Living in a not-so-Ty-Friendly World

As many of you know, Ty has numerous food allergies. This is why he will never gain any weight for as long as we both shall live. I wish I could say the same for myself. Since marrying Ty, I have become a closet eater and eat really good when he is around and eat crap when he isn't. I might as well have candy bars and a freezer full of Ben & Jerry's hidden under my bed. I fear for what I would look like if I wasn't married to his food restrictions.
I'm happy to say that I have only "poisoned" him once since we have been married but I feel really bad about it. I learned quickly that just because something says "whole wheat flour" in the ingredients does not necessarily mean that it is 100% whole wheat flour. Especially when the food item is stark white and does not have the slightest tint of brown. Oops! He was only bed ridden for a day and than only weak for a few days after. Okay, I felt really bad about it!
I tried out a new recipe tonight that I was a little nervous about but we were completely surprised by how tasty it turned out and it was really fun to make so I thought this would a good opportunity to share with you a 100% Ty Friendly (this is a common phrase in our home) recipe. And this would be a good one to let the kiddos help out with. I wish I could find a picture of it for you but I couldn't find it online and whenever I take pictures of food on my own, it never looks appetizing, so just take my word for it. This recipe is courtesy of Rachael Ray (she has many Ty Friendly recipes in her magazine, I love her for it).

Tex-Mex Lovers Mini Meatloves

1 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced separately
Salt and Pepper
1 c. brown rice
2 handfuls tortilla chips, crushed into crumbs (1/2 cups) *My note: crumble them up really good. My crumbs were too big I thought.
6 Tbs. store-bought medium-hot salsa, plus more for serving
1 large egg
1 pound extra-lean ground beef or dark-meat ground turkey
One 15-oz. can small red beans, rinsed

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the scallion whites and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the rice to coat. Add 1 and 3/4 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover to pot, lower the heat and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes.
2) Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I used aluminum foil). In a medium bowl, beat together the tortilla chip crumbs, salsa, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Mix the ground beef. Place a 3-to 4-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter on the prepared bakings heet. Press one-quarter of the mat mixture evenly into the cookie cutter; remove the cutter. Repeat with the remaining meat mixture. Bake until firm to the touch, about 15 minutes (it took mine 20 min.)
3) Stir the beans and scallion greens into the rice and season with salt. Serve with the mini meatloaves and extra salsa on the side.

Seriously, super easy. Super cute presentation at the end...I mean heart shaped meatloaves? Love it! I would say double the rice part. But that is because we are a big rice eating family. Can you believe I hated rice before I got married? I still kind of do, but you have to learn to love it when you are married to Tyrone. Quick story, I remember my Mom trying to teach me how to cook rice before I left for college so that I wouldn't starve and it was a disaster. I couldn't understand why she got mad at me for stirring the rice and I didn't want to listen to anything she had to say so we ended up ending the cooking lesson before the rice finished cooking. I was such a brat. Oh, how much easier life would have been those first few months of marriage if I had just listened to my Mother and didn't insist that it was going to be okay to stir the rice. But look at me now, I make rice about 3 times a week. I'm all grown up now!
Anyways, the recipe says that this is a gluten-, diary-and soy-free meal but to make sure that you buy the right kind of salsa and tortilla chips. Let me know if you make it and what you think.