R&B Days 4-13: Still Tootin-a-Long

As usual, I've neglected any sort of "regular" blog update.  But I assure you, we are still alive and kickin.  We have not withered away or fallen off the wagon.  Every night we are still enjoying lovely rice and beans for dinner and surprisingly we still are enjoying it!  The kids have had a few nights where they weren't home so they were able to get a nice break (of mostly pizza!).  TJ and I were even able to go out on a date to a Mexican restaurant where my order of rice and beans was cheaper than my drink!  I've only had one night where we went and celebrated a friends birthday with a nice dinner of strogenoff.  It was soo nice to eat some meat and I ate lots.  I still can't imagine what it would be like if we only got to eat meat maybe once a week, if not even that.

We've done a lot of really basic recipes; seasoned black beans and white rice (and always hot sauce of choice) and then a night of just fried rice with no beans at all.   I'm going to experiment with lentils more this week, as they don't have to be soaked (so I've been told?). I can see how as time goes on, we'll probably do more simple meals and do more complex meals just a few times a week 

Everyone has their favorite way to add some heat.

One thing that we've noticed about our dinners, is that even though they are tasty, and we all eat our fill, just a few hours later I find myself hungry again.  And really hungry.  I can just tell that there is something missing in my diet and my body is wanting more.  It's one thing to talk about knowing people around the world need more in their diets, but it's completely different when you physically are experiencing it yourself.  Kinda makes you wake-up to it even that much more.  Cause I don't like that feeling of being hungry, not one little bit.

As we eat dinner we will pull up this site: http://www.eatriceandbeans.com/devotional.html and find toady's specific devotional and talk about it with the whole family.  There is a main concept for each day, including a kids section that makes it really applicable for Alexis and Tayvin to follow and discuss.  GREAT tool.

The people at Lahash who are heading up Rice and Bean Month also just put out a newer video that I think everyone should watch, even if you are not participating.  It does a great job of explaining their purpose and their goal and puts a face to it all.  Go ahead and please take a minute and check it out!  Here it is: http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=10150421199415153&oid=281247189420&comments

After watching this video, spending time soaking my beans, and eating (many times overcooked) rice for 31 days seems like a privilege, not a sacrifice.