On Beans and Lentils and Rice and Tears
Posted under: Read This
Why Beans Made Me Cry in My Car Today
So I cried a little when I read that.
Because it’s awesome and terrible at the same time. Awesome because of the people helping out other people, terrible because nobody should be reduced to tears by beans.
Food
I am not a food blogger. I know I’m not, nor do I pretend to know anything at all about the sort of gorgeous food photography that Oh She Glows and Pioneer Woman crank out with such deceptive ease.
That being said, we DO love to cook. And we cook a lot of lentils, beans, and rice. And fresh vegetables, for that matter.
So I am going to do a series of cooking posts with cellphone-quality photography and Tami-Is-Not-A-TV-Chef instructions.
I will show you how to cook dried beans, rice, and lentils. I will give you recipes and show you how to cut the veggies and whatnot. My hilarious, seat-of-the-pants cooking style will be revealed to all of you.
HOWEVER. If even one person comes away from this feeling less terrified at the thought of having to buy beans and rice to stretch a grocery budget, it will have been worth it.
Abnormal
I know this isn’t my normal blog fare (thus the heads-up) but I think it’s important, so I’m going to do it. I won’t think less of anyone who skips past the cooking posts. *grin* (Not that I’d know if you did it anyway)
I’ve still got other blog posts scheduled for the coming weeks, so you’ll get non-cooking stuff from me as well.
I just don’t want you to worry that I’m turning the blog into a Monument To The Glory of Fiberlicious Foods.
^_^
Thanks for sharing this.
After reading this I think i’ll be making a few post myself. I’ve done a few recipe posts before, but it was all for larger meals when I splurged for the holidays. I think a few about the much more simple fare I normally cook are in order.
Dechion´s last post ..The Crazy Train Derailed
Agreed, and I’d love to see them!
you’ve got mail.
I have been reading “The Other America” by Michael Harrington. It was published in the early 60s and speaks of the poverty in America. Feeding families is a big component of the book. But he does not offer recipes, so big kudos for helping with frugal meals for all of us!
I was lucky to have been raised by the son of an immigrant. Potatoes, cabbage and cheap cuts of meat are comfort foods for me. Hooray for poor immigrants and their families!!!
I will look forward to the blogs.
I need to figure out how to properly cut cabbage. I can’t for the life of me shred it, and although chunks go well in a stir fry, I’d like to be able to use those giant heads of yummycrunchyness.
On a related note, here is a list of things that I have recently observed that follows the concept of helping others:
an entire church choir singing hymnals in the front yard of a recent widow
a parent paying for another child to attend a father /daughter dance at the school, as the family of the child would not be able to afford the experience for their daughter…a dress has been given to the girl to wear
a police officer pulled to the side of the road to help a woman change a flat tire
I don’t know what our problem is with cabbage. I mean, you just slice it. Or chop it. Are you sitting on that ball when you try to cut up cabbage??
I really don’t know how I keep failing at both cabbages AND lettuces. They’re not complex. Heck, peppers are more complex than cabbages.
*shrug*
Also, I love those examples. <3
To use the word “enjoy” would be wrong, but I got a lot out of that article you linked. I really have just never been in that situation; it would probably be good for me to try to make a $20 grocery trip just to see how it could work. But the fact that people are struggling like that and that there are people like that out there who will help as they can is really poignant.
I’m looking forward to your Tami-chef posts. I don’t know beans about cooking with…. beans. (I couldn’t resist! ;) ) I’d like to learn and maybe I can pass along some wisdom if I’m ever in that woman’s situation in the grocery.
An exercise in shopping with only $20 would be VERY (not..entertaining? but you know what I mean). I already own so many simple staples that it would be overkill, but it’s not like I wouldn’t EAT the stuff…