lentils!

Next week my husband and I will be going on vacation! It will be our first vacation since our honeymoon over three years ago.  As you might imagine, we are extremely excited to trade in this wintery weather for sunny beaches and palm trees! This weeks blog focuses on saving money through our food choices so that we might have the extra cash to really enjoy ourselves while on vacation. We have been working hard the past few weeks to really tighten our belts and save money wherever possible, one area that we really saw improvement in was our food choices. By buying bulk dried goods from the super market/whole foods mart we are able to save a bundle while also making delicious and wholesome foods!

This week I made a huge batch of lentils! Cheap, nutritious, and delicious. Lentils are a legume; high in fiber, iron, protein, B1, folate and molybdenum. The latter, molybdenum is something I had never heard of until I did research into lentils.  It is a nutritional element that is necessary for the body to function properly, funny I had never heard of this before!   This element helps transport iron from the liver, enhance tooth enamel, metabolize fats and may even have anti-free radical properties... What an amazing element this is and it is found in great numbers in lentils! 

Lentils are thought to be one of the first cultivated crops in human history. Lentils were eaten by early humans since prehistoric times. They migrated from Asia to Africa, Europe and India with the early human trade routes that popped up across the lands. India uses lentils heavily in their cuisine, since a majority of Indians are vegetarian lentils make for a great protein option. 

I made a simple lentil meal this week, it is amazing how delicious lentils are with little to no spice or flavor enhancements. Here is how I prepared mine, but do try experimenting with lentils, it will be worth it!

Lentils and rice

5 carrots, chopped roughly

1 head of garlic, chopped roughly

1 medium onion, chopped roughly

salt

pepper

chili powder

2 cups of cleaned, dried lentils (I used green)

6 cups of water

Saute the onions, garlic and carrots in olive oil, on medium heat, until they begin to get tender.   Then toss in the cleaned lentils and let them cook for about a minute with the vegetables. Add the water and stir.  Cover the mixture and reduce the heat to low, you want the liquid to be simmering, not boiling.   Let it simmer, covered for about 1 hour. You want the lentils to fall apart in your fingers, if they are not soft, cook them for another 20 minutes and check again. Add salt to taste along with pepper and a dash of chili pepper powder. Serve this over prepared rice or noodles and enjoy!  

We ate this for 5 days in a row, first few nights we served the lentils over rice, then we bought a box of pasta shells and had the lentils over them, how delicious it was!   

- Night Owl Gal