"Just add beans, pulses and lentils"

[Hagrod]

I am sick of hearing this advice given when food poverty is being discussed!

"Just add beans, pulses and lentils to all your meals, they will give you the protein you need to spread expensive meat and fish further [ad infinitum]."

Like many other people, I do not have packets of beans, pulses and lentils nestled at the back of my cupboards just waiting for the day I am so starving I need to add them to a bowl of soup. I would have to go out and buy them, I assume they are not given away for free.

I just think it's such a cliched piece of advice that has been meted out to 'the peasants' for decades now and I wish they'd stop it.

The voice of doom.
Maybe you need to read more recipe books?

@Dixiechickonhols ooh I’ll try that with jarred peppers. I used to blacken peppers when I had a gas cooker and use them in soups but not very effective on an induction job 😁

Bizarre thing to get annoyed over. They are cheap, useful and healthy ingredients to keep in your cupboard. I often make a veggie and lentil lasagne or a batch of lentil and veg soup to freeze if I have leftover fresh veg to use up.

That is exactly how I cook as well. It is good advice for people who are basically okay but need to save money. I have also been in real food poverty and cooking dishes with mince and pulses is not cheap enough food.

Me neither.

Remember you have to take into account cooking costs as well usually on a pre pay meter which is more expensive.

Try soaking them for a couple of days,until shoots appear.this makes them easier to digest

Haven’t rtwt but I always have tins of green lentils, mixed beans, mixed beans in chilli sauce…super quick, no need to soak, five minutes to heat through.

It's excellent advice: they are cheap, healthy and nutritious!

Like many other people, I do not have packets of beans, pulses and lentils nestled at the back of my cupboards just waiting for the day I am so starving I need to add them to a bowl of soup. I would have to go out and buy them, I assume they are not given away for free.

I think we all have to buy them...?!

They are great for stretching a meal, but on their own are certainly not going to solve the cost of living crisis. Bought dry (cheapest form), they need to be soaked and boiled (ie you need gas/electricity) but you also need to know how to flavour them. Indian pulses curries are often cited as a way to cook very frugally but you need a fair amount of spices to make them palatable.
I saw a YouTube video recently where she boiled lentils and white rice and just mixed them together for 'a delicious budget meal'. There was no seasoning or spices used whatsoever, there was no way it delicious!
I'm also intrigued at an above poster making chana masala for 3 people with 1 tin of chickpeas. Is this the vegan version of the MN chicken?

This.

Yes, cooking from scratch with beans and lentils is great. But you can only do that if you had someone to teach you the basics of cooking from scratch, and you have time to do it, equipment to cook with, money for the gas or electric to run your stove. People most in need of help at the moment might not have any of these -- so cookery advice is just ignoring the abominable state our society has got into.

TightDiamondShoes - thanks for that link. There are some lovely recipes on there which I'm keen to try. I love Indian food and always have a few packs and tins of lentils and beans in the store cupboard.

This weekend I'll be doing the Sainsbury's website recipe for bolognese which uses half lentils. I love it and like to batch cook it so that I have something in the freezer for occasions I don't want to cook. I'll be making a lovely dahl as well.

Fair enough if people don't like them or react badly, but the basic advice is very good, both economically and for health reasons.

They are cheap, nutritious, can be eaten cold out the can or cooked in a meal. I've been THAT poor before and it may seem patronising advice but it is good advice

Yes totally, the 'just add lentils!' is a very MC statement that has very little relation to food poverty.

What does it taste like?

I can’t eat beans, pulses or lentils. I’d be in agony with stomach pain and likely shit myself to death. I can’t eat pasta either.

We can't help your lack of cooking skill or ability to plan ahead, sorry.

I do use things like chickpeas and lentils to bulk things out, in moderation as too much sends my guts on strike, but I have learned how to add, how much to add, how to cook things til you can't tell those extras are there... and yes, it's useful, sensible advice.

If you want to make it difficult, well sure - anyone can do that with any bit of advice.

I got a combination air fryer/pressure cooker because it will save me money in the long run... but, shock horror, I did have to go and buy it in the first place. It didn't arrive by magic, free, from the 'save your ass some money' fairies.

Anyone suggesting pulses, herbs and spices (you don't need the full range) will be doing it as a long term plan, and obviously they cost money but overall less. There's only two of us most of the time and our food bill is within £50pw including 1-2 bottles alcohol, cleaning items - our food bill could easily be less if I put my mind to it. We eat a fair amount of pasta, rice, pulses, eggs and cheese.

This! I've never heard anyone else admit it though. 😅

By the way, pulses include beans and lentils: "The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recognizes 11 types of pulses: dry beans, dry broad beans, dry peas, chickpeas, cow peas, pigeon peas, lentils, Bambara beans, vetches, lupins and 'pulses not elsewhere specified'" – I think that last one includes peanuts, because they are legumes not really nuts at all. I was warned against them when I was first being diagnosed with this wretched allergy, but I never liked even the smell of them so I hadn't tried them. Maybe I was lucky!

Having to avoid soya protein and pea protein means I can almost never eat ready-made anything, because so many prepared foods include them to bulk out the more expensive proteins.

There’s different levels of food poverty though. Obviously if you are in a b & b with a kettle handy tips for adding lentils to mince is a no go.
But if you are in the I’ve got £30 for the week then bulking a pack of mince with lentils is good advice.
What’s obvious to you isn’t obvious to some especially if you haven’t grown up that way with home cooking and stretching meat.

What a lot of folk don't understand is it's lack of familiarity and confidence. It seems easy to adapt recipes and use new ingredients if you grew up in a house with confident cooks, or you have exposure to different cuisines. Many folk living in poverty won't have that life experience.

It’s not bad advice to try maybe along with recipes. It won’t agree with everyone health or taste wise but will with some. I j

One issue in areas with high poverty is what local stores have which is often less healthy. It can be expensive to travel especially to cheaper places like Aldi/Lidl. I’m disabled but not in poverty - mine is nowhere near a bus route and it would use up any savings in a taxi to get there when I can walk/bus to sainsburys.

I don't like them either. Horrible things.

Bulk it out with Lentils is such a MN cliche much like massive salads and feeding the 5 thousand with one chicken.

Lots of cheeses, particularly hard ones, are very low in lactose and so are edible to people with lactose intolerance. It isn't a silly suggestion.