I\’ve been up to more shenanigans in the kitchen.

And what, you may wonder, does The Complete Tightwad Gazette have to do with that? The book includes a letter from a subscriber to the newsletter telling how to greatly reduce cooking time for dried beans. Soak the beans overnight; drain them; and freeze them. They\’ll cook soft much more quickly.

A couple of months ago, on a visit to the salvage store, I found a can of Pace Taco Complete. I bought it and brought it home.

I\’m not about to try keeping taco shells; they\’ll never stay crisp in this humid climate. While I like tacos, I\’ve always found them annoyingly messy to eat. How does one keep that shell from cracking, and spilling the filling everywhere? But taco filling doesn\’t have to go in taco shells.

I first tried Taco Complete in lentils. I cooked up two cups of dried lentils, then added the can of taco filling. It not only tasted good, but made the filling go much farther. I soon began to think of other experiments.

Black beans came next. \”Taco black\” is good, too. I cooked up this mixture two days before Easter, and  froze most of it for later. I moved the most recent hot dog tikka masala from the freezer to the fridge, so it would thaw in time for Easter.

Wait a minute. I had plebeian hot dogs for Easter? Not steak? Whoever wants steak may have it, but it\’s too expensive for me. Besides, if all I need to do is heat and eat, I\’ll have more time for further shenanigans in the kitchen.