ARF/5-A-Day Tuesdays (#2)

Pinto Beans

It is time once again for ARF Tuesdays over at Sweetnicks. If you just thought to yourself, "ARF-What?", check out this explanation.

Tonight's dinner was a regular for us and has been mentioned on the blog several times - Easy Layered Beans and Rice - but it just so happens to utilize one of the ingredients from the top 20 ARF list - pinto beans.

This dish is so versatile. It's a great way to use up leftover pieces of cheese - tonight I used up a small amount of fontina I had on hand, along with a little bit of pre-shredded mozzarella that I had leftover too. Tonight I added another small twist to the dish and added some cut up smoked turkey sausage - yummy! I served the casserole with Gala apples on the side to get it one more ARF for the day.

It was a good day for me as far as 5-A-Day goes too. I took some leftover A Very Veggie Soup to work - which had green beans, corn, peas, tomatoes, celery, onions and carrots. I would like to make this a weekly event where I make a large pot of soup or some other healthful meal on Sunday so that I can have plenty of leftovers to take to work (preferably storing them in the freezer so I don't have to eat the same thing all week long!).

Come to think of it, I also snuck in a very small amount of another ARF today with some cranberry muffins I had this morning. I was hoping to share that recipe with everyone today as well, but they did not come out as well as I had hoped, so I'm seeking out a better recipe. My hope is to emulate a muffin version of Panera's Cranberry-Walnut Bagels which I adore.

Tomorrow night we may throw some burgers on the grill (taking advantage of the milder weather), but I hope to try a new vegetable side to try to help make sure we get some vegetables in with our beef. Until then.......