The One-Pot Wonder

I don't know about you, but I'm a busy girl.  I'm also a frugal girl, so I brown-bag every day instead of going out for lunch at work.  Every week I am plagued with the task of planning lunches.  Let's add in the other challenges of finding something my boyfriend will also eat AND making sure it doesn't contain gluten.

And then one day I was walking by these crossroads, and the idea just came to me: The One Pot Wonder.  Extra lean ground beef, taco seasoning, salsa, refried beans, spinach, brown rice, and roasted corn.  Protein, carbs, and veggies all in one go.  And thanks to my local Trader Joe's, there is absolutely no prep work.  There is some assembly required, but this is a one-pot-and-done production.

Here is all the stuff:

Two bags of baby spinach, two packages taco seasoning mix, two pounds extra-lean ground beef, one jar of Garlic Chipotle Salsa, two cans fat-free refried beans, one bag frozen roasted corn, and one bag of Trader Joe's Brown Rice (these come in boxes of three in the frozen section).

 First you brown and drain your extra lean ground beef.

Add the taco seasoning…

…and the salsa.

Dump both bags of spinach in and cover.  The steam will wilt the spinach.  You can stir every couple minutes to move things along a little faster.

Then add the beans.  Extra points if you can get them out in one scoop so that they still look like the can.  Today I was not successful.

Once the beans are warm and gooey, add the frozen roasted corn and frozen brown rice.

Stir those in and give everyone a few minutes to get to know each other.  You don't have to worry about it being super hot all the way through, because these will see the microwave for a couple minutes as you heat them throughout the week.

Scoop out into even-ish portions.

 
And you're done!  In the morning I just throw one of these and a cup of yogurt or a piece of fruit into my lunch box and I am set for the day.

And here's the breakdown of the stuff you really want to know:

Calories = 316
Fat         = 5g
Carbs     = 37g
Fiber      = 9g
Protein   = 27g

This recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free.  Enjoy!