Legumes Save You Money
Goya beans are cheap at the grocery store. If you learn how to make beans, you can save money. The nutritional trick is to have rice and beans together at the same meal to make it a full protein replacement. Eating beans or rice alone doesn’t have the right amino acids to make complete proteins.
And guess what? Rice is generally pretty cheap too. I buy it in 5 lb bags at the American grocery store. If you are so inclined, you can get monster waist high bags at Asian food markets for even cheaper. (which reminds me to post again about Asian food marts)
My favorite recipe is just a simple lentil stew.
1/2-1 cup dried green lentils
1 or 2 cubes of chicken or beef buillion
some sun-dried tomatoes and dried mushrooms
Note: This is a list of dry ingredients with a long shelf life. I have problems storing and using fresh produce before it gets yucky.
Rinse the lentils and remove any that don’t look nice, or any small stones/pebbles. Place into a pot with about 2-3 cups of water, depending on how much you want to make. Lentils are different from rice, you can add more water if you need it and no, I never measure. Add in all the other ingredients. If use buillion that’s a powder, instead of cubes, I will add about a half spoonful at the beginning and more to taste as the dish finishes boiling.
Follow the directions on the lentil package for cooking times, it’s usually about 20-30 minutes.
I end up tearing apart the tomatoes in the pot after cooking because you can’t really cut them before you start unless you use kitchen shears and have strong hands.
Serve it over some rice, add salt and pepper to taste. But the buillion has enough sodium that you probably don’t need more salt. With a nice salad course, you have a complete meat-free meal that costs you probably about a dollar or two at most. If you wanted to add some meat, I’d brown a little ground sausage meat and drain it really well.
This isn’t a fancy meal. It’s a meal I developed when I got really lazy and didn’t feel like leaving the house or ordering delivery. I never order delivery, I don’t know why, I just don’t have that habit. Though if you want to order take out, pick it up yourself so you don’t have to tip the driver. If there’s a tip jar at the counter though, leave a dollar because there is someone back there checking your order to make sure it’s right.
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