Meatless Mexican Filling

For more dishes using beans go to Frugal Upstate. She has also collected links for eggs and tuna in previous weeks.

My husband is a true meat and potatoes man. I made macaroni and cheese for supper one night and he asked where the rest was. He had no clue people actually eat "just" mac and cheese for supper around the world and don't die of starvation. He told me not to ever just have it for supper again that it needed something else with it. So now, when I don't have supper and I could have grabbed a box of mac and cheese I just tell him to find something himself. See, he could have had mac and cheese but now he has nothing. He doesn't complain about food anymore.

I tell this story to now let you know how well this dish stands up to meat in a fight. We were served this dish when we had our 3rd child- 12 years ago. No meat, just beans and rice in burritos with cheese. He loved it! He has asked for it. Try it.

3/4 cup dry brown lentils
1/2 c brown rice
1/4 cup onion flakes
2 bouillon cubes
3 c chicken stock
1/2 tsp dried sweet basil
1/4 tsp each: oregano, thyme and garlic

Combine all ingredients in a 9x13, or whatever they are, pan. Bake at 300 degrees degrees for two and a half hours. Add cheese the last 10 minutes of baking. Use this in tacos, burritos, or casseroles.

You can increase the recipe and it freezes well.

The person who made this for us 12 years ago was Sandy at Under the Son. I posted about finding her again after years through a comment she left on my blog. Her son made bags of the dry ingredients above and sold them to people at church. He was like 12 years old.