Sudden Change of Plans

Do you plan your dinners in advance, or is it more of a what looks good in the fridge? kind of plan?

I plan. I come up with a list of several meals that we'll have over the next several days or weeks then shop accordingly. Then each 3 or 4 days I look at the list and decide what we're having the next few nights. Since I'm often not home until 6 or 6:30, prepping the night before is almost a necessity.

Yesterday I mentioned I had made the coconut rice in preparation for tonight's Thai stir-fry. Didn't happen. : /

Scott called when I was on the way home to tell me friends were coming over for dinner. Thankfully our neighbors had given us a bag of frozen Angus burgers so I had Scott grab buns and sides and I heated up the grill. I didn't have enough rice & stirfry to share.

But while Scott was manning the grill I did have time to make the bean & chorizo soup for another night. So tomorrow will be stir-fry for Scott and I and probably leftovers for the kids.

Black beans with chorizo

2 cups dry black beans (or 2 cans of black beans, drained)
a lot of water (sorry I didn't measure)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 package of Trader Joe's Chorizo

Soak beans about 8 hours in enough water to cover.
Drain and rinse beans.
Fill large stock pot about 2/3-3/4 full of water. Add beans. Bring to boil.
Add garlic, onion, peppers, tomatoes and celery.
Stir in cumin and salt.
Remove casing from chorizo and crumble into pot.
Reduce heat to medium and cover pot. Cook beans for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours, until beans are soft.
Drain extra liquid if you want a less soupy dish. Using an immersion blender, blend some of the beans to thick the mixture. Serve with rice or tortillas.

I added some leftover corn to my "soup" at the last minute too, but that wasn't officially part of the recipe. Of course, we haven't actually eaten this dinner so hopefully its tasty. It smelled good!