I’m going to piggy back on the original “Black Beans & Lentil Soup” focus, and go off on tangents as I normally do.
For some reason this morning, I hadn’t cooked any bacon in the microwave before my two hard boiled eggs were hardboiled. I make a delicious, to me, egg salad and normally have it on sourdough bread (often toasted) and a couple of slices of bacon, but not this morning. I had recently watched a YouTube video that mentioned the merits of eating avocados regarding Type 2 diabetes. So that’s probably why the thought came more quickly to me that I could mash up some avocado to eat with my egg salad and sourdough bread. I had a small avocado, and decided to cut it in half. I mashed some for the egg salad and it was delicious! I would definitely do that again. I plan to make some guacamole with the other half of avocado and add a tomatillo, plain Greek yogurt and maybe some sour cream, and cilantro.
I’ve always got a problem with buying avocados, either buying them too ripe, or buying them too hard to use for several days. And, there is no good way to use half of an avocado, unless you make guacamole out of the rest. If I had a graveyard for every avocado that has gone brown before I could use it, I would have to name it “Arlington Avocado Cemetery.” I made another “batch” of Black Bean & Quinoa yesterday, and it is delicious again. It goes well with my homemade salsa and guacamole. So, it makes sense for me to buy another avocado, and half it. Half for another egg salad breakfast, and half for more guacamole for the Black Beans & Quinoa.
Another thought I had recently was to buy a new waffle iron. I have one that flips when you cook, but the oil drips out from the edges when you flip the waffle iron. I just want a flat iron, perhaps with those deep Belgian waffle indentations. *The old iron would go to the thrift store.
I was looking for my vinegar, turmeric & fenugreek drink and I must be out. I’m thinking of grating both raw ginger and fresh turmeric root for this drink. I liked the ginger fibers swishing around in the liquid. The flavor I’m going for is similar to a “store bought” drink with similar ingredients, but the store bought drink didn’t have enough vinegar. I see the note that says vinegar may attack tooth enamel.
I was in Walmart looking for Ball/Mason jar bean sprouter lids and asked one of the Walmart staff where they might be. I noticed that she had a “fancy” box cutter and I asked her about it. I also asked if I could take a picture of it and she showed it to the camera. I see that Amazon has these Klever X-Change Safety Cutters for sale at about $12@.
Oh, I thought I had come up with an easy, cheap way to make my own “regular” Ball/Mason Jar bean sprouter. I saw a grease splash guard in Ollies, but realized that I could probably buy it at Dollar Tree for $1.25, and I did. The unforeseen problem was that I couldn’t find scissors, snips or shears that would cut the thin mesh screen. I had even drawn a dark circle around a Mason Jar lid with a black permanent marker, but scissors just wouldn’t cut it. I guess I’m going to have to buy one (just 1) online. I’ve seen one that has feet on the rim, so you just flip the jar upside down and the air can get in, and the moisture can get out.
Before I left home this morning to buy more groceries, I fished out the third item I had bought at Dollar Tree, a red plastic coated pair of kitchen shears. I bought these because they had a bottle opener grip in the handle. In the moment, I thought to try and use these shears to see if they would cut the wire mesh of the splash guard. And what, they did!
I cut around the black line I had traced on the mesh and then put it easily in the jar lid. I screwed on the lid, no problem. I put some mung beans in the jar and added some water. I put the lid back on and turned the jar upside down and the water easily flowed out of the jar. I even filled the jar through the mesh instead of taking the lid off again.
Now, I just have to come up with a way to tilt the jar to allow air & water flow. *The answer to this problem was simple. I had some black cereal bowls that have high sides and one of these was perfect. I put the jar upside down in the bowl, and tilted the jar. The lid came to rest on the opposite side and this left the perfect amount of room for air to get in and any moisture to leak out.
I fished around and found a black sock that I cut the toe out of and slipped the sock around the jar. Perfect! I used the sock a few times, but have found it not necessary for the mung beans to sprout successfully. 1/3 Cup of Mung beans produces about 4 oz. of sprouts and I use one of the nut boxes (cashews, pumpkin seeds from Food Lion) to store them in the fridge.
I’ve got a small amount of mung beans in their water for the first 12 hours of soaking.
[04/13/25]: I dumped the Mung bean sprouts into a plastic container tonight for the fridge. I also added some of them to my cabbage slaw and it worked well. My first attempt at bean spouting was such a success that I plan to try brown lentils next. I think I can start them tonight and by the time I finish the Mung bean sprouts (3 or 4 days) the lentil sprouts should almost be ready. [end]
I had a slight problem finding the mung beans to use for sprouting. I went to Sprouts (how appropriate) and they no longer sold them. I then went to the “Apple Crate Naturals” health food store and they didn’t have any, but the clerk suggested I try Sun Asian Super Market. I knew right where it was and sure enough, they had a small bag of vacuum packed mung beans by “Asian Best,” for only $.99. *I did buy a small amount of Taco Seasoning at Apple Crate and plan to mix it with some ground sirloin from the Fresh Market.
*One note on blocking light from getting to the sprouts is to use an old sock, and pull it up around the glass jar. Makes sense. **I’ve not seen any sprouting lids that fit regular jar lids, they are all for wide-mouth jars, but that problem was fixed when I was able to make my own mesh lid.
Oh, I found my $340 Walmart receipt, and also the $60 receipt from later that day (04/04/25). I’ve also spend another $100 a couple of days later. So, $500 to fight Trumpflation. *Yes, I’ve spent $500 on goods, but how much interest could I get on that same amount over a 3 months period? Yeah, if goods go up like I think they might, it’s a no brainer. Buy now, save later.
I had marked on my grocery list today, to buy beans: black beans, cannellini, garbanzo, and green beans. I also wanted to buy some raw ginger and fresh turmeric root. I found the ginger & turmeric roots at Harris Teeter. I then went to the back and got a tub of Greek God’s Yogurt – Plain. As I walked away from the freezer, I noticed there was a wall of beans & tomatoes in cans at the end of the aisle. I looked and they had the Harris Teeter brand of black beans, cannellini, and garbanzo beans. They were on special for 3 cans for $2. What’s that? 67 cents each?
*Well, I go back the next day to buy a few more cans of these beans, and they’re not on this sale any more. They have been moved to the regular aisle and now they are $.99 @. And, I went to two different HTs and they were not on special at either place. I also found that the HT store brand of “Roadrunner Raspberry,” was no longer available. In fact the special black containers with the swirly design was not to be found.
During the last Election Trump was talking about how bad the Economy was. But, I kept pointing out that Rooms to Go had said they were going to add more facility in 2025, and that Wawa, and Sheetz had built new stores in several locations. I was buying thick cut pork chops for about $1.75 per pound. What bad Economy? Oh… I didn’t know that once Donald Trump got into office he would cause “the bad Economy,” with his tariffs. And, he and others will talk about how Joe Biden was the cause of this bad situation. And, the blind will remain blind. **I’m surprised by the Stock Market recovering so well today.
Oh, oh. I may try my new toaster oven in the place where my ice shredder is located. I can move the ice shredder over to the mobile kitchen island.
Bill Gibson, II 