1 of 12 — Mediterranean Pinto Bean and Rice Soup

Meal 1 of 12 for the 12 Days of Pintos

For ease of recipe finding for everyone, I’ve decided to try whenever possible to use recipes I find online.

This recipe is the first in our plan.

Mediterranean Pinto Bean and Rice Soup

I’ve revised the recipe slightly to match both the pressure cooker and my daughter’s food preferences.

The original dish is cooked on the stove top.

However, at the end of this post I will share how I would convert this to a slow cooker meal for those who do not use a pressure cooker.

I used the Instant Pot and several of the settings on it, but I am also listing the times for ease of converting to other pressure cookers.

In the pot combine:

1 2/3 cup of dried pintos

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of onion powder

1/4 cup of dried bell pepper

1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic

4 1/2 cups of water

Hit bean setting and increase time to 50 minutes. 

(Basically high pressure for 50 minutes.)

(I did not soak my beans first, but if you do I would think 30 minutes should work fine.) 

Let pressure drop naturally.

Add:

1 diced potato

3/4 cup of brown rice

1 cup of water

14.5 ounces of diced tomatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

Set pressure cooker for 22 minutes.

Let sit for 10 minutes and then vent.

Serve soup warm.

(My daughter requested no tomatoes, so I heated mine separately and added to my bowl. Also note, our personal preference is a little softer bean.  If you like them less soft, you could decrease the 50 minute cook time because they will be cooking an additional 22 with the rice.)

For my family, with three of us eating this week, this will make at least two meals worth of soup when served with bread.

If there were two of us here, I think I would halve the recipe.

Now for the slowcooker version —

I would put the first ingredient set on in the morning.

Midday add the second half.

I only recommend dividing it because sometimes tomatoes make beans take longer to cook.

12 Days of Pintos

Obviously we aren’t going to eat pinto beans 12 days straight, but I thought for the months of December and January I would try to share 12 meals that use pinto beans.  In preparation for this, I bought this huge bag of beans at Sam’s Club.  I also bought 12 pounds of black beans, too...so maybe that will be a future post.

Adding to the Pantry

Friday was a beautiful day for us.  While my grandson played in the backyard, I stood at the patio table and chopped red onions.  I had approximately 12 pounds worth.  I set up the dehydrator on the back patio and let them dry.

When it was all said and done I had filled all but 2 trays.

It is hard to tell from the photos, but the yield was just over 7 cups.

I’ve vaccum sealed all but about 1/2 of quart jar.

The jar went into the cabinet to be used now.

A year or so ago I bought a large container of dried onion from Sam’s Club.

Even with me buying additional onions throughout the year and onion powder, my container is almost empty.

I love red onions more than any other so I thought I would try drying my own.

They’re quick to rehydrate if I want them to use them in low liquid dishes, but if I am adding them to soups/stews or things like that I don’t even bother rehydrating first.

Last Week of November

Sometimes when it rains it pours — or in our case, when life gets busy, it gets really busy.

 Sunday we did our unexpected road trip.  I did pack beverages for the trip, but didn’t plan on staying. Due to traffic and a change in plans en route, we stopped for a quick lunch.  Neither of us were particularly hungry so we split a meal.  We ended up buying beverages on the way back.  Since we were at the mercy of a convenience store in the early Monday morning hours we opted for sodas/waters that were on sale.  Not perfect, but we made the best of it. Monday evening found us home, and I made pizzas from scratch.  We baked sugar cookies, put up the Christmas tree, and watched movies.  A quiet night at home with no added costs.

 Tuesday I picked up produce from Sam’s Club.  I also picked up 24 pounds of dried beans.  (I’m hoping to do a series on here about using them.). My husband had an appointment with a surgeon — long story — and various tests were scheduled for Friday.  Tuesday night I found myself sick — I’m blaming fruit I ate on the road, but who knows.  No one else got sick, so had to have been something I ate.  I was up and down through the night.  My daughter in law saw one doctor this day and the cardiologist the next.  (On Thursday she had a stress test.)  The consensus at present is perhaps something viral.  

 Fast forward to Wednesday, I was supposed to have my annual physical and mammogram.  Needless to say my stomach was not about to cooperate.  I stayed home.  No spend day!  I did do laundry and wash bedding — everything except the bedding and the towels was hung to dry.

 Thursday we made plans to go to a Christmas parade with my sister’s boyfriend.  He was in a car accident.  (Please say prayers for him.  He blacked out while driving and they are looking for the cause). I did place an order for a few items from Amazon.  I searched for the best prices and Amazon won.  I was also able to use Prime membership to get free shipping.  This helped lower the price even more.  

 Friday my husband had medical tests a town over.  I roasted a whole chicken and baked some veggies with plans to take a meal with us for the ride to Maryland on Saturday. I chopped and dried 12 pounds of red onions.  I cooked gluten free banana muffins for snacking.  

 Saturday’s plans changed.  My daughter in law is still not doing well, and we will reevaluate midweek about a trip back.  I had to do a quick run for some more fresh fruit.  While I was at Sam’s Club I picked up mushrooms to dry — I’ve almost used up all the last I dried.    

 Various — throughout the week I worked on using up some items in the refrigerator.  We finished off half a package of bacon, used up some brown bananas, used up some shredded cheddar and some Velveeta, finished off the older carton of eggs, used up some fresh produce, and finished off a carton of milk near date.  From the pantry I used the oldest bag of beans I had (chickpeas), I used up a hodge podge of leftover pasta in mac and cheese, and I used up the last of a box of rice Chex.  I also used up a cup and a half of white rice in chicken and rice.  I cooked pancakes from a mix for my daughter and grandson to eat on all week. I’m trying to take stock of partially used items and make a concentrated effort to use them up.

Sweet Potato Side Dish (Non-dessert)

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We tried this recipe from the back of the sweet potato bag.

I didn’t have fresh caulifloweer, so I added a yellow bell pepper and 1/2 of a red onion.

I tossed it all and put it in a cast iron frying pan.

This was fabulous!

(We had baked chicken with it.)

I used Aldi brand pure maple syrup.

I could not detect a difference between it and the Whole Foods brand I bought.

(My wallet could tell a difference though!)

I also just sprinkled some salt and pepper, rather than do either heavily.

I made a pan full expecting to have lots leftover.

Surprisingly I only had a cup left.

Triple Protein Salad — Recipe

I’m supposed to eat a high protein diet and average around 70 to 75 grams of protein a day.  While I do like meat, I find it hard to consume that much.  Not to mention that meat is expensive and I cannot have “steak” for every meal.  I try to find a way to eat a variety of protein sourcess of varying nature and cost.  Since I had a cup of chickpeas left, I thought I would share my “un-recipe” for  what I jokingly call “Three P Salad.”  It includes three protein sources (chicken and chicken eggs, chickpeas, and sour cream).  

These are the ingredients:

2 tablespoons Light mayo

2 tablespoons of Sour cream (I buy FF)

Chicken, cooked and coarsely chopped (I did one decent sized breast.)

Red onion, 1/2 small chopped to desired size

Celery, 1 stalk diced

2 hard boiled eggs, diced

1 dill pickle, diced

1 cup of cooked chickpeas

Salt and pepper to taste

Mash your chickpeas with a fork — I leave them kind of “chunky” for texture.

Add other ingredients.

Stir.

I added salt and pepper to taste.

It is now ready to serve.

However, I usually put it in a bowl and refrigerate it for a while to allow the flavors to meld.

Although your mileage may vary, my yield was approximately 5 cups.

Now for my notes:

1.  You can use any chicken or bits.  Or almost any leftover meat for that matter.

2.  Egg size doesn’t matter and you can add more or less.

3.  Any onion you like works.

4.  In addition to celery you can add carrots, apples, grapes, or whatever you like to bulk it out more.  Dried cranberries are pretty good, too.

5. You could easily drain and rinse a can of chickpeas for this.

6.  I don’t buy relish normally, but you could use pickle relish.

7.  Simply adjust the amount of mayo and sour cream to reflect what you need for your proportions.

8. Frugal note — cook an extra breast when you are cooking for something else for power savings.

As for serving:

On crackers

On a bed of lettuce

Wrapped in lettuce

In a sandwich

In a pita

In flour tortillas 

One final serving tip to stretch this even further.

Cook a batch of your favorite pasta.

Elbow noodles work well.  (GF works fine, too)

Stir noodles in.  Adjust mayo/etc.

Refrigerate and serve as a pasta salad.

(If I am making pasta salad, I will often use a “ranch” type seasoning blend to add some zing.)

Cinnamon Chickpea Blondies (Recipe)

Chickpeas are so versatile.

 For dish three from the pound of chickpeas I cooked, I decided to go with something sweet.  The original recipe is from Veggie Inspired and is here — Cinnamon Chickpea Blondies.  

 Of course, I made some changes.   

 This is my version:   

 Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease an 8”x8” pan. 

 In food processor bowl (with blade) combine the following and puree until smooth: 

 1 1/2 cups of cooked chickpeas 

 1/2 cup of sunbutter 

 1/4 cup of old fashioned oats (GF certified if needed) 

 2/3 cup sugar in the raw 

 1/4 cup pure maple syrup 

 1 1/2 tsps. Cinnamon 

 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1/4 teaspoon salt   

 Pour into dish and bake for 30 minutes or until pulling away from side and top is firm.  (This took 35 minutes in my oven.)   

 So for my notes —

 1.  I used chickpeas without salt.  I’m not sure how well canned would work.

 2.  Sunbutter (and omitted additional nuts) due to allergies.  I would think any nut butter would work for those who don’t have to be careful. 

 3.  Original recipe calls for coconut sugar.  I’ve tried it and I’m not a fan. 

 4.  I used Aldi brand pure maple syrup.  Still costly, but not as costly as Whole Foods.

 5. I used imitation vanilla extract....sorry, but it is true.  I rarely buy the real deal because of costs. 

  

I tried to capture the texture in this photo.

These are soooo good!

The maple syrup is expensive and I would think you could use honey, agave, or perhaps even a Karo syrup.

However, it uses very little so if you keep some on hand I think it would be worth the splurge.

I have just a little bit of my chickpeas left.

Tomorrow I’ll share what I do with the last of them.