Junk food has a dubious reputation, to say the least of it. Now and then I put a different twist on junk food by making a soup from the “junk” that’s crowding my freezer.

Earlier this week, I put two cups of dried pinto beans to soak overnight. The next morning, I drained them and divided them between two containers, which I froze.

Today I took out one container of the pintos, and put them in a big pot with some water. In went chopped onion and minced garlic. Sliced carrot and diced potato went in next.

Now for the really junky part. I had used part of a can of peas for something, and frozen the rest. Ditto a can of green beans. When I made cauliflower tikka masala, I had almost half a can of tomato sauce left over. I poured the tomato sauce into the container with the green beans to save space.

By yesterday I had almost run out of room in the freezer, and it was time to do something about it. Hence the “junk soup”.

Since my diagnosis of pre-diabetes two months ago, I’ve been making a real effort to curb the non-nutritious food: chips; candy bars; ice cream; and such. Yes, I still eat them, but work to minimize them.

How about ride food, though? Clif Bars, Quest Bars, and similar foods? They aren’t meant to be eaten as casual snacks. During rides that are long enough for you to need to eat, their density is more sustaining than, say, potato chips could ever be.

Sometimes I use Combos® as ride food; but they lack “oomph”. So would many snacks on the store shelves. I think I’ll leave the junk food on those shelves. Even though I still like them, I want FOOD for my rides.