something from nothing: the evolution of a yummy mess

I arrived back at my place today after a very long stretch of being gone. It was so nice to be home. The only problem with coming home is that coming home makes the house a mess (all the dirty laundry and stuff to unpack) AND there are no groceries! {Cause fresh food won't keep for 2 weeks!}

So out of seemingly nothing, I made a pretty good meal.

Behold:

I know it just looks like a hot mess of food...but that is what it was. But look at all that lovely color! And believe it or not,  it tasted great.

Here's what it is all about:

-half can of red beans leftover from another recipe
-full can of black beans from sweet little mom who thinks there is never
enough to eat at my house...maybe she's right...

-one can of Rotel

-2 handfuls of grape tomatoes that were getting a little too squishy
-a few pieces of spinach out of an old salad salad
-Some brown rice
-dash of lemon juice

-2 tbsp of powdered ranch and enchilada seasoning (I would have preferred taco, but I didn't have it.)

Warm it up, and there you have it. A very yummy, very filling, very healthy MESS.

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I have had some big family eating events in the last week.
*4th of July with my fam
*4th of July with Ryan's fam
*Sister's engagement dinner
*2 different family birthday dinners for Ry's birthday
This all means one thing. Animal protein! :)
But the good news is that meat and dairy in fact do not kill people and they taste pretty good. So I had a little here and there. I did miss the excessive veggie celebration I normally revel in...but the people who knew I was a plant eater included a few veggie options. {{Thanks you sweet hearts!}} And at the locations where my alternative eating was not yet known, I brought my own.

Here's some easy snackage that is good at a family get together:
The classic veggie tray. always nice.

Edamame.

 Pass the salt please. I even had some brave relatives try a few.

I have yet to figure out whether they were just being polite. hmmm.

McDonald's Asian Salad.

Gotta give the clown credit on this one.

 I just bought the ingredients at Kroger's (except for chicken)

 and it made a beautiful salad.

 Be sure to use Newman's own Asian slow-fat sesame ginger dressing.

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In closing: happy birthday to my sweet lil man Ryan. He is a big boy now.

I am dating someone in their 30's!!!!!!

Hello Loves!
I made some black bean hummus the other day to take to the fam hang out this weekend.

*1/2 can of black beans (rinsed 4X)
*1/2 can of chickpeas (rinsed 4X)
*1.5 TBSP of tahini
*lots of lemon juice (to taste)
*1 tsp of Cumin
*2 cloves of Garlic
*salt and pepper to taste
*2 TBSP of nutritional yeast (if you have it)
**Water if you need to thin it a bit
-Just put it in the blender till its nice and smooth.-

It tasted great!! Try it!! It is great for dipping raw veggie sticks and of course with chips. I put it in a wrap the other day.

I am about to be out for a few days celebrating the 4th of July with my family then Ry's. :) I will let you know if I find any good plant food while we are having fam potluck. I think it will go smooth with my fam, but we'll see with ryan's fam. They normally have lots of yummy meat and cheese based dishes. lol and I haven't seen them since I started eating differently, and I think Ryan has been too ashamed to mention it to them. Either way it will be great fun.
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Also, I went on a great friend date yesterday. We ate at zaza's which is so great. Not cheap, but it has alot of good plant food that is easily modified. I had a garden pizza with no cheese. ((and some red wine.)) :P It was a marvelous time with my friends Sandee and Trevor. Check it out!!

Thank you Sandee for such a marvelous dinner! I was truly blessed by ya'lls company.

Have a great weekend everybody!