Easy Recipe for the End of the Month Stretch

I received an e-mail from a friend earlier this week who is expecting her third child in November:

"I am trying to meal plan for November and I am bored with all my recipes. Since I don't plan on leaving the house much, there are a lot of days to plan for! If you get a chance, can you send me your favorite easy recipe?"

I have been wanting to post this recipe for some time, but her e-mail motivated me to share it now.

I threw this together one night when I was first married and not feeling well. I was looking for something easy that I could make with what I had on hand and had minimal cleanup because our apartment didn't have a dishwasher. The bonus is that it is a very inexpensive dish to make, so if you are looking for a nutritious meal to help stretch your budget at the end of the month this is it! My little experiment was successful, and it has remained one of our favorites!

Beans and Rice

Serves 3-4 main dish servings. This recipe can easily be multiplied for larger families or if you are having guests. If you have leftovers you freeze it in individual serving containers for when you are too busy or tired to cook.

I strongly recommend canned beans instead of dried beans for this dish. In my opinion, the flavor is much better with the canned beans.

1 can corn (.42 can Wal-Mart)
1 can black beans (.49 can Aldi)
1 can kidney beans (Even though it is more expensive than Aldi or Wal-Mart, I like the Kroger brand best for this as the syrup is thicker .56 can)
long grain white rice (Amount will vary based on your family. Price has been about .66/lb lately)
shredded cheese for topping
salsa (optional)

Open all the cans.
Drain retaining a thick coating of juice on the beans. Do not rinse the corn or beans.
Place corn in pot and turn burner to medium heat.
In a separate pot put water in pot for rice turn on high.
Cook corn for a few minutes, while water for rice is preparing to boil.
Stir corn so it doesn't stick to bottom. You want to place the corn in the pot and start to cook them before the beans or they will be undercooked and crunchy.
Place rice in water once it is boiling. Cook as directed.
Place both cans of beans in with corn and stir.
Continue to stir mixture periodically to avoid having beans stick to bottom of pot. If the mixture is cooked at a temperature too high or not stirred they will burn!
Mixture will become thicker as beans start to become mushy. You can have either moist where basically the beans are just heated or you can have it a bit drier and the beans are mushier.
In general, I use the rice as the timer at my house for when the beans should be cooked.
Turn off rice and bean mixture when cooked.
Layer rice then bean mixture.
Top with shredded cheese.
You may also top with salsa (My husband prefers having this addition.)

I have occasionally used the mixture as a baked potato topping, but I like it better served over rice.

If you have a favorite easy recipe to share with us please leave a comment. If you have a blog you can provide a direct link to the recipe. You can find some other recipes that I have shared here.