I stumbled upon this video and thought it was great.

It’s true–we all need to be storing food that our families will actually eat. A lot of people default to canned and otherwise processed foods–this is not necessarily a bad thing, but definitely a more expensive route with some health risks. Processed foods tend to be high in sodium, which will almost immediately raise your blood pressure and otherwise hurt your body. Furthermore, pretty much all cans are made with BPA–read more about the latest health debate.

Regardless of how you decide to build and use your food storage, remember to store what you eat and eat what you store!

A lot of people cringe as soon as they hear the word beans. I imagine many of them have had bad experiences with beans that didn’t have a lot of flavor or very good flavor. I am here to tell you how to make dried beans, in all of their inexpensive and super healthy glory, also taste delicious.

How to Cook Dried Beans:
Soak beans according to package directions (usually an overnight soak or a “quick soak” – place beans in a pot of water, bring to a boil, boil for 1-2 minutes, cover and let sit for an hour).

Drain and rinse beans

Slow Cooker Method:
Cover beans with water about 1 1/2 inches above beans. Add either one small onion halved or some dried onion and a bay leaf. If desired, add salt half way through the cooking time. Cook on low until beans are soft but still firm and hold their shape – about four hours.

Stove Top Method:
Cover beans with water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer until they are tender but not mushy.

Delicious Bean Stew:
2 slices bacon
1 TBSP dried or onion 1/3 cup minced fresh onion
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups cooked pinto or other beans
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth (can substitute water and 1 chicken bouillon cube)
1 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar
1 TBSP Sugar
Pepper
3 TBSP Butter
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1-2 cups milk

Cook bacon in large frying pan until crisp, remove from pan and drain all but about 1 TBSP bacon grease.

Saute onions in bacon grease until slightly browned.

Add beans, balsamic vinegar, and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently for about 20 minutes.

In a small saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour. Gradually add milk until it reaches the consistency of tomato sauce. Add to beans.

Adjust seasonings and pepper to taste. Simmer an additional 5 minutes.

Garnish with crumbled bacon and shredded mozzarella or other cheese and serve with whole wheat focaccia bread.

Based on Rustic Bean Stew with Bacon and Carmelized Onions from The Improvisational Cook. I love this cookbook by Sally Schneider. She teaches cooking methods that really take the flavor of dishes to a new level. She implements a lot of gourmet foods and techniques that can also be adjusted to work with normal pantry and food storage items.

TIP: Do you find that you want to cook up some dried beans, but day after day you forget until it is too late? I certainly do. Next time it happens, get your beans out right then and start soaking them. When you see them out on the counter the next morning, you’ll remember to get them cooking. Even if you don’t use them in a meal that day, they are well stored in the refrigerator or freezer and ready to go when you need them.

More Bean Recipes

Well, Macey’s Caselot sale is done. I found myself stressing about what to buy, what not to buy. I came home and kind of surprised myself with what I had, but I’m glad to have gotten some canned beans, fruit and vegetables. I’m pretty good with the dry and frozen, but if we ever have a power outage, I’m glad to know we can just open up some cans and have things to eat.

Also, it’s more about Store what you Eat and Eat What You Store. More on that to come.