bulking up

There are things that the carnivore and I buy in bulk. For example, having two kids under two we have a stash of wet wipes that is chest high and almost as many diapers. This are essentials you don't want to run out of people. We also have some food staples - frozen green beans, canned peas, berries of all kinds, organic milk, avocados, whole grain pasta, organic butter...the list goes on. One of the more recent additions to our bulk purchases is brown rice. This was all part of the carnivore's life style change that had led to many dropped pounds and inches for both of us. We ate rice occasionally before, but now it is more of a fixture on our plates.

But as you know, brown rice can be bland. After reading a NYTimes article about different kinds brown rice and ways to cook them (you can find it by clicking here), I have been inspired to spice things up with our simple side dish. I recently cooked some brown rice in our new super awesome Japanese rice cooker (go figure they know a thing or two about cooking rice - it even has its own brown rice setting!) and tossed it with a bit of butter, salt and freshly chopped cilantro. This made a great side dish to our small corn tacos (sauteed mushroom and spinach for me, grilled chicken and steak for the carnivore) along with spicy black beans. 

The next day I used some of the leftovers to make a quick lunch for the little guy buy mixing the cilantro rice, some black beans and a few bits of the grilled chicken. He gobbled it up. And when I told the carnivore about it the next day his eyes lit up and he kept saying, "I bet that was good. It sounds good." I too could nosh on it all mixed in a bowl by simply adding some avocado and corn to the rice and bean mixture. 

In fact, we may have that very soon...since we do buy brown rice in bulk. What is your favorite way to cook with brown rice? Let me know by leaving a comment below. I need all the ideas I can get!