Beans n Rice; Rice n Beans

Jen and I have become recent fans of Dave Ramsey, and one of his popular expressions is going on a "beans n rice; rice n beans grocery budget." This is a great way to save about $10 a week on the grocery budget, or even more, weekly, once you've stocked the ingredients.


Jen sort of came up with this concoction years ago not really to save money but just as something quick to make for her and Lily on nights I would be working late or didn't feel like cooking. It's a huge money saver and it's actually quite filling (don't go for seconds; it blows up on you).

A bag of rice (I prefer brown) is a couple of bucks, and 1 cup will make about 4 servings. A can of black beans and diced tomatoes (don't drain) is about $.60 each, and you can put virtually any kind of cheese on it you've already got in the fridge. I just happened to have some leftover taco shells sitting in the cupboard, which when broken up over the beans and rice satisfy the crunch factor.

I found some sour cream in the fridge and have some chives still surviving on the back porch, but I actually like it better without those things. A few chopped onions or green onions add a little crunch and a little zing, but don't over-do it.

Great fast dinner for a busy night. The rice took about 45 minutes to cook, but I didn't need to babysit them on the stove. The rest is just opening cans and chucking the beans in the nuke for about a minute to warm up.