forget.

But other times...oh I love when those other times happen! I say "I could eat this every day for a week."

Then I know...I've found a great recipe!

Such is this one. It just satisfied a taste, in the deep of winter, for something fresh. It actually reminds me of Chipotle in the States, though not anything particular from their menu. Just the essence of it.

In any case...it's a new favorite at our house now!

Baja Black Beans, Rice and Corn - with my adaptations for life here

6 cups cooked brown rice (made it in my rice cooker...where I would be without that useful appliance?!)
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained (I cooked dried black beans in my crockpot the day before - my favorite way to do black beans, and cheap too! I actually used 2 cups in this recipe because we like black beans)
1 (15 ounce) can corn, drained (I used 1 cup of frozen, cooked in the microwave with no additional liquid, for 1 minute)
4 fresh tomatoes, diced (I only used 2)
½ cup red onion, chopped (a key ingredient, I think)
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped (another key ingredient that thankfully I can get here)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (didn't have one so didn't use it)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (didn't have any fresh limes, but "DM", for my Czech friends, has a great bottled lime juice that works great and is nice to have on hand for times when you need lime juice)
1 tablespoon olive oil (another key ingredient even if it's just a small amount)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 dashes hot sauce (used some Tabasco...just a couple light shakes!)

Directions:
1 Cook brown rice.
2 In a medium bowl, combine black beans, corn, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice, oil, salt, pepper and hot sauce.
3 To serve, Place a scoop of hot rice in a bowl or on a plate, top with a generous scoop of the black bean mixture (which is cold...if you'd rather, you can heat it, but we liked it cold, mixed with the hot rice).
4 ENJOY!

Adapted from this recipe.
Thanks for the photo Claire!

Pecan Pie Muffins

Every once in a while you happen onto a recipe that is so simple, and yet so very good. This is definitely one of those recipes!

I can pretty much guarantee...you, your family, your friends, your neighbors, anyone in the near vicinity...will be glad you gave them a try. It's like eating a little pecan pie in the perfect portion. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
½ cups All-purpose Flour (I substituted an all purpose gluten free flour - worked great)
1 cup Chopped Pecans (for my friends in Central/Eastern Europe - Pecans are at Billa & Makro)
⅔ cups Softened Butter
2 whole Eggs Beaten

Instructions
Preheat oven 350 F.

Grease your muffin pan (whatever size) or use cupcake papers.

In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour and pecans. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and eggs together until smooth. Stir into the dry ingredients just until combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Cups should be about 2/3 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks when done.

Makes 12.

Morning Latte, Morning Prayer

When Tyler left for college two years ago, I prayed about finding a way to be intentional and daily with my prayers for him.

Since he and I like our coffee, I decided to make my morning lattes a reminder to pray for him. Give or take an hour or so, I'm usually praying for him here at our house at 11 AM (4 AM Chicago time!) as I go through the latte making process. It's such a fun connection to him, and is a pretty sure guarantee that he'll get prayed for every day since I'm not likely to miss my latte!

As a side note...one of my all time favorite lattes is with pumpkin spice syrup, especially in the fall.

But last week I ran out of the last drips of syrup that had come from the States. While I have some other flavors around, I decided to make my own from a recipe by the girl at Elm Street Life (a very fun blog I like to read).

It turned out AMAZING!! Now I'm hooked on my own, homemade syrup!

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

2 cups water

2 cups sugar

2 TB cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground nutmeg

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add sugar until it dissolves, then turn heat down so it simmers. Next, add all spices and stir or whisk them into the sugary water mixture. Let this simmer for 5 minutes, then take off the heat and let cool. Once cool, strain the mixture through a cheesecloth (we used a nut bag, you could also just use a thin, cotton kitchen towel), then pour into a container, and keep in the frig.

I use 1 TB of syrup for my lattes - it's close to perfection!