making beans from their humble dried form is easier than...well, easy!
While I don't consider myself a novice cook, I've always been oddly intimidated by dried beans. The selection of dried beans is so awesome, not to mention very economical, but every time I made them, they never turned out. They were still really hard after hours of soaking and simmering on the stove to only dry out and burn, but still hard. A total disappointment.
So in an effort not only to eat local, but to also eat our pantry down, yesterday I looked a bag of dried pinto beans straight in the eye and opened it in an attempt to make beans! Now, I'm fairly sure that I've always looked at the bag before...but this time it had different directions/suggestions that I don't recall ever seeing (and grant it, I've never bought 10 lbs of beans at one time either). You can use your slow cooker to make the beans. WHAT?!??? I (think I) can do that!!!
After soaking the beans for 6 hours at room temperature (or 8 hours in the refrigerator) I put those bad boys in the crockpot, covered with about 1 inch of water, turned the sucker on low and let them do their thing for about 10 hours. Viola! BEANS that were neither hard, dry nor burned!
I hope this information not only expands your cooking knowledge and bean choices, but also your wallet with all of the money you will save!
Showing posts with label Thrifty CzaMama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thrifty CzaMama. Show all posts
Friday, August 7, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Mom-genuity
I don't know about your children, but mine tends to waste a lot of food. Try as I might, at the end of the day there is a half eaten carrot, a half an apple, and various other fruits and veggies. Give her less you say? Nope, there's still always half left. It's one of her little quirks. To even think of putting them in the compost pile makes me cringe.
A few weeks ago my mother-in-law handed us her old juicer. To say I was thrilled to have another appliance might be much. We already have a great juicer, but it's big. Really big. Taking it out of it's sleeping spot, setting it up and then cleaning it is an all day task. So when I juice, I JUICE. But this juicer is much smaller and the blade is basically the same (I think it's the same maker, just under a different name).
A few days after she gave us the juicer I had an idea. After offering up the half eaten F&Vs to CiBaby and being completely shunned, I threw them into the juicer, and voila! Mega hit. It was such a hit that she even stole the cup of juice T-Daddy and I were sharing and called it her own.
Waste not, want not. That's what I call Mom-genuity.
A few weeks ago my mother-in-law handed us her old juicer. To say I was thrilled to have another appliance might be much. We already have a great juicer, but it's big. Really big. Taking it out of it's sleeping spot, setting it up and then cleaning it is an all day task. So when I juice, I JUICE. But this juicer is much smaller and the blade is basically the same (I think it's the same maker, just under a different name).
A few days after she gave us the juicer I had an idea. After offering up the half eaten F&Vs to CiBaby and being completely shunned, I threw them into the juicer, and voila! Mega hit. It was such a hit that she even stole the cup of juice T-Daddy and I were sharing and called it her own.
Waste not, want not. That's what I call Mom-genuity.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
The Frugal Gourmet
I catch a lot of flack from people because I make about 90% of our food from scratch, and most of the time it looks fairly involved. I like to use wonderful, fresh ingredients...preferably organic and local.
When it came to making food for our Harvest Soiree I needed a red pepper, actually 2 red peppers, for the date ratatouille. Instead of waiting until the day of, when the Farmers' Market was going on I ran to the closest grocer and picked up a red pepper. Only one as it ended up being $2 for 1 pepper ($4.99/lb)! Outrageous. I wasn't even going to go for the organic as those were $8.99/lb.
When it came to making food for our Harvest Soiree I needed a red pepper, actually 2 red peppers, for the date ratatouille. Instead of waiting until the day of, when the Farmers' Market was going on I ran to the closest grocer and picked up a red pepper. Only one as it ended up being $2 for 1 pepper ($4.99/lb)! Outrageous. I wasn't even going to go for the organic as those were $8.99/lb.
As I needed a few things from the Farmers' Market I ran there for a super fast trip and ended up getting a few things I needed, plus the following peppers.
Farmers' Market peppers
In the bowl there are 9, yes 9 peppers...local and organically grown for $3! Sure they aren't as pretty as the other pepper, but who cares?!? Now to clean and freeze them for use during the winter months in soups, stews and sauces!
Moral of the story - if you like to cook and you're on a budget (but who isn't these days?) get thee to your local farmers' markets. Pack your freezer and pantry shelves with awesome local produce for those long winter months.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
The torch has been passed
Tonight KT and I went to a mega consignment sale. We were lucky to get in on the pre-sale as we were considered "first time moms." Woot for us! As we didn't want to be the last in line we met at Panera Bread to get to-go decaf coffee and zipped over to claim our spot.
When we were kids, KTs mom and friend went to the JCC sale every year and got in line early...we're talking the middle of the night. It was a good sale...hehe. Now it's our turn.
All I can say is that CiBaby is SET for Christmas gifts this year at a fraction of the cost.
When we were kids, KTs mom and friend went to the JCC sale every year and got in line early...we're talking the middle of the night. It was a good sale...hehe. Now it's our turn.
All I can say is that CiBaby is SET for Christmas gifts this year at a fraction of the cost.
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