Mixed Beans

Wow, I am amazed at how fast time goes by. Now that the baby is teething I'm having a hard time getting things done.. hence the late posts. She wants to be with Momma every second and I can't type very well with her in my lap. Alas, here goes...

Mixed Beans

I've been looking into sneaky ways to make our meals better for us. Though Hubby is one of those "I'm not eating that Junk people." So I've got to figure out how to sneak the good stuff in. This is the reason for the Cream of Wheat. I cannot get him to eat whole wheat any other way.

1 1/2 cups pinto beans
1 cup black beans
1 cup kidney beans
1/4 cup garbanzo beans or chickpeas
4 chicken bouillon cubes
water
salt
salt pork
1 Tablespoon cream of wheat, optional

Dissolve bouillon cubes in 4 cups of hot water. Wash beans and add to water in pot. And enough water to cover. Boil, adding water as necessary, until garbanzo beans are about half tender, add salt pork. Boil until pork is cooked and garbanzo beans are tender. Gradually add Cream of Wheat; boil a few minutes longer. Salt to taste.

This was absolutely delicious. By the time the Garbanzo beans are done the black beans will have cooked to mush. the Kidney beans will be approaching that point and the pinto beans will be soft. This was served with cornbread [same as before]. My only complaint about this recipe is that the garbanzo beans took too long to cook. I will use an equal portion of one of the others in it's place next time. He liked them [though he adds too much Jalapeno pepper juice to know it they were any good or not], no complaints.

Picky Smicky!

I'm creating this blog to chronicle life with a picky eater. The only thing worse than a child who's a picky eater is a Hubby who is! At least with a kid you might be able to get them to try it and when they do they might learn to like it. But when the picky one is an adult they've already tried it and simply don't like it! He doesn't like this, he doesn't like that; so on and so forth. When we first got married I told him, you like next to nothing... you cook. Funny thing about it is he did. Now that I've got a little better handle on what he likes and dislikes, I'm trying to cook more. So this blog is a record of what he likes and dislikes and the recipes to share.

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Tonight's menu:

Pinto Beans
Cabbage
Corn Bread
Rice
Cake

Pinto Beans:
My recipe is a simple southern way of cooking beans. Boil them in water until almost tender and add a little ham, a ham hock, or salt pork. Then you cook until they are fairly mushy.

Believe it or not for some one who says he doesn't like beans he sure wants these a lot and eats a lot of them.

Cabbage:
Again a simple southern way of cooking. Chop or tear into pieces, and boil in water until tender. We always add a little bit of something like in the beans for flavor. Salt pork tonight.

Corn bread:
He told me when we first got married that he didn't like corn bread. But he really likes this recipe. It's an adaptation of my mother's recipe, I don't quite like as much cornmeal as is used in typical cornbread recipes, so I simply adjusted the proportions of cornmeal and flour. Also I use undiluted evaporated milk in place of milk. It gives the cornbread a lighter texture and flavor. It just turns out better.

Amanda's Cornbread
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 1/2 cup evaporated milk, undiluted
5 teaspoons oil

Mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Add egg, milk, and oil; mix until no lumps remain. Pour into an 8-inch square or 9-inch round pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Cake:
I've got a spice cake mix sitting over in the cabinet and I'm gonna make that for dessert. He says he doesn't like frosting and from what I've seen he doesn't have very much of a sweet tooth. So I may or may not frost it.

Well, that's dinner tonight. I hope you like the recipes.