In the name of slowing down, saving the environment and saving money, I have decided to explore cooking with dried beans. I can’t believe I never did this in Uganda! Only exception is when I had to make refried beans from scratch and I found pinto beans at the market. However, in general, I bought canned beans. Next time!

This soup is from More with Less cookbook. It was so satisfying to make. 12 oz of beans was only .99 US cents! You have to soak them overnight and sift through them to remove stones. This brought me straight back to my childhood when I liked to put my hands in the dried beans barrel. Cheap therapy! I think I was always intimidated by dried beans because of the extra steps. It was not that hard! The ingredients are versatile, so I appreciate a recipe that can be adapted to your circumstances and substitutions. I did not add meat, but I did drop some red pepper flakes in for a bit of heat. I was going to add chicken, but I do want to try to eat less meat, so I didn’t. I can only eat so much ham, so I skipped the ham option.

I also made the recipe for muffins that it suggests because I am paying attention to nutrition and Mennonites understand nutrition. I don’t like to make muffins, but I do make it in a bread pan. If you are serving to children or people who like sweeter muffins, I would increase the sugar or serve it with butter and honey. Not bad for a healthy recipe.

We can put a halt to the slave driver of convenience when we do some slow cooking. If I make this on a cold, rainy Saturday, I would have lunch made for the whole week, so I do think it’s worth it!

P.S. a close family member is having heart surgery due to cholesterol and blockage. Heart disease is the number one killer world wide. Legumes and whole grains are important for lowering cholesterol. I finally understand the connection. Avoid surgery, eat more legumes!