Bean night...that's how we pay for olive oil

In the past eight months of marriage I've spent more money on groceries than I ever have in my entire life. Take my bottle of olive oil for example. The olives are hand picked and certified from Tuscany, and while this may mean nothing to anyone else, the olives are cold pressed! Cold pressed! My excitement rests on this very fact. Allow me to explain, olives are harvested in the winter. The best oil pressers will keep their olives cold as the oil is extracted to prevent any degradation of flavor and quality. This kind of oil which Homer rightly described as "liquid gold" is rich, with grassy and slightly spicy and citrus tones. It costs about 25 bucks for every 250 mL (8.4 oz). Yeah, I know expensive. But so worth it. If our apartment ever goes on fire we are not leaving that bottle of olive oil behind!

Anyways, back to the beans. We have a pretty strict (college student) budget, yet somehow I convinced Zac that expenses for recreation, miscellaneous, clothing, and even emergency fund should either contribute to or completely be dissolved into the groceries fund.  Marriage has brought out the food obsessed person within me. It has made me want to cook everything from scratch even though I am sure children will change that desire soon after their arrival. But, most of all it has made it so that the highlight of my day, everyday, is based on whether Zac wants seconds for dinner. Food expenditures have been a little high lately to fulfill the daily high I get from cooking dinner. It gets a little crazy when I rather buy a pound of chantarelles or a 25lb. bag of flour than go out for the night to the movies or something else most people think is so much more worth the money. So, I've compromised. I get to buy ingredients if once a week we have a rice and beans night. It's genius. These nights dinner costs about 30 cents a person. Which means we will probably have more than one bean night a week in the near future since I have a duck project coming up.

To be honest, I did NOT want to do have bean nights. But Zac convinced me that I could still make something I was pleased with. So we are giving it a try. We've done lima beans, black beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans, but my favorite is the lentil. Technically its not a bean...but both are seeds from specific legumes, and both are super rich in protein, fiber, and nutrients.

Lentils with carrots is so good and simple. It really is an upgrade to most rice and bean dishes I've made, which really isn't saying very much since I'm not very creative on these nights. If you're looking for a money saving, tasty, vegetarian meal this is the one!

2 cloves of minced garlic
1/4 onion
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 cup green lentils
1-2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups chicken/beef/vegetable stock ( I buy mine at dollar stores, best deal ever)
1-3cups (as needed) water
3 medium sized carrots - diced
parsley to garnish

Soak lentils 30 min

saute garlic and diced onions in olive oil until translucent (careful not to burn garlic)
add bay leaf, season salt and pepper

add lentils and stock, let simmer at low boil for about 12 min, then add the carrots

allow to cook on medium low for another 15 min, adding water as needed.
Taste for some quality control and add s&p as needed.
When it is done, it should be tender and most of the liquid absorbed.
Serve over rice and feed to hungry husbands!

This meal cost less than 1.50 and yielded a significant amount of left overs!
My mom would have made the lentils with ham hocks and spinach...now theres an idea.
Bon Appétit