"Rice and beans, beans and rice."
~ Dave Ramsey, from his podcast

Although my mother was very careful with our grocery budget when I was growing up, beans and rice was not something on my family's dinner table. I initially heard of this frugal meal when I was reading Dave Ramsey's book , The Total Money Makeover. Ramsey encourages his readers to spend less, so they can pay off debt. One way to do this, he says, is to get on a diet of rice and beans, beans and rice. This suggestion came to my attention a second time when I was reading a post by one of my favorite frugal bloggers. She and her husband exert a lot of self-control in regard to their spending, and they eat beans and rice every week. In fact, this dish is so familiar to their family, it is their (six) children's favorite and most requested meal. Because of this particular family's frugal habits, they were able to save up enough money to pay cash to build their own house!

Besides being a great way to decrease your family's spending, there are several other reasons to embrace beans and rice. By adding beans and rice to your family's meal rotation, you are:

• serving your family a super-healthy meal. Beans are rich in antioxidants, fiber, protein, B vitamins, iron, magnesium, potassium, copper, and zinc. Eating beans regularly may reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and colorectal cancer. You can feel great about serving this meal to your family, especially if you serve the beans with brown rice.
• managing your weight. Beans are hearty, helping you feel full, so you will tend to eat less. Adding beans to your meal is a great way to add nutrition to your meal without adding a lot of calories. A half-cup of beans has only about 100 calories. Source: Dr. Oz.
• adding an easy, low-maintenance, slow-cooker meal to the menu. We could all use more of those, right?
• setting yourself up nicely to make other meals! Sometimes, I will make extra beans, divide them into 1.5 cup portions (1.5 cups of cooked beans equals one [15-oz.] can of beans), and freeze them to use in other meals. They are especially great for taco soup and enchiladas.
• teach your children how to be frugal. Remember those lean college years when you filled your pantry with the super-cheap ramen noodles? I don't know about you, but I would greatly prefer my children to get through those lean years on a diet of beans and rice vs. a diet of those noodles, which are kind of gross and incredibly high in sodium.
• teach your children (and yourself!) gratitude. I'm going to be honest. Beans and rice may be a favorite meal of at least one of my children, but I personally don't get excited when it's "Beans and Rice" night at our house (except for the fact that dinner prep will be easy that night). I would much rather tuck into a big bowl of Zuppa Toscana with a side of garlic breadsticks. But! Eating beans and rice on a regular basis reminds me that there are plenty of other people who would be thrilled to have this meal muffling the rumble of their very hungry bellies. It's a good way to segue into a conversation with our little ones about poverty and gratitude.

At first, I was convinced that our family would benefit from eating beans and rice, but I didn't have a clue how to make it. It turns out that making beans and rice is actually very simple, and the following is more of a method than a recipe.

beans & rice {in the slow-cooker}

equipment:

• cookie sheet
• colander
• a 4-qt. slow-cooker
• rice steamer (optional)

ingredients:

• 2 cups of dried beans (Our family alternates between black and pinto. Wal-Mart sells them in 2-cup portions, which is pretty handy!)
• salt, to taste
• 2 cups of rice (Brown rice is the healthiest choice, but we like Basmati Rice.)
• toppings of choice: shredded cheddar, sliced avocado, salsa, etc.

soaking the beans:

1. The night before you are going to serve your meal, spread 2 cups of dried beans onto a rimmed cookie sheet. Pick out any pebbles, broken, or odd-looking beans.
2. Rinse the beans in a colander and then transfer them to your slow-cooker. Cover the beans with cool water and allow them to soak overnight, at least 6-8 hours. (Do not turn on the slow-cooker at this point! You are just soaking them, not cooking them.)

cooking the beans:

1. Pour soaked beans in a crock-pot. Cover with fresh water by three inches.
2. Cover the pot, and cook on low for six to eight hours or until soft. (I usually check on them after six hours. I don't like the beans to get mushy!)
3. Carefully drain.
4. Season with salt, to taste. Do not skip this step! Salting the beans makes a huge difference in terms of flavor.

serve:

1. Serve the beans over rice, cooked in your rice steamer or whichever method you like best. (I find making rice annoying, so I will often make a double-batch and freeze half of it.)
2. Top with desired toppings.

Is"Beans and Rice" a regular on your famliy's mealplan, or are you willing to give it a try? How would you top yours? We usually melt shredded cheddar on top!