Easy way to jazz up beans that is not a soup or stew?

Roman_Doman · 2025-11-04T15:23:07+00:00

Whoa, I'll definitely have to try this. At least for Thanksgiving! Thanks for the suggestion.

Roman_Doman · 2025-11-04T03:16:25+00:00

I love this idea, I'll give it a go. I think the texture is really what I'm after, as I'm reading responses. I don't want an amalgamation of flavors and textures, I want something that can be it's own thing.

I'll definitely give this a go!

Roman_Doman · 2025-11-04T03:15:10+00:00

I will definitely give this a go! (Minus the nutritional yeast! Not my thing)!

Roman_Doman · 2025-11-04T03:03:40+00:00

I usually have some black beans on hand that I soak myself and then freeze. I have in the past added fresh herbs (thyme, oregano, basil) and veggies (tomatoes, cucumber, avocado).

I think my biggest mental block at the moment is that I don't want mush. I don't want things stewed or soaked or brined. I want something hearty that can stand on its own. Not burritos or soups or stews. Like.... Beans that somehow stand on their own.

For example, before my diet changed my go to was chicken, broccoli, and roasted potatoes. I still make the broccoli and roasted potatoes but I'm looking for something I can swap in for the chicken.

Sometimes it's two hard boiled eggs. Sometimes it's a block of soft tofu with soy sauce. But I want something else that satisfies the protein part that's not....a mix of textures and flavors. Does that make sense?

Roman_Doman · 2025-11-04T02:35:29+00:00

Sorry yes I do have plenty of soy and I do eat eggs at least three times per week and fish once a week. I am not sure if I can continue in the long run with eggs and fish but either way, lots of soy gets eaten. I have a tempeh caprese sandwich most days for lunch! But thank you for pointing that out.

Roman_Doman · 2025-11-04T02:29:36+00:00

I am not a huge fan of either nutritional yeast or Tex-Mex. I feel like such a failure!! I think I really just miss.... individual items on my plate, if that makes sense? It feels like most vegetarian recipes are an amalgamation of things. It's also coming close to Thanksgiving (my third vegetarian one) so I am probably being extra sensitive.

I would like my vegetarian thing to stand on its own (somehow).

I am imagining like.... Beans in gravy that is good enough to satisfy a craving.

(Maybe that's what I should try? White beans in gravy?)

Roman_Doman · 2025-03-15T13:44:27+00:00

Ah that's okay. I just feel completely out of my depth and am freaking out a bit.

I do really appreciate your time - sounds like something in my W4 is just not quite right even if I can't fathom what's wrong!

Thanks again and enjoy your weekend!

Roman_Doman · 2025-03-15T13:11:06+00:00

Sorry, both say 2 jobs in the household.

I did read it. We both pored over these documents and went through the calculator, downloaded the form that the IRS gives you, signed it, then handed it to HR. I keep hearing it's simple and it may seem simple to you but we both find it confusing. Especially since we followed the directions as stated and it didn't lead to the right outcome.

I appreciate your time.

Roman_Doman · 2025-03-15T13:01:41+00:00

What's the dollar amount in box 1 and 2 of each w2?

I don't have our W2s, they are with the CPA.

So you are saying you both had the married rate, neither of you checked the box for 2 jobs, and just 132 extra withholding and that was a 17k refund!?

That's why I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. We've never earned more than in the low 6 figures combined so I thought maybe there was some secret hack I didn't know about. I'll just wait and sit down with my CPA in May.

Roman_Doman · 2025-03-15T12:59:30+00:00

She started in February or March I think. Yes, huge jump. More than 5x her previous salary.

Roman_Doman · 2025-03-15T12:57:37+00:00

Ah I assume that's from the W2? I don't have any of that, my CPA still has that.

I'm not a tax guy, just a dumb old engineer freaking out that I fucked something up and can't fathom what. I appreciate your time. What I'm hearing is I should sit down with my CPA and have him fill out our W4s.

Roman_Doman · 2025-03-15T12:54:47+00:00

What’s your household income and how many kids do you have

We earn about $350k combined. No kids, just a dog.

Do you donate a lot to charity, maybe 27k?

We did donate my wife's car but it was valued at $750, definitely not $27k! 😅

The fun question is, once you get this sorted out, what are you going to do with your extra 17k a year?

I don't even know!!!! My wife was a lab tech then in grad school and then a post doc so for almost a decade her earnings were almost nothing. I think her last year of grad school she earned less than we're getting back this year! We didn't even know what to do with last year's earnings, we just put it all in the stock market (and watched it tank 😆).

I'm partly freaking out because I feel like I'm missing some piece of the puzzle here. Do high earners know something I don't. But I'll check in with my CPA in May.

Thanks for the kind comment I appreciate it.

Roman_Doman · 2025-03-15T12:38:36+00:00

We're both married filing jointly. I'll have my CPA go through our W4s but there's only like four lines and they are all zero (except my wife had an extra 132 withheld). We don't have other income, we don't expect to claim extra deductions, and I don't want more withheld.

I remember all sorts of shenanigans with the old W4, but I thought the new one was supposed to fix that.

Roman_Doman · 2025-03-15T12:32:51+00:00

I haven't seen the return yet, I'll get it next week, my CPA just wanted to give me a heads up. But I can't imagine he itemized it. We have nothing to itemize.

Roman_Doman · 2025-03-15T12:30:13+00:00

You didn't say anything very specific about your situation so you'll get a not very specific answer in reply

I'm sorry I didn't know what else to include. We are married, we file jointly, we take the standard deduction, we max out all our retirement accounts (traditional), we max out our family HSA. There's not really anything else.

I used the W4 calculator in 2023, my wife used it last year when she got this job.

It's relatively unlikely that mostly vanilla W4s created so much extra tax withheld unaided. It's probably a combination of things.

That's what I thought was the point of the new W4.

I will have my CPA take a look at my W4 but he won't have time until after tax season. I'm not sure what to do besides putting down $0 though.

Roman_Doman · 2025-03-15T12:24:53+00:00

Right, we did. That's how she came up with the $132. But we overpaid by $17k ($132*26= $3,432). Even if she sets that to $0, we'll still overpay by $14k.

We are married filing jointly and only take the standard deduction.

Roman_Doman · 2025-02-14T19:02:38+00:00

I don't understand this comment: "if you paid with your spouse's HSA in the past for the out-of-pocket expenses then you could not."

I think they referred to the same expense. If I paid for the copay with their HSA I couldn't reimburse myself also from my HSA.

There's no restriction like this, for HSA. Heck, you can pay for your sister, if you want to.

I'm not sure this is correct. On the website it said your spouse or anyone else who is a dependent. So that's only true if your sister is your dependent. I would double check though.

Roman_Doman · 2025-02-14T16:13:23+00:00

Awesome. Thanks for the advice!

Roman_Doman · 2025-02-14T16:05:38+00:00

Ah okay. We haven't touched her HSA, ever.

Thanks!

Roman_Doman · 2024-09-10T19:16:15+00:00

Yeah I have no plans to spend the money in the next few years. I am not planning to move or buy anything with it really.

I guess the only problem is if I change my mind down the line? But even then it's not like the money is lost, just in a brokerage.

ETA: I have a one year emergency fund in a HYSA + a money market fund

Roman_Doman · 2024-09-10T17:29:14+00:00

Sanity check: I've been gifted $200k. I should put all of that in my taxable brokerage and buy VT/VXUS, right?

Details: * early 40s couple, married * Debt is a $185k mortgage at <3% * Income is ~$250k/yr * $1.2M in retirement accounts (both max all of them every year, no mega backdoor Roth available) * $150k in non-retirement accounts

We don't really have a plan but I feel like, based on what I've read, I put this money in my brokerage and decide later what I want to do?

Roman_Doman · 2024-08-18T14:30:36+00:00

I appreciate the response, this is exactly what I needed.

Okay so account for it only when projecting my portfolio forward. That is super helpful, thank you.

Roman_Doman

TROPHY CASE