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The days have truest been flying by and I’m amazed that today is already December 24th! I believe I posted two weeks ago. After that, I went on a day trip to Disneyland which was so much fun! It was colder than we were anticipating but we warmed up by midday. After Disney, I flew from California to New Jersey to spend a few days with my parents, then drove back to my current state, picked up my boyfriend from the airport, and then we drove back to New Jersey a few days later. And now, I’m in Spain!
With all the travel, plus work, plus cooking, it’s actually been difficult to find a few moments to sit down and write a blog post to send an update and a new recipe. Yesterday we busy because we landed in Spain in the morning and then spent the remainder of the day with my boyfriends family. We were both exhausted and so this morning we ended up sleeping in until 1pm (which was about an hour ago).
This week I thought I’d share an oldie, but a goodie. This is recipe from when I was still living in Kansas City, MO which was a little more than a year ago. I wanted to make something filling and work friendly, but also healthy. So I thought a twist on a burrito bowl would be a great option, substituting sweet potato for the ground beef.
These are a great base if you want to then branch off to tacos instead. Simply cut the sweet potato into smaller cubes, and some lettuce, cheese, and other favorite toppings, and you’re all set.
I sued minimal seasoning this time around to try and minimize smell. The site I’m currently at has about 4 microwaves upstairs, more downstairs, and more in the other building. At the Kansas City site, there were only 2 microwaves in the kitchen upstairs and they were in high demand!
Based on that, feel free to adjust based on what works best for you to make this delicious 🙂
Recipe List:
- Sweet potato
- 1 pack grapes/cherry tomatoes
- 1 can sweet corn (or fire roasted corn)
- 1 can black beans
- 2 cups white rice
- 1 pack of fresh cilantro
Recipe Directions:
- Cook rice based on your preferred method
- I use an Instant Pot: 2 cups rice, 2 cups water. Pressure cook on high for 5 minutes, and let pressure release for 12 minutes.
- I then let the rice sit in “Keep warm” until I’m ready to use it.
- Preheat oven to 400° and prepare sweet potatoes.
- Remove skin from sweet potato*
- Slice sweet potatoes into thin halves.
- Cook sweet potato in a single sheet for about 22-30 minutes, until tender.
- When the rice is completed, chop up cilantro and mix in.*
*The steps are optional depending on preference
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So anyway. A few weeks ago my roommate emailed me an idea for a recipe swap. Since we can’t all be together, this is a fun way to stay connected and meet new people. The recipe I received for the swap was called 
The recipe I followed was from 
Tweaks and all, it turned out really good. Although, next time I will remember to buy crushed tomatoes (inserts face palm emoji). This was great because I felt like I wasn’t going to make enough, but it ended up lasting me the whole week, which typically doesn’t happen. I’ve recently been trying to minimize my meat intake. To be entirely honest, it’s kinda expensive and I never feel like it lasts me long enough. However I’m still going to the gym so I need to keep up my protein intake. The lentils were a great substitution for that.
This week’s soup is SO GOOD. I know Chicken Noodle Soup is the “go to” for when you’re sick, but this is better. The crushed red pepper flakes (which I love) really do wonders on your sinuses. Literally all you need is a spoonful. Also, its soup! Soup and pasta are by far the coziest foods to eat, you can’t really go wrong.
I don’t have a very large soup pot, so I had to modify the recipe so that it would all fit in the pot I was using. I only changed amounts, not ingredients, and I added a lot (not really) of red pepper flakes. I’ve never eaten white beans (I think?) so it was cool to try something new within the recipe. I’ve also never cooked using a can of crushed tomatoes. While they’re not overwhelmingly new experiences, it was still cool to use new things in my cooking!
Gabriela Maria 