It's All Fun and Games Until Somebody Breaks a Toe!

Despite the pictures I've put here, it isn't one of the children with a broken toe, it is me. It has made life darn difficult! Don't ask how I broke it, it is just too silly - basically doing something I tell the kids not to do - don't run through the house! My excuse is that I was outside, hanging the laundry and Charlie had woken from a sleep and was crying. Then I ran, and towards the end of my journey my little toe,right foot, met with a metal free-standing towel rack. Ouch! It really hurt, and when I looked at it, it didn't look quite right! Of course I have self diagnosed, but I'm off to see the doctor today. As far as I know, there's nothing much to be done about a breakage, it's treated just like a dislocation or sprain. So I'm hobbling about, trying to rest it, and really finding it to be a nuisance.

However, my sore toe isn't stopping me from blogging, I just haven't been taking enough photos.Mike went away on a school camp and took the camera.Now the battery is flat!

All that aside, here's a recipe I made last night that you might like to try if you are thinking about eating less meat, more beans, and like to use a slow cooker. I love getting dinner on in the morning, it makes the evenings so much easier!

I bought a bag of "black turtle beans" from woolies. it is from there organic/wholefoods range, "macro". I really like the range, it is excellent quality.

I covered them with water and soaked them overnight. Although I read on the net that you can soak for 3-4 hours, I think the long soaking contributed to the lovely silky texture of the beans.

I started the dish by frying 6 chopped rashers of bacon with two chopped onions. It doesn't matter how finely or roughly you chop the bacon and onions. Once they are softened (about 5 minutes), put them in the crock pot with: 2 potatoes,diced, 2 large (or four small) carrots,diced, the drained beans,and enough stock to cover the mix, plus a bit more. I used massel powdered stock, about 4 tablespoons, and I think I probably used 2 litres of water, but it really depends on the size of the crock pot and ingredients. Sorry, it isn't very precise! I cooked it on the "low" setting for 6 hours.

This dish fed my big family of 7 with some to spare for my lunch today. I didn't take a picture, but I'll tell you the black beans make everything colour to a purple hue, which isn't especially appealing, but it is more than made up for through taste. I made some crusty wholemeal buns to accompany the soup, and everyone was full and satisfied!

My goal is to feed the family more meatless meals, and to eat more vegetables for a few reasons:

• It's cheaper to feed a large family,
• Legumes are an excellent source of protein, and recent studies show a high fibre diet will keep diabetes,cancer and other diseases at bay.It has even reversed insulin dependence in some diabetes patients,
• Vegetables will help stave off the winter illnesses.

Now, I shall go surfing (the web, not the ocean unfortunately!) to find some more healthy recipes.