Getting Dirty
No, not that kind of dirty! Geez. 
This kind of dirty:
Tonight, we took a stab at creating some vegetarian dirty rice…the result was less “dirty rice” and more “hamburger helper,” but all in all, it was actually a delicious dish. I would have added some canned tomatoes if we’d had some, but alas, we were out (how is that possible?!? I feel like our pantry gives BIRTH to cans of tomatoes when we aren’t looking!).
Dirty-esque Rice
Ingredients
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup soy “sausage”…we used the Light Life brand that comes in a tube (just like Jimmy Dean!), and used about half the package
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup brown rice
2 cups vegetable broth, divided
Directions
In a saucepan, heat olive oil. Add onions and garlic and cook for about 10 minutes, until they have started to brown. Add the sausage and cook for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup of vegetable broth and deglaze the pan, scraping up any bits that might have gotten stuck to the bottom. Add the rest of the broth (at this point, you could also add a can of diced tomatoes). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 35-45 minutes, until the rice is cooked through and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
Yummy! Again, it had more liquid than typical dirty rice, and it didn’t have any of the heat…it was almost a cross between dirty rice and risotto.
We served ours with a nice side salad, and used bright napkins and dinnerware to make up for our not so bright weather:
Yum!
This afternoon, I snacked on a 2% Fage (love it!) as I graded, and I also had one of my last Somersault mini packs that I won wayyyyy back at Christmas on Fitness and Spice. I’ll be sad to see the end of these Somersaults—they’re really tasty!
While I was down in Shreveport, Ryan was working on a little blog project of his own! He took pictures of some of his eats from when I was away…some people will do ANYTHING to get on the blog! 
Actually, I’m always really interested in seeing what he eats when we don’t eat together. A part of me always wonders if he eats healthy just because I do, and I often wonder what he might eat for dinner if he didn’t have me slaving away in the kitchen every night (kidding…kind of).
Well, it turns out that all this healthy eating has really rubbed off on him! Here are some of the highlights from the meals he enjoyed while I was away:
Salmon, salad, and brown rice pilaf:
Veggie tacos with black beans:
Grilled pork with veggies:
Of course, there were A LOT of cookies that went unphotographed!
But still, I was proud of him! He took good care of himself while I was away. I think he’s happy to have me back though.
Ryan also took some pictures of the CRAZY snow we got while I was away. Check out our house:
Cool snow swoop:
And crazy icicles:
Wild!
The snow is supposed to continue through tomorrow, so I think we’re going to give our new snowshoes a whirl!! I’m really excited to try them out—I’ve only snowshoed one other time in my life, but I really liked it!
Night, kids! Stay warm, wherever you are!
Your house is too cute! Snowshoeing is such a great workout! I’m pooped after 30 minutes!
Those icicles look so AWESOME, what a great picture! I love that Ryan took pictures of his food while you were away. My fiance just makes fun of my constant picture taking haha. Though he will wait for me to take pictures before he eats which is nice!
Your house is so darn cute! The mix of risotto/dirty rice sounds good to me. Yum. How is that fake sausage in a roll? I’ve had the morningstar farms sausage but never the roll kind. So cute that he took pics of his meals. My bf eats TERRIBLY when I’m not around. Think chinese food, lots and lots of cereal, pizza with all the meats, etc.
It’s pretty good– it got a little “soft” in the rice, but I’m sure that was because we added all that liquid. I bet if you just cooked it up in a pan, it would crisp up nicely.
Your house is so lovely!
Ryan ate very healthy while you were away!!
Also I love that you called your dirty rice dirty-esque rice!
That recipe sounds great! That soy sausage upsets my stomach, buuuutt… it’s so tasty I keep buying it
Those icicles look really cool. Haha, I guess literally.
Sometimes when I go to upload my pictures, I’ll find some pictures that Jason has taken of his food.
Your home is beautiful!
The dirty-esque (love it!) rice looks excellent!
oh man what a GREAT dinner!! all of the food looks good!
i <3 your house!
You’re lucky your hubby eats so well when you aren’t around. My boyfriend eats poorly even when I’m around trying to tempt him with healthy treats!
Wow you house is beautiful!!! And the snow and icicles are so amazing!!
Wow that’s a lot of snow and your house IS gorgeous!!!!
Your hubbie is so cute taking pictures!
Dinner sounds amazing!!
And I heard the same thing about Vienna being the last one… so not happy either. What does he see in her?!
The rice looks good and crazy snow pics! Hang in there!
My hubby is a lot more open to vegan and raw recipes now then when I started in July, I’m slowly rubbing off on him
Dirty. Love the dirty rice. YUM!
The snow. The cold weather. Not for me girl. At all. STAY WARM!
What fabulous meals Ryan made! I love it when healthy eating rubs off on other people.
Snowshoeing is so fun! Enjoy the snow
Yay snowshoeing!! One of Chris’s and my most favorite (and yeah, completely unhealthy) meals during college was dirty rice from the Tony Chachere’s box mix. So, so good though.
I love your snow covered house! We’ve had a ton of snow here and I’d welcome a bit more just to cover up all of the “ugly” snow that’s been hanging around here since before Christmas!
p.s. I love your dirty rice…you’re so…naughty!
Thank you for stopping by my blog last night! You have such a beautiful house! That is cute that you rhusband took pics of his food.
Did I read somewhere in your post that you were grading papers? Teacher like me?
Yep! I teach composition and creative writing classes at Penn State! LOVE teaching English but HATE grading papers
What about you?
That’s adorable that he took pictures! When my boyfriend makes food he always dresses it up nicely “so it can go on the blog”. It means so much when they show that they care about what you are doing =)
I love dirty rice – yours looks delicious! And your snow shoe adventure sounds fun (but chilly!) – hoping there are some warm beverages waiting for you when you get back!
Well, tell Ryan we’re saving an apron for him, because he’ll be cooking the next time he comes to Shreveport! Those dinners looked delicious! The dirty rice looks great also. Your house looks beautiful with all the snow (especially love the snow swoop – it looks like a really cool sculpture!!) Have fun snow shoeing; let us know how it goes.
I love your house! The snow swoop thing is really cool. 2% fage is the best… so creamy and delicious!
Hilarious! I seem to never run out of canned tomatoes either, I hope it never happens to me
Love your house!
We like the lightlife gimme lean stuff too, both the “beef” for making “meat” balls and the sausage flavor as well. Gorgeous snow pictures.
Wow…those isicles are amazing!! WOW! And your house is SO cute!!!
Your house looks so pretty in all that snow! I love Lightlife sausage. I made a bolognese sauce with it once and fooled my brother into thinking it was real meat!
I love your house! Anytime someone remotely mentions hamburger helper, I am immediately reminded of my childhood. I swear too much of that stuff is what caused me to be a food snob as an adult.
That rice looks delicious and I love your dinnerware! Dinner is always better when eaten on/with cute/snazzy dinner accessories.
I have to say it too – your house is gorgeous and so pretty with it’s blanket of snow.
I JUST realized I know exactly where you live! I used to walk down that street all that time. It’s less than .5 miles from my house.
We will get together when I get back!!