Writing RN

Cookin’ Beans and Bakin’ Bread

What’s the most underrated life skill?

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Have you ever made a loaf of bread? Without a bread maker? Without a (gasp) mixer??? If you ever have a day where you feel like you need something different to do, I highly recommend making a loaf of bread. It makes the house smell so good. I’ve probably made hundreds of loaves of bread at this point in my life. The first few were not great. They got better.

Second underrated life skill- making beans from scratch. Like taking a bag of dried beans (or even beans you grew and dried yourself) and letting them soak overnight, and then cooking them the next day. A bag of beans goes a long, long way. It is one of the few things in life that you can buy for a buck at the Dollar Tree. (Actually one dollar, not a dollar twenty-five or a dollar fifty). Worth every cent. 

The bread only takes flour, yeast, salt, and water. Beans just need salt and water. Five ingredients that you can get for under ten bucks. And they can feed a family multiple meals, especially with a few additional ingredients. It takes time though, to cook these things. And time is on such short supply these days.

So if you find yourself with a lazy afternoon this fall, look up a recipe for bread and give it a try. You might be pleasantly surprised. 🙂

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a tolerable Tuesday. And if you like what I write, please subscribe. Thanks. 🙂

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2 responses to “Cookin’ Beans and Bakin’ Bread”

  1. Mangus Khan Avatar
    Mangus Khan

    I grew up eating beans and cornbread, so this one hit close to home. Even now, you’ll almost always find pinto, navy, and black beans somewhere in my cupboard, along with cornmeal and flour. Enough to make a pan of cornbread or, if the mood strikes me, a simple loaf of bread.

    I think somewhere along the way we started looking at foods like these as meals from another time, when they were really lessons in self-sufficiency. You didn’t need much money, fancy equipment, or twenty-seven ingredients you couldn’t pronounce. You needed a few staples, some patience, and somebody willing to teach you what to do with them.

    And maybe that’s the underrated life skill hiding underneath all of this: knowing how to make something out of what you have.

    A pot of beans and a hot pan of cornbread may not look particularly impressive sitting on the table, but I’ve never heard anybody complain once that first piece of cornbread hits the beans and starts soaking up the broth.

    Some things don’t need improving. They just need remembering.

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    1. Cristin Avatar
      Cristin

      You are so right, this is exactly it. There are so many people that just haven’t had anyone to even teach them how to do these things. But now with the internet it makes it so much easier. We do need to remember how to be self-sufficient. I watched my mom make something from nothing so many times, in so many ways. I’m grateful that I had someone in my life to do this. Thanks for your thoughtful response! I really appreciate it.

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