Beans & Things, Part 1

Nothing says simple, country food goodness like beans, fried potatoes and cornbread.  Ok,ok...so it says cheap too.  Simple and cheap...I'm all over that!  The focus of this post is going to be the beans.  We'll talk potatoes and cornbread another time.

I'm gonna rant a little here, so tune out for the next paragraph or two if you like.  I'll get to my point in a bit. 

I was grocery shopping the other night.  During the course of this oh-so-fun part of my life, I passed a small family several times.  The parents were young, early 20s maybe - mom, dad and little boy.  Their buggy was FULL of nothing that wasn't either some sugary soft drink/juice or meals that required a couple of minutes in the microwave to be complete.  Please don't think I'm judging them (well, maybe I did for a minute)...mostly I just felt sorry for the family.  Ok, so I was also wondering in my busy little head "how on EARTH can they afford all that?????"  I've definitely had times where my grocery basket had a good portion of convenience foods (WAY before we had 5 kids...no way can we afford much of that stuff now).  My mama equipped me with some good tools though.  I wasn't an accomplished cook when I got married, but I knew the value of a bag of potatoes, a pot of beans or some rice to stretch a meal.  I taught myself to bake bread, but my mama educated me in the fine art of baking a chicken breast to perfection (no mean feat, as I learned after eating a few dry-as-dust pieces of chicken).  I knew that feeding a bowl of cereal to my children for breakfast, or myself for that matter, was NOT the ticket to health.  Maybe conciously I didn't realize it, but I had a firm grasp on the basics of preparing wholesome meals for a large family.  It's only as I've gotten older that I've noticed that SO many young wives and mothers don't have even a portion of the knowledge I did.  Thankfully, my mom didn't work outside the home enough to prevent her from caring for her family.  The small jobs she did to provide extra income allowed her to be home when we were...I can't tell you how grateful I am for that, by the way.  I know a lot of families don't have that luxury however, and that's sad. 

Please don't misunderstand me...I'm not a gourmet cook.  My happy place isn't in the kitchen preparing 5-course meals.  I don't take joy in spending hours creating complex menus.  I do, however, believe that, as a wife, it's part of my job to make the most of the money my husband works so hard to provide, and that, as a mother, it's extremely important to feed my children the best, most nutritious foods I possibly can. I don't always succeed...in fact, if I meet my own standards 50% of the time, I'm on top of the world.  I'm constantly learning though...seeking knowledge and understanding of what being a wife and mama means.  My definition might differ from yours, and that's ok...I just want to share a little of what I've learned.

And, back to our regularly scheduled programming.......

Beans...what are they and how in the world does one go about transforming a bag of those hard, dry things into a steaming pot of savory goodness?  We'll leave the what for another post (we will find out though...beans really ARE magical) and move straight into the how.

First - sort and rinse.  Dried beans are pretty dirty, and there are often sneaky little rocks that disguise themselves as beans until you happen to, ooooohhhh, I dunno...break a tooth on one!  I stick a colander in the sink, open the bag of beans and start pouring them into my hand, slowly allowing the beans to fall into the colander while watching for anything that's not of the legume variety.  It sounds tedious (probably because it is), but it really only takes a few minutes.  Once the beans are sorted, I run cold water over them while swishing my hands through them to make sure they're fully rinsed.

Second - soak.  This is an important step, y'all.  You know the the whole "beans give me gas" argument? This explains why, but soaking helps to eliminate that.  There are a couple of different ways to do this.  If you're really on the ball (which I'm not usually), you can soak them overnight.  This involves pouring the rinsed beans into a large bowl or pot and covering them with water.  Make sure there is  2-3 inches of water over the beans because they'll expand as they soak up the water.  The other method, which I prefer (mostly because I suddenly realize at 10 am that I forgot to soak the beans the night before), is to cover the beans with water in a stockpot or dutch oven, heat until boiling, remove from heat, cover and soak for an hour or two.  A pinch of baking soda added to the soaking is said to help keep the beans from causing digestive discomfort...I do this if I remember, but I've never noticed much difference.  Soaking seems to be key here.

Third - drain and rinse.  That seems self-explanatory enough, I think.

Fourth - cook.  This step deserves it's own post, so I'm gonna sign off.

See ya!!

Just Keepin' It Real....

Here is a list of things I need to do today...

1. Take a shower
2. Clean kitchen
3. Sweep and mop floors
4. Clean bathrooms
5. Do laundry
6. Keep fire going in woodstove
7. Cook lunch and supper
8. Take Dylan to dance
9. Roast and freeze garlic

Mostly I just want to curl up with a blanket and book.  Or, make sweater dresses out of my old sweaters for the girls like this one here...that sounds fun!  But mostly I want to curl up with a blanket and a book...can't you just feel the motivation oozing from this post??

Alrighty...here's what I'm going to do.  I'm going to set the timer for 15 minutes in each room, do what I can in that time.  Hopefully by the time I'm done with that, a little oomph will have set in.

I can dream, can't I??

Hello! How Are Ya!!

Well...here we go.  I'm jumping (re: taking a hesitant step) into the world of blogging.  So, here is my post informing you of the fact:

I'm starting a blog!!  Yay!!

I'm not fully convinced that I have much to offer...well, some days I feel that way.  Other days, I'm quite confident of the fact that if everyone did exactly as I say (not necessarily do, of course), they would be healthier/happier/_________.

...but we'll save that for another day.... 

I tend to ramble, hence the name.  I might have been known to rant about some things...ok, ok, a LOT of things.  That explains the "rants."  I'm not sure about the "riddles" part...I suppose my ramblings or rants (or both) have a tendency to devolve into riddles, but mostly I just needed another "R" word.

I've always viewed blogs as rather self-indulgent (while feeling slightly superior), then I had to remind my hypocritical self of the many hours I've spent on Facebook....oops!  So, here I am, inviting those of you who care into a portion of my little world.  I'm definitely not an accomplished writer...I leave that up to my dad and older sister, but I've learned a little bit here and there.  Some of that hard-gained knowledge might help someone else.  I can't promise I won't get a little preachy, but I'll try really hard not to go overboard.  Mostly, my blog will be about things that interest me:  marriage, parenting, food and home.  Hopefully, those things will interest you as well!

Looking back over this disjointed post, I'm realizing how sadly my writing skills have suffered in the world of short Facebook or texting bursts.  Ah well...maybe blogging will help polish things a little...

....or not.....

Ok...I'm going to publish this now....

....click the button, Jessica....