Category: Recipes

Everything Chili

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Background Story for Simple Everything Chili

Simple Everything Chili: 

Since Christmas time is approaching, churches, organizations, and families everywhere are squeezing in the last of the shopping, get-togethers, and worship preparations.  On Friday night, I had the pleasure of attending the “Women’s Christmas Gathering” at another church.  One of my favorite things to do during this season is to sing Christian Christmas carols to help me in reigning in my heart, mind, and soul into the reason for this season:  reflecting on that precious baby who was brought into the world to bring hope in a weary land.

My second favorite thing to do is to watch Christmas movies on Lifetime, Hallmark, and Netflix.  Because of the fact that my free time is mainly in the evenings, and it is usually when I am tired that I’m trying to watch these movies, I end up falling asleep about a third of the way.  And of course, on the following day, I am trying to figure out where I left off.  Even so, for some odd reason, just having these movies playing, as I am sitting on the couch with a throw in my comfy corner of the couch is enough for me.

The last recipe that I featured was “Simple Beans and Zucchini Soup.  You can find that recipe here.  Today, I have included a recipe for chili that I made a few days ago.  It’s called “Simple Everything Chili”.  Why the name?  I literally dumped everything in it to make it work.  Send me a line letting me know if you decide to make it.

Activity:  Making “Simple Everything Chili”

Total Prepping and Cooking Time:  2 1/2 hours

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons of cumin
  • 4 tablespoons of turmeric
  • 4 tablespoons of onion powder
  • 5 tablespoons of chili powder
  • 3 tablespoons of garlic powder
  • 5 tablespoons of parsley
  • 2 cans of vegetable soup
  • 2 cups of pinto beans
  • 1 cup of lentils
  • 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
  • 2 cups of vegetable broth

 Directions:  

  • Dump the pinto beans into a pot of water, boiling them for 1 1/2 hours.
  • Add the lentils to the pot, boiling it for an additional 40 minutes.
  • Add all the rest of the ingredients plus 2 cans of water, boiling for an additional 20 minutes.
  • Throw sour cream and cheese on top for fun!

Enjoy!

God bless, 

Katina

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Simple Beans and Zucchini Soup

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Background on the Simple Beans and Zucchini Soup

I had a busy weekend.  However, it was a good kind of busy.  I got a chance to enjoy my mom and niece who were visiting.  I did plenty of cooking.  However, I also had a lot of down time.  Yesterday, I ended up watching a Hallmark movie that had a really good story line.

The main character’s sister, Alice, had died suddenly from heart issues.  Alice’s death prompted Lois to go back to her hometown first for the funeral, and then secondly, to take care of the affairs of her estate.  Instead of taking care of these things, and then going right back to her high-powered attorney job, she decided to stay for a while.

This visit was more than what she had bargained for.  All the memories from her sister’s car accident came to the forefront.  She also had to deal with the fact that she had become estranged from her sister over the years.  Alice’s friends knew more about her life than Lois did.

It took her awhile to reconcile the fact that the car accident that Alice was involved in was indeed not her fault, nor Peter’s.  Lois kept thinking that if she hadn’t been out with Peter, her boyfriend, then her sister wouldn’t have ended up disabled.

Towards the end of the movie, Lois discovered that Alice had birthed a child during her college years.  She was finally able to meet her niece and the adoptive parents, and find true forgiveness for herself and Peter.

In life, we are a lot like Lois, we think that “if only” we would have done or not done something, then things wouldn’t have turned out as they did.  It is part of the bargaining stage of grief.  However, Satan also uses it as a foothold to keep us stuck in life.  He wants us to pride ourselves into thinking that we are in control of all of life’s details.  The truth of the matter is that we are not.  God is.  We will not know all the reasons that he decides for things to be the way they are.

I love making bean concoctions.  The last one that I made can be found here.  Below is a recipe that I made a little over a week ago.

 

Activity:  Making Simple Beans and Zucchini Soup

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Total Prepping and Cooking Time:  35 Minutes

Ingredients:

  • cumin – 2 tablespoons
  • chili powder – 3 tablespoons
  • onion powder – 2 tablespoons
  • turmeric – 2 tablespoons
  • 2 zucchinis
  • 1 cup of brown rice
  • 2 cans of kidney beans
  • 1 can of pinto beans
  • 2 tablespoons of butter

Directions:

  • Boil one cup of brown rice.
  • Cut up two zucchinis into chunks.
  • While the brown rice is boiling, saute the zucchini.
  • Heat up the beans in a large pot, along with three cups of water.
  • Add all the rest of the ingredients to the pot.
  • Heat up the mixture for about 15 minutes.
  • Enjoy!

God bless,

 

Katina

Simple Chicken Burgers

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Background on the Simple Chicken Burgers

I have been reading a variety of books lately.  Along with this fact, I’ve also been listening to a lot of sermons.  Sometimes, I have listened to so many sermons, and read so many books at one time, that I start to second guess myself as to which book or preacher said what.  At this point, I usually have to go back and double check that I am giving the right author credit.

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In this season of my life, I have been hearing God’s small voice repeatedly encouraging me along the way.  I can picture myself taking off at the starting point with my number on, and God on the sidelines with his flag shouting, “Keep running!  You can do it! ”

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Earlier today, I was reading more of the book on leadership by Brene Brown.  The chapter that I am now focusing on is dealing with empathy.  Later this evening, I listened to a sermon by Joyce Meyer.  As God would have it, she was also preaching on empathy.  The key points that were stated from both is the following:

  • Empathy means being able to connect through the emotion that someone else is feeling.
  • Empathy doesn’t mean giving advice.
  • Having empathy shouldn’t lead to a comparison game of who has had the worst suffering.

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A few nights ago, I decided to make what I call Simple Chicken Burgers.  They turned out super moist and required very few ingredients.

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Here is the recipe:

Activity:  Making Simple Chicken Burgers

Total Prepping and Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup of oatmeal
  •  cumin (1 tb)
  •  onion powder (1 tb)
  •  garlic powder (1 tb)
  • 1 16 oz. pack of ground chicken
  • 2 tablespoons of flax seed meal
  • 3 tablespoons of water

Directions:

  • Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet.
  • Dump all of the above ingredients into a bowl.
  • Make burger patty shapes with your hands.
  • Place the six patties into a skillet, or as many as you can at once. (use 2 skillets if necessary)
  • Take the burgers out when they are brown on both sides.
  • Top with hummus and garnish with basil or spinach if you like.
  • Enjoy!

God Bless,

 

Katina

Simple Spaghetti

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Background Story on Simple Spaghetti

I have been reading Brene Brown’s new book, Dare to Lead for a couple of weeks now.  If I was just reading that one book, I would be done by now.  However, I am reading about six books at the same time.  What I love is that the Holy Spirit has intertwined several themes across the board with all of these books:  vulnerability, shame, joy, gratitude, dealing with the unexpected, hustling for self-worth, and filling our thirst.

There are several things that stuck out with me so far in this book.  I would like to quote three of them:

Quote #1

“Embodying and practicing gratitude changes everything.  It is not a personal construct, it’s a human construct-a unifying part of our existence-and it’s the antidote to foreboding joy, plain and simple.  It’s allowing yourself the pleasure of accomplishment, or love, or joy-of really feeling it, of basking in it-by conjuring up gratitude for the moment and for the opportunity”. (Dare to Lead, Brene Brown, pg. 83)

This reminds of last night.  I got together with a group of friends.  I allowed myself to not dismiss the reality that my life has been filled with lots of drama and trauma within the last six months.  However, my heart was full.  It was so, so full.  I thanked God for my friends, the food, the fellowship, time to decompress, and the laughs from the movie.  I thanked him for all his goodness in spite of what my real life problems were.

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Dare to Lead by Brene Brown

Quote #2

“Something as simple as starting or ending meetings with a gratitude check, when everyone shares one thing they’re grateful for, can build trust and connection, serve as container-building, and give your group permission to lean into joy.” (Dare to Lead, Brene Brown, pg. 83)

The second quote was a Holy Spirit moment because just a week ago, I had an accident.  I allowed myself to sink in anger about all the inconveniences, but then quickly gave myself a gratitude check.  That post can be found here.  The funny thing about it is that I titled the post “Gratitude Check” prior to reading page 83 of Dare to Lead.  God knows how to bring all things together.

Quote #3

The last quote is from page 97, which was another Holy Spirit moment.  It reminded me of my IT job from years ago, where I sought to prove that I could sit at the table with others who made a certain salary, instead of being discriminated against.  I didn’t realize that the only table that I needed to have recognition at is the table of Christ.  The “Heavenly Places” blog post can be found here.

“When people don’t understand where they’re strong and where they deliver value for the organization or even for a single effort, they hustle.  The kind that’s hard to be around because we are jumping in everywhere, including where we’re not strong or not needed, to prove that we deserve a seat at the table.” (Dare to Lead, by Brene Brown, page 97)

A few days ago, I decided to try my hands at a simple spaghetti recipe.  There were very few ingredients.  It turned out pretty good.  The only problem was that I put too many red pepper flakes.  I would take a bite to eat, then feel flames at the back of my throat.  This cycle repeated itself until the bowl was empty.  Enjoy!

Here is the recipe:

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Activity:  Making Simple Spaghetti

Total cooking and Prepping Time: 40 minutes

Servings: about 12

Ingredients:  

  • 2 tablespoons of chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons of onion powder
  • 2 tablespoons of garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons of basil
  • 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes
  • 1 box of spaghetti
  • 1 jar of pasta sauce
  • 1 small can of tomato soup (low-sodium)
  • basil or spinach leaves (for garnish and eating)

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Valley of Grace Cutting Board-Shopify Store

Directions: 

  • Boil six cups of water with olive oil or butter so that the spaghetti won’t stick.
  • Add the spaghetti to the boiling water.
  • Drain the spaghetti.
  • Dump the pasta sauce and tomato soup into the pot.
  • Add one can of water to the pot.
  • Dump all the seasonings into the pot.
  • Serve in bowls or on plates.
  • Garnish with basil or spinach leaves.
  • Enjoy!

 

God bless,

Katina

Simple Chicken Soup

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Background on the Chicken Soup

This was a busy week.  We are getting closer and closer to the holidays coming upon us.  In my Tuesday morning MOM’s group, we are studying the book entitled, “Pierced and Embraced” by Kelli Worrall.  This past week, we dissected the chapter entitled:  Forgiven and Set Free:  The Woman Caught in Adultery.

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This chapter hones in on the sin of judging and condemnation.  If you haven’t already, you can check out the poem “If We’re Judging” here, and the podcast, “Broken People Judging Broken People here.  One of the most fascinating things in scripture about this story is the question of what was Jesus writing in the sand when the scribes were trying to trip him up on the law and how he was going to handle the situation of the woman caught in adultery.  The other question that lingers is “Where was the Man?”  Well, I guess that is food for thought.

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On that note, a few nights ago, I decided to make what I call simple chicken soup.  It turned out pretty good, and it requires very few ingredients.  Here is the recipe, and have a blessed weekend!

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Activity:  Making Simple Chicken Soup

Total Prepping and Cooking Time: 3 hours

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Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 boxes of chicken broth
  • 4 tablespoons of chili powder
  • 4 tablespoons of cumin
  • 3 tablespoons of italian seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 1 small whole chicken
  • 1 1/2 cans of corn
  • 1 1/2 cans of french cut green beans

Directions:

  • Set the slow cooker for 3 hours on high.
  • After rinsing off, place a small whole chicken into a slow cooker of of 1 1/2 boxes of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of water.
  • Add 3 tablespoons of chili powder, cumin, and italian seasoning to the chicken.
  • Rinse off excess water from the cans of corn and green beans, and then saute them in a skillet.
  • Dump the vegetables into the slow cooker after 2 hours and 15 minutes.
  • After 2 hours 45 minutes, carefully cut of the chicken into pieces while in the slow cooker.
  • Enjoy!

 

Vegan Sunflower and Chia Seed Pancakes

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Background on the Pancakes

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For the last five mornings, I have been making pancakes for breakfast.  On the first two mornings, I used bananas as a filling.  My mom and niece took the train out here to spend some time with us, and I ended up using the last of the bananas on Saturday morning when I decided to make us pancakes for brunch after my Writer’s Group.

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On yesterday morning, I used chia seeds, and then today, I used a combination of chia seeds and sunflower seeds.  Believe it or not, it was filling.  I got full after eating the second thick pancake.  Another new thing that I tried was using honey instead of syrup for a topping, along with vegan butter.  They were delicious!!

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Ingredients

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  • 2 cups of Bob’s Red Mill Pancake & Waffle Mix
  • 4 tablespoons of olive oil or vegan butter for the mix (2 for bowl mixture) (2 for skillet)
  • 1/3 cup of sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 cup of chia seeds
  • 2 cups of Almond or Soy milk
  • Jar of honey or syrup
  • vegan butter for the topping

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Directions

  • Dump the pancake mix into a bowl.
  • Toss the seeds, 2 tablespoons of olive oil/butter, the milk and 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal.
  • Mix all the ingredients with a whisk, wooden spoon, or whatever you have.
  • Heat up 2 tablespoons of oil or vegan butter in a skillet or pan.
  • Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to pour the scoops of batter into the skillet, turning the pancakes over once you see the holes coming through.
  • Drizzle honey or syrup and butter on top.
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Send me a line letting me know if you try it.  You definitely won’t be disappointed!

2 Corinthians 4:7-18

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Have a blessed night!

 

Katina

Red Beans with Couscous Mix

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Background Story on the Red Beans and Couscous Mix:

Last night, my small group, “The Bible Babes”, were back in full swing.  It felt could to see everyone after such a long, summer break.  We are diving into Kelly Minter’s book, “All Things New”.  The session video that we watched last night set the tone for the study by having us to dive into two concepts:  1)  using our weakness to enable God’s strength to be present and seen by others, and 2) keeping our hearts wide open to others, even when we have been faced with some relationship challenges.  Of course, wide open hearts do not take the place of exerting boundaries.  However, it helps us to be vulnerable, release shame, and allow God’s grace to move in our hearts.  It definitely takes the Holy Spirit to be at work in hearts to thrive, even in the midst of our pain.

Tags Keywords:Red beans and couscous beans vegan healthy eating mixed vegetables dinner recipes food food photography
Red Beans with Couscous Pic 1

 

As you all know by now, I am doing something with beans and legumes almost every week.  About a week ago, I made a recipe that is almost gone unfortunately.  It is what I called my Red Beans & Couscous mix.  I didn’t use canned beans.  If I would have used canned beans, the red beans and couscous mix would have been done in about 35 minutes. It ended up taking two hours just for the red beans to be ready.  I literally dumped all kinds of ingredients into this mixture.  Last week, I made “Black Beans and Mixed Greens”.  You can find the recipe here.

 

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Red Beans with Couscous Pic 2

Here is the recipe:

Activity:  Making Red Beans & Couscous Mix

Total Prepping and Cooking Time:  35 minutes with canned beans, 2.5 hours with regular beans

Ingredients:

  • 1 box of couscous
  • 1 can of mushrooms
  • 1 can of mixed vegetables
  • 3 cans of beans or 1 bag of beans
  • vegetable broth or chicken broth (non-vegan)
  • 3 tablespoons of turmeric
  • 3 tablespoons of cumin
  • 3 tablespoons of garlic powder
  • 3 tablespoons of onion powder
  • 3 tablespoons of chili powder
  • 1 cup of nutritional yeast
  • Optional:  vegan mozzarella cheese or regular cheese on top

 

Tags Keywords:Red beans and couscous beans vegan healthy eating mixed vegetables dinner recipes food food photography
Red Beans with Couscous Pic 3

Directions:

  • Boil the beans in water according to whether they are bagged or canned.
  • Saute the mushrooms and mixed vegetables while the beans are boiling.
  • Boil the couscous and fluff with a fork when done.
  • Dump all of the above ingredients into a big pot, pouring in about two and a half coups of broth.
  • Add cheese as an optional topping.
  • Enjoy!

Servings: about 15

Have a blessed night!

 

Katina

Black Beans & Mixed Greens

Background Story on  the Beans

I am sure that you’ve caught on to the fact that there are a lot of beans, legumes, and rice going on here in this house.  One thing about those three items is that they are quick, inexpensive, and tasty when just the right spices are added.  It is so easy to add any vegetable to beans and rice and call it  a day.

After making sure that you have some type of added fat, such as olive oil, avocado, or butter, you have everything that you need for a healthy dinner on a tight budget.  Last week, I featured a recipe using garbanzo beans here.

 

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Black Beans & Mixed Greens

Life Application

On yesterday, I went to my mom’s group.  We are currently studying the book Pierced and Embraced by Kelli Worrall.  After the holidays, we’ll be diving into the study on the book of James by Beth Moore.  The chapter of discussion yesterday was:  Sought Out and Satisfied:  The Woman at the Well.

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This chapter led to a pretty good discussion, as we dived right into talking about all the labels that we give ourselves as individuals, along with the lies that Satan feeds us in regards to these labels.  Jesus made a special trip to meet this woman whose mind was set to fulfill a fleshly need: thirst.  Little did she know that she would receive the everlasting water of life:  Jesus himself.

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I hope that you guys have a blessed night!

 

Here is the recipe:

Activity:  Making Black Beans & Mixed Greens with Rice

Total Prepping and Cooking Time: 35 minutes

 

Ingredients:

Cumin

Turmeric

Italian Seasoning

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

1/2 cup of nutritional yeast

1 1/2 cups of rice

1 can of mixed greens

2 cans of black beans

1/4 olive oil

 

Directions:

  1. Boil the rice.
  2. While the rice is boiling, saute the mixed greens in olive oil, and heat up the beans.
  3. Dump everything into one skillet once the rice is ready, and mix and stir.
  4. Enjoy!

Garbanzo Beans with Peppers & Rice

Background Story on the Recipe

A couple of nights ago, I decided to make a late night concoction of garbanzo beans with peppers and rice.  It didn’t take too long, and it was surprisingly good.  That was the bonus.  Thursday was a pretty busy day, and so at a certain point, I realized that I had to give myself grace, and get some of the things done that I didn’t get done that day on Friday.  Worst case scenario: have a small layover on the weekend.  I knew God’s grace would be enough to handle what I needed for the day.  I just had to remind myself of that several times.

Watching a good movie on Pureflix after cooking this meal sounded like a great idea.  However, I guess I was more tired than I thought.  The next thing that I knew, I was waking up to the ending credits, and some good Christian music going.  I will replay the movie tonight, as well as the movie that I fell asleep on last night: “The Shunning”, by Beverly Lewis.  Guess what? I probably have a list of about 30 or more movies and television shows that I have on my “To Watch” List on my phone.  This is just from Pure Flix alone.

Here is the recipe:

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Garbanzo Beans with Rice & Yellow Peppers

Activity:  Making Garbanzo Beans with Peppers & Rice

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Total Prepping and Cooling Time: 35 minutes

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Ingredients: 

  • 1 1/2 cups of rice
  • Mixed Greens with garlic, Onion, and Sea Salt
  • 2 cans of Garbanzo Beans
  • 1/2 cup of Nutritional Yeast
  • 2 tablespoons of turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons of cumin
  • garlic powder
  • two yellow peppers

Directions:

Cook the rice in two cups of water.

While the rice is cooking,

  • cut up and saute the yellow peppers.
  • saute the mixed greens.
  • boil the beans.

When the rice is done, dump it into the mixed greens, along with the yellow peppers and all of the rest of the ingredients, adding about a cup of water to the mix.

It’s amazing how much flavor the nutritional yeast gives this recipe.

Enjoy!

 

Katina

 

 

Vegan Black Beans with Quinoa & Zucchini Mix

Background Story

This past weekend was one of a lot of relaxation, mixed in with an onset of allergies that came crashing my way.  When my allergies get this bad, the best thing for me to do is to try to relax as much as possible, although this was my plan for the weekend anyway.  While relaxing, I got caught up on the episodes of Baked in Vermont and Focus on the Family that were sitting in the DVR box.  I am not a super sweets person.  However, by the time that you finish watching this show, you’ll be wanting to bake with whatever ingredients that you can get your hands on.

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On Sunday, I stopped at the grocery store after church to get the ingredients for this super quick vegan meal.  I love the challenge of making healthy meals involving all different kinds of beans and legumes.  One thing about this meal is that it only requires a few ingredients.  I made the same recipe a couple of weeks ago.  However, I used black-eyed peas instead of black beans.  Both meals were good and filling.  The black bean version kept me full longer.  If you decide to give it a try, send a comment down below, or an email with your thoughts on how it turned out.

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Here is the recipe:

Activity:  Making Vegan Black Beans with Quinoa & Zucchini Mix

Total Prepping and Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 3 teaspoons of onion powder
  • 3 zucchinis
  • 3 cans of organic black beans
  • 1 box of Earthly Grains Quinoa/Brown Rice Blend with Rosemary and Olive Oil (from Aldi’s)
  • 1/4 cup of olive oil or butter
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Directions:

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  • Place the three cans of black beans and the brown rice with rosemary packet into a pan of two cups of water. (I only used a fourth of the packet to cut down on sodium).
  • Add the onion powder.
  • Cut the zucchini into strips with a potato peeler.
  • Saute the zucchini strips.
  • Dump the zucchini into the pan after about 18 minutes, letting the mixture cook for another 12 minutes.
  • Enjoy!

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“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35, NIV

Have a blessed night!

 

Katina