Beans and Fideo Soup

Day three of the Great Freeze. There is no end in sight....

Ever since Covid, there have been a few select staples bought in mass bulk every time: flour 25 lbs at a time and frozen in gallon bags, sugar 20lbs at a time and frozen in quart bags, 4 packs of salted butter and frozen, powdered milk, evaporated milk, beans, rice, noodles, bouillon cubes, canned veggies. It is a good thing there was still a stock pile of staples otherwise this table might have had a tough time surviving on condiment soup. Meals might have been simple but there were sweets everyday to cheer up the cold soul and warm dinners at night to warm the heart. We are doing just fine. Today was a staple Beans and Fideo, slightly modified to soup format.

Ingredients:
1 box fideo
1 tablespoon oil
1 cube tomate de pollo bouillon cube
1 28 oz can pinto beans
28 oz water

Instructions:
To large pot, fry fideo noodles in oil until nice and golden brown. Add beans and tomate cube. To bean can, add small amount of water to wash out starch from can, add to beans. Add remaining water. Cook on low until fideo is soft to desired texture.

Scaled for Likability: Great
All the same great flavors of Beans and Fideo but not a one pot version. The pinto beans were plain but this would have been fabulous with any of the flavored pinto beans: charro, barracho, green chilis and tomatoes, or jalapeno. If one desired even a can of rotel could have been added. The only way this could have been better would to have fresh warm tortillas. Unfortunately, lard was not one of the staples being stored. Going to have remedy that this day forward.

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Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes for flavored tomatoes, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one can tomato sauce, two low sodium chicken and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots, juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green beans and corn tossed in, heat t

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Pictures are deceptive. What this picture of this recipe does not show is how old and faded the print out paper is, how many stains are smudged across various spots, and the numerous notes written in the top right corner with the first one dating back to college days in 2001. Yikes, twenty years ago makes this paper print out old, no wait, that makes me old. Eek. Sadly, my current living quarters do not allow for cooking of this cheesecake. In fact the last time this recipe has been made have been close to six or seven years. That is just too long. Too long. Luckily, we are spending Spring Break at family with a real oven. A family who will help eat this oh so rich, very decadent, supremely yummy cheesecake. Modifications Made: There are four keys to a successful cheesecake. ONE: all ingredients must be room temperature. If your house is ice chest cold, then warm the ingredients on the stovetop. TWO: do not over mix. Excessive mixing creates air pockets resulting in split mi

The Great Freeze 2021 Vegetable Broth

Good grief, this cold snap. Every year I wish and wish for cold weather so this table can eat soups without melting. Well this year winter came and came with a vengeance. Two days below freezing with no water, no power, no internet/cell service. It's the dark ages. If you need more info just search for Texas Grid Failure 2021 . Yes, this tragic affair has its own wiki page. Good grief. Did you know that if temperatures drop below freezing for too long, refrigerators will not keep your cold stuff from freezing? Well, they don't. And with 17℉ temps, this tables fridge contents froze. What to do with a fridge full of frozen fresh veggies? Veggie stock. No recipe was used, it was just all the veggies in the fridge (white and yellow onions, garlic, jalapeno, green onions, three roma tomatoes, celery, two russet potatoes, seven carrots, and a red and green bell pepper) salt and pepper, and enough water to just touch the top layer of veggies. I did not want the veggies floa

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