My five year old's favorite meal

Several people have suggested that I put pictures up. I've hesitated because I don't have a fancy camera and I'm not a great photographer and I don't have fancy dishes. I don't think I have a full set of matching dishes. BUT...this blog is called dinners for poor people, right? So here goes...

While most 5-year olds are obsessed with mac 'n cheese and hot dogs, mine is obsessed with what she calls "corn, rice, and beans."  We call it tostadas.  There are so many different ways to serve this, that we have it a lot.  Yesterday we had tacos.  I don't know about you, but we always have left over lettuce, tomatoes and shells after we have tacos and we never really end up using them unless we plan for it.  I HATE throwing food away, so I always try to think of at least 3 meals that use these ingredients so we don't end up letting it spoil in the fridge. 

Here's the basic recipe:

1 cup uncooked rice
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, rinsed.

Cook the rice according to package directions.  Stir in corn and beans. 
That's it.  What I love even more about the meal is that it provides you with all of the nutrients necessary to sustain life.  If this were the only thing you could afford to feed your family every day, you could rest assured that their health wasn't being damaged. 

There are a couple of things you can add to this to make it a little more tasty.  You can add sour cream and or salsa or BBQ sauce.  Just whatever you have on hand.  We always top it with shredded cheddar, though.  We like cheese.  And today, because we had leftover perishables from the night before, we added tomatoes and lettuce and taco shells.  My five year old broke the shells into chips and used them as spoons.  Kind of like nachos.  Sometimes we make homemade tortillas, spray them with cooking spray on both sides, and then toast them in the oven.  Or we just wrap all of the ingredients into a tortilla shell.