Food Storage: My Adventure With Beans!

Alrightythen. So this week I actually did it! I tried my hand at cooking some dry beans. Holy PROGRESS! Before I could talk myself out of it, I just went into my kitchen, grabbed a quart sized Mason jar, grabbed some pinto beans, stuck a cup of beans in the jar, and then filled it up with water. I had absolutely NO idea what I was going to do with the beans, and NO idea of how to cook them, but I wanted to commit myself before I forgot about it. I left my beans overnight and in the morning they had swelled quite a bit. I drained the water and refilled the jar to give the beans a quick rinse, drained again, and then refilled with fresh water again. Then I put the beans into my crockpot and turned it on low. Again, I was still clueless as to what I was doing, but my SIL says she cooks her beans in the crockpot, so while I was in this crazy “what-the-heck-let’s-just-give-anything-a-try” mood, I decided I’d just throw them in there and see what happened.

Well, they started cooking and I started thinking, “Hm… I should probably throw some sort of seasonings in there.” So at this point I finally jumped on my computer to look up some suggestions. (This is SO unlike me! I’m usually at my computer for hours researching stuff before I ever take a first step! I’m getting so brave! ) Anyway, I found a recipe for refried beans that had some rave reviews, so I figured I’d work with that. I threw in some onions, garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, and let it finish cooking for the rest of the day. At the end of the day, I drained off the beans (and apparently you save the water you drain off) and just started mashing away. I added a little bit of the reserved water when they were looking a little dry, mashed some more, and presto-change-o! Refried Beans! Hubby was utterly impressed when he tasted them. He looked at me and clarified, “You made these from scratch? They taste just like refried beans!” (Ah… I love his faith in me. )

The moral of this story is, if you have been afraid to cook with dry beans, go fill a jar and start them soaking RIGHT NOW! You can do it! (Trust me, if I can do it, ANYONE can do it!) Tomorrow I’ll share the recipe for the refried beans, and this week I’ll try some other types of beans or techniques. We’ll see how crazy I can get.
Enjoy your beans!