Okay…. I have a confession to make.
Are you ready? You promise you won’t stop coming to Surviving The Stores?
I have never ever made beans from scratch before. In fact, I’ve always been a little scared of it. And I have NO idea why!
But I have conquered my fear, and let me assure you, there is nothing to be afraid of! It really is so much easier than I imagined it in my head.
You’ll likely see several beans and rice recipe variations over the next few months. My goal is to make beans and rice at least twice a week during this season of surviving a layoff. I really want our savings to last as long as possible.
So, are you ready? It really is so so easy and the whole family LOVED this recipe!
Here’s what you need:
2 cups of dry pinto beans (I’m sure you could use another type of beans too)
Water to soak the beans in
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
Cilantro
Salt (to taste)
1/2 cup of your favorite Salsa
Cooked Rice
Grated Cheese (if desired)
Here’s what you do:
1. Put the beans in a bowl and cover with water. Let the beans sit overnight (I, um, let them sit in the water overnight and until 4:00 the next day) 
2. When you are ready to cook the beans, drain the water off of them and put them into a pot. Cover the beans again with water and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, turn the burner down to low and let the beans sit covered for at least an hour.
3. Saute the onion in the olive oil until tender.
4. Put the sauteed onion, cilantro, salt and salsa into the pot with the beans. Cover and cook about an hour more until the beans are tender.
5. Serve over rice and top with grated cheese if desired.
6. Enjoy!!
If you want to, you could drain the beans in the morning (instead of waiting until the last minute like me) and cook them in the crockpot all day on low with the other ingredients mixed in.
Now it’s your turn! What kind of recipes did you come up with to use with your deals? Please link directly to your frugal recipe below.
I also highly recommend heading over to $5 Dinners Bargain Meal Of The Week where she categorizes meals by different store deals!
