Posted on 05/14/2009 3:58:17 PM PDT by housemouse 1
My family is on a pinto bean diet, i'll call it that because money tight and this is all we have to eat, well rice, and homemade tortillas, but even those few inbetween times we can have eggs, cheese, fruit, vegtables, it's mostly beans, i make plain, and chili version, leftovers become soup, my kids think we are going to die, what i'd like to hear is what someone else thinks?
my dad loved cornbread and milk too, and would also put a little honey on a saucer and dip cornbread or a biscuit into it for a light supper.
Look for sales and coupons.
See how much staple items cost - flour, corn meal, oatmeal, baking powder, yeast, ect and find recipes to make your own bread, pancake mix, biscuit mix or whatever.
Stock up on items if you find a good sale. We buy cans of evaporated milk and pumpkin (not the pie ready stuff) when it goes on sale in Oct - Dec and use it all year. Eggs can last several weeks after the date on them - just do the float test before using them by putting in a bowl of water - if they float toss them. Good for hard boiling. I just boiled 6 eggs from March 30th and they were fine.
Check the price per unit - most stores should have them. With the changes in product sizes lately - tuna went from 6 oz to 5 oz - it's a good way to get the best price. Also good to try to find the country of origin. If it says China or Mexico it goes back to the shelf no matter how cheap it is.
I make stock, and so does my middle daughter (24) we often use the stock as flavoring for meatless meals, and chicken stock I freeze for homemade chicken noodle soup if someone is sickly. I also save hambones for my middle daughter to use in beans and she is real upset that we very seldom have ham anymore due to hubby’s heart diet. My other two daughters don’t go so far as to do stock and homemade soup- but they cook a pot of beans and a cassarole and make burritos to freeze on weekends and use it all through the week by adding a few other things to make meals.
I also sew curtains, throw pillows, and used to make quilts and even clothes. My daughters used to make fun of me and call me Martha Stewart- but the middle one does most of the same things now so she can’t pick on me any more. I used to bake all my own bread/cakes from scratch but don’t now. My middle daughter is a terrific baker and her in-laws were really impressed when she made homemade hot rolls for the first holiday she went to their house.
I still do most things from scratch even now just for hubby and I, but the crockpot saves my life because we stay pretty busy. I know several people who do all this and more- I even know ladies that grind wheat for their flour. Of course all the over-achievers I know are Mormon ladies- and I am not so that is my excuse for being lazy.
I have had more people ask me how to cook things, how to grow and can lately. I think we will see more of this. It takes a while to get into the habit of doing things like making stock- but once you’re in the habit of frugal cooking it is just as fast as not doing it that way. You can have your stock simmering while you cook something else and if I am in a hurry I will freeze the bones and make stock later.
Farmer to neighbor, what you feed your dog, he always looks very healthy? Neighbor, I feed him ground Oyster shells. The farmer goes and buys Oyster Shells, sees’ the neighbor a couple of weeks later. My dog doesn’t eat those Oyster Shells’. Neighbor to farmer, h*ll, mine didn’t for the first month.
Oh yes my mother made salmon cakes once in a while for a treat- they were so good. She also made potato cakes with left over mashed potatoes that were to die for, but mine never come out right.
One of my favoriite things. Pinto beans and cornbread. The original cowboy breakfast.
When my youngest got engaged, we gave them a 25 pound sack of pinto beans and a good sized sack of red chile powder- some thought it was a joke but they have been happy to have it several times.
Doesn’t anyone here like lima beans?
I eat beans twice a wk, including limas. Inexpensive and great for weight control.
10 percent jalapenos
15 percent bacon
75 percent ground venison
Elk or Axis Deer is even better. I’ve done the same with feral hog’s and that’s not bad either.
Another good source of vitamin C and lots of other vitamins is dandelions. Yes, as in the weed. Just make sure you don’t harvest them from somewhere that has been sprayed with pesticides. For more info: http://hubpages.com/hub/Harvesting-and-Eating-Dandelions
“One of my favoriite things. Pinto beans and cornbread. The original cowboy breakfast.”
Add some fried taters and onions and your speaking my language. That’s a staple around this house.
I have the same problem! They fall apart.
Thanks. We will try this next season.
Beans beans, the Mexican fruit...........
I really should not continue this.......... but to answer your question, YES beans a good for you!
Try some black beans or navy beans for a change. Garbanzo beans are good in pasta or rice salads.
Cook blackbeans with lemon juice!
I read through every post on this and nobody pointed this out. There is a way to eliminate virtually all the “gas” from beans. There is a complex sugar that is formed in the water as you cook the beans. If you simply pour off the water you have cooked the beans in and rinse them before using them in your recipes they become almost “fartless”.
I have been doing it for years and it works. Pintos combined with tomatos, onions, chili powder and a little mustard and of all things water chestnuts make the best diet food you can eat. The water chestnuts give the mixture a nice “crunch” so its not so boring. Rice is nice..but it adds too many calories if you are trying to lose weight.
I recently read to pour off the water after soaking, add fresh water to keep down the gas effect.
Rice helps make the beans a complete protein, and I don’t think they have to worry about gaining weight without meat.
thank you for the tip, (smile) this should help
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