Craving Beans and Rice

Years ago, I was a single teacher on a tight budget. That AFT 50,000+/year average salary does NOT apply to rural Southern counties. That's close to the maximum, with a Ph.D. and 20 years of experience, in one county in which I worked. Anyway... money was tight. I was paying for orthodontic services out of pocket, and other debts, and wearing the braces, so I could not eat hard, chewy, or sticky foods. Broke with teeth in braces, I did beans and rice in a very limited way: plain rice, canned beans, frozen mixed vegetables, and enough turkey ham cut in tiny, swallowable pieces to make it "edible".

Now I know how limited that approach was. I have two shelves of spices, vinegars, and oils in the pantry. I'm learning to grow my own herbs. I'll try drying them this year. You can do so much with beans! There seem to be endless variations on the rice 'n' bean theme- Caribbean, Mediterranean (Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern), Indian (and they have almost infinite local and regional variations), Asian (Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Korean...), African (seasoned with peanut butter and spices, full of nutritious greens), and even Native American (substituting cornmeal pudding or corn pone or potatoes for the rice). You can add a bit of highly seasoned meat for flavor, or not. Herbs and spices vary, vegetables or fruit added vary, cooking oil varies. You can have a lot of fun with it. Try it sometime on Google. If your money is tight, you may even find recipes including items you can forage from the wild in your area- just don't forage for mushrooms without an experienced, preferably elderly guide who knows what's what. Cooking from scratch with new recipes can be a relatively cheap way to treat yourself well without breaking the bank, using ingredients in season and dried beans and unprocessed rice (no precooked stuff in pouches. YOU CAN  BOIL WATER!). Try it!