Eat: Toasted Rice What?! and Other Current Obsessions

Am I the only avid brown rice eater who was unaware of the whole toasted brown rice thing? As if brown rice weren't delicious, comforting, and warming enough already! You might think it's "just" rice but did you know that if you toast the rice before you cook it as you usually would, it increases brown rice deliciousness to level AWESOME?!

When we had dinner at our friends' place a few weeks ago, the brown rice that we had for dinner kind of blew my mind. I had to know the secret! Kristen (who apparently teaches me all sorts of wonderful food things) told me it was super simple: toast your rice. And it actually was that easy! I went over to her place on Friday for a cooking demo, and well enough, it was pretty straightforward. Here's the secret: 

Toasted Brown Rice Bowl

1. Over medium heat, warm up  some oil (we used abut a couple tablespoons of olive oil, but coconut would also be a good option).
2. Add in your rice and mix it with the oil to make sure it's well coated.
3. Toast it for about 5-10 minutes like you would spices, stirring occasionally to make sure the rice doesn't burn. (You'll be able to tell when it's properly toasted because it will smell lovely, browned, and popcorn-y.)
4. Add in water as you would to cook your brown rice in the first place. 
5. When the water has come to a boil, add in some sea salt, mix, and let the rice cook!
6. Enjoy THE BEST THING EVER!!!! (Especially if you add some nutritional yeast and dulse.)

I got to take a batch home and have been eating some every night for dinner with kale massaged in sesame oil, apple cider vinegar and sea salt (sesame oil and toasted brown rice are pretty equal on the awesomeness scale),  seaweed and other veggies. It's... so... yummy...

And if that weren't food awesome enough, Kristen decide to top off our cooking demo with this madness:

It's not just a milkshake. 

It's a cupcake milkshake.

I know right?!

Coconut Bliss Vanilla Ice Cream + Rice Milk + One Vegan Cupcake* = OMG

*The Cupcake was from Thimblecakes of course!

Lastly, I've been talking with my BFF, Amanda, recently about the endless downward spiral of dieting/body-hating a lot of women go through. She referred me to this awesome concept, which I thought is an amazing way of thinking about food that might help you get out of your negative relationship with food, and just start loving and appreciating what you eat:

I even realize that both the foods I presented today fit into that van diagram perfectly! (Okay, maybe the cupcake milkshake doesn't so much... but It's a food that makes me happy AND it supports the environment and local businesses for being local, organic, vegan, and sugar-free! Oh, and vegan cupcakes definitely support my values. So there.)

Have a great week!