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.
Any suggestions for relatively inexpensive breakfasts, or do people also eat beans/rice? Right now I’ve been eating overnight oats, but they aren’t filling at all and taste terrible (and a lot of recipes have ingredients that oxidize weirdly overnight that I’ve tried eliminating). Tofu scramble takes a long time to prep, there’s not enough freezer space between my roommates and I for meal prep, and my apartment has tons of shitty restrictions they’ve gone after me for, so can’t use a second freezer or instant pot. I’ve been eating beans/vegetables + rice + salsa for dinner though and that works well and is always filling (maybe I should switch to brown rice from what I’m reading in this thread).
Imagine living in a country with 900+ billionaires, with growing tendency, where regular people are discussing about the best ways not to starve.
Not that it’s much better where I live, but damn, what the hell is wrong with this world?
The elite have always been vampires living on the blood of us peons… it feels new to us because we are living it now, but history shows its been this way a long time, and it was probably the same in prerecorded history too… we, as humans tend to suck…
leave it to lemmy users to disparage the primary staple of 3.5 billion people. “Pre-diabetic junk food” lmao sure ok
I eat this almost daily and I’m not ashamed to say it.
Casserole’s and tuna sandwiches
Wish I could but I can’t stand neither beans nor rice. Gotta have meat and green veggies in my meal.
That means that I only like chili without beans. At Asian restaurants I always ask for no rice and substitute noodles. The only beans I can tolerate are refried. So at Mexican restaurants I ask for no rice and double beans.
While we’re at it, I don’t like potatoes, either. I’ll eat them, but I won’t go out my way to order them, unless the alternative side dish selection is no better.
I just want to add:
If you are in NYC - check out the Chinese and Mexican grocery stores!!! Usually a ton of foot traffic keeps the vegetables fresh. I do most of my vegetable shopping at one particular Chinese store which I find to be the best - [except for the onions (why are the onions so bad - do chinese people not eat yellow onions?)] - and it’s fun to try new vegetables!
Also, strange, and I’m not sure what to make of it - fish in the Chinese grocery stores costs 1/2 of what it at white-people ones.
Some notes about gas: It’s primarily caused by a combination of fiber, and in the case of beans, by the oligosaccharides. The fiber can be handled by gradually increasing intake of high fiber foods. The more you get used to eating them, the less bloated you should feel, and it generally goes down to a normal level of gas that most people experience.
For the oligosaccharides, soaking and rinsing the dry beans does help remove a lot of it. Rinsing canned beans also helps. Taking Beano (or an equivalent) can help too. There are also claims of various spices being able to help as well.
It’s also important to note that different types of legumes can cause more bloating, or less. Experiment with different kinds to find what works for you.
If you’re willing/able to make the effort, sprouting and even fermenting will significantly help with bloating as well.
As a last resort or easy reprieve, opting for low fiber plant foods like white rice and tofu won’t hurt in the short term, though whole foods should generally be preferred because natural sources of fiber of hugely beneficial.
On an unrelated note, I have always hated soaking beans, which is why the Instant Pot has been one of the single greatest cooking inventions I have ever used. Supposedly the pressure cooking also breaks down the oligosaccharides and reduces bloating. I just love it because I can toss in a bunch of beans and oat groats, and have enough of that stuff cooked to easily and quickly prepare meals every day for a week with each batch.
I have always hated soaking beans, which is why the Instant Pot has been one of the single greatest cooking inventions I have ever used.
Exactly why I bought mine. Any pressure cooker will do. Beans (red, pinto, or black) 1 : 2 with water for 40 minutes, followed by natural release. I use roughly a pint of dried beans (1lb bag, then topped up with out of a mixed-beans bag), to get 9 large servings.
I also do quinoa in the same cooker 1 : 4/3 with water (or sub up to half the water with stock) for 0 minutes (just bring up to high pressure), followed by natural release. I use 3 cups dry to make 9 servings.
Depending on you spice budget, you might feel like you are getting more by applying right before eating. But, if you want the spice flavors to permeate the beans, it’s best to add them to the pot as warm them just a bit with the saute setting before adding the beans (or quinoa/rice/grains) and water.
If you eat meat, miscut ham is also a good addition to the beans before cooking – they will share lipids and flavors.
I use nooch as a topping for mine, to try to keep it vegan, but what I really like is a Mexican shredded cheese blend.
Been on lemmy like two years, and this is the first post I’m gonna actually save for later cuz damn this is just useful and nice information to have, thank you so much for sharing!
You inspired me to do the same!
You’re welcome!
We put 45 minutes on the electric pressure cooker and get the smoothest beans.
That’s how I start my refried beans. After pressure cooker add oil (lots…), salt, and a little vinegar. Sauteed onions, cumin, chili powder also good.
I think it’s way better than any vegetarian refried beans that you get in a can. Probably because they have more salt and oil…
Exactly!
Also, if this sounds too boring to anyone - do not underestimate the power of keeping a bunch of fun hot sauces around. They don’t have to be too spicy, but something similarly vinegar based will have a decent shelf life and be pretty cheap per serving.
I’m not just eating pantry staples again, I’m enjoying a smoky chipotle bean stew on top of some fragrant mango-lime-habanero rice.
We also do the sauté onions (which is just onions cooked slooooowly). They caramelise and become sweet, add some generic chicken seasoning to them (I use a salt/paprika mix from the general store), tinned baked beans in tomato sauce, rice, and that’s all. Spice it up with some jar jalapeños and its a damn fine meal for nearly no prep or cost.
Also especially if you have a big family or friends go to the restaurant supply store. Last summer they had 50lbs bags of potatoes for $10. Lots of produce like that for cheap in bulk.
Also you can buy the exact same stuff your favorite restaurants heat up in the oven from there, far cheaper and with a different label.
If you want to stretch out your ground beef use 1/4 lb of medium instead of lean and use TVP to fill in the rest. The TVP will absorb the fat and flavour, is quite a bit cheaper than ground beef and is shelf stable. TVP also has more protein than ground beef.
Best sloppy joes I ever had were mostly TVP. It is really great at absorbing the lipids from the meat AND spices.
What is TVP?
Textured Vegetable Protein. It’s basically soy that’s been processed in a way that results in a granular product that’s mostly protein, and has a somewhat similar texture to ground meats.
Personally I prefer Soy Curls because those are made from whole beans and still have their fiber, but tvp can be a great choice for people with especially high protein needs like strength trainers.
My kids call me “bean lady” for my love of beans. They are a perfect food.
Red beans and rice (red beans cooked with small chopped veg, long grain white rice)
Pinto beans on brown rice, with tahini.
Pinto beans on brown rice, with chili paste.
Pinto beans refried with breakfast.
Lentil dal with coconut milk and spinach (or lately with Hong Tsoi because it grows here, spinach is too fussy. )
Garbanzo bean soup with potatoes and chorizo.
Ful mudamas with pita and feta cheese and scallions
Channa masala so spicy, with chopped onion and mixed pickle, on white basmati
Red lentils and greens on sourdough toast. East with knife and fork.
Brothy enormous white beans cooked in veg broth but with a Parmesan rind or a bone.
I really truly love beans.
