Chef Tess' Taco Soup Mix using NEW Instant Beans! And Product Review!

 We got something new in the store! Ooo-Laaa-Laaa!  Super cool INSTANT beans. What's the difference? Well...Our THRIVE Instant Red Beans will help you spend less time in the kitchen. Boiling dried beans can sometimes take hours, but with THRIVE Instant Beans you can prepare great meals in no time at all. Whether you use our instant beans for homemade refried beans, Boston Baked Beans, or bean soup, you will know that you are using a quality, long-lasting product that is an excellent source of protein and fiber. That's a mouth-full huh?! In a nut shell... They taste like regular red beans but they cook up super quick! I'm totally in love with them...for a bean anyway. So here's a Chef Tess moment of glory...a dancing in the hallway-jumping for joy-food-storage-moment of glory...ready?


You want to know the other cool thing? It just got a whole lot easier to make soup mixes for food storage! In fact when I saw the instant beans I almost started squealing. I know you're thinking, "Geeeek alert!" Oh my gosh!!


 I think I may be one of the only people on earth who gets this excited about food storage technology. Well...Troy does too.  However, that being said, I had to share this great new recipe I've developed from an old favorite. It's adapted using instant beans. Instead of taking hours to cook in a crock pot, it takes just about 20 minutes! I'm super excited about it! Can you tell?! It can fit conveniently in a quart size jar so it's perfect for food storage!

Put a funnel on the mouth of a quart jar and measure as follows into the jar:

 2 cups THRIVE instant Red Beans
1 cup Taco TVP
1/2 cup Dehydrated Onion  
1/3 cup Freeze Dried Mixed Peppers  
3/4 cup Freeze Dried Corn  
1/2 cup Tomato Powder  
1T homemade taco seasoning


                    So, here's  a picture of my new boyfriend red bean. I love him them.

When you get to the tomato powder, just shake the jar so it works its way into the cracks.

Add an oxygen packet. Seal. Good on the shelf in a cool place up to 5-7 years.  To prepare, place contents of jar in a gallon pot in a solar oven or on the stove. Add 2 quarts of water and simmer 20-30 minutes until veggies are tender. Serve with nacho chips, sour cream and salsa if desired.

Basic Boiled Beans (Some Staple Cookery 101 from Chef Tess)

 Happy Tuesday.  All of our Thrive food products are 15% off in the store this month so it seemed like a great idea to cover some of the staples and how to cook them. This one's for anyone who has ever wondered how to cook beans. So...lets talk about magical food. Beans. I teach basic cooking skills as well as advanced culinary arts. That's what I do. I'm a firm believer in the fact that if you may never know when you will be called upon to cook a staple food, or a fancy dish. Knowing the basics of something as simple as beans is something you will never regret. You may know how to make painted breads, but honestly, that isn't a daily need unless you run a bakery. You will always have to feed yourself or your family. Sometimes things may be financially tight, or you may be looking for a lean nutritional main dish. Food wise, you can't go wrong when it comes to beans. Their nutritional data can't be beat, especially fiber and calories when it comes to filling up hungry bellies and staying full! Beans are amazing food...unless of course, you don't cook them correctly. Then you have these crunchy bean shaped things in sauce...that frankly aren't very appealing. It reminds me too much of eating bugs. Yes, I also ate bugs as a kid. I know that explains a lot.
 As for beans, what you really want, is this...

Basic Bare Bones Boiled Beans

You will need:

1 lb of dry beans ( like Pinto Beans , black,Black Beans  white, black-eyed peas,Kidney Beans  ,Small Red Beans )
water

1T  Baking Soda  (optional)

Flavor Options I use:

pepper, bay leaf, Chef Tess All purpose Seasoning  , garlic, 1/2 cup Dehydrated Onion, 1/4 cup Freeze Dried Mixed Peppers, and Real Salt  

Step 1:

Wash and soak* beans. Rinse with hot water and make sure there aren't any rocks or foreign matter in with your beans. Let's face it, they come from plants...there might be dirt. Clean it up. I soak my beans in a gallon of water with 1T of baking soda. I have found this step most useful in helping to break down the acids in the bean skins. They cook softer. After 8-24 hours of soaking, I drain the water, rinse again and put in a crock pot or the pot for my Global Sun Oven.  *Note, you don't have to soak beans, but it does help shorten the cooking time, as well as help with digestion "issues"...if you know what I mean. I think you do. You can "quick soak" beans by pouring boiling water over the beans and soaking one hour.

Step 2:

Place drained beans in 4 quart crock pot or stove top 6 quart pot. Cover beans with 6-8 cups very hot water and simmer. No salt is best at this point. No tomato products either. Salt added at this point will make it take longer for the beans to cook. Acid products like tomatoes will make it hard to cook period. To be sure, use just the water and the beans. If you use chicken stock to cook beans it adds flavor, just be sure it's low sodium. Okay...I say that and then I realize I use black pepper and bay leaf at this point as well. Okay...so it's okay to add Spanish seasoning like whole cracked black pepper, bay leaf, ground cumin, dry oregano, ground coriander (about 1/2 tsp each)...just not the salt until the end. This is where I add the 1/2 cup Dehydrated Onion, 1/4 cup Freeze Dried Mixed Peppers, Fair? You can also add a whole onion, with the "paper" skin removed. Just whole in with the beans. It sounds strange, but a Mexican gal I love showed me that trick and it's great for adding onion flavor without adding any chunks of onion...if you don't want chunks. Just remove the onion after cooking, and discard. I've also done this with a whole carrot and a whole celery stalk when I just want to add the flavor. You can also just add the dry onion, garlic, or dry vegetables, again being sure there isn't salt. A little won't hurt, but it again, will take longer to cook the beans. Yes...I know there are a lot of people who add pig to the beans. Salt pork, bacon, ham...all add salt and a nice smoky flavor. Do what you want, it will take a little longer (by 1-2 hours) if you add a lot of the salted meats. Add 3-4 drops of liquid smoke and you don't have to add meat at all. For black beans, I also add a dash of allspice, believe it or not, I really like the flavor in black beans.

Step 3:

Simmer 1 1/2 hours on stove top or 2 1/2 hours on high in the crock pot (3 hours in the solar oven). If you cook them on low temperature, it will take 4-5 hours. If you cook stove top, you may need to add additional water, be sure it is very hot, or the cooking time will increase. Yes you can  Pressure Cook  beans...they take 20 minutes that way, but that's another lesson.

Step 4:

Season. When cooking time is up, check to see if beans are soft before you add the Real Salt  salt and any additional Chef Tess All purpose Seasoning . . . If you want to add tomato powder or any  tomato products, now you may do so if  and only if the beans are tender.

  Continue to simmer a few minutes.
Now this next part is me. Totally me. I love garlic in my beans. I love a very pronounced flavor of garlic in my beans, so I add it last. Fresh pressed, two cloves in my pot at the end of cooking. If you want a hint of garlic, but not a bold statement, then you can add fresh pressed at the beginning of cooking.

This is what we end up with.

Homemade beans on a homemade tortilla...is dinner for pennies. It's not fancy, but it may not be fancy you need. It may be just making it to the next paycheck without feeling deprived of good food. This my friends, is my gift to you. Enjoy a few more dollars back in your pocket. Fire up the crock pot or Global Sun Oven .

Oh, and one last note. Because beans are so high in protein, at the right temperature they are the perfect breeding ground for food born illness. Please be sure to cool them quickly. I put my beans in smaller bowls and leave the top vented when I cover them with foil so they will get cold quickly in the fridge. If you freeze, be sure to cool them in the fridge first and then transfer to the freezer, as to not overwork your freezer, and keep the beans at a safe temperature. One pound of dry beans will usually yield about 7 cups of cooked beans! That's enough for a family easily! Serve that with Homemade Rice-Y-Roni Mix  or regular rice...and you've done it. Dinner on the cheap.

There you go.

Oh. One last thing. How do you store beans?

Storage Conditions from THRIVE:

Temperature: Storing THRIVE at a high temperature can significantly increase the speed that calories and vitamins will degrade over time. In the correct storage container, low-moisture foods such as THRIVE can be stored at room temperature or cooler (75 degrees Fahrenheit or lower) and remain nutritious and edible for years. Our stated shelf life assumes that the product will be stored in optimal conditions.

Humidity: The affects of humidity on a closed can are caused by heat and very similar to the affects of high temperature (see above). High humidity can corrode the cans and in some cases even cause the cans to leak. Areas with high humidity can reduce the opened shelf life of the product. As humidity varies with location please use your own discretion to prevent possible sickness from eating spoiled food.

Damaged Container: Minor dents in the center of the can are usually just a cosmetic issue. However, a can that has been dented near or on a seam can have a compromised air-tight seal and allow oxygen to enter the can. If this is the case we recommend using the dented can within the specified opened shelf life, rather than closed.

The best way to maintain the highest quality of your THRIVE products is to take care of them. If you intend on storing your food for the sealed shelf life, store the cans in a place that is not open to elements such as water, light, and air. Take care of it. Don't expose it unnecessarily to the elements. Also, be sure to keep the temperature and humidity low and even. Under these proper storing situations your THRIVE will maintain its delicious taste, natural coloring, and proper nutrients.

View shelf life on all THRIVE Click here 

Gourmet Anasazi Beans

Beautiful Beans with Great Taste

During the mid 1980's my grandmother introduced me to Anasazi Beans.  She had received a small amount of beans from a local museum just after the bean had gone into commercial production and she was able to begin cultivating her own beans in great supply a few years later.  I found the beans very intriguing because of their nice coloring versus the plain old pinto beans that she had traditionally grown. 

As the name suggests, these beans were cultivated by the Anasazi (Pueblo) Indians of the Four Corners area.  It is hard to pin down the exact history of how the bean was introduced into the commercial market, but apparently a small amount of beans were found in a sealed clay pot following an archaeological dig back in the 1950's.  Even though it defies the general seed viability laws, a portion of the beans were germinated after tests concluded that these seeds were 1,500 years old.  Commercial and private growers then helped with the production of the seeds and there is now a thriving market for Anasazi Beans.

Anasazi Beans are a wonderful alternative to Pinto Beans, Navy Beans and Great Northern Beans.  Like all beans, these beans are high in fiber and protein.  Anasazi Beans are also a good source of calcium and iron.  What is great is that Anasazi Beans contain significantly less gas producing carbohydrates than Pinto Beans, thus resulting in a generally milder gastro-intestinal experience!  Plus, the beans take less time to cook than Pinto Beans.

Here is a great way to cook them:

Soak 2 Cups of Anasazi Beans overnight and then drain.  Rinse and drain again.  In general, soaking beans help to soften them for cooking, reduce indigestible oligosaccharides (sugars), begin the germination process for improved nutrition, lower the gas producing carbohydrates and provide a cleansing rinse.

Pour beans into a large pot and add 6 Cups water.

Add 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

Add 1 teaspoon of Real Salt

Optional - Add a chopped onion or 1/2 Cup of rehydrated onions from your food storage.

Optional - Add a clove of garlic or 1 teaspon granulated garlic

Optional - Add a whole chili pepper (my favorite is the Serrano) and remove before serving

Bring the mixture to a boil and then allow to simmer for 1 hour with the lid slightly vented.  If the beans are still hard continue cooking until soft.  Serve in a bowl with a side plate of warm tortillas or bread!