Cooking Beans

Here's how I do them when I plan ahead- Before you got to bed, rinse a mess of beans (really, it doesn't matter how much). You rinse them because sometimes they have a bit of dust or dirt on them. Anyway, rinse them really well (if you put them in a colander and put the colander over a large bucket or bowl, you can pour the water out on your houseplants or in your garden). Put them in a big pan, the biggest pan you have- the heavier the bottom the better. You want, oh, probably four inches between the top of the beans and your pan, more is also fine.

Fill the pan with water and just leave it to soak.

Next morning, drain the water (again, you can pour it out on plants or toss it in the yard- saves a penny or two). Refill the pan so you hve at least two inches above the beans. Put it on the stove and bring it to a boil, then simmer for an hour or two. The thing is that if you go too long, it's okay, your beans are just softer.
You can make refried beans with them if they are too soft.
They are done when you blow on them and the skins peel back, or when you can mash them with the back of the spoon.
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IF you forgot to put the beans on to soak, it's okay. Just rinse them put them in a pot of water as above, bring to a boil, and boil and simmer several hours longer. Keep an eye on them, because you don't want the water to go below the level of the beans, or they scorch. You can add more water as they are cooking. You can also bring them to a hard boil in the morning, let them boil about twenty minutes, then put the lid on the pan, turn the pan off and let them soak for an hour and then simmer them until soft. This is almost as good as letting them soak the night before.
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Now, how to use them? You can add other stuff to this pot of beans for all kinds of soups and chilis. You can flavor the beans by adding bones or onions and garlic or
broth powder to the liquid while they cook (do not add tomatoes while they cook, sometimes the acid hinders the cooking).

Let them cool and divide them up into 2-4 cup portions and freeze the excess so that they are a homemade convenience food for you. I've also read that freezing cooked beans before eating them makes them less 'gassy.' Do not keep them in the fridge because beans spoil quickly (a week or less) and smell worse than any meat that ever turned into another life form in the back of your fridge. Guess how I learned that?;-)
Mash them up a bit and combine them with ground beef for enchiladas, burritoes, meatloaf, and meatballs.
Spread mashed up beans over bread, sprinkle with cheese, and put under the broiler for 'bean bread.'

Different beans have different flavors and different cooking times. Garbonzo beans take the longest, I think, except maybe soybeans. We like cooked garbonzo beans whirred thru the blender with lemon juice, sesame seeds, garlic, and olive oil. This is hummus.

Black turtle beans are my favorite- they have a mild, nutty flavor. I make a black bean sloppy joe, and I used blackbeans with chicken and corn and salsa for the Mexican potpie recipe. They are good with mango chutney.

White beans are good with ham, in soups, and in white chile (chicken and chiles, onions, garlic, broth powder)

I like kidney beans in chile and burritoes, but my youngsters prefer pinto beans for this, and pinto beans are more authentic in Mexican foods.

Lentils are the convenience food of beans, requiring none of this pre-soaking business. They cook in about the same time as a pan of rice, and taste great with rice as well. You can also make lentil sprouts for a tasty salad ingredient- I also like them on a sandwich.

I use meats as a seasoning, a flavoring rather than the main ingredient when the budget is tight.*

Anyway, when we do have meat on its own like pork chops or chicken thighs, I make enough for one or two, depending on the age of the eater, and then for seconds they must fill up on side dishes.

*With a freezer full of home-grown pork and deer, meat is more of a main dish item these days.

Other frugalities available at Biblical Womanhood's Frugal Fridays.