The President passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 17th. The act is intended to stimulate the economy and help the country get out of this recession. The section of the act that I have been paying a lot of attention to is the COBRA subsidy for those who lose their jobs between September 1, 2008 through the end of this year. The subsidy will pay for 65% of COBRA premiums for up to 9 months. Many people have been coming to me with questions because they have family and/or friends who have lost their jobs recently. Many employers are not paying enough attention to this therefore they are not notifying their former employees of this subsidy.
I know that times are tough for many out there. People who have never found a need to visit food pantries are now standing in line hoping for enough assistance to get them through the month. It still astonishes me that we still cannot pay our teachers enough money to live on. These are the people that we expect to teach our kids. (This is a topic for a whole different blog.)
If you have ever visited a food pantry, you are probably familiar with the type of "rations" you receive. I worked at a non-profit with a food pantry while I was in college. I sometimes peered down into the little room to see the items on the pantry shelves. The shelves were stocked with (and sometimes not so stocked) canned vegetables, dried pasta, peanut butter, rice, beans, and other non-perishables. Peanut butter was a favorite of those we assisted. Now I always grab a few extra jars of peanut butter whenever they are on sale at the grocery store. I always donate peanut butter when we have food drives. I once asked my little sister, "what do poor people like to eat?" when I was shopping for a food drive. My sister had to remind me that the people who go to food pantries are people and they like to eat what I like to eat. Not so true. I ended up clearing my own pantry (because I always have a well-stocked pantry) and ended up donating boxes of Kashi and Uncle Sam's cereals, containers of almond milk, and jars of pimentos and artichoke hearts.
I have learned by observing the types of food items that my co-workers donated. Ramen is a no-no. Ramen is cheap and is not nutritious. Protein, canned items with pull-top lids, cream of mushroom soup, peanut butter, and other easily prepared items are good. I try not to donate items that require too much prep or spices. Spices are expensive and more often than not, if you are strapped for cash, you will opt to purchase your gallon of milk before you purchase the $4 bottle of spice.
Dried beans are a huge staple at food pantries. They are a frugal way to add nutrition. I have to admit that I don't eat enough beans even though I really do like the way they taste. Beans are one of those items that I never felt like devoting a lot of time and attention to. Canned beans are convenient but I cannot stand they way they taste. Canned garbanzos are the worst. Cooking dried beans just takes so much time and they never seem to be worth the effort.
I buy items from a local non-profit called the Women's Bean Project but I never buy their signature bean soup mixes. I hate the cooking time and the soups turn out pretty ordinary. The payoff is not worth the time invested. I love their cornbread mix. It is the best.
The other day I went to visit my aunt. My uncle made a huge pot of pinto beans. It was so yummy. The beans were creamy and flavorful. I asked him how he cooked it. He said he used bone-in ham and roasted his own green chiles. He used poblanos, anaheims, and jalepenos. The bf ate two big bowls and my uncle sent him home with a huge container.
I was inspired to make some beans. We went to Sunflower Market and the pinto beans were $2 per pound. $2 per pound was a little expensive for pinto beans. We went to Costco and they had 10 and 25 or 50 pound bags. We got the 10 pound bad for a few bucks. Now that is what I call recession food. My uncle said you can usually get bone in ham for about a buck a pound.
Note: Here in Colorado, we get roasted Hatch green chiles during the chile season and many stores sells frozen green chile during the off season. Before I discovered it frozen, I used to buy extra during the chile season and freeze them in little freezer bags. During chile season you can purchase them by the bushel and the vendor will roast them for you. Even Whole Foods sets up a chile roaster outside their stores. To substitute, use fresh poblanos, jalapenos, serranos, anaheims, or other green chile and roast them in the oven or on the grill. Stick the roasted chiles into a plastic bag. After the chiles cool, peel and de-seed them. I like to wash them under running water because I like to get rid of all the seeds. I like the taste of chiles but I cannot stand the heat.
Bag of frozen chiles from the last time I made green chile stew. The mix has New Mexico Hatch green chiles, poblanos, and jalapenos. I didn't want my hand in the picture but the frozen chile would not stay in position for photographing. My hand is too white. It has been about a week since I went tanning.
3 lbs (6 cups) dried pinto beans
1/2 pound bacon or 2 tablespoons bacon drippings (I keep a container filled with bacon drippings. At any given time, I have a few pounds of bacon in the fridge.)
1 pound bone-in ham, a few ham bones, or ham hocks. (I used about a pound of bone-in ham steak.)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1 cup roasted green chiles
1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon Mexican cut oregano (Mexican oregano is very different from Mediterranean oregano. They come from two different plants.)
sea salt
black pepper
Soaking:
There are two camps when it comes to soaking beans. One that believes in soaking and one that does not. I don't like to sit around and watch over a heated pot on the stove. I can't just let it simmer and leave. I fear that something will catch on fire when I am not paying attention. I like to soak and preferably to heat it first, cover, and walk away while it soaks/cooks.
There are many variations for soaking beans.
Overnight soak - Cover the beans with cold water and soak for 8 hours or overnight.
Fast soak - Place beans in large cooking pot. Add 10 cups of water for every 2 cups of beans. Boil for 3 to 4 minutes. Cover and remove from heat. Soak for 1 hour and then cook.
and my preferred method:
Slow soak - Place beans in large cooking pot. Add 10 cups of water for every 2 cups of beans. Boil for 3 to 4 minutes. Cover and remove from heat. Soak for 4 to 8 hours.
1. Use whatever soaking or non-soaking method that you prefer for the beans. At the very least you have to sort and rinse the beans. Set beans aside.
2. Dice the bacon if using. In a large heavy-bottom stock pot, render the bacon until crispy or just heat up some bacon drippings.
This is just over half a pound of thick cut bacon from the butcher. I only had my favorite maple bacon in the fridge and I didn't want the maple flavor in the beans. In the background is a box of Barbara's Bakery Puffins. They taste just like the bf's favorite Oatmeal Squares but they are better for you. They are made with real cane sugar instead of corn syrup. I've been eating a lot of cereal the last week.
3. Add diced ham, ham bone, onions, and garlic. Saute a few minutes until onions are transluscent.4. Add the beans and enough water to cover. Cover, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
Half hour into simmering. The tomatoes are breaking down, the broth is still very liquid and covered with tomato-colored bacon fat.
5. Add green chiles, oregano, cumin, and ancho chile powder. Continue to simmer until beans are tender and creamy. It took just over an hour with the pre-soak method. Take about 1 cup of beans, mash them and reurn to the pot and simmer until the liquid is nice and creamy.6. Add salt, pepper, and adjust the other seasonings. Serve with shredded cheese and tortillas.
About an hour after simmering. The tomatoes and green chiles have disentigrated and with the mashed beans, the broth is now very thick and creamy.
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