Eating healthful foods can sometimes put a strain on a family's grocery
budget. Buying food in bulk, joining food co-ops, and shopping
strategically all help, for sure. In addition, our family has found
another strategy for bringing down our weekly budget: our family has committed to have a Frugal Food Night every Wednesday.
Of course, we try to be frugal all week. But, we see our Frugal Food Wednesdays
as an opportunity to save big! I try to prepare a meal for my family of
six for about $1.50. Our goal with
this extra budget-cruncher is to free up some money for the more
pricey, nutrient-dense foods we want to include in our diet the rest of the week.
Take a two-pound bag of pinto beans and sort the beans for any stones or bad beans. (These around $2 at the grocery store and less than $1 per pound if you buy it in bulk.)
Soak
the beans overnight in a crock pot turned off by covering the beans
with plenty of water and stirring in about 2 tablespoons of plain
yogurt. The yogurt will begin to break down some of the amino acids
that cause our digestive systems some difficulty. This process will
also make the beans' nutrients more bioavailable (ready for our body to
use).
next morning, rinse the beans and refill the crock pot with fresh, pure
water. Let the beans cook on low for most of the day. I start mine
first thing in the morning. In the early afternoon, add 2 cups of brown
rice ($0.50), 2 Tablespoons of chili powder, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, and salt and
pepper to taste. (Since I purchase my seasonings in bulk these
spices only add up to costing about 5 cents.)
serves about 12 for less than $3.
look like magazine cover-food. However, the seasonings make this dish
surprisingly tasty.
Here is the cost breakdown: $2 of beans, $0.50 of
rice, and let's say $0.10 of spices. That is a total of $2.60. This
meal will serve 12, so divide that figure in half for my family of six,
and we have a complete meal for $1.30. (It will even be less if you buy your beans and
rice in bulk.)
- Adding a can or two of petite diced tomatoes gives this meal a fuller flavor. Two cans will add about $0.50 per meal.
- At times, we will often omit the rice and serve plain chili beans
with corn muffins. My children really enjoy this variation. Simple corn
muffins are very frugal! - Our favorite variation is Black Bean soup. Start with just one
pound of black beans instead of two pounds of pinto beans. Still fill
the crock pot up with water and cook as normal, adding the rice,
seasonings and 2 cans of tomato paste. Black Beans sell here for $1.15,
plus the two cans of tomato paste for $1.10 and rice for $0.50. Since
this soup will also serve two complete meals, the cost is still less
than $1.50 per meal.
- Leftovers freeze well for the next Wednesday. Or they are great
layered with whole wheat tortillas, salsa and cheese for a quick
Saturday night supper–which makes for another very frugal meal. - When reheating the rice and beans, spread a thin layer of salsa over the top to prevent drying out in the oven.
- If your children are new to this type of food, cheese sprinkled on the top might make the meal more exciting.
- Our family eats an enormous amount of fresh foods throughout the
week. We feel one night with all cooked food is not tremendously
harmful to our health. If you can't skip vegetables once a week, you
can always steam broccoli or another sale-priced vegetable. This would
increase the cost of the meal by at least $1.
Amy Ellen is a homeschooling mother of a third-grader, a
first-grader, a preschooler, and a nineteen-month-old-tagalong. She has
a vision to help moms who want to be healthy but don't know where to
start… and moms who know where to start but need some encouragement
along the way. She blogs at HealthBeginsWithMom.com and is a Wellness Consultant in her "free time".
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Angela O says
Thank you! I’m another bean-a-phobic and plan to use this recipe this week!
Joy says
Awesome post. I love beans but I am not a cook. I’m the baker type. This looks so easy I am going to try it!
zombiemommy says
I actually have been lately not throwing out the water they were soaked in and cooking it in that water and they taste better and hold their shape.
I make pinto beans plain and freeze half into 2 cup portions. Then I thaw for a quick side any day of the week.
Add bbq sauce= BBQ beans
Add cajun seasoning=Cajun beans
Mash em up and saute in olive oil with some cumin=Refried Beans
There is also an excellent recipe out there for black beans on the bushbeans can, I use it for presoaked black beans it is soo delicious! http://www.bushbeans.com/recipes/showRecipes.php?val=263
Elizabeth says
Yvonne, beans can be soaked for up to 24 hours usually without any problem. The only exception, I would imagine, was if it was very warm in your house (like 80 degrees), and then some additional fermentation could occur. This is not really unhealthy at all (in fact some experts say it’s very healthy), but might not be palatable.
Another tip if you find beans soaked in an acid medium (like yogurt or lemon juice) to taste unpleasant: simply drain the water off before cooking, rinse the beans, add new water and cook as usual.
Yvonne says
question about soaking the beans…i’ve been known to forget about them, is it ok to have them soaking longer than overnight?
also, i make this often in the winter/fall months. i’ll usually stock up on chicken thighs/split breasts when they’re on sale and bake them to use in things like this. just shred the chicken after baking and throw it in before the beans are done.
j says
That doesn’t seem like enough spice (the ingredients you listed, not the picture) for that whole pot of beans and rice….is it really only that much??!!
Marie says
Diana-you can do a quick soak of the beans. Just rinse/sort them, add 6 cups of hot water, cover and bring to a boil. Let boil for 2 full minutes, remove from heat and keep covered for 1- 2 hours.
Elizabeth says
Thanks for including the tip about yogurt! Most people don’t realize the importance of soaking beans overnight before cooking. You can also use a tablespoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to make the beans more digestible.
I’ve written two in-depth articles about soaking grains/legumes, which you can find by clicking on my name above. Soaking grains and legumes is a very frugal way to incorporate healthy living into family meals.
Liz says
Another good tip…I do a “breakfast at night” dinner once a week. Somehow the kids think it is “fun” and it is cheap as well.
Emy says
Thanks for the yogurt tip! We use beans a lot, mostly red beans around this part of the country. This is a great tip.
Kim S says
I put this on my menu for the week! I decided to have clean out the pantry, fridge, freezer week menu and lo and behold there was a bag of pinto beans and a bag of brown rice in my cabinet. I think I had purchased both of them by mistake so this will be a nice way to use them up. I actually came up with over 10 meals to have from stuff I already have so I am pretty excited about no grocery shopping.
Jack Chary says
This is a great piece of advice for moms looking for ways to save money and still eat healthy. That’s not always easy, especially when you’re punching a time clock 24/7!
Jennifer says
Thanks for the tips!
Do you happen to know how to make pinto beans in the crock pot? I’ve tried and they just don’t have the taste or anything. 🙁 I am from the south and nothin’ is better then having some pinto beans with corn bread! 🙂 Yummy!!!
Shelby says
This sounds so yummy! And I didn’t know this about the yogurt, thanks for the tip. I love making ham and beans in the winter time, although we use northern (white) beans and I don’t know how nutritious they are. It’s still a very cheap meal. A bag cost less than $2.00 at Aldi and we use ham that we have frozen from the Christmas ham my husband gets from work every year. A pot will last forever. With the leftovers, I add veggies, and some chicken broth and it makes a wonderful veggie bean soup. I’m going to have to try this beans and rice recipe now.
Rachel says
This is such a fabulous idea. I never would have thought to add the yogurt when soaking the pinto beans! Very helpful- I am definitely adding this to my master meals list.
Christine M! says
I love this guest post! So many money saving sites are about purchasing processed, quick, and cheap. Thanks for the yogurt tip and I am going to make this and the choco-pumpkin muffins for dessert!!
Allyson H says
I will be trying this! These are the most helpful kinds of posts.
Lauren R says
When you cook the beans in the crockpot, how much water do you use? Do you add more water when you add the rice? I love your ideas, in my family we ate alot of red beans and rice but I love black beans so what a great spin!! Thank you for the tips of the crockpot and yogurt!!
Amy says
This is awesome. I’ve been wondering about a simple-ish beans and rice recipe (I’m lazy), and I never get to use my crock pot because most recipes have meat. Okay, I’m just crock pot impaired. It’s neat to find a crock pot recipe I can use! I think I’m going to try this with the diced tomatoes add in.
carole says
This post is truly just what I needed today and why I read your blog daily, Crystal! Well done in choosing this guest post!! Can’t wait to explore her blog, too!!
Angie K says
Another good frugal dinner is baked potatoes. Baked potatoes with butter, sour cream, cheese, bacos, etc. On sale all those items are inexpensive and will all last several meals. Of course during the summer we can eat a meal of just corn on the cob! I just bought 10 ears of corn for $3 and I’ve seen it cheaper.
Jessica says
I believe the water/ bean ratio is 1 cup of dry beans to 3 cups water. That is what I do when I cook beans in my crockpot.
kristen says
That looks really good! I think it is something my guys would really like
Katie says
We try to eat meatless a few nights a week, though not as frugal as this. Cutting down on our meat consumption is better for our wallets and the planet.
claire says
What a fantastic guest post. Scrimping one night a week really can help;)
Jen@Balancing Beauty and Bedlam says
Great ideas – please don’t tell my kids that we are only supposed to eat like this once a week. 🙂
Maxine says
you can always add in any left over meat, ie chicken, burger, etc.
Diana Anderson says
Excellent start for me! I have a lot of dry beans that I need to start using up in a creative way so my husband will eat them. I hardly remember eating beans growing up and have certainly never cooked with them, so it’s a little intimidating to know where to start.
And, since it’s just the two of us, I don’t think starting with even 1/2 the bag will get finished off to quickly. Maybe, I’ll start with a 1/4? Do you know what the water ratio is for that in a crockpot?
And do you always have to soak the beans first? Or, could I go straight into crockpot-cooking them for the entire day?
Tamstonwe says
Did you know that you can wash and freeze the beans to accomplish the same thing as cooking them all day? We have multiple kinds of dried beans frozen so all we have to do is thaw them and add to anything.
Heather says
Thanks for this! Great tip on the yogurt!
Audrey says
Thanks for posting something that isn’t always about free BBQsauce this summer! Great reminder to eat healthy. I am a huge bean eater — but did not know about soaking with yogurt. Thanks!
Marhta says
This is a wonderful idea. Beans are so nutritious, I certainly wouldn’t have concerns myself about serving this without a vegetable for one night. What a great way to start teaching kids about how to work within a budget.
TracyH says
This is great. I had no idea about the yogurt. I try to make homemade beans often and freeze them. I have tried to find a good beans and rice recipe but most of them have turned out bland with mushy rice and just not that great. I am definitely going to try this. Love the black bean ideas and other add in too. My favorite is that it’s a crock pot recipe…seems easy.