What are you eating?

[brewski]

By the way, when you freezed your beans, do you dry them off first?  Or freeze them in their cooking liquid?  I've never frozen just beans before now.

It's fine to freeze them in the liquid, especially if you seasoned them and the liquid might be useful for soup, but usually I drain them and freeze them as is. Works great. Initially I cook them with minimal seasoning, e.g., salt, pepper, and maybe roasted garlic powder.

[brewski]

Update for @Kalevala: this excellent article yesterday in The Guardian on beans suggests freezing cooked ones in their liquid "to keep them plump," so I will probably try that the next time.

[Kalevala]

Update for @Kalevala: this excellent article yesterday in The Guardian on beans suggests freezing cooked ones in their liquid "to keep them plump," so I will probably try that the next time.

Thanks, I'll check it out.  I did do a bit of googling after your comments about freezing, and from what I recall reading, they all suggested freezing them in their cooking water; which makes sense.    Do you have a spare freezer (chest or upright)?

K

[Kalevala]

@DavidW How is the change in diet going?  Do you have any favorite websites/books?  A couple which came to my mind when you mentioned what you were trying to do:  Cooking Light and Eating Well.  I'm sure that it's not easy making changes when you're working full time, I do get that.  I find it helpful at my end is to make things that I can get a number of meals out of and/or freeze recipes or use something like, say a roast chicken, to make other dishes out of it [I sometimes buy a roasted chicken from my co-op].  And freezers don't need to be big:  there are ones from (for example) 3.5 cubic feet on up (Did a quick google).  Reheat and add some fresh veg on the side and/or salad and bing!  You have dinner or lunch!  Or a soup, etc., to bring to work to reheat.  Just some ideas.  I get that it's hard to change ones diet and be "ultra healthy"; none of us are perfect [Some better than others].  You are not alone.

Best wishes,

K

p.s.  Food doesn't need to be boring/dry, etc.,  to be healthy

[brewski]

Do you have a spare freezer (chest or upright)?

K

I do not, alas, just the compartment above my refrigerator. Most of the time, it is enough space to store leftovers, a loaf of bread or two, some frozen fruits and vegetables, and ice. 

p.s.  Food doesn't need to be boring/dry, etc.,  to be healthy

And just chiming in to say, "I agree!"

[Kalevala]

I do not, alas, just the compartment above my refrigerator. Most of the time, it is enough space to store leftovers, a loaf of bread or two, some frozen fruits and vegetables, and ice. 

And just chiming in to say, "I agree!"

And @DavidW too. The hard part with using a freezer/fridge combo is that if you don't use the food quickly enough, it can and will get freezer burn [Fridges with a freezer have an automatic defrost cycle which is nice in terms of not having to empty out the freezer section, put it in coolers, and shut off and defrost and clean out the freezer, BUT there's a trade off in terms of lifespan of the food and quality].

One of the nice things with having a strictly-only freezer is that you can buy things on sale, pick your own fruit, cook and freeze meals, etc.

Just some thoughts.   

K

[Kalevala]

Currently making some minestrone on this cold and rainy day.  I cooked some bacon end trimmings on a low heat (cutting them up smaller midway through).  Will go back to it in a bit (trimmings are now in the fridge).  Bunch of veggies to go into it along with things like store-bought beef stock, canned diced tomatoes and canned beans (probably red kidney if I have them in my pantry) and a bit of small pasta.  *A friend gave me some leftover roast which I'll dice some of that up and add it to the soup at the end along with some fresh spinach.

*One of his daughters cooked it for Christmas and he was "stuck" with a bunch of leftovers (and he's also not much of a beef fan); works for me!  And, as usual, I'll try and foist some of my soup onto him.  And also freeze some of it for me.

K

[brewski]

Soaking black-eyed peas overnight, then cooking them tomorrow with vegetables (onion, carrot, celery, green pepper) and andouille sausage. For those outside the U.S., it's a Southern thing, to eat them on New Year's Day for good luck.

[Kalevala]

Soaking black-eyed peas overnight, then cooking them tomorrow with vegetables (onion, carrot, celery, green pepper) and andouille sausage. For those outside the U.S., it's a Southern thing, to eat them on New Year's Day for good luck.

Do you change the water before cooking them?

I haven't tried black-eyed peas before.  What kind of seasonings do you add to yours?

Quite pleased at my end as to how the soup came out.  I added:  carrots, onions, celery, garlic, bacon, some yellow potatoes, kale (also courtesy of the daughters--though purchased by the dad), diced tomatoes, cannellini beans, zucchini, summer squash, green beans, various herbs and a small pasta--along with some cubed roast beast.  Was hungry as I had missed lunch, so ate two bowls of it. 

K

[brewski]

Do you change the water before cooking them?

I haven't tried black-eyed peas before.  What kind of seasonings do you add to yours?

Quite pleased at my end as to how the soup came out.  I added:  carrots, onions, celery, garlic, bacon, some yellow potatoes, kale (also courtesy of the daughters--though purchased by the dad), diced tomatoes, cannellini beans, zucchini, summer squash, green beans, various herbs and a small pasta--along with some cubed roast beast.  Was hungry as I had missed lunch, so ate two bowls of it. 

K

I do change the water, but if the beans are rinsed before soaking, you don't have to. (Also, you can use broth instead of water for the cooking stage.) And as far as seasonings, they don't need much, but the sky's the limit. I like a little heat, so I usually add some chili powder, but the sausage adds some of its own flavor.

That soup sounds delicious!