With my child care I am part of the “food program”. Â I have to follow guidelines to prepare meals and have specific foods that must be included in each meal. Â One the latest the pushes the guidelines are recommending is to include more beans in the meals we prepare.
I work to do my best to comply. Â Right now we are asked to serve some sort of bean once a week. Â The beans can be any sort of beans that can be dried….limas, kidney, butter, northern, black, etc.
I typically just serve chili or baked beans but honestly, I’m getting bored with them. Â I decided to make some Hoppin’ John. Â I personally love it.
Here’s my recipe.
I started by chopping and sauteing :
1 green pepper
1 onion
I added:
1 can of black eyed peas
1 cup of chopped turkey ham
1 cup of cooked rice
1 cup of chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
1/8 teaspoon of pepper
I let it simmer until most of the liquid was dissolved…then ready to eat.
I served the kids and although they tried it, they weren’t in love with it. Â Me..I love it.
With the leftovers I am going to add a little hot pepper juice from the jalapeno pepper jar. Â Hubby likes things with a little more spice.
Next time around I am starting with dried beans and using the pressure cooker.
The children will learn to enjoy it if you serve it to them every couple weeks.
I grew up eating Hoppin Johns and still fix them very New Year’s Day. I put Celery in mine instead of bell pepper because that’s how Grandma did it! Also I use ham instead of turkey ’cause Grandma did! When I get to really missing her I make a batch!
Hubby is a fan of black eyed peas and there was never anything that appealed to me about them. A few years ago, a friend from the South offered him some she had prepared. He loved them, and so did I. She gave me her recipe that included lots of yummy things like sausage and ham hocks/shanks along with some vegetables. The peas are from scratch and they are an easy fix in the slow cooker, they also freeze like a dream. That means they’re available for Hubby whenever he’s in the mood.
Here’s a bean idea that kids might like. What about cut up vegetables with Hummus (bean dip), Carrots and zucchini sticks? I’m not sure kids would go for celery.
Or what about pulverizing beans and hiding it in other foods. This book might give you some ideas – your local lib might have it. Deceptively delicious : simple secrets to get your kids eating good food / by Jessica Seinfeld.
I make one we call noodle poop . (We have a very dry sender of humorous around here.) I use a can of cream soup (whatever i have on hand), a can of Chili beans with sauce, pasta (I buy vegie pasta) and a bag of whatever vegies I have one hand (green beans, peas, and corn are kidlet faces around here) I also pop Chili powder garlic and onion powder a bit of s&p and if I have fresh herbs I use whatever I have! The kids eat it up and love it! It is also very forgiving and allows for substitutions! Plus I have frozen portions and used them later in the month!