Sunday, December 15, 2013

Eating healthy on a budget

Like I said, I'm no nutritionist or dietitian, however, I do have a general knowledge of healthy eating. With this knowledge and meal prep simplicity in mind, I've come up with a recipe that has just the right amount of macronutrients. Your macros are your protein, carbohydrates, and fats. For the purpose of this post I'm calling it B's Rice Dish (its my boyfriend, Barrett's, favorite). From start to finish the whole thing takes 3 hours and you have lunch and some dinners for the whole week... or even just lunches for 2 weeks.

Equipment needed:
7qt Slow cooker
Large Saucepan or Wok

Ingredients:
4c Low Sodium Beef Broth (only 1 container necessary)
2 Cups Whole Grain Brown Rice
Stubbs Beef Marinade
2-2.5lbs Beef Chuck Roast
1 Onion, chopped
2c Organic Carrots, chopped
5 Celery Stalks, chopped
3 Bell Peppers, chopped
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 Jalapenos, minced
2.5c Broccoli Crowns, cut to bite size

Recipe:
The day before, or at least a few hours prior to cooking, place the roast and marinade in a large ziploc bag and refrigerate till time to cook.
In the slow cooker, pour in the rice and beef broth, set to low, and set a kitchen timer to 3 hours. Remove the chuck roast from the bag, trim excess fat, and cut into cubes bite-sized or slightly smaller. Saute the meat, in batches, in the pan over medium-high heat and place into the slow cooker with the rice. Be sure not to add in excess fluid from the meat pan. Pour out excess fluid from the pan and use it to saute the onion, celery, bell peppers, and carrots over medium heat. For a little added flavor, pour the marinade from the ziploc into the vegetable mixture as it cooks. Cook the vegetables for a little over 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are opaque. Just before the vegetable mixture is ready, add in the jalapenos and garlic. Use a slotted spoon to scoop the vegetables into the slow cooker. With approximately 1 hour left on the clock, saute the broccoli crowns on medium heat just to heat them through. Then add them to the slow cooker. Be sure to stir the rice-veggie-meat mixture thoroughly.
If you accidentally added too much moisture from the veggies or meat, simply remove it from the slow cooker with 30 minutes left. You will be able to tell by the rice's doneness.

I have added the nutrition facts of this dish below.

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