Drunken Chili, an idea from Kris

This is the revised recipe...

- 1.25 lb extra lean ground turkey breast
- 8 cloves garlic (more or less depending on your taste), minced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1 large white onion or 2 small ones, diced
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- 2 serrano chilis, with seeds and ribs, finely diced
- 3 jalapeno peppers with seeds and ribs, finely diced
- 2 heaping TBPS ground cumin
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons red chili flakes
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 large TBSP Better than Bouillon beef base (or 2 beef bouillon cubes)
- 2 cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 bottles dark beer (Guinness works well)
- 1 large can diced tomatoes
- 1 can tomato sauce (optional - makes it a little more tomato-y)

Sweat onions, garlic, peppers (spicy and mild ones) in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add ground turkey and brown over medium heat, mixing into the onion mixture. Add powdered spices when turkey is done. Mix well. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and simmer chili for 1.5 - 2 hours, stirring occasionally. This allows the excess water to boil off, leaving more thick chili. Some like a chili soup, in that case add a little more beef bouillon (or more beer - who's keeping track?!)

This is what my chili recipe has pretty much become. Granted, I never measure anything so all measurements are guesses, not exact. It's mostly a cook by feel/taste thing... I like it spicy, if you don't, then omit and/or reduce the spicy ingredients...

White Bean Chicken Chili, from Carrie

1 lbs ground chicken
2 cans of white beans (drained and rinsed)
1 container of chicken stock (I used a 32oz-er)
1 16oz jar of salsa verde
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp oregano
Garlic (I used Garlic Garlic form Tastefully Simple)
hot pepper flakes, salt, pepper to taste

Brown chicken, dump everything together, simmer until beans are soft. Serve.

White Bean, Chicken, Chili Soup, suggested by Amy

White Bean, Chicken, and Chili Soup, from Wonder Time February 2009

1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp cumin
1 lg. pinch cayenne (optional)
1 lg. pinch allspice
2 (4 oz.) cans diced green chilies
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
--you can cook before you dice, or not--
4 cups chicken broth
3 (15 oz.) cans white beans
--2 drained, 1 with liquid--
1 (16 oz.) bag of frozen corn kernels
8 oz. monterey jack cheese
salt to taste

Heat oil in a soup pot over med-high heat and saute onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, spices, and chilies and saute for another minute. Add diced chicken and broth, and simmer until the chicken is opaque (if you used raw chicken), about 15 minutes. Add beans, corn, and 1/2 the cheese and simmer another 15 minutes. Taste for salt, and serve with remaining cheese on top.

*I'm using Great Northern Beans, canned corn, and I have no idea what kind of cheese I have in the fridge, so I'll just go with whatever.

Beans and Tomatoes, an idea from Amy

Basically you take cans of Great Northern Beans, drain and rinse.
Then take roma tomatoes, de-seed them, saute them in olive oil until heated through.
Add the beans and a bit of water so it's kinda soupy.
I usually add garlic to the tomatoes.
Then I season with salt, crushed red pepper, and dill (sounds strange, but it's a good combo.)
Sometimes I add mushrooms to the tomatoes for variety.
Heat the stuff until the beans are heated and done!
I like to put some diced red onion on top as well and I usually serve with garlic bread.

Taco Soup, from Karli

1lb browned ground turkey 1 can black beans 1 can kidney beans 1 can pinto beans 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles chili powder red pepper flakes cumin V-8 juice I put shredded cheddar on top right before serving.

Cowboy Beans, and idea from Teresa

Sort and wash dry white beans
Soak
Add onion and bacon
Cook for hours

Suggested by Rachael - Crockpot Baked Beans

This is the first time I am trying baked beans in the crockpot; I got the recipe from The Crockery Cook.

1 lb Small White Beans
4 1/2 cups H2O
1/3 cup Molasses
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 Onion, chopped
1/4 lb Salt Pork, cubed
1 tablespoon Dijon-style Mustard
1/? teaspoon salt (ed: 1/4 tsp sounds good!)

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 13 hours, stirring occasionally.

I got up at 6am when my husband left for work to put them on. I'm hoping 12 hours ends up being enough cooking time. I added a little BBQ sauce.

Suggested by Katey - Lentil Stew with Garlic and Ginger

Lentil Stew with Garlic and Ginger
(from the Good Calorie Diet book-- a good diet for people who eat lots of whole grains and stuff anyway)

8 oz dry lentils, rinsed
4 quarts water
1 T curry powder
2 T Turmeric
1 T Old Bay seasoning
1 t coriander
1 t ground cumin
1 t dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
5 large garlic cloves, minced
3 T tomato paste

In a big pot, cover the lentils with the water and bring to a boil. Stir in all the dry seasonings, turn the heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes. Add the vegetables, ginger, garlic, and tomato paste and cook until the yams are tender (about 15-20 mins in my experience). We often leave out the celery cause we don't much like celery, and it's not worth buying a bunch for 2 stalks that don't really add much to the soup anyway.

Serves 8-10... eat it all week!

Great served over brown rice.

Cheap Asshole Chili, from Michelle

Turkey chili can stretch like a mo fo.

I use ground turkey. If you use two pounds, you can add one or two cans each of black beans and red kidney beans, a 28-oz can of diced tomatoes, chili powder to taste, cumin to taste, and a small can (4oz? 5oz?) of tomato sauce. Throw some chicken stock (or water if it's really cheap asshole time) in it if it's too thick. I've been eating plain old chili all week (over tortillas or a handful of Fritos with a dollop of fat free sour cream).

You can turn leftovers into burrito filling by mixing about 2 c of the chili w/ some shredded cheese (and sneak more cheap veggies in if you want--a cup of succotash (corn and baby lima beans), then put the filling in some flour tortillas, cover w/ more shredded cheese, bake at 400 for about 30 mins (if the chili was previously refrigerated). I like to mix prepared chili sauce w/ sour cream and serve hot.

Semi-Mexican Feast, an idea from Carrie

Chicken breasts, diced, seasoned with fajita seasoning (McCorrmik) then sauteed in a little oil. Served with a can of pinto beans that have been seasoned with a packet of Goya con azafran and simmered until soft. Cole Slaw.

Cincinnati Chili, from Betsy

Cincinnati Chili

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 16-oz. can tomato sauce
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1 cup water
2 cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 lb. spaghetti
shredded Cheddar cheese for topping

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat and saute the onion until golden. Add garlic and saute a minute longer.

Stir in Tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, kidney beans, chili powder, sugar, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside, keeping warm.

Serve chili over spaghetti; sprinkle with Cheddar cheese.

(adapted from Saving Dinner, by Leanne Ely. The original recipe also calls for diced green bell pepper, which I omit.)

Carolyn's Famous Potluck Bean Dip, from Carolyn

The layered taco dip sounds a lot like my famous potluck bean dip, which I have not been able to eat in a long, long time. Sigh. It is only 4 layers: a can of refried beans, a brick of cream cheese, a layer of salsa, and shredded cheddar. Cream cheese on bottom, then salsa, then beans, then cheddar. (The beans can go under or on top of the salsa... either way works.) Nuke until everything is melty. Ohhhhh, I want some!

Layered Taco Dip, from Stephanie

Layered Taco Dip

1 can refried beans
1/2 cup salsa (ish... enough to make it spreadable, not make soup)

Mix and set aside.

1 brick cream cheese
1 packet taco seasoning

Mix and set aside.

1/3 jar nacho cheese dip (tostitos queso is good!)

8oz sour cream

8oz shredded cheese - mexican blend, colby jack, cheddar, whatever. Something with some color is nice. I used 50/50 cheddar and colby the last time I made this.

In a relatively shallow pan (9x13 works well with these amounts), spread the bean mixture, then the cream cheese mixture, cheese sauce, sour cream, and shredded cheese. You can add shredded lettuce, diced fresh tomato, olives, or other (disgusting) things that you personally like to the top... but I don't. Serve cold with scoop tortilla chips, sturdy tortilla chips, fritos scoops, ... whatever.

I'm all about minimizing bowls so I mix the beans and salsa in the serving dish. Also, it helps to pop the beans and salsa in the fridge for a while or the freezer for a few minutes and to make sure the cream cheese is soft before trying to spread it.

Pretend Stirfry, by Dani

I just used the thin sliced pork chops that were in the fridge, and a bag of mixed veggies(brocc, cauli, and red peppers and corn) and threw in a few pinto beans to make it look like more food to DH, and used about a tablespoon of minced garlic and who knows how much soy sauce(a couple of squirts from the bottle?).

Mexican Lasagna III, by Kelly

Ingredients
1.5 lbs ground turkey
taco seasoning
1 cup salsa
1 cup tomato sauce1/2 can black beans

1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
4 cup shredded, seasoned taco cheese

4 large soft flour tortillas

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Cook and season turkey in seasoning, then add salsa and tomato sauce. Keep at a simmer and let any liquid burn off. Mix in beans.

In a large bowl, mix cottage & ricotta cheeses, egg, milk, and
1 3/4 c of taco cheese.

Lightly grease or spray a 13x9 casserole dish and cover bottom with 2 large flour tortillas. Spread 1/2 of meat across top and then 1/2 cheese mixture above that. Sprinkle with taco cheese. Cover again with 2 large tortillas, remainder of meat and remainder of cheese. Sprinkle taco cheese generously over the top and bake at 350.

Allison's tips on eating for cheap

Another thing that might help is to check on vegetarian recipe sites as beans are a good, cheap vegetarian source of protein. For example, here's the Vegetarian Times website's bean link: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/search/?search=beans&page=1&tableid=260&start=1
If you want something about a specific sort of bean, just enter the bean type in the search engine and it'll bring up only those recipes. Some of them are incredibly inexpensive like this: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/7187

Do you have a crockpot? If you do, that makes it really easy to cook dried beans -- you soak them all night and then put them in the crockpot in the morning. Cans of beans are pretty inexpensive, but dried are even more so.

Bean Burgers, by Jenifer

Bean Burgers (another basic burger you can jazz up with any seasoning you want- asian, italian, mexucan, etc):
1 c. TVP (textured veggie protein)
1 c boiling water
1 tbs tomato paste
1 16 oz can beans, drained (pinto, kidney, etc)
1/4 c. whole wheat bread crumbs (I make my own from the bread we bake)
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tbs. soy sauce (or tamari)
1 tsp sweetner (sugar, honey,fruit juice..pick your poison)
salt and pepper to taste
additional whole wheat flour for dusting

Pour boiling water over TVP and tomato paste in bowl; stir; let rest for 10 minutes. Combine TVP mixture and all remaining ingredients except flour in food processor; pulse until mixture is almost a puree; shape mixture into burgers (it can be sticky so I sometimes flour my hands first). Dust lightly with flour and refrigerate for one hour. These can be grilled for about ten minutes per side as long as they are covered with foil.

Random Bean, Beef, and Spice Soup, by Dani

1qt butter beans
1qt potatoes
1qt big boy peas
1qt green beans
4tbsp minced garlic
2qts water
1/2tsp cumin
1lb ground beef
3tsp Habanero hot sauce
2tsp Cayanne pepper
Salt
Black pepper
Other Random spices
I think that was it. Brown beef with random spices. Pour everything else into large pot and simmer for 2hours more or less. Can also be done with chicken and noodles.
(And I'm not sure if those are the actual names of the beans, lol, that's what my mom wrote on the jar lid after she canned them, and that's what we called them growing up, butter beans were a small pale green bean, and the big boy peas are a creamy brown pea)

Suggested by Allison - White Bean and Pasta Soup with Greens

White Bean and Pasta Soup with Greens
by Deborah Madison: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
amended slightly

2 cups dry cannellini, navy beans, or a mixture
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp chopped rosemary
1 onion, finely diced
2 carrots, finely diced
1 celery rib, finely diced
5 garlic cloves, sliced
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1 cup diced tomatoes, fresh or canned, with their juices
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup dried small pasta
1 bunch chard, spinach, mustard greens, or kale sauteed in olive oil with a tough of garlic and red pepper flakes

Soak the beans overnight, or I cover well with water, boil them about ten minutes and then let them sit at least an hour.

Heat the oil with the rosemary in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and parsley and cook a few minutes more. Drain the beans and add them to the pot along with the tomatoes and 3 quarts water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, covered, until the beans have begun to soften, about an hour. Add salt and pepper and continue cooking until the beans are nice and tender, about another half hour. Just before serving, add the greens to the soup.

Cook the pasta, then drain. Portion some of it into the soup bowls and ladle soup over top. If you want, grate a little parmesan over top.

note: This makes more than our family can eat in one sitting unless we have guests. I make the whole thing and put the pasta we didn't use into the leftover soup for later.

Suggested by Allison - Red Beans and Rice with Turkey Andouille

Red Beans and Rice with Turkey Andouille