A variation on my Gourmet Beans, these are simply delicious. I try to avoid using sugar whenever possible, but the 1-2 Tablespoons here is well worth it.

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With the holidays fast approaching and economic gloom and doom covering the news, one great way to make both the giver and the receiver’s dollars stretch is food storage for Christmas.

Receiving a one month supply of food storage for Christmas a couple of years ago was one of the best gifts I could have received. It felt good to have at least a little food stored and to begin experimenting with it. It can be pretty overwhelming to get started, when you have no idea what you’ll need or how to use it.

We received a variety of items–about a one month supply for one person in #10 cans. 1 can Dry beans (5.5 lbs), 2 cans white rice (11 lbs), 3 cans whole wheat kernels (18 lbs), 1 can macaroni (3.4 lbs), 1 can powdered milk (4.1), 1 can sugar (6.1 lbs) 1 small bottle oil (16 oz), and 4 salt shakers.

If you’re thinking you would like to receive food storage for Christmas, now is the time to let people know! There is a good chance your mother would be happy to buy you some food storage items for Christmas, but she may not be thinking of it.

As always, turn to www.reallifefoodstorage.com for recipes and tips on how to use these items, especially dry beans, whole wheat, and powdered milk.

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

Refried beans are a great and easy way to use up those food storage pinto beans. They can be really easy to make, just plan ahead and put them in the slow cooker in the morning. I usually make a big batch and then put some in the freezer.

Tip:
The way the beans are cooked affects how gassy they can be. By cooking them longer, discarding the cooking water and draining them, you minimize the gassy effects. We have found bean flour beans to be very fast but very, very gassy because they are cooked for such a short amount of time.

Most Delicious:
Slow Cooker Refried Beans with Bacon
Fix-it and Forget It

2 cups dried red or pinto beans
6 cups water
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large tomato, peeled seeded, and chopped, or 1 pint tomato juice, or 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes (I like to get diced tomatoes with roasted onions & garlic)
1 tsp salt
½ lb bacon (I often just use a 3 or 4 slices)
Shredded cheese

1. Combine beans, water, garlic, and salt in slow cooker.
2. Cover, cook on high 5 hours, stirring occasionally. When the beans become soft, drain off some liquid.
3. When the beans are done, brown bacon in skillet. Remove bacon from skillet but keep as much bacon grease in the skillet as possible. Break bacon into pieces
4. Mash or puree beans with half of the bacon pieces and tomato. Fry the mashed bean mixture in the remaining bacon drippings. Add more salt to taste.
5. To serve, sprinkle the remaining bacon and shredded cheese on top of beans.

Delicious and Really Easy:
1. Cook beans in a slow cooker.
2. When beans are cooked, drain off some excess water.
3. Dump some Mexican Style shredded cheese in the slow cooker and beat the beans with a hand mixer.

Fast:
1. Put beans through your flour mill to create bean flour. Mix flour with water for desired consistency over stove until warm, about five minutes.

Easiest:
Buy them canned. Not bad, and really easy.

This is a great and simple recipe that can really use your food storage if you want to make your own tortillas and beans. Not hard, but it does take some planning. But, you can also make it with store bought tortillas and canned refried beans for a quick dinner.

8 whole wheat tortillas (I love them homemade, of course!)

2 cans refried beans or equivalent

about 1 cup milk

cheese

olives

tomatoes

Heat up the refried beans and thin them down with some milk if desired.  If you’re using canned beans, you may want to spice them up a bit with Chili Powder, Cumin, tomatoes, cheese, or whatever your heart desires. Reserving about 3/4 cup of the beans, fill the tortillas with the bean mixture, and place seam side down in a 9×13 pan. Spread remaining beans over the top and top with cheese, olives and chopped tomato. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted.