Rituals

We humans live by them.

Aug 01, 2023

Rituals can be simple, something you do everyday like get up and wash your face. They can be weekly, dinner on Friday nights with your sister and her family. Yearly, the annual family trip where memories are created one year and those same memories are debated the next. However simple your traditions may be, there is a through line for most cultures. If you are reading this and can see a piece of yourself or your family it's because we as humans want to belong, we like to know a pattern is forming and this pattern will bring joy to our lives.

Once such ritual for my own family was prepping for the upcoming week. With two children going to school and my husband and myself both working full time we started to feel the pain each passing week if we did not plan accordingly. Growing up my mother handled all of the management within the home while my father worked. That dynamic was not the same for us, with our schedules it was important to look at the upcoming week and see who had appointments and other commitments. More importantly, was the meal planning because we all have to eat. When we planned, our week ran smoothly, I looked forward to arriving home where I knew how the evening would unfold from dinner to bedtime. For those weeks we did not plan, and for the life of me it feels downright sadistic not to plan knowing the end results, I always felt like something was off at best, and frustrated and annoyed at myself and my spouse at the worst moments. With this in mind I thought we should take a moment to plan.

We are one month into the Start With Beans Newsletter and if you have started to incorporate beans into your weekly meals you may be getting tired of looking for recipes. Additionally, during the week it would be nice to form some good food prep habits. I would like to tell you that I have some magical ideas for midweek meals but the truth of the matter is when I am working I like to know the plan. My “go to” plan is to roast or saute, chop, and prep on Sunday so that I have food in my fridge all week to make delicious and nutritious breakfast, lunch and dinners that will fill me up without feeling bloated and satiate my palette with good fats. I can use these same ingredients to whip up a side or green salad if I go to the Farmer’s Market midweek and grab a piece of fish for myself and lean beef for my husband.

Most of my meals are vegetarian for me and about 80% for my husband. You can plan like I am and add animal protein very easily. We are in the summer season and summer vegetables and fruits are having their moment. When I can, I buy most of my produce at the local farmers markets and stands to support the farmers. What I cannot get there I purchase from the market. Here is the prep we did this week and I “try” to do something similar each week:

Possible Prep List—August

Roasted: Beets, Peppers, Cauliflower, Onions

Sauteed: Mushrooms, Broccolini

Chopped: Carrots, Peppers, Cucumbers

Prepped, washed: Salad greens, Celery, Cilantro/herbs, Tomatoes

For fruit, we were able to get a couple of pints of blueberries that I cannot stop eating. My girlfriends have an abundance of zucchini, kale, and green beans in their gardens and I am the lucky recipient and share in the fruits of their labor. Shout out to the home gardeners! I have always wanted to be one and for some reason it has not happened for me. I think that is why I feel it is one of the best skills; to cultivate an area where you can grow and feed your family.

At the commercial market we added lemons, limes, peaches, and cans/jars of beans as I await my package of dried beans to arrive. I am out of rice so we bought rice, saltines and peanut butter for my husband. I treated myself to blended roasted peanuts from an organic market near us and spread that on rice cakes (for me, that is my version of peanut butter crackers and I love it).

We had a busy Friday and Saturday attending The Folk Festival here in town and by Sunday we were going a little slower. So late afternoon we teamed up. Usually I like to do the prep and roasting on my own and Michael will chop the carrots, cukes and peppers and boil eggs a little later but we were both in the kitchen and it worked out well. I have a few pictures below so you can see the progress.

This week I cut my beets like I would do if I was roasting red potatoes. I only added salt, pepper and about a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Lightly covered, not at all greasy. 10 minutes at 425 degrees, flipped and moved around the pieces of beets, back in the oven for another 10 and finished. Normally, we would grill the peppers on the grill in the summer but we are changing out the grill and therefore we roasted our peppers, too. This week I cooked my mushrooms in my cast iron skillet with salt, pepper and a little olive oil. We ended up with a good amount of veggies.

To add to all of the produce I make rice (usually a combination of brown and white rice) and quinoa. Its great because I can whip up a quick bowl, add beans and an egg (optional) or beans alone. If my beans are swimming in some delicious pot likker/pot liquor, instead of rice or quinoa, I may toast or broil bread, sprinkle a little olive oil, rub raw garlic onto it and place in the bottom of a shallow bowl with a ladle full of beans, and veggies on top. And I always add some seeds. Right now its roasted pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds) and sunflower seeds.

Further Prep Guidance

If you are still feeling like you need a little more guidance, in the table below each row provides another layer in the bowl or on the plate. When you need inspiration take a peek and add something from each row-many options, choose only what you like (maybe beans and rice period) when you begin and then you will venture into other areas before you know it.

I didn’t forget fruit…if you like to add to your dishes, right now in the northeast berries and melons are in season; soon peaches, and other stone fruit, too. If nothing is in season, I grab a bag of frozen berries to use in a pinch.

My Recommendations and Quick Meal

If you make a bowl, stir it up and enjoy. Each bite will be bursting with delicious flavors. If you don’t like your ingredients all mixed up maybe a plate will be a better option so you can decide which yummy bite to eat next. If you are in remission from gastrointestinal pain, or never had the pain and are adding beans to your diet you could also place all of these ingredients into a tortilla of your choice.

Last night, I made black bean tacos–I heated up two cans of beans in a pot with 1 tablespoon each of chili powder and cumin, a teaspoon of oregano, ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper for a pinch of heat and salt and pepper. I stirred for about 5 minutes. Next, I heated up soft corn tortillas-6 inch. I used to do this directly on my gas burners in the kitchen (~1 minute per side). Since I no longer have the gas burners and I was hungry, I put the tortillas in a damp clean kitchen towel and placed them on a plate into the microwave for ~20 seconds, added the black beans and on top I had mushrooms, greens, tomatoes, cilantro and lime. On the side I had a small scoop of beets and broccolini. No seeds, no rice or quinoa because I did not want it. The tacos filled me up and I was satiated. I wish I took a picture for you but I ate them without thinking about work or the blog and that is a good thing to do sometimes.

I hope this helps you with your meal planning and creating a new habit with your beans and eating each week. If you have a full time job, if you are raising kids, maybe as a single parent, too, it can be really difficult and the first thing you drop is your own needs to help others. Remember once you feel better you can dream and reach your goals, which will make you that much more available to others. Keep up the good work and keep eating your beans.

Contact

If you have any additional questions or need clarification please email me at Denisemancieri1@gmail.com or comment below so I can help you. Take care of yourself and remember to start with beans!

Please like, comment or share this newsletter if you find it may assist you or others. Thank you!

Note: I am not a doctor, nor a nutritionist. I am an educator. I followed Karen Hurd’s bean diet and I healed. I feel compelled to be in service and educate others as the more people eating beans and sharing their stories the more people will live a healthier existence. Joy, peace and freedom abound. Please see your doctor and discuss nutritional options before you change any course of action with your health.

Start With Beans