I’m sad that this is worth mentioning. But if you are dealing with hunger amid threats to SNAP benefits, rice and beans are very cheap per meal and can be bought in bulk. Here’s some tricks I’ve learned:

If you get dried beans, make sure you follow the directions to pre-soak them. Canned beans are easier to prepare, just dump in near the end of cooking to heat them up. Dried lentils don’t need to be pre-soaked, but I prefer to cook them separately and drain the water they boil in.

Brown rice, barley, or other whole grains have much more protein than white rice and I find them more filling. Whole grains take longer to cook than white grains.

Frying diced onions in the pot before adding the grains and water is an easy way to kick the flavor up a notch. Use a generous amount of cooking oil (light olive oil is healthiest) for cost effective calories and help making the meal more filling.

Big carrots or celery in bulk are pretty cheap too. I like to dice carrots by partially cutting length wise into quarters, but leave the small end intact to keep the carrot together to make it easier to dice down the side. Add them to the same pot as the grains after the grains start to soften. Beets are also great; skin and cube then boil separately until soft. Change up your veggie to get a mix of vitamins

Get some bulk garlic powder, hot sauce, paprika, cumin, crushed red pepper, black pepper, etc. Season and salt the pot to taste.

You’ll only need 1-2 pots and a cutting knife/board for veggies.

I recommend Harvard’s Nutrition Source for science-based nutrition information and they have some recipes too

Edit: discussing big changes in diet with a primary care doctor or registered dietician is generally a good idea.

Probiotic supplements may help with gas.

As a bonus this sort of meal has a very small environmental footprint.

  • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    16
    ·
    edit-2
    9 days ago

    Bean stew is one of the most delicious things you can cook whether you can afford more or not. Here’s my recipe. Everything but the beans, onions, carrots, paprika, oil and salt is optional and mainly improves the taste profile. Works with almost any kind of bean. Can be done with dried beans too but you gotta handle softening them up first.

    Bean stew/soup v4.1

    • 3x beans cans - 540ml
    • 2x onion heads
    • 2x carrots
    • 2tbsp paprika, 1tbsp smoked paprika
    • cooking oil
    • 1/2 tsp salt (or less) and 1/2tsp of MSG
    • 2x chicken or beef cubes
    • marinara/tomato puree/diced tomatoes/vinegar/some other acid

    • Add beans with some water in a pot. Use OG bean water too.
    • Chop onions and carrots in small pieces.
    • Fry onions and carrots in a pan with oil.
    • Once fry is done, add all the paprika and stir for 10-20s then pour into the pot, let it boil once.
    • Add the beef/chicken cubes.
    • Add spearmint, lots.
    • Add some more oil if needed. Olive is great.
    • Add 3-4tbsp marinara, diced tomatoes or balsamic vinegar.
    • Add 1/2 tsp salt (or less) and 1/2tsp of MSG.
    • Test for salt, it might be good enough.

    Eat it with some bread or by itself. It goes well with any type of hot pepper too.