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Bean and Lentil Recipe Round-Up
Saving money on food seems nearly impossible right now. One thing I do to save some money is to make meals with beans and lentils. These are usually less expensive than other protein foods. They also tend to be easy to make. If you are new to cooking with beans and lentils, check out these two tip sheets:
Slow Cooker Refried Beans
Our family has been kind of busy this fall. On top of our own responsibilities, my husband and I have three children who all like to try new activities, so they keep us on the move. This cuts down on the amount of time I have to prepare meals. To make up for this lack of time in the kitchen, I rely on quick and easy Spend Smart. Eat Smart. recipes like our October recipe of the month – Slow Cooker Refried Beans.
Eat Your Beans at (Almost) Every Meal
This month is all about incorporating more plants into meals. To switch it up at my house, I try to make vegetarian meals at least twice a week. Not only does it help my family save money, but it helps add variety to our meals.
Beans with Miles and Justine
Over the weekend, I decided to make a couple of batches of dried beans to have on hand to make quick meals over the next couple of weeks. My son, Miles, took a break from his summer schedule of playing with his brother and sister to help me out. Miles and I used these Preparing Dried Beans instructions to make our beans. Watch our video below to see us in action.
What to do with Dried Beans?
I recently bought a bag of dried beans on clearance at the grocery store. I usually buy canned beans, but it was too good of a deal to pass up. The problem was that I didn’t know how to prepare them! Years ago, I tried to cook dried beans and they ended up crunchy and undercooked.
Switching out Protein Sources in Recipes
In August, I wrote a blog on ‘Meal Planning Tips for Easy and Healthy Meals’. In the blog I mentioned that the ‘themes’ I use when meal planning are to include a different protein food each night. I use beef, pork, chicken, fish and then have one night that is vegetarian. By doing this I am helping my family vary the kinds of protein foods we eat.
