More Beans

Because apparently I'm too lazy to make up recipes for anything else lately.

Ahem, anyway...

I was feeling really lazy, kind of sick, and desperate for some familiar food. Hey, presto, I opened a can of black beans and added:

• several shakes of salt
• a dash of pepper
• a pinch of garlic powder
• Italian seasoning to taste

I was feeling extra lazy so I threw it all in a microwave safe bowl, heated it for a minute, stirred it around, heated it for another minute or so, and even my husband who hates beans like them! Of course, I can't take all the credit for that, since he says the reason he liked them was because, and I quote, "these beans aren't as grainy, they have a smoother texture." I am triumphant! I will make a healthy eater out of that man yet!

So for dinner I had this with boiled head of cauliflower and box mix mashed potatoes. The potatoes also had a generous dash of garlic powder and several dashes of Italian seasoning, because my husband and I like those flavors. Don't judge us, okay?

Poor Person's Beans

Or, How I Made Something Yummy Out of a Grad School Food Budget

Well, I'll share this "recipe," though it isn't much of a recipe since there aren't really measurements (I've gotten really lax with those, since my spouse and I are pretty much just winging it when it comes to food prep lately). These were some of the best beans I've had in a while, so flavorful and delicious!

15 bean soup mix (a bag I got at walmart, just a regular 16 oz bag of dried beans)

I only cooked about a cup of the dried beans, you may want to shorten your cooking time if you do this. Cook the beans according to the bag directions. I cooked them soft, because that's the only way my spouse will eat them. Drain them when they're done and add the following ingredients to taste;

Onion powder (did several dashes on top)

Garlic powder (several dashes, but not as much as the onion because the garlic is stronger)

Chili powder (be sparing with this if you don't like spicy)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Bragg's Soy Proteins (I use this instead of Soy sauce, but you can probably use soy sauce, just don't do several dashes like I did, you may want to just add a little water instead)

Spicy Brown Mustard (I did one large squirt around the top of the beans, but you can do to taste)

And that's it! You may want to start out with less on the spices so you don't overspice the beans (at that point you might just have to make more beans and mix them in to fix it OR you could mix rice in and make it a beans and rice dish; we had our's with brown rice on the side, it was an amazingly delicious, simple, cheap lunch!).

Happy eating folks!