Every week we give Ben $20, and he decides how he is going to use it. Left to his own devices, he would eat out for every single lunch for the rest of his life, but we limit that to once a week. We are trying to encourage budgeting, and his caregivers have been excellent at helping him make good choices, but last week I realized we had some learning gaps. I knew he had eaten at Wendy’s for lunch, and I saw the receipt, but I questioned him as to whether he would have enough for bowling later in the week.
Ben responded, “Yes! It’s fine. All taken care of. I got money back from Wendy’s. I gave them one money and they gave me three moneys back! It’s crazy!”
To clarify, I believe he handed over $20, and got back a ten, two ones, and change. I’m sure Ben just sees getting “three moneys back” as confirmation that he’s awesome, and money has a magical quality of multiplying, but his economist father despairs! Ben has, literally, had money counting on his IEP for a good 13 years, so I’m sure any of his teachers who are reading this are groaning right now, but Ben feels great about his money management.
This week’s cooking followed in the “three moneys back” tradition. Remember the porterhouse steak? Its tour of duty was not done after last week. We saved the bone and threw it into a pot of pinto beans in the slow cooker. We used the delicious beef-infused beans to make some great burritos, and then we turned the leftover beans into Monterrey beans and cheese with rice.
I will dispense with all modesty and tell you that the beef-infused beans were the best pintos I’ve ever had! Monterrey beans and cheese with rice was a favorite of mine growing up, and Phil has come to love it, too. We made and posted this on our first day of pandemic lock-down, but the recipe is marvelously flexible. Originally, it came from the More-with-Less Cookbook (Longacre), but we prefer pintos over kidney beans, and various other changes based on our interests and holdings.
Phil called the meal “extraordinary” though it was thrown together solely from leftovers and perishables growing long in the tooth. The Romaine lettuce and sourdough bread had been languishing, but reinvented in a Caesar salad with croutons, they were fabulous!
Here is the recipe for Monterrey Beans and Cheese:
If you’re looking for three moneys back, we recommend that you buy a deluxe item, like porterhouse steak, and reinvent it. Twice.