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Week 45- Beans, and Aunt Gen

2/22/2020

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To help with building your year's supply (this is Week 19 of 26), see this chart. 
 
This week I’ve been thinking a lot about old-time things.  My aunt Gen (short for Genevieve) died on Tuesday. She’s my great-aunt, and her last remaining sibling on earth is my grandma. They and their brothers were born in the Mormon colonies in Mexico. All of them lived well past 90 years old. Gen was born in 1918, the year of the great Flu Pandemic, just after her family returned to Mexico after being evacuated during the Mexican Revolution. She was one tough and smart cookie, and one of the kindest people I know. She grew up without electricity, running water, or indoor plumbing. She was a young mother in the last years of the Great Depression. She cooked over fire and charcoal; her first home as a bride had a brick stove with a hole on top in which to put charcoal. She got herself a 5-gallon metal bucket, turned it on its side, cut a door, set a rack inside it, and placed it over that hole. That was her oven.  “I couldn’t bake very large of loaves,” she said, “but it worked.”  The first car her family owned was purchased when she was in her mid-30s.
 
When I was younger, she lived about halfway between my family’s house in Utah and my grandparents’ home in El Paso.  We’d often stop and spend the night with Aunt Gen. Even in the 80s and 90s, she had no TV in the house, which made for lots of times sitting and telling stories or playing games. And she always—always!—made us lemon sugar cookies.  (Maybe I’ll post that recipe soon.  Twenty years ago or so I tried to duplicate it several times-- and failed—until I called her one day and learned the secret.)

​She moved next door to her son in Utah about 30 years ago and had been there ever since, gardening and canning with his wife and children, teaching the kids to crochet, bake apple pies, and shuck corn. When she was in her 80s, they found her one day on the roof, leaning over the edge with a big straw hat on. She was cleaning out the rain gutter with a running hose and a screwdriver to loosen the packed leaves.  She was sick her last little while—though even in her last ten years she didn’t take a single prescription medication. She had a homemade cure for everything-- and they worked!  ("For a bee sting, soak a tomato leaf in rubbing alcohol, then put it on the sting.")

What a lot of things she saw and did in her 101 years!  And her older brother, Uncle Elvin, made it even longer. He was 103. 
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I sometimes wonder if and when we'll need those same skills and ingenuity that her generation had. 
 
One food she was very familiar with was beans. They were a cheap, filling, healthy source of protein, B vitamins, iron, calcium, and magnesium. She and I both learned from her mom (my great-grandma Lillie) how to make the most delicious caramel for dipping apples, spreading on cakes, or digging into with a spoon. It didn’t have beans in it but was served at many bean meals. This is why:

She’d take a can of sweetened condensed milk, remove the label, wash the can, and set it in the bottom of a big pot. A stockpot type one, taller than the can was. Then she’d pour in some dry beans, carefully picked through to remove any little rocks or dirt clods, measure in some salt, and add enough water to cover the top of the can. Then the beans would be simmered for three or four hours until they softened through. (We didn’t ever let the pot boil dry, or the can could possibly have exploded.) When the beans were done, the caramel was done.  We had to be patient while the can cooled down enough to open without spurting hot caramel on us. And the wait was worth it.
 
Do you wonder what the differences are between all the different kinds of beans?  They’re all from the same sort of plant, and can be interchanged pretty freely. There are different sizes, colors, textures, and flavors.  For that information, see the first two pages of the USU publication, Dry Beans and Peas. It also tells you how to cook them, whether you prefer the quick-cook method, the overnight soak method, or using a pressure cooker, slow cooker, stove top, or microwave.

If you’d like more old-time recipes, there are lots. Let's look at two that Aunt Gen would likely have been familiar with while raising her children.
 
“99 Ways to Share the Meat” is a brochure created in 1943 to help Americans cook under the new meat food rationing. 

It includes advice on what to put with beans to flavor them.  For we modern folks who might not know, ‘salt pork’ is bacon that is cut thick like steak, rather than sliced.  Bacon is a great substitute.  Same flavor, same cut, different shape.

85. For plain cooked beans, soak, simmer slowly in a covered pan. Flavor with something salt[y], sour, fresh, crisp, bright, or spicy.

86. Bake beans long and slowly.  Good seasonings are molasses, mustard, salt pork, onion.

87. For better bean soup, add finely chopped peanuts… tomatoes… carrots… or a few slices of frankfurter or bits of cooked ham or sausage.

88. Hearty bean sandwich fillings. Combine baked beans with onion, pickle, relish, or catsup… Moisten with salad dressings… Combine chopped peanuts and baked beans.

97. Press cooked [beans] through a coarse sieve or grind in a food grinder
[food processor] for pulp to make soup, croquettes, loaves, souffles.

98. Use cold [bean] pulp as filling for sandwiches.  Mix with chopped onion and enough salad dressing
[we’re talking mayo or Miracle Whip type stuff here] or milk to make it easy to spread.

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There was a WWII-era, government-sponsored recipe book called “Dried Beans and Peas in WarTime Meals”. I haven't managed to find anything but references to it, but did find its replacement from 1952, a 28-page booklet called Dry Beans, Peas, Lentils …modern cookery. The photo to the left is the index to those recipes.

The pamphlet begins by telling us, “Dry beans and their close cousins, the dry peas and lentils, are food bargains, budget-wise and nutritionwise.  When buying, you can figure that a pound of one of these dry foods will provide 7 to 9 servings.”  And then it tells about nutrition and getting the best protein value from them, which ones need soaked ahead of time, how much water to use when cooking them, and shortcuts for soaking and boiling them.  Of course, recipes follow. (It also tells you how to can bean puree; disregard that, as it doesn’t fit within current USDA safety guidelines.)
 
What bean recipes do you love?

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Week 40- Free Cookbooks for Using Food storage

1/19/2020

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To help with building your year's supply (this is Week 14 of 26), see this chart. 
 
Do you have some food storage now, but need more recipes to use it? Check out these eleven FREE cookbooks, plus some extra resources like a book that teaches you how to can food, one on nutrition and one on REALLY frugal cooking and homemaking.
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1. Bee Prepared Pantry Cookbook. 67 amazing pages.  

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2. New Ideas for Cooking with Home Storage (also found here)--
​created to be used with the foods at the dry-pack canneries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You can no longer dry pack food there, but can still purchase products already packaged. 
 
​

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3. A Guide to Food Storage for Emergencies—compiled by the USU Extension Office. 120 pages. 
 

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4.The Wooden Spoon Cooking School collection- this was a pilot program by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The same ladies who created the Bee Prepared Pantry Cookbook were commissioned to create the class materials, so this is basically an expanded version of Bee Prepared. There are individual sections on the following topics: 
Introduction (note that the ‘length of storage’ information is outdated, per BYU Food Studies)  
Intro- Commodities, Family Assessment, Family Plan, Skills & Equipment
Legumes
Oats, Honey, and Sugar
Wheat
Rice and Pasta
Powdered Milk
Seasonings
A Meal in a Bag- quick meals with everyday, three-month supply foods


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5. All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage Basic Recipes—compiled by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and sent with food storage boxes/kits.  4 pages, 11 recipes. 

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6. Shelf Stable Recipes-- family favorite pantry recipes submitted by readers of FoodStorageMadeEasy.net   
​58 pages.  Uses long-term storage foods as well as some shorter-term ones. 
​

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7. Use it or Lose It— another “food storage cooking school,” compiled by the Utah State University Extension Office. 17 pages. About half of the pages have recipes, with a focus on wheat and dry milk powder; the rest is good information on how to obtain, store, and rotate your food.

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8. Cooking with Dry Beans—compiled by the USU Extension Office. 13 pages.

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9. Whole Kernel and Bulgur Wheat: Preparation and Usage—compiled by the USU Extension Office.  57 pages, so you know there’s a lot of variety. It doesn’t mention hard white wheat vs hard red wheat partly because white wheat had not quite hit the public scene in 1992. ​

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Short term food storage rotation
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10. 3x5 card/photo album cookbook—3x5-sized cards to cut out and fit inside a small photo album that holds 72 photos. ​

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11. Crockpot Freezer Meals with Five Ingredients of Less, from TheFamilyFreezer.com.   25 main dish recipes to use your short-term (“regular food”) storage. Go to the main webpage, https://thefamilyfreezer.com/ for many more recipes. 
 


Other great resources:

Nutrition and Diet—includes charts on vitamins and their role in the body. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 26 pages.

USDA Guide to Home Canning – a self-taught course in how to can. 
 
Frugal pioneer recipes- ten recipes, printed in the July 1972 Ensign magazine.

American Frugal Housewife, 1838. The twenty-second edition.(!)

“Dedicated to those who are not ashamed of economy” and “Economy is a poor man’s revenue; extravagance, a rich man’s ruin.”  The introduction begins, “The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all the fragments, so that nothing be lost.  I mean fragments of time, as well as materials…and whatever the size of a family, every member should be employed either in earning or saving money… The sooner children are taught to turn their faculties to some account, the better for them and for their parents.  In this country, we are apt to let children romp away their existence, till they get to be thirteen or fourteen.  This is not well. It is not well for the purses and patience of parents; and it has a still worse effect on the morals and habits of the children. Begin early is the great maxim for everything in education. A child of six years old can be made useful; and should be taught to consider every day lost in which some little thing has not been done to assist others.”
__________________________

If you like old cookbooks, this website has more than 75 of them, all waiting for you in digital format. 
 
Thanks to prepperssurvive.com for alerting me to the old cookbook digital collection!

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Week 21- Making Your Own Taco Seasoning, Weekly Assignment

9/1/2019

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Weekly Assignment:   B4-3- This is the last week of doing this for your 3-month food supply items! Next week you’ll start ‘B4-3’ with your nonfood items like hand soap, laundry soap, and toilet paper.

Why spend extra on pre-made seasoning packets when you likely already have all the ingredients? Save some money by making your own seasoning packets, or adding the spices directly to your meat.

Taco Seasoning
2 Tbsp. dried onion
1 tsp. oregano
1½ tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. cumin
½ tsp. salt

This is enough seasoning for 1 pound of ground beef or turkey, or a pound of freshly cooked pinto or black beans.  Cook the meat until browned, add the seasonings and ½ c. water or 8 oz tomato sauce; simmer for a few minutes until it’s the consistency you like. Want to make your meat go further?  Add any of these: 1 cup of cooked rice, a handful of quick-cooking oats and a bit of extra water (or 1/4 c to 1 c. leftover cooked plain oatmeal), a can of beans (drained), 1/2- 1 c. shredded vegetable like carrot or zucchini, 1-2 c. cooked cracked wheat.

The seasoning can be adjusted to your own tastes; if you like cumin, up to 1½ tsp. can be good.  I’ve also seen people add crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper, black pepper, smoked paprika, and a couple tablespoons of brown sugar.  What if you overdo the spices?  See how to fix that, here.  

Something to know about chili powder is that there are two general kinds-- the first is nothing but powdered chili peppers, with a huge range of heat, depending on the type of pepper used. (If it's a spicy one, 1 1/2 tsp. of this in your recipe will likely be too much!)   The second kind of chili powder is a mixture of spices-- including powdered chili peppers- but also including things like cumin, oregano, garlic, salt, and more.  Check the label of your spice bottle to see what yours is made of; if it has salt, you may need to reduce the separate amount of salt. If it doesn't have salt, you may want to add 3/4 tsp instead of 1/2 tsp.

Multi-batch Taco Seasoning (some for now, some for later)
½ c. dried onion
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp oregano
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. salt (use 1 Tbsp if your chili powder doesn’t contain salt)
 
Stir together in a small bowl.  You can keep the whole batch in a glass spice jar and use 3 Tbsp each time you cook 1 lb of burger for tacos, or store single-use quantities in snack-size ziptop bags.  For single use size, divide into four roughly equal portions.  Put each one in a small ziptop bag or other airtight container.  Label, date, and store in the cupboard or freezer.
 
Store in a dark cupboard or in your freezer.

You can even add tomato powder (see here how to make it and how to use it in your recipes)


Use this mix in taco salad, soups (1 batch of seasoning for 1-2 quarts of liquid), salad dressings, dips, Mexican dishes, as a rub for meat, on kebabs, and of course for tacos. (Add 1 tsp seasoning mix to one drained can of beans.)

Want to make more home-seasoned basics?  


Marinara sauce
​

BBQ sauce

Or maybe you're needing ways to use all the tomatoes your garden is producing:

https://theprovidenthomemaker.com/my-blog/category/tomatoes
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Week 8- Canning meat, beans, and vegetables

5/30/2019

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Your ​Week 8 assignment-- Going off your  Inventory Shopping List and this week’s sales, buy the 3 months’ worth of as many different food items as you can (= Buy For 3) as your new budget allows.  Only 10 more weeks of this step!

This week's skill:
Did you know that you can bottle meat, beans, stew, and chili at home?  When you find a great sale price on meat, you can buy a bunch and save yourself a lot of money in future months!  For instance, a couple months ago I found boneless skinless chicken for $1/lb. I bought a case (40 lbs), froze about 10 lbs in meal-sized quantities, and bottled the rest.  The bottled chicken makes for quick meals, and I know exactly what was added to it.  In this case, that meant chicken and salt.  Other times I’ve put sliced carrots, celery, onions, and herbs in the jars with the meat, to have a great base for a quick, wholesome chicken noodle soup or pot pie. My food storage includes home-bottled chicken, beef, salmon, pork broth, chicken broth, black beans, pinto beans…

Did you watch the video at the top, on making bottled stew?  Do you have some of the dehydrated diced carrots from the Home Storage Center?  They're great for adding to canned foods.  It helps to soak them in hot water for at least 10-20 minutes first, so they don't soak up all the water in your jar while it cooks.

Meat, beans, and vegetables (except tomatoes) are in the category called ‘low acid’, compared to things like tomatoes and fruits, which are ‘high acid’, or contain higher acidity.  Higher acid foods may be processed using a big pot with boiling water to heat the jars and food, but low acid foods have to be heated to a higher temperature.  This means the only way to safely bottle them is with a pressure canner—a pressure cooker made to hold 7 or more jars at a time.  They start around $65 and go up from there, but you may have a friend who is willing to let you try it out at her house, or borrow it if you’re the confident type.  (I have one. It's very similar to the one in the video above. Come on over!)

Where can you find instructions on pressure canning?  Most pressure canners come with an instruction book and charts, and there are great resources online.
 
The first place to know is your local Extension Office.  In Utah, that’s the Utah State University Extension office, and somebody there knows the answer to just about any question you come up with on the topics of food, kitchens, preserving, budgeting, gardening, yard care, house and garden pests, and more. They’ll even test your pressure cooker gauge every year for $2.

https://nchfp.uga.edu/ has lots of canning information; one of its pages is this one.  It has instructions on canning
Chicken, Rabbit, Chicken or Turkey Broth, Chili, Meat (ground or chopped), Meat (strips, cubes, or chunks), Meat Stock, Meat and Vegetable Soup, Mincemeat Pie Filling, Clams, Crab, Fish (fresh or smoked), Oysters, and Tuna!

This page has info on how canning preserves food, how to make sure your food is safe, what jars, lids, and canners to use, how to know if the jars sealed correctly, canning food for special diets (including baby foods), and more.
 
Other good resources are The Ball Blue Book  and its online counterpart, https://www.freshpreserving.com/home

The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

So Easy to Preserve    (388 pages of instructions and recipes from the Extension Office in Georgia)

There are lots more.  Look for USDA-tested recipes.
​_____________ 

Are you ready to try this?? It's great!
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Creamy High-Protein Pasta, Dairy Free

3/23/2015

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This is meat-free, dairy-free, and in the photo above, also made using gluten-free pasta.  Its rich and creamy taste would never make you suspect there are so many 'normal' ingredients missing.  You will not taste the avocado, and surprisingly, it doesn't even make the sauce look green.  It adds richness along with those healthy, satisfying fats.  
If you used canned chickpeas, you'll have about one cup extra; you can either stir those in with the pasta, or save them for another use.
If you don't have an avocado, or don't want to use one, omit it and increase the chickpeas to three cups instead.

12-16 oz. pasta, cooked according to directions; save the cooking water
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cooked chickpeas- or use 2 cups from two (14-oz) cans, drained
one 6" sprig fresh rosemary, or 1-2 tsp. dried rosemary
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 medium avocado, peel and pit removed
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley, or 1 1/2 Tbsp. dried parsley

While the pasta is cooking, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic; cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until fragrant.

In a blender, combine 3 cups of the pasta cooking water (may also use the water drained off the cans of chickpeas), chickpeas, rosemary, red pepper, avocado, and lemon juice.  Blend on high until smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste (start with 1/2 tsp. salt), and stir in parsley.  
Pour over pasta and toss to coat.  
If the sauce is too thick, add water 1 Tbsp. at a time until it's the consistency you like.  


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Healthy Peanut Butter-Chocolate Banana Bars

3/23/2013

1 Comment

 
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These have fiber, protein, and are much lower in sugar than almost any baked treat!  And they really are good.  My family snarfed down this batch. 

Besides all that, they're also wheat-free and dairy-free.

Healthy Peanut Butter-Chocolate-Banana Bars

1 1/2 cups cooked white beans (one can, drained and rinsed)
2 eggs
2 ripe medium bananas
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. brown sugar or honey (or 1/2 c sugar, if you like things on the sweeter side)
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/3 c. chocolate chips (the darker the better)

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Put the beans, eggs, bananas, peanut butter, brown sugar, and vanilla in a food processor or high-powered blender.  Run until very smooth.  Stir in the baking powder, salt and oats.  Spread in a greased 8x8 pan then sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Bake 30 minutes or til test done with a toothpick.  Cool at least 15 minutes before cutting.  These are even better the next day.

For a variation on this, substitute pumpkin puree for the banana, increase sugar/honey to 1/2 c., replace almond or cashew butter for the peanut butter, then add 1-2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice.
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Black Bean Brownies (or, Chocolate Truffle Brownies)

3/6/2013

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Apparently these have been popular in the food world for about a year... but I first saw them last week.  My oldest son, the pickiest eater in the house, had noticed the printed recipe sitting on the counter for several days, grimacing everytime he walked past it.  So when a batch of brownies appeared out of the oven, he cocked an eyebrow at me, asking "Are these what I think they are?", then declared he would NOT eat them.
After everyone else begged for seconds, though, he decided he'd try just one bite.  Then a whole brownie.  Then he had seconds too.
(YEAH!)

Black Bean Brownies

1 1/4 c. cooked black beans, rinsed (about a 15-oz can or 1/2 c. dry beans- cook first)
3 eggs
1/4 c. melted coconut oil or vegetable oil
1/2- 2/3 cup honey OR 3/4-1 cup sugar (brownies with the higher amounts are sweeter and more moist)
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup whole wheat flour, OR 1/2 c.gluten-free flour plus 1 tsp. xanthan gum
½ teaspoon almond extract or orange extract, optional
½ teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
½ cup chopped walnuts, optional
¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips, optional


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray a 9x13 pan.  Combine beans, eggs, oil, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and almond/orange extract (if using) in a food processor or blender.  Puree until very smooth.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.   Pour the puree over top, then mix both together.  Stir in walnuts if using.  Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.  Bake about 25 minutes or until center tests done with a toothpick.  
Cool.  
To make these into Chocolate Truffle Brownies, omit the chocolate chips and frost with my favorite-ever chocolate frosting: creamy, soft, oh-so-smooth Chocolate Blender Frosting!
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Refried Beans, plus Bean and Cheese Burritos

7/27/2012

1 Comment

 
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This recipe makes a big batch, about 11-12 cups (5 pounds) of refried beans.  The point is to have enough to freeze for later.  Since I buy beans in 25-lb bags for about $17, the beans for this cost just $1.40, a big onion was $ .30.  Not counting the spices – which are a small amount- this adds up to just under $ .08 for each half-cup serving of refried beans!  I used them to make some burritos to freeze for my husband’s lunches.

You can make these fat-free, but I prefer to use at least some fat, for a few reasons.  One is that it helps in digestion- fiber is easier on your system when there’s some fat there to help it along.  Another is that it helps make certain vitamins available- vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, which means if you don’t eat fat along with those vitamins in your food, your body is not able to absorb them.  Besides all that, fat helps you stay full longer, plus helps the beans taste more moist and delicious!

According to CalorieCount, a half-cup of these -before the cheese- have 3.7g fat, 15g fiber, 21g protein, 27% of your RDA for iron, plus are high in magnesium, potassium, and thiamin.  How’s that for cheap, filling nutrition?

5 cups dry beans (about 2 lbs) – I used black beans but pinto are also good
1-2 onions, coarsely chopped
9 cups water

Sort through the beans and remove any dirt or rocks.  Rinse them, then put the beans, onion, and water in a pressure cooker.  Put the lid on and bring up to pressure.  Cook on high pressure for 45 minutes.   Let the pressure drop completely before opening up.  

If you don't have a pressure cooker, put the beans and onion in a big pot, cover with about 3 quarts of water (12 cups), bring to a boil, and simmer for about 4 hours.  Check occasionally to make sure there's still enough water to barely cover the beans, adding more if needed.

You’ll have about 12 cups of cooked beans.  Drain them but keep the liquid.  Stir in:
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. salt
½ tsp. liquid smoke
¼  c. coconut oil – OR use bacon drippings and omit the liquid smoke

Puree or mash them - I put 3 cups at a time in my blender.  Add a little cooking liquid if they’re too thick.  They WILL thicken some as they cool.  Taste them and add more of any seasoning you think they still need.  This version is lightly flavored.

To make bean and cheese burritos, stir in 4-8 oz. mild or medium cheese, shredded on the biggest shredding holes.

If you’re making 6-oz burritos, you’ll need about 24 flour tortillas (size about 8” across). If you want 4-oz burritos, you’ll need about 40-48 tortillas.
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Which are cheaper foods- healthy, or not?

6/19/2012

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In the last few years, we've all heard that it's more inexpensive to eat high-calorie, nutrient-sparse foods.    Are we then doomed to a life of either nasty nutrition or perpetual poverty because of our ballooning food budget?

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No way!   The whole premise turns out to not really be true.


But then, those of you who cook your own food probably took the earlier studies with a grain of salt.


Fresh and whole foods are cheaper especially if eating from scratch... whole grains and legumes are especially inexpensive per serving (you know, that stuff that stores long-term really well!).

The original studies, we now learn, were comparing price per calorie in healthy vs. unhealthy foods.

Now, if you're comparing a fresh apple to a side order of fries, it looks something like this:

1 medium apple, about 5 ounces (141g) = about 80 calories    at $1.50/lb,  this costs $ .47  (if you buy them when they're on sale for $1/lb, then it's $ .31)

1 medium order of McDonald's fries, about 5 ounces (147 g) = 453 calories, in my city it costs $1.49

Both weigh approximately the same.  You'll feel about as full with each one; they both fill the same amount of space in your stomach.  According to the old numbers, though, the fries are much cheaper because   $1.49 divided by 453 calories gets you 3 calories per penny.  The apple, at $ .47 for 80 calories, comes out at 1.7 calories per penny. 

This would matter in a country where every calorie is precious.  Our problem here, though is the reverse.  Most of us eat too many calories, and being full with fewer calories is a helpful thing.

The price difference gets worse, too.  Here in Utah, sales tax on food is 3%.  Sales tax on food from a restaurant, however, is 8%.  That means you're paying one to two cents to the government when you buy the apple, and twelve cents when buying those French fries.  (Maybe that's where the money came from to fund that first study saying fast food was cheaper?!)

So is healthy food always cheaper than fast food?  No, not always.  Often.  It depends on what you buy.  (like Dave Ramsey says, eat "beans and rice; rice and beans" for those trying to live very frugally.) 

But your grocery budget already told you that.

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Click on the link below to read the article that sparked this blog entry:

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Market/Are-healthy-foods-really-more-expensive-Not-necessarily-say-USDA-researchers

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Chalupa

5/2/2012

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Years ago a college friend gave me a cookbook her family had put together.  Though I haven't tried all the recipes in it, I'm inclined to say there's not a bad one in the bunch- everything I've tried has been fabulous.  Even the strange-sounding recipe for "Vinegar Dumplings" was amazing.  I may need to post that one later for you!

This recipe is from that cookbook.  Apparently 'Chalupa' is a misnomer, to be authentic you'd use thin, small, fried corn tortilla 'boats'.  But this tastes really similar and is simpler.
This batch is big; feel free to cut it in half.  The bean/meat mixture freezes well, though, so maybe make the whole batch and have some on hand in the freezer for a quick meal! 

Chalupas

2 lb. boneless pork roast *
1 lb. pinto beans, sorted and rinsed *
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 small can green chilies
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 1/2 tsp. salt
* I used beef roast and black beans

Toppings:
corn chips
shredded cheese
chopped onion
diced tomatoes
sliced avocado
salsa

(Start making this about 6-7 hours before you want to eat. Or see 'Faster Chalupas' below.)   Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Put all ingredients in a Dutch oven or roaster; add enough water to cover.  Bake, covered, for one hour, then reduce to 275 degrees.  Cook another 4-5 hours.  Add more water if the beans aren't all the way covered by it. 

Remove pork, cool and shred.  Meanwhile, cook the bean mixture with the lid off for 30-60 minutes or until thick.  Put shredded meat back into bean mixture and heat.

Serve on a bed of crisp corn chips and top with shredded cheese, lettuce,  onion, tomatoes,  avocadoes, and salsa. 

FASTER CHALUPAS:
 
#1:  use a pressure cooker.  Mine took about 30  minutes under high pressure in a Kuhn Rikon.   Plan on 1 hour instead if you have a regular pressure cooker.

OR #2: use leftover roast and 3 (15 oz.) cans of beans, undrained.  Add all seasonings except for the salt, combine and simmer for at least 15 minutes to blend the flavors.
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Black Beans and Sausage

4/14/2012

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Beans and sausage have probably been around since sausage was first invented.  Take some bland beans, add flavorful ingredients, and -presto- a nearly-one-dish-meal.  We ate ours with homemade bread and a fruit smoothie.

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You can use any kind of beans you like, and any kind of sausage or similar meat.  I used kielbasa because that's what was cheap this time.  Sometimes I use hotdogs.  Or link sausage.  Or I shape bulk sausage into meatballs.  Ham Spam, or bacon would also work; the point is to add something savory and meaty. 
You can leave out the kale if you prefer; I only added it because it was calling to me from the fridge (so it wouldn't die lonely in the vegetable crisper).  It also added to the nutritional content; my mom taught me the budget trick of using half as much meat and twice as many vegetables as most recipes call for.  The onions and celery are pretty important for flavor, but if you don't like them, fine, leave them out.  Add something you do like.  Carrots or peppers would be good.
I used onion powder because some of my kids think they don't like onions.  It's really the texture they revolt against; if I use onion powder or puree the onions, nobody notices them.  The tomato and chicken bouillon enhance the meaty flavor.  

This makes a big batch; you can freeze some for later!

Black Beans and Sausage

1 lb. black beans, or 3  14-oz. cans
2 medium onions, diced, or 1/3 c. onion powder or 2/3 c. dried minced onion
1 lb. sausage (or hotdogs), cut in coins
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced, or 1-2 tsp. garlic powder
1 bunch kale, chopped
1 Tbsp. chicken bouillon, or 3 cubes, or one 14-oz. can chicken broth
1 Tbsp. tomato powder, or use 1 Tbsp. tomato paste or 2 Tbsp. tomato sauce
2-4 tiny drops thyme essential oil, or 1 tsp. powdered thyme, or 1-2 Tbsp. fresh leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Serves 8-10

If starting with dry beans, sort through to find any bits of rock or dirt, rinse, then put in a large pot with 2 quarts of water and the onions.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 4 hours.  I used a pressure cooker (a Kuhn Rikon, it's quick!) and needed only 1 ½ quarts water,  cooked on high pressure for 25 minutes.  Drain and reserve water.  If using canned beans, also drain and reserve.

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In a 12” skillet, cook sausage and celery over medium-high heat until partly browned.  This really deepens the meat's flavor.  In case you like science-type stuff, this is because of the Maillard Reaction- simplified, it's the combination of amino acids (proteins) reacting under heat with the sugars (carbohydrates) to form completely new flavor compounds.  Anyway, yeah, you want to brown the sausage, even if it IS precooked.

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Add garlic and stir 30 seconds, then put the kale on top, cover, and reduce heat to medium.  Check after about 5 minutes to see if you need to add a little liquid.  If so, use the bean water.  Cook until kale is tender, about 10 minutes. 


Add the meat and vegetables to the bean pot.  Stir in chicken bouillon or broth, tomato powder, thyme, 1 tsp. salt, ¼ - ½ tsp. pepper.  Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.  Heat through if it’s not warm enough.  The flavor will be better after sitting covered for 20-30 minutes.  If it's too thick, add more of the bean water. 

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Nearly instant bean cookery

9/29/2011

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Do you not use dry beans as often as you intend to because they take so long to cook?  I used to have a designated "bean day" once a week, but fell off the wagon a while ago.  Here's the answer...

There are ways to speed  up how fast they cook.  If you have a pressure cooker, it can take as little as 30 minutes to cook the beans. 

If you have a grain mill (or even a blender), it can be even faster
.
 


Make bean flour with your mill; it cooks in only 5 minutes of simmering.
 
If you use your blender, put 1-2 cups of beans in the blender jar; run on high speed until powdered.  Pour the powder through a fine-mesh sieve to catch any bigger pieces; those can take a half hour to cook.

Cooked bean flour has the texture of very smooth refried beans.  They can be thinned with water, milk, or evaporated milk to the consistency of white sauce or cream soups.  White beans are recommended for these uses, though, just because you want it to look 'normal'.  Add seasonings to taste, and you can have nearly instant soup!
If you make them regular refried bean consistency, unseasoned beans can even be substituted for at least half the fat in baked foods.  You might be able to substitute them for all the fat, but try half first.  Then work up.  For that, use the recipe for 5-minute Refried Beans, below, but only use water and bean flour, not the  spices or salt.

Store extra bean flour in a tightly covered container, to keep out pests.  Its expected shelf life is 6 months; you can extend that by keeping it dark and cool, or freezing it.  It can last longer on the shelf than 6 months, as well- smell it to see if it has gone rancid.  If it smells and tastes fine, it still should be.


5-minute Refried Beans

2 ½ c. water
½ - ¾ tsp. salt
Pinch garlic powder, opt
¾ c. pinto or black bean flour
¼ tsp. cumin
½ -1 tsp. chili powder

Heat water to boil, whisk in dry ingredients.  Cook and stir over medium heat for 1 minute, until thick.  Reduce to low, cover and cook 4 minutes.  This will thicken as it cools.  Add ½ c. salsa if you want.  My family likes it best with cubed Cheddar or Mozzarella mixed in; I use 1/2- 1 c. cheese in about 1/4" cubes.
 

“Instant” Refried Bean Mix

1 ½ c. pinto or black bean flour
1 ½ tsp. chili powder
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. cumin
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried onion

Mix and store airtight.

Whisk ¾ c. of this mixture into 2 ½ c. boiling water.  Cook and stir over medium heat for 1 minute, until thick.  Reduce to low, cover and cook 4 minutes.  This will thicken as it cools.  Add ½ c. salsa if you like.


3-Minute “Cream of Chicken Soup”

3 c. boiling water
1/2 c. fine white bean flour
1 T. chicken bouillon granules
1/2 c. diced chicken, optional
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning or sage, optional


Whisk together water, flour, & bouillon over medium heat, stir and cook 3 minutes.  Blend 1-2 minutes.  Add chicken.


Find more recipes like this at http://realfoodliving.com/book-reviews/country-beans-by-rita-bingham  


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