A Wife Loved Like The Church

Our family goes through beans like water. Bean and cheese tacos are consumed with delight. Almost every day. Which is great for this mama, because they are easy and always a sure win with both girls.

I’ve been making my own beans for a while that we usually eat within a few days, but decided to make enough to freeze.

Sort through your beans, discarding any beans that are split, halved or peeling.

Julia was insistent that the black beans were pinto and the pinto were black beans. I tried correcting her several times before I just dropped it. She smiled. I think she was just pulling my leg and I totally fell for it.

Wash your beans thoroughly.

Place in a large stock pot and cover with water. Put on a lid.

And wait.

And wait.

I try to let my beans soak at least 12 hours. What more information on why we soak beans? Check this out.

The next day I pour out all the water and rinse the beans thoroughly again. You’ll notice that the beans aren’t nearly as hard and are much larger.

Place back in the stock pot and cover with water (at least 3/4 full). I always add salt. I’d suggest at least a teaspoon to give it more flavor. For pinto beans, add in an onion cut into quarters (and if you have cooked bacon, add that too!).

Cook the beans on medium low heat, with the lid partially on (this allows them to still boil – more of a simmering boil) for about 3 hours, or until done.

Once they are done, allow to cool. Then bag them in 2 cup incriments (this is the amount in most cans of beans).

I didn’t have hardly any pinto beans, because we ate most of them before I got the chance to bag them. I started out with 2 cups of dried organic beans and walked away with 6 cups of black beans and 2 cups of pintos. Now, it might seem like a lot of work for such little return, but there is very little hands on time, the cost is super low (less than $3 for all the beans) and the benefits to making your own beans is worth the effort!

You read that right. $38.25 to restock my pantry.

Amazing.

I went with Leah to Central Discount Grocery, which is a local discount store about 20 minutes from where we live. They sell expired or past date boxed items for pennies on the dollar. But last year, I decided I needed to get over my pickiness about that sorta thing. And now, I love it! Here’s a snap shot of what I scored today:

I couldn’t fit everything into one picture, so I left out items. In total, this is what I got:

– five boxes of individually packaged sun crystals (raw sugar)

– two boxes of Back to Nature cookies

– two boxes of Immaculate cookies

– four bottles of Classico spaghetti sauce

– two boxes of Back to Nature vanilla wafers

– one bag of rice crackers

– one box of Moon Pies (not the healthy things, but nothing says summer more than moon pies and RC cola)

– two bags of Smart Food popcorn clusters

– one bag of Back to Nature cherry granola

– six boxes of Cascadian Farms granola bars

– four boxes of Cascadian Farms cereal

– two boxes of Mother’s cereal

– four cans of Ro-tel

– two cans of Hunt’s all-natural tomato sauce

– four cans of Hunt’s all-natural dice tomatoes

– six boxes of Earth’s Best sunny day snack bars (granola bars for kiddos)

– two bottles of Annie’s organic BBQ sauce

– one bottle of Spectrum organic ranch dressing

– one bottle of Briannas blue cheese dressing

– one bottle of Welch’s reduce sugar jelly

– two boxes of Nature’s Path organic oatmeal (with cranberries and flaxseed)

– one box of Back to Nature’s cheddar crackers

Whew! Just writing that made me excited!! I don’t know what the grand total would be if I had paid full price, but I’d be willing to bet it’d be close to $150-200. I think Crystal of Money Saving Mom would be proud! 🙂

I am not a breakfast-for-dinner kinda gal. In fact, I firmly believe that eggs are not to be consumed in breakfast fashion after 10 am. But pancakes? Pancakes are a whole different story. Pancakes are so close to cake that, like cake, they may be eaten at any time of the day: morning, noon, night, or late, late night.

I used a basic pumpkin pancake recipe, switching one cup white flour for one cup whole wheat and adding 1/4 cup flax seed.

Mix together the dry ingredients.

Next add your wet ingredients (milk, egg, pumpkin puree, vinegar and oil). Mix until thickened.

When you’re cooking pancakes, wait until it’s “bubbly” to flip. The bubbles let you know the side facing down is done.

These pancakes are very filling and have just the right amount of sweetness. I served the pancakes with turkey bacon and applesauce.

Bon Appetit!