Mission Family Nutrition - Week Three

My week two goal in Mission Family Nutrition hosted by Melinda at Coming Clean was to make a new bean dish.  I don't cook a lot with beans.  I'd like to do more because it's a great source of protein and it's a great food to store long term.  One of the long term food storage rules is "store what you eat, and eat what  you store."  In a time of emergency or major crisis for our family, beans and rice won't do us much good if I don't know how to cook with them; so I figure I'd better learn now.  And even when there is not a crisis, it's a very inexpensive meal that can be quite tasty.  All that to say, I now have a new bean dish that my family approves of... well... Ally didn't actually approve, but she hasn't been approving of any food besides peanut butter and jelly sandwiches lately...  Here's the recipe:

Red Beans and Rice

1lb pkg. dried red beans

water

ham, salt pork, or sausage cut into small chunks (I used ham)

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

3-4 cups water

6 oz can tomato paste

8 oz can sauce

4 garlic cloves, minced (I used my garlic press instead)

1. Soak beans for 8 hours.  Drain.  Discard soaking water.

2. Mix together all ingredients in slow cooker.

3. Cover.  Cook on Low 10-12 hours, or until beans are soft.

4. Serve over rice. 8-10 servings

I didn't follow this recipe exact.  I used canned beans, so I also used less water.  I also didn't use the crock-pot.  I just combined everything together in a large kettle and heated it through on the stove top while the brown rice was cooking.  It was really good.  I cut the recipe amounts in half since it was a new recipe and I wasn't sure how well it would go over.  It was ALL gone!  My family of 5 (even Buddy Bear had some) ate the whole thing and would have eaten more!  So next time I can definitely make the whole batch.  ☺

My goal for this next week is to introduce my family to a new grain.  And to continue making a menu.  It's way to easy to just throw a pizza in the oven when I don't have a menu... 

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Check out this link here for a free e-cook-book of 22 healthy chicken recipes.