Super-Easy Hummus Salad Wrap

My daughter, a fanatic about hummus (good girl!), created this terrific little lunch wrap. She made one for me the other day, and it is so good that I just have to blog about it! We don’t have a name for it… maybe Super-Easy Hummus Salad Wrap?

I love the colors, too. It looks like a plate full of toys or something. Pretty!

All you do is spread some hummus (we used Roasted Red Pepper hummus onto some flat bread. Layer it with salad greens and a few diced red peppers. YUMMMM. It’s surprisingly filling and it’s so healthy!

Wow Chow Pork and Beans Bake

I am blessed by four children who love to eat beans. I can’t believe it! I HATED beans as a kid. Beans are incredibly nutritious, and incredibly cheap! So I’m implementing them more in our diet. I’d like to have it so that we eventually have a bean dish of some sort two or three times a week, rather than once every other week. Served with rice, beans are a complete protein- perfect for children’s growing bodies and for maintaining a healthy heart. Beans and rice, yum! Better than the best prenatal vitamins you can buy!

My recipe makes use of budget meat, packaged dried beans (although you could use canned), and bulk rice. It’s a very budget-friendly meal. I nabbed up a large package of Southern Style pork ribs at my local supermarket– they have them on sale for $1 a pound! The dried beans cost me $1.20, and the rice (5 cups) probably cost me around .50 because I buy my rice in bulk. So for feeding six adult-sized portions, this meal cost me about $5.70 to put on the table. And we still had leftovers, after that. I did add a salad, which raised the price of my meal, but you could add something like apples and oatmeal mixed together, or sliced fresh peaches, and that would drive the cost down. This is also a recipe that keeps well, so you could make two casseroles and serve one of them later in the week.

Here’s a quick and easy (what else?) recipe that’s perfect for a chilly winter’s day. This would probably be a great meal in the summer, too!

Wow Chow Pork and Beans Bake
serves 6-8

2 Tablespoons olive oil
3-4 pounds Southern Style pork ribs (bones removed and fat trimmed, cut up into large cubes)
1 bag dried black beans boiled/prepared to package instructions (or 3 12oz cans, drained)
1 small can tomato soup (save the can, you’ll need it to measure water)
1 tablespoon Adobo seasoning
Minced garlic (according to your liking)

In a large skillet, heat up the oil and sear the meat. Add the Adobo seasoning and cook a little longer. Once the meat is almost completely cooked, place the pieces into a large casserole dish. Pour in any remaining juices from the skillet.

Open the tomato soup can and pour all over the meat. Fill up the can twice with water, and pour it in the casserole.
Take your boiled beans and pour them on top. Add the minced garlic. Chop in the beans just a little, to mix with the liquid.
Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour; then, turn your oven down to 325 and bake for 3 more hours.
The house will smell GREAT.

Serve with rice and green salad or a fruit salad.

Terrific Black Bean & Ham Soup

I cannot believe my kids eat this. I mean— it’s good! But when I was a kid, I hated anything with beans in it. My kids devour this soup. It’s so easy to make, and it’s perfect with my Bread Machine Flax Bread. The ingredients are simple; you probably have everything in your pantry. I serve a big crowd, so this recipe is a little large. Reduce (or double) as you wish.

Wow Chow Black Bean & Ham Soup

4 15oz. cans black beans
2 15oz. cans chicken broth (or use your own)
2 Tablespoons minced garlic, chopped fresh or prepared in the jar (optional)
1 Tablespoon horseradish (optional)
1 Tablespoon olive oil or pat of butter
1 white onion, diced into small pieces
6 cups of diced ham or turkey ham

In a large stock pot, put in the olive oil or butter, and then the onions. Saute lightly, just until the onion is barely translucent. Toss in all your ham or turkey ham (I use turkey ham), and stir well to heat.

Now, drain your canned beans and dump them in the pot. Dump the broth into the pot. Add the garlic and horseradish if you include them.

Stir it well, and cook on low/medium for about 3 hours. I guess it would be technically cooked in 1 or 2 hours, but cooking longer thickens the soup and blends the ingredients more. This is a GREAT cold weather meal. It’s also a terrific “quickie” meal, for days when you’re too busy fooling around, doing housework and bills, blogging, making vacation plans and checking out www.goodsamesp.com, etc etc. Heh heh. It takes about 20 minutes to have everything ready to throw in the pot. The key is stirring it every once in a while. to make sure the beans don’t stick as the soup thickens. Alternatively, if you will be out of the house all day, you can throw these same ingredients into the crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. The Flax Seed Bread is perfect with this!