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December 7, 2016 · Leave a Comment

How To Cook and Freeze Dry Beans

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Budget· DIY· Frugal Living· Recipes· Saving· Ways We Save

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Beans are one of our favorite frugal foods not only because they’re really affordable, but they’re also versatile and super healthy!  They are high in protein and fiber, as well as antioxidants and numerous vitamins and minerals, including iron.  Because of that, they’re one of my frugal pantry must haves.  These little guys get a ton of bonus points though since they help keep my iron counts up.

How To Cook Freeze Dry Beans

To get the most for your money, and to reduce the amount of additives in your food, it’s really beneficial to buy beans dry and prep them yourself at home.  Not only are they cheaper for you, but they’re actually healthier for you too.  You know exactly what seasonings you put in them, and how much you put in.  There’s no preservatives, no EDTA or TBHQ.  You also know exactly how they were cooked and what they were cooked in.  Bonus points if you grew and dried the beans on your own too!

There’s lots of different methods for cooking dry beans, but I prefer to quick cook them.  This isn’t because I find it superior in some way.  It’s honestly because I forget to get the beans started in the overnight soak process, until the morning of needing the beans.  Plus, since the quick cook method requires lots of inactive cooking time, I can hammer out a few different types of beans on a Saturday, and still be able to do other tasks.  Tasks like no longer procrastinating folding laundry.  Or at least that’s what I tell myself.

 

How To Cook and Freeze Dry Beans

The first step is to sort the beans. This seems rather menial, but it’s something that needs done and the kids love to help me with this.

How To Cook and Freeze Dry Beans

All you’re doing is making sure no pebbles, rocks, twigs, leaves, sticks, dirt, etc. get into your finished product.  In all the bags of beans I’ve done, I’ve only found a few pebbles.  Even with finding very few pebbles, I still sort beans before I prep them.  It just wouldn’t be fun if a one got through and into someone’s meal.  By sorting first, you’re saving yourself an expensive tooth repair!

You’re also sorting out any beans that got through processing that may not be the best quality.  These include ones that are off color, cracked or split, and so on.  When I prepped the beans shown below, I sorted two bags.  What’s ready to be cooked is in the pot, and what needs tossed is in the green bowl.

How To Cook and Freeze Dry Beans

Rinse the beans, and then put them in a pot with enough water to cover about 2 inches.

How To Cook and Freeze Dry Beans

Bring the water to a hard boil, and boil for 1 minute. Turn off the burner, and allow the beans to sit for an hour undisturbed. This allows the beans to soak up the water. If any beans are floating after the time is up, remove them before going on.

Drain the beans into a colander and rinse.

How To Cook and Freeze Dry Beans

Put the beans back into your pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil again.  Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 30 to 60 minutes.  Be sure to keep an ear out as they will boil over if you’re not watching close enough.  The cooking time honestly depends on the bean.

I’ve had success in cooking them for around 30 minutes, and I find that even the tougher varieties like kidney beans are done cooking and starting to break in half after simmering for 45 minutes.  Depending on what I’m using the beans for, I may just skip this second cooking time altogether and use the cook time in their recipe as the second cooking time.

How To Cook and Freeze Dry Beans

Drain and rinse the beans again, and store in 1.5 cup increments in pint sized freezer bags.*

I store in 1.5 cup increments since that’s roughly what is in a 15 oz can.  Any time you have a recipe calling for a can of beans, use a bag instead!

 

What’s the cost?

A one pound bag of dry beans ranges in price in my area, but most are between $1.09 and $1.39.  These were Goya dry beans and were priced $1.39 at Weis.  Each bag of dry beans makes 4 bags of prepped beans, at 1.5 cups per bag.

So if the bag of dry beans cost $1.39, that’s $0.35 per bag of prepped beans.  The cost will be less than that if the bag of dry beans costs even less.  Either way, it’s pretty hard for me to find a can of beans without a bunch of preservatives for $0.35 or less!

Do you cook with dry beans?  Do you prefer to prep them with the quick cook method, or soak them overnight?  What’s your favorite recipe to use dry beans in?

How To Cook Freeze Dry Beans

How To Cook And Freeze Dry Beans

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makingcentsmatter
Only you can determine what your financial goals a Only you can determine what your financial goals are. If that means you're adding money to your savings account, or contributing to your retirement, while you are paying off debt, then so be it!⁠
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The trick to meal planning is to make it predictab The trick to meal planning is to make it predictable. But predictable doesn't mean the same thing week to week. You could have a chicken meal, a soup meal, a pasta meal, a leftovers meal, a family favorite meal, and so on.⁠
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I can only hear about my extended warranty I never I can only hear about my extended warranty I never purchased so many times. 😣⁠
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March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠ .⁠ House: $51 March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠
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Total Paid in 2021: $8,258.84⁠
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Extra Payment: There isn’t one this month since we were $25 away from zeroing out the budget for our February 15th monthly paycheck. That $25, and monies left from our January 15th paycheck, covered our OOP costs for Hubs’ filling. We also have some savings goals coming up that need to be met, making our debt payments a little lower for the time begin.⁠
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The battle for who can charge what tonight is abou The battle for who can charge what tonight is about to begin. 😬⁠
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My kids run off with my charger, plug it into one outlet 5 feet from where they found it like that particular outlet is the only one in this house, and then proceed to fight over who can charge their device first at night.⁠
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A needs his wisdom teeth taken out. I've talked a A needs his wisdom teeth taken out. I've talked a bit in our February Budget Check-In about how much of this I think we'll owe, and you can check that out on my YouTube channel if you're interested, but I wanted to say here...⁠
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It's almost payday! Here's how our variable budget It's almost payday! Here's how our variable budgeting categories are working out for the pay month.⁠
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Food is looking good this far into our paycheck, probably because miscellaneous - which includes eating out - took a hit with unexpected purchases. Pet is low for this time of the month, and Household is spot on.⁠
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Fuel looks like it'll be lower than last month (yay for weeks of snow days & delayed school starts), and Therapy had one more appointment than initially planned.⁠
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Automating your finances makes saving money and bu Automating your finances makes saving money and budgeting more convenient, and therefore easier on you. Out of sight, out of mind, right?⁠
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Me? I'm going to set up our sinking fund transfers to automate every payday (the 15th of every month). Our bank set up a feature on their app where we can schedule savings transfers now, and I'm going to take advantage of it!⁠
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Oh my word... our miscellaneous category has gone Oh my word... our miscellaneous category has gone a smidgen overboard this month!⁠
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I foresee a goal for March's paycheck to at out less than twice. That's where this category went awry. $99.16 of it went to eating out. 😑 Some of it was avoidable, but not all of it. Having to drive to multiple appointments in one day during snow squalls and rearranging our whole day was one of those unavoidable instances.⁠
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Tracking our expenses - much like a budget review - is vital to sticking to your budget!⁠
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