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When you think of a minimalist way of life what comes to mind? Do you think of someone who has very little material items and lives in a house that seems empty? Maybe you think of less clutter when you think of a minimalist lifestyle. Maybe you think of someone who denies themself things and is a cheapskate. Does saving money come to mind when you think of the term minimalist?
Many people decide to live a minimalist life and the reasons may surprise you. Many people check into creating a minimalist life to decrease stress and gain control of their finances. This article about how to be more minimalist on a budgetshows you how simple and enjoyable practicing minimalists ways can be. The best part is going minimalist doesn’t mean owning 2 shirts and an empty living room. It does not mean that you can't enjoy remodeling your master bathroom.
How to be more minimalist
After reading the article (see the above paragraph for the link), about what it is like to live a minimalist life, which I enjoyed reading, I discovered in some ways I would enjoy the benefits of decluttering my life. I would enjoy the extra money that I could have if I did less impulse shopping. I am not one to impulse shop but I do tend to overbuy things like food and toilet paper. I think the past 5 months of this virus pandemic may have something to do with my stockpiling of food as I am worried about not being able to get things if we have another lockdown. So at times, I wonder if I should practice minimalist in my house. Maybe then I would have money to replace the carpet in my house. I got some useful information from the article.
The benefits of living a minimalist life
~ Relieve stress ~ Save money ~ Curb bad spending habits
I like the idea of saving money as then I could put the extra money towards a bigger purchase like a new car or a vacation. I am not sure if I have stress around having too many items in my house but I guess at times I do, especially when I see my kids messy rooms. I like to think that my spending habits are good but I know that there is always room for improvement.
How to start living the minimalist way
~ The elimination process ~ Everyone is different ~ Rethink your needs ~ Setting new ground rules ~ Long term ~ Be responsible with savings
The part that I think most people do not like about this minimalist thing is the elimination process. I like my stuff and I think that I need it all. The thought of having to go through all my clutter is overwhelming to me but the minimalist lifestyle article had some helpful tips that will make decluttering easier. I really liked the packing party idea. The article also showed me that everyone is different and there is no one way to live minimalistic so I could change certain areas in my life to save money. I could still of luxury items like my bidet. I can be a minimalist and still have 6 cookie sheets so I can make my Dairy-Free Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Once I started rethinking my needs and set new rules to live by, I realized that I could work towards this way of living with less. The long term benefits of living with less sounded good to me and I liked that it would help me grow my savings. The article even gave ideas on what to do with the extra money so I could be smart with my savings. So if you want to know more about how to live a minimalist life so you can save money, then read this article. I know that you will find some good information.
Looking for a way to save money on groceries? Eating meatless meals will help you save money. Beans are also an awesome source of protein and are perfect for healthy plant-based meals.These veggie burgers are the perfect meatless recipe that uses beans.
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The year 2020 will go down in history for a lot of reasons. The main reason people will remember the year 2020 is that it will be a deadly respiratory virus that will affect the whole world. This C lung virus changed so many things for many people, and one of them is the way people eat.
Many people started eating at home more often, and many had to learn how to cook. Not only did people have to learn how to cook, but many had to learn how to cook with ingredients like beans and rice. Beans and rice were items that people stocked up on as they panicked and shopped for food.
I remember the day that I entered the grocery store for the last time in 8 weeks. I was just there to do some grocery shopping. My college kid got the news that his school was closed for a couple of weeks. So I needed to buy food for him since he was going to be living with us for a while. When I entered the store parking lot, I had trouble finding a parking spot. Then I could not find a shopping cart. I had not watched the news, so I had no clue about what was happening in our town.
When I saw the bare shelves in the store and long checkout lines, my panic started to set in. I was not planning to stockpile, as I already had a stockpile of food, but when I saw the empty shelves, I admit I bought more than I was planning. I was thankful that most of the food I wanted was still on the shelves.
I was also thankful that I had plenty of dried beans and rice at home. The store was out of beans and rice. For some strange reason, people were stocking up on beans and rice. Beans and rice are the perfect ingredients for healthy, frugal meals.
You are going to LOVE these veggie burgers! These easy-to-make vegan burgers are: + Hearty + Simple + Vegan + Plant-based + Soy-free + Vegetarian + Super flavorful + Satisfying + Loaded with healthy ingredients + Frugal
+ Seriously tasty
Beans and rice were most people's prepper items
I am glad that I did not need any beans and rice, as the stores had none. People were hoarding all the beans and rice, but not me. I always have plenty of dried beans and rice in my pantry as they are staples in my plant-based diet. I think most people were hogging all the beans and rice as they had read that they were great for long-term storage or they read a blog post about the best foods to stock up on for an emergency or zombie attack.
These people never thought that they had to actually eat the beans and rice. So now these food hoarders or C virus preppers have 25-pound bags of rice and uncooked beans in their pantries and have no clue how to make them taste good. I can hear the groans at dinner time: "Not beans and rice again!"
Beans and rice are economical food choices. Beans and rice are also a good source of meatless protein. That may be the reason they are included in many vegetarian meals. Did you know that beans are loaded with fiber and lots of nutrition? When beans are combined with grains, they are a complete source of protein. When people think of meatless meals, they think of beans and rice. Here in New Mexico, beans and rice are always served at Mexican restaurants as a side dish to the main meal. So my guess is that even people here are looking for bean recipes beyond refried beans or beans smothered with green chile and cheese.
How to cook dried beans
Most people who hoarded the beans probably had no clue how to cook beans and were shocked at the time it took to cook beans. Once they learned that they had to soak the beans overnight and then cook the beans for 2 hours, I bet they stopped cooking beans. Beans can be a pain to cook, but once you learn some bean tips, you might cook beans more often. The best way to cook beans is in a pressure cooker, as you can cook beans in about 40 minutes. Cooking beans in a pressure cooker is easy, as you just rinse the beans, cover them with water, start the pressure cooker, and walk away.
Another way to cook beans is in a slow cooker. This bean cooking method takes 6 hours, but it also allows you the freedom of not having to watch a pot. The basic bean cooking method used by most is the stovetop bean cooking method, but this can take 2 hours or more. You also have to watch your cooking pot so it does not over-boil, so no walking away from the kitchen. My preferred bean cooking method is the pressure cooker or Instant Pot.
You can freeze beans
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl
So now that you know that dried beans take a while to cook, you need to think ahead when planning your meals. When I cook beans, I always make a double batch of beans. I then store the extra cooked beans in my fridge or freezer for other meals. Beans freeze quite well. My bean advice is to freeze the beans in recipe-size portions, like 2 cups, so you can use them in bean recipes like pressure cooker BBQ baked beansor white bean chili. You can even use the beans to make healthy Gluten-Free Chocolate Mocha Protein Brownies or vegan tuna salad. Once you discover that beans are a frugal source of protein and many bean recipes like this veggie burger recipe, you may just be stocking your freezer with cooked dried beans.
So many varieties of beans
Shape the mixture into patties
If you are new to cooking dried beans, you probably can name only a few types of beans. The most common dried beans are pinto beans, black beans, red beans or kidney beans, navy beans, or white beans, and garbanzo beans, also known as chickpeas. Lately, garbanzo beans have been my favorite, and I have been cooking dried garbanzo beans in a pressure cooker. I have been making so many recipes with garbanzo beans, likevegan crab cakes. The beans that my family has been eating plenty of have been pinto beans, and I have been making mock Chiptole beanswith them, as this recipe only needs a couple of spices along with dried pinto beans.
Other less-known beans are calico beans or Anasazi Beans, Cannellini beans, and lima beans, to name a few. I always have several types of dried and canned beans in my pantry. I love using canned black beans for tacos and canned garbanzo beans for my easy hummus recipe. Dried beans are cheaper, but canned beans are convenient. This veggie burger recipe can be made with cooked dried beans or canned beans. You can also use any variety of beans in this plant-based recipe.
Dried beans ratio to cooked beans
A rule of thumb for dried beans is 1 cup of dried beans equal 3 cups of cooked beans. So a pound of dried beans equals 6 cups of cooked beans. A can of beans equals about 2 cups of beans
A few simple ingredients are needed to make veggie burgers
These tasty meatless burgers are made with simple ingredients like beans and rice, along with spices that you probably have in your cabinet and bread crumbs. You can use white or brown rice, depending on your preference and the bean of your choice. I like to use black or pinto beans in my veggie burger recipe. I made these burgers with white rice, but I prefer brown rice as it is more nutritious.
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Veggie Burgers Made With Beans and Rice
Yield: 5
Author: Mom Knows Best
You are going to LOVE these veggie burgers! These easy to make vegan burgers are so healthy and flavorful.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 medium white onion, finely diced
1 1/2 cups cooked beans, I like black or pinto
1 cup cooked rice, brown or white
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 tablespoons BBQ sauce or ketchup
Instructions:
In a skillet heat the oil over medium heat and add the diced onion. Cook the onion until soft, about 4 minutes. Set aside.
Add the cooked beans to a large mixing bowl and mash them well with a potato masher or a fork.
Add all the remaining ingredients and the cooked onion to the bowl with the mashed beans. Stir well. To get the veggie burger mixture combined thoroughly, I like to mix it with my clean hands. Don't worry about germs as cooking the veggie burgers will kill any germs in the food.
To assemble the veggie burgers, take a 1/2 well-packed cup of the mixture, and use your hands to form it into a burger shape.
Set the formed burgers on a baking sheet.
Heat up a skillet to medium heat and lightly coat it with oil. Then place as many burgers that will fit in the heated pan.
Cook the veggie burgers for 4 minutes or until well browned. Then gently flip the burgers as these burgers are not as firm as regular ones made with meat.
Cook the burgers for an additional 3-4 minutes.
Serve the veggie burgers on buns with desired toppings like lettuce, tomato, ketchup, etc. Store leftover burgers in the fridge for three days.
