A Family’s “Biggest” Decision

I come from a truly American family. Pizza was a must at least once a week in my household. And since my mom is the matriarch-type, she was always working. Eating dinner together was always important, but what we were consuming never had much thought. My family has paid, in pounds, for our American way of over-indulgence in cheap and high-calorie take-out. So, as a family, we have decided to embark on a journey together; the Biggest Loser competition of the “Morgan-Farrell-Horowitz-Raffele” house. (I have quite an eclectic family).

Six of us have decided to commit to losing the weight. We each put $25 in a jar and will weigh-in each week to battle out who shed the most body-fat percentage. A fun way to finally beat my brother’s and we can all feel good about it. (Because I am determined to win that $150)

So alas, my first blog post ever also happens to be the first “weigh-in” of my family’s 9 week journey.

I hope that come June we will all be on our way to a healthier, more enjoyable lifestyle.

Now the fun part! My quick and easy meal for the evening:

ARROZ CON JUEVOS Y FRIJOLES

My college campus was New York City, so I never had the bad experience of university cafeteria food. In New York at the end of Delancey Street downtown is a little Mexican place called “La Esquina.” Their Plato Julia dish is my inspiration for this very quick meal.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of Success “Boil-In-A-Bag” Rice

1/2 Tomato

1/3 can of Black Beans (rinsed and dried)

2 Eggs

A pinch of Monterey Jack Cheese

1/8 Green Onion

A pinch of garlic powder, salt, and pepper (for seasoning)

DIRECTIONS:

Boil the rice as per the instructions. It usually takes about 10 minutes. Heat up black beans while rice is boiling. In this time you can prep the tomato and the scallions. When rice is boiled, mix tomato and garlic powder in a bowl. Fry egg (or however you like your eggs) season to taste, place over your rice, slap them black beans on it, and garnish with scallions and cheese.

Total Prep Time: About 20 minutes.