Thinking Ahead for Dinner

I subbed a couple of days this week.  Since I tend to come home exhausted, I planned ahead for dinner. 

Thursday night, we had black beans and rice.  The prep actually began earlier in the week, when I pulled out the cookbook and formulated my plans...

This is the recipe.  It's from my favorite cookbook, The Woman's Day Cookbook, published in 1995.  Since I was prepping this days in advance, my goal was to slice and dice, and then store it all for later.

All of the spices are pre measured and put into a resealable container.  Since I'll be using the leftovers for dinner on Friday, I am doubling the recipe.

Orange juice.

All of the ingredients, ready to go into the fridge.

Then, when I was pressed for time to get out of the door in the morning, all I did was dump everything into the slow cooker, and set it to low.

Dinner, ready for a day of stewing.

When I walked in the door, dinner was ready!

I saved the leftovers for dinner the next night.  Reheated, with fresh cooked rice added, I served this with the Mango Salsa that is included in the recipe, on top of soft tortillas with lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream for black bean burritos.  Tasty, tasty dinner, and the price point is so very low!

I feel like Martha Stewart!