Rye flour and Pinto Beans

Trying to be as frugal as possible in these very lean times (and without much choice!) I decided to use up the rest of my rye flour and other "pantry stock" items in the next month or two so I can get new stock this fall.

I was about to run down to the store and grab some more white flour (despite it's lack of health benefits!) and I decided no, I'm not going to buy white flour with the few cents I have left, I will make do with what I have. So I looked up and I saw I have a big bag of super fine whole wheat flour, rye flour and cornmeal left! I was so excited! So I made myself some cinnamon rolls with half white flour and half whole wheat and they were heavenly!

I have pinto beans soaking for pinto bean cake (recipe below) and I am going to make rye pancakes using a buckwheat/ old fashioned pancake recipe.

Tonight for dinner I pulled out my turkey hamburger that I pre packaged in what I call "meal portions" and let that thaw until I fried it up with some steak and burger seasonings, garlic and onion. I sliced some potatoes with the skin on, put in a can of stewed tomatoes, black beans, some chicken stock base, a few chopped basil leaves, frozen peas and after the hamburger was cooked I dumped that in my crockpot as well! Voila! A super cheap (depending on how much the products are because I got a 10# bag of potatoes for 1.99!)

I can't wait to see how it tastes! I will serve it biscuits or bread and possibly a grate or two of cheese on each plate.
I also forgot I had about 5 pounds of whole oats in my pantry too!!! Oh the possibilities there! Here I was thinking I didn't have anything to cook but once I got to thinking, menu's starting popping out like crazy! A little farm girl ingenuity and I can make sure my family eats healthy, has a filling meal and won't go hungry no matter what's in the bank (or not! haha)

A little thinking goes a long way, I encourage anyone to think outside the typical recipe card because if you have a decent pantry and a little creativity you can eat healthy and have a great meal all in once, without breaking the bank!

Especially with summer upon us and the farmer's markets starting to go strong in this area, gardens are starting to produce more than just weeds, oh happy day!

What we do save per month on our food bill this summer from my garden I am putting aside so I can have money to preserve food for winter. I need more cans, lids, rings, plus a few preserving ingredients and essential tools to make preserving the harvest even easier on me, since my daughter is too young to help yet.

So get creative with your food! It gives you variety, can save you money, and help keep your pantry rotated so nothing gets wasted, now that is what I'm talking about!

Recipe for Pinto Bean Cake:

1 stick butter
1 c. sugar
2 c. unseasoned pinto beans, drained & mashed
1 egg
1 c. self-rising flour
1/2 c. nuts
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 c. raw apples
1 c. raisins
1/2 tsp. soda

Cream butter and sugar. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into cake pans and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Now this is my base recipe. I will be using super fine whole wheat flour, I will be using apple sauce, I am out of raisins so I will be omitting them, and of course adding some baking powder and salt since I won't be using self rising flour. I will probably add pecans or walnuts and possibly adding some chocolate chips instead of the raisins. I have white and chocolate chips so I might add half and half of them.

I will be frosting the cake with a simple powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and water frosting (water is as good as milk in this quick frosting plus it's cheaper unless you own your own milk source).

 

Enjoy!!! 

Cooking Country Style
~KT