A different take on rice and beans

[Cerealkiller]

I'm going to have to try that rice pudding recipe.

[ElevenBravo]

I scribed so I can come back to the post.

I did eat a can of kidney beans (out of a can) the other night, warmed them up in a pot for about 15 min and shook a little chili power in... Yummy. Just needed some beef and another 2 hours 45 min of cook time! HA HA!

Andrew

[Deenie7]

Cazo, one option to help with fuel issues might be a solar oven. There are a ton of plans around the Internet, for anything from cardboard-and-foil creations to major storebought versions.

[duodecima]

Cazo, one option to help with fuel issues might be a solar oven. There are a ton of plans around the Internet, for anything from cardboard-and-foil creations to major storebought versions.

Yep, I've done beans in a solar panel cooker made from cardboard & tinfoil (in IL), works fine, just takes a long time. Boiling the water you put into the solar cooker helps. A "Haybox" or "Magic box" cooker would also help - an insulated box where you put the pot after you've boiled it. I'll post links when I'm not on my mobile.

[Lord Lav]

I'd get my munch on to that shit!

[KnightoftheRoc]

I have been thinking about adding some bulk rice and beans to my food stores, but it occurred to me that the long cooking time could be a huge issue in a grid down event. It would take a lot of fuel to cook something everyday for 3-4hours. Any thoughts on faster cooking or perserving batches in grid down(hot humid climate like Texas)??

Use a pressure cooker to pre-cook several batches at once, then just warm them up as individual meals. The pressure cooker will speed up the cook time immensely, and also require less water to be wasted in steam escaping the pot. If cooking for a family, the whole meal can be done in the pressure cooker at one clip, and you can store the meal till dinner time, since it's a sealed container already (reducing the chances of bio issues) , warm it up again if need be, and serve from the pot.

[RogerK]

One thing I seldom see listed with the rice and beans is oats, or oatmeal. As a dry good, it stores the same as beans or rice, and for as long. It's easy to flavor as you like- I store the plain oatmeal, and then flavor it at cooking time. A big favorite is maple flavoring, and adding some maple syrup as a part of the water requirement (1 cup syrup replaces 1 cup of water) works great. Chunks of fresh or dried fruit work, too. It's a good, solid breakfast to get fueled up for the day with, and dead simple to make.

My food storage preps are geared more toward the General Store type of things you'd see on Little house on the Prairie- sugar, flour, oats, rice, beans- the things I need to make what I want. I honestly think the best prep a kitchen can have is a good cookbook. with the basics covered, you can make a wide variety of foods from the same materials, but with widely different tastes, which helps prevent boredom with food. We stock the largest containers of spices we can find, so things like beans can be spruced up a bit with things like chili powder, for example. Ginger, curry, chili powder- so many options that work well with rice, you could write a cookbook just on that. Also, stock several types of beans- not sure if it's everyone generalizing, but I don't see too many posts that list different types of dry beans as food storage items.

Good point, we store wheat - to make flour (yes, we have a mill). Rice, beans, oatmeal and dried corn - for cornmeal - with honey, sugar and baking powder for cooking. Also non-fat, non-instant dry milk. We also keep a lot of cans of Ro-Tel type tomatoes and other spicy things.

Eating the same things day after day can be boring, that is an issue in itself - a problem for any long term storage planning. Spices (generally) have a two year shelf life. We keep pepper corns, sea salt and ground black pepper in bulk, but items like Cinnamon will quickly be missed.

I know what you mean, guys!
We buy beans (turtle, navy, Great Northerns, kidney) in 25# bags at a (fairly local) elevator. We also buy wheat (we have a grinder) there.
We also keep a metric buttload of oatmeal (my kids will eat oatmeal {voluntarily} 5 day out of 7 October through April).
The trick is changing up the taste with local fruit (in our case blackberries, blueberries and apples, most of which we harvest off our property, or gleaned with permission from one of the neighbors).

I need to get a couple beehives.....

[RogerK]

I have been thinking about adding some bulk rice and beans to my food stores, but it occurred to me that the long cooking time could be a huge issue in a grid down event. It would take a lot of fuel to cook something everyday for 3-4hours. Any thoughts on faster cooking or perserving batches in grid down(hot humid climate like Texas)??

Use a pressure cooker to pre-cook several batches at once, then just warm them up as individual meals. The pressure cooker will speed up the cook time immensely, and also require less water to be wasted in steam escaping the pot. If cooking for a family, the whole meal can be done in the pressure cooker at one clip, and you can store the meal till dinner time, since it's a sealed container already (reducing the chances of bio issues) , warm it up again if need be, and serve from the pot.

KotR, I wonder how this would pressure can, prolly pints or half pints......

[ZombieGranny]

Beans or Peas - Shelled, Dried: All Varieties
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_04/beans_peas_shelled.html

[duodecima]

... We stock the largest containers of spices we can find, so things like beans can be spruced up a bit with things like chili powder, for example. Ginger, curry, chili powder- so many options that work well with rice, you could write a cookbook just on that. Also, stock several types of beans- not sure if it's everyone generalizing, but I don't see too many posts that list different types of dry beans as food storage items.

Good point, we store wheat - to make flour (yes, we have a mill). Rice, beans, oatmeal and dried corn - for cornmeal - with honey, sugar and baking powder for cooking. Also non-fat, non-instant dry milk. We also keep a lot of cans of Ro-Tel type tomatoes and other spicy things.

Eating the same things day after day can be boring, that is an issue in itself - a problem for any long term storage planning. Spices (generally) have a two year shelf life. We keep pepper corns, sea salt and ground black pepper in bulk, but items like Cinnamon will quickly be missed.

I know what you mean, guys!
We buy beans (turtle, navy, Great Northerns, kidney) in 25# bags at a (fairly local) elevator. We also buy wheat (we have a grinder) there.
We also keep a metric buttload of oatmeal (my kids will eat oatmeal {voluntarily} 5 day out of 7 October through April).
The trick is changing up the taste with local fruit (in our case blackberries, blueberries and apples, most of which we harvest off our property, or gleaned with permission from one of the neighbors).

I need to get a couple beehives.....

1) I have cinnamon that is at least 4 years old in the kitchen cabinet, it does fine. Ditto nutmeg and allspice. I recall a jar of cinnamon sugar mix that lasted at least 8 in my mom's cabinet before she insisted on pitching it, it also tasted fine. (Now, if you're a gourmet or a supertaster, you may have issues. I can't tell...) I do some stocking up on it. Also vanilla, the real stuff I am told lasts forever, and peppercorns and chili powder. Eventually I'd like to put cinnamon sticks and whole nutmeg and allspice up in mylar.

2) Like I already said, we have a variety of grains and legumes. Thus giving my children a wider variety of food to complain about!

3) A different take on oatmeal, in keeping with the OP - oatmeal pie! Kinda like pecan pie, only no pecans. I liked it, I just need to figure out if I can use something to substitute for the butter in my MIL's recipe...

[Deenie7]

1) I have cinnamon that is at least 4 years old in the kitchen cabinet, it does fine. Ditto nutmeg and allspice. I recall a jar of cinnamon sugar mix that lasted at least 8 in my mom's cabinet before she insisted on pitching it, it also tasted fine. (Now, if you're a gourmet or a supertaster, you may have issues. I can't tell...) I do some stocking up on it. Also vanilla, the real stuff I am told lasts forever, and peppercorns and chili powder. Eventually I'd like to put cinnamon sticks and whole nutmeg and allspice up in mylar.

Probably you'll just end up using more of each older spice as the flavor doesn't go "bad", just milder. I had a coworker whose relatives in India would bring fresh stocks of spices over for her and her mom each yearly visit, and then they would use their "regular" spice amount with the new spices and almost make inedibly spicy food for that meal.

I have a buy-by-the-half-ounce spice store within blocks of my house, so I don't hesitate to rotate out stuff that gets old or just buy in smaller quantities, but I do tend to keep whole spices like that (cinnamon sticks, whole nutmeg) a bit longer.

[Ryder358]

Any one think of making homemade minute rice? I guess all you have to do is dehydrate cooked rice. Next time you need to cook it all you need is to soak it in warm water. More energy now so you need less later

[steelclaw]

I'd love to share a favourite rice and beans recipe of mine.
I like to cook this dish in the afternoon, so I can bring it with me when I work 2nd shift. It requires not much effort, which works great for me!

Ingredients:
Rice, dry (Around 1 Cup)
beans, dry (Around 3/4 Cup)
1/2 or 1 ripe avocado
shredded cheddar cheese, to taste
chili powder, to taste
Canned bacon bits, 1-2 Tablespoons (if available- if not, skip 'em!)
Pinch of Salt

How I prepare this:

1) Soak beans of your choice overnight in a glass mason/canning jar. Change the water in the morning, or a couple times during the night if you're up anyways. (I usually just fill a pint jar with 1 part beans and cover with 2 parts water to soak them, and don't worry about measuring too much.) You can skip the water changes if you're used to beans in your diet.

2) In the afternoon, start cooking the beans in plenty of (fresh) water, with a pinch of salt. Change the water at least once. Cook at a boil until tender. Maybe an hour.

3) Cook the rice. (I usually use about 1 cup dry rice and 2 cups water.)

4) Take the avocado, and split it in half. Keep the pit in the middle for the side you don't use (keeps it fresh longer!) Take the half you want to use and cut up the avocado with a sharp knife. (I generally just hold it and cut it while it's in the peel, into chunks, taking care not to cut through the peel. That way I can turn it inside out and POP! instant chunked avocado falls out.)

5) Take the cooked beans. Use a slotted spoon. Spoon the beans into a heatproof dish. (I like to use 2 containers and put half the beans in each one. Makes me 2 meals that way.)

6) Take the rice. Spoon the cooked rice on top of the beans in the heatproof dish (or dishes.) Spread it out so it's basically level.

7) Take the chili powder. Sprinkle it over the top of the rice. (If you're me, be liberal with it. Chili powder = YUM!)

8) Take the shredded cheddar cheese. Sprinkle it over the top of the seasoned rice.

9) Take the avocado. "Sprinkle" the chunks of avocado somewhat evenly over the top of the rice in the heatproof dish.

10) Sprinkle on bacon bits if you have them.

Cover the dish, and keep it in the refrigerator until you're ready to eat it. Eat with a spoon. If you like, sprinkle on more chili powder just before reheating. You can eat it cold or hot, but hot is nicer.

Don't have avocado? Just use cheese. Don't have cheese? Avocado is fine. Don't have either? Skip 'em!
Sometimes I'll take a couple of spicy garlic cloves or olives from the olive bar, cut 'em up into tiny bits, and sprinkle those on instead.

Yum!

[Samurai Penguin]

Yay recipes! I'm gonna try that Lentil Dal & Raita this week.