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Rachel Ray’s Black Bean Stoup – A Family Fave!

This has been a favorite of my family for several years. A big plus is that its’s cheap! This time round, I used dried beans instead of store bought canned beans. I used a 2 lb bag, and I probably could have gone with 1 lb, but we like lots of beans in ours so it was really good. I had gotten the beans on clearance at SWM for $0.88/ 2lb bag. This filled my large 6 quart pot with about 1/2 inch to spare! The whole pot costs me less than $5 since I had everything on hand, minus the jalapeno pepper, but I had ground chipotle pepper (smoked jalapeno pepper) spice in my cabinet and used that in it’s place. Turned out just fine. This meal will feed us at least 2 dinners and several lunches. I will be dividing part of it up into lunches that will go into the freezer for quick meals in the future. I did not make the sandwiches this time, but they are delicious as well!

The recipe can be found here.

Black Bean Stoup and Southwestern Monte Cristo Sandwiches

(This is Rachel Ray’s pic – I forgot to take a pic of ours last night)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra- virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
1 large onion, chopped
3 ribs celery with greens, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 fresh bay leaf or 1 large dried bay leaf
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 (15-ounce) cans black beans
2 tablespoons ground cumin, a couple of palm fulls
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander, 1/3 palm full
Salt and pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons hot sauce, divided
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, diced tomatoes with peppers and onions, or stewed tomatoes
1/2 lime, juiced

For sandwiches:

8 slices white sandwich bread
1/2 cup hot pepper jelly or chili sauce, tomatillo or tomato salsa, taco sauce – whichever you have on hand
8 slices honey baked ham, from the deli counter
8 slices pepper jack cheese, from the deli counter
8 slices smoked turkey, from the deli counter
2 eggs, beaten
Splash of milk
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup sour cream
2 to 3 scallions, chopped

Directions:

Heat a medium soup pot over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil to the hot pot, then onion, celery, garlic, jalapeno, and bay leaf. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, then add red peppers and continue to cook. Drain 2 cans of beans and add them. Use a fork to mash up the beans in the remaining can. Stir the mashed beans into the pot and season with cumin, coriander, salt and pepper and 2 to 3 tablespoons hot sauce. Add stock and tomatoes to the stoup and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes over low heat. Add the lime juice. Remove and discard the bay leaf

While stoup cooks, make Monte Cristos: spread bread with a light layer of pepper jelly, chili sauce, salsa, or taco sauce. Build sandwiches using 2 slices each of ham, cheese and turkey per sandwich. Beat eggs with milk and 2 teaspoons hot sauce and season the eggs with a little salt. Heat a griddle pan or nonstick skillet over medium heat. Melt butter in skillet. Dip each sandwich in egg coating and cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side to melt cheese and warm the meats through.

Ladle up black bean soup and top with sour cream and scallions. Cut Monte Cristos corner to corner and serve alongside soup for dipping and munching.

Don’t forget to check out The Grocery Chart Challenge Recipe Swap for more great recipes!

God Bless!

Steph

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Story Of My Title Photo!

I love opening my blog and seeing that pic! It’s one of my favorites that I’ve taken. It was take last spring while my father-in-law was helping to till the rows in our garden. That is my son walking the rows behind him. It was such a wonderful photo opportunity that day, and the photo turned out beautifully! It’s definintely one that I want to do a special scrapbook page for whenever I get the time (and space) to scrapbook again.


God Bless!

Steph
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The Blessings Of A Well-Stocked Pantry

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I have had a well-stocked pantry for the last 10 years, and I have no idea where we would have been at times without it! Since moving a little over a year ago, I now have a wonderful-sized pantry. I have slowly been rebuilding it and, with the help of a garden last year, I’m finally starting to fill it back up with lots of goodies. One of the things that has really helped to restock my pantry is buying some items in bulk, such as flour and sugar. I keep 5 gallon buckets with gamma seals just for these items. It keeps them fresh and pest free.

pantry pic 3


Before moving to our current home, I did a lot of couponing and got lots and lots of groceries for next to nothing. But, I definitely let my couponing days go to the wayside during the moving process, and I never picked it back up. Now my biggest problem is that we don’t get coupons in the newspaper down here except on very rare occasions. Now, I’m doing lots of searching the internet and printing as many as I can.
As you can see from my pantry, I love canning!

pantry pic 2

This year, we plan to really expand our garden and grow quite a bit more than we did last year so that we have more home grown foods instead of store bought. I’m so excited! I can’t wait for the planting to begin! I love the feel of freshly turned soil between my fingers and toes! To me, there is no better reason to look forward to spring!

In addition to my wonderful pantry, I also have a full freezer! I’ve filled it with produce from the garden, great deals on meats from the store, and I’m starting to fill it with our very own chickens! Yes, we raise our own chickens, some for meat, but most for their wonderfully fresh eggs!

freezer pic 1

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I finally got my freezer organized a couple of weeks ago, and now I have to reinventory everything. This is the key to frugality – keeping up with your inventory. This keeps you from buying duplicates of things you don’t need, and helps you with your menu planning. You’re not saving any money if you’re buying things that you already have on hand and/or things that will go bad before you get them all used up. This is something that I have not done since moving, and I definitely need to start doing again. It’s on my "To Do" list for this weekend.

As to the blessings of a well stocked pantry:

1) I can throw together a meal at the drop of a hat

2) If we have unexpected company, I don’t have to worry about not being able to feed them at meal time.

3) I can make my own breads, desserts, etc. from scratch which is much healthier and definitely much tastier!

4) I can pick and choose what I buy at the store each week. I don’t have to buy everything every time I go.

5) I can make my menu and then tell at a glance what I need to purchase to fill in any missing ingredients.

6) If there is an "emergency" such as job loss, illness, etc., I know that I don’t have to worry about what to feed my family. In these economic times, this is definitely a plus.

7) If someone at church needs a meal, I can throw something together very quickly to help out.

I know God has truely blessed my family through a well stocked pantry over the years, and in turn, we’ve been able to bless others. I pray that He will continue to bless my family in this way.

Tomorrow is my shopping day, and my list is not too long. I’m hoping to take advantage of a few sales this week as well as pick up the items that I need to get that we’re either out of or almost out of. My budgeted amount is usually $200 every 2 weeks, but I would love to keep it between $100 to $150. I really would like to see my grocery spending decrease again. I’ve done it in the past so I know I can do it again. Wish me luck!

God bless!

Steph