Rice and beans with cornbread is a very filling meal, and it’s very nutritious, and that is just what I’m gonna make for dinner tomorrow night.

Tonight we had pork chops, brown rice and corn for dinner.  There’s eight of us and there were twelve chops.  Oh, they all got eaten, and I was left with a bunch of half-starved vultures still hungry teen aged (and otherwise) boys sitting there at the table looking at me, waiting for me to remedy the situation.

Hmm, good thing I had Hank bake a couple of loaves of Banana Bread this afternoon.  So, Tex got out the butter and the cream cheese and brought me a knife and a cutting board.  They went through both loaves, a stick of butter and a half pkg of cream cheese like a school of piranhas!  It was all gone before I really knew what was goin’ on.  Good grief!

The point is this – it’s a whole lot more economical to feed a bunch of growing boys on homemade food than it would be to shovel out a bunch of factory made foods.  Can’t imagine how many boxes of Little Debbie cakes it would have taken to satisfy those piranhas vultures boys.

I’ll leave you with this little gem of a quote from Tex, way back when he was a “starving” 13 year old.  I asked him if he was ever full.  His answer, “Only on Thanksgiving and Christmas!”

Linked to:

• Things I Love, Thursday

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Changing your taste buds is not nearly as hard as you’d think.   Every mom should give it a go, if for no other reason than to gain perspective for dealing with persnickity eaters.

We’ve only been back on the Feingold diet for 2 weeks and we already have a new favorite bean recipe.  And I’ve had grand success cooking them in the crockpot.  So easy!

You’ll need:

• 2 lbs dry pinto beans
• boiling water
• patience
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1½ t italian seasonings
• 1 tbsp onion flakes
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 Tbsp sea salt
• 2 Tbsp Secret Ingredient (optional) (click the link and scroll down for the recipe) (really, it’s worth it)

The method:

After breakfast, rinse the beans in a colander in the sink.  Watch out for little rocks and tiny clods of dirt.

Pour the beans into the Smarty-Pants-Pot, cover with boiling water to 2 or 3 inches above the level of the beans.  You’ll need to add more later in the day as the beans absorb some of the water.  Check the water level whenever you find yourself passing by.

Turn the pot on high.  It needs to simmer all day long.  I put my beans on at about 8:30 in the morning and we eat around 6:30.  Long, slow cooked beans.  Very yummy!

* Note – The SmartPot turns itself to warm after 4 or 6 hours on high.  If you use this kind of pot, be diligent and set a timer to remind yourself to re-set the Smarty-Pants-Pot when this is due to occur.

Anyway, around 5 o’clock or so, add all the seasonings and give it a stir.

Pretty soon after that will be time to start the cornbread too!   The World’s Best Cornbread takes 35 minutes in the oven, plan accordingly.

When I cook 2 lbs of beans we have enough for supper for the whole family and for lunch the next day.

This post is linked to:

• Crockpot Wednesday
• Frugal Friday
• Food on Friday
• Ultimate Recipe Swap
• Tightwad Tuesday
• Slow Cooking Thursday

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Those of you who don’t know why I’m doing that or what on earth I’m talking about can click here and get up to speed.

So, as usual, when faced with a food problem I consulted with my real life friend, Faith.  And as usual, she has been all kind of help.

My new recipe for the week is White Chili.

You’ll need:

• 1 lb great northern beans, dry
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 lb bulk sausage (Farmland is my fav since it has none of the offending additives)
• 1 qt. broth or stock (homemade or additive free)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1½ teaspoons dried oregano
• 1½ teaspoons ground cumin
• salt to taste

Cook the beans according to the directions on the package.  While the beans are cooking you can brown the meat in a large skillet.  Drain the beans and put them into the crockpot and turn it on high.  Pour in the broth or stock.   Add the cooked meat, leaving the drippings in the skillet.

In the fat that you left in the skillet you can cook the onion and celery.  When those are translucent add them to the crockpot, but leave any excess fat out.  Toss in the garlic powder, oregano, salt, and cumin.  Give it a good stir.

Turn the heat down to low after the first hour.  Another hour or two on low and it’s supper time!

You might like yours a little soup-y-er than this.  You can just add a little more broth or a bit of water.

Here are your links to Crockpot Wednesday and Ultimate Recipe Swap.

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You’ll need:

• 2 lbs ground meat (we used pork sausage)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 lg can refried beans (30 oz.)
• 1 can diced green chiles (4 oz. – I think)
• 1 can tomato sauce (8 oz.)
• ~1 tablespoon taco seasoning
• 20 flour tortillas
• 1 stick butter, melted

Preheat your oven to 350°.

1. Cook the ground meat in a large frying pan.  Add the diced onion and cook over medium heat until the onion is at least limp.  Turn the heat to medium/low and add the beans, chiles, tomato sauce and taco seasoning.  Stir it all together and cook for 5 minutes.
2. Line 2 large cookie trays with foil so ya don’t have to wash ‘em when you’re done.  Spoon meat/bean mixture into the tortillas, about ¼+ cup in each, and roll ‘em up.  You don’t have to worry about tucking the ends in, the filling won’t spill out.  Put ‘em on the cookie tray with the seam side down.  Brush each burrito with melted butter.
3. Bake for 15 minutes.  Turn each burrito over and brush with butter again.  Bake for another 15 minutes or so, until nicely browned.

These are crispy-delicious!

You could add cheese before rolling, or mix some corn into the meat/bean mixture, and you might like to spoon some chili over the top once they are done.  We had sorta planned to do all of these “optional” ideas and forgot to.  Oooops!

Guess what?  They were fabulous just the way they were.  I cant’ believe I forgot to take a picture.  Yeah I can, I was eating and they were delicious!

Here’s the recipe that inspired our creation.

Here’s your link to The Ultimate Recipe Swap.

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I’m still having so much fun learning how to cook with my homemade solar ovens.  This is the most cooking fun I’ve had in a good while.  I still can’t hardly believe it’s possible to cook for free.  

Yesterday I made Chile Rellenos in one oven and a Carrot, Squash, Chocolate Cake in the other.  They both came out fabulous.  The cake was kinda more like brownies than cake, but I’m not complaining, and neither is anyone else.

Today I made dinner rolls and Lentil Stew.  The rolls came out great.  

Dinner Rolls

• 1¼ cup water
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 3¼ cups bread flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1½ tsp salt
• 2¼ tsp yeast

I used my Regal bread machine on dough cycle.  This made 16 rolls.

I read that you are supposed to bake ‘em with the lid on, so I put ‘em in the dutch oven and popped the lid on and let ‘em rise that way just sittin’ on the table out back in the sun for about 20 minutes, then I put ‘em into the solar oven for about 3 hours.  I took the lid off of the pot for about the last hour, but I don’t know how much that mattered.  This is so easy, and so flexible.  Seems kinda hard to ruin food as long as there is sunshine.

The Lentil Stew cooked way faster than I thought it would.  I gave it a jump-start by heating the water to boiling before adding it to the pot.  I’m sure that, as our solar cooking season progresses I’ll be able to skip that step.  

I just threw some ingredients into the pot, not following a recipe.  I’ll list the ingredients here for ya.

Solar Lentil Stew

• 1 lb lentils, rinsed
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• 2 carrots, grated
• ½ onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ tsp thyme, dried
• 2 handfuls barley, sorry, maybe ½ cup
• boiling water

I added enough boiling water to cover with about ¼ above the ingredients.  Then I set the covered  pot into the solar cooker and adjusted the reflector.  After about 2 hours I checked it and found it needed some more water.  I added about 1 ½ cups boiling water, gave it a stir and replaced the lid and cooked for about another hour and a half.

I know you can’t see it, but there is steam rolling off of that stew.  Such fabulous aromas coming from my backyard lately!

So, there ya go.  ’Bout the same as cooking in the house, on the stove, just took longer and needed less of my attention.  Oh yeah, and it didn’t heat up my house or cost anything to cook it!!!  Super Solar Supper!!!

Y’all need to let me know what I should try in the solar oven.  Cyndi said bread and I’m on it.  Lois said Chili Pie or Cheeseburger Pie,  I’m working out a recipe for that.  What else?

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