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December 7, 2016 · Leave a Comment

How To Cook and Freeze Dry Beans

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.
Click here to read my disclosure policy.

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

This is what school looks like when it's a hybrid This is what school looks like when it's a hybrid model, and your house does not have unlimited space. I was standing in our kitchen when I took this picture, the kids behind me making lunch.
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Our district is carefully monitoring our local infection rates, and we are currently in a hybrid form. That means they divided the district into two groups; half are in school on Monday and Tuesday, the other half on Thursday and Friday. They are offering an all remote option, but Verizon for some reason supplies our house with speeds so slow that it would shock a tortoise. Remote was a no-go.
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This set-up has taken some trial and error to get to where we currently are. Because no matter how prepared you are and how much you've planned, once you're in the weeds, actually doing it, there is no telling how your best-laid plans will work.
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Our home is a 1800sqft one-story, open living area, 4 bedroom, 1 bathroom, ranch-style house in a very rural area. It has no home offices. No guest bedrooms. Yes, that is a desk in the corner of our dining room. 🤣
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Each kid gets their own color bin for their school work. This includes school-issued Chromebooks and other standard items they need to get work done - headphones, pencils, and so on. When we are done for the day, we clean up everything, place them neatly in these bins, and place them in cubbies (on my current left) at night while the Chromebooks charge.
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I do NOT bother to clean up at lunchtime. It would take us more time to clean up and reset everything than it takes us to eat lunch. So we only pack it all up for the day and call it done.
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During the day, I sit between my younger two and field any questions they may have, troubleshoot technical issues we all have, and be the overall bouncer when things get off-topic. My high schooler will occasionally emerge from his bedroom, which opens to the kitchen. So he is close by when he has questions.
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Please remember that with all things in life, you need to work with what's available to you. And there is no shame in that. Don't ever feel like you're not doing good enough because it's not picture perfect. Work with what you have available to you, and you'll do amazing things.
School is in session, the garden is slowing, and I School is in session, the garden is slowing, and I’ve finally realized I haven’t shared our payoff numbers for July or August. Yeah……
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Please keep in mind, we are paid monthly on the 15th, but we don’t go by a “monthly” budget. So I have to go back and look at these numbers based off their due dates in the calendar. Because our pay falls in the middle of the month, I can’t tell you what portion of our income went to debt. It’s going to vary paycheck to paycheck anyways because our priorities vary with each check. Nothing is ever the same month to month, and pay to pay.
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That said, inJuly we paid off $2,694.43.
In August we paid off $1,673.40.
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The difference here is that our priorities shifted between the two months.
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During August, we were doing more prep for whatever school would look like this year, and we had some savings goals make their way to the top of the list as well.
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Of those goals, in August we made progress!
EF Reimbursement: $146 / $1,200
Checking Buffer Reimbursement: $227 / $500
Vet Sinking Fund: $40 / $200
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Remember this is a journey, not a race. There is no point wearing yourself ragged and still making no progress. Make progress where you can, and celebrate it. Even if it’s $5.
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It’s progress, and that’s what matters!
While I wait for the canner to finish the last rou While I wait for the canner to finish the last round... I rearranged our recipe binder. It's only taken me 8 or so years. 🤣😶😭
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I miss the days when zucchini was my problem. Now it's tomatoes. I can only find so many ways to use up spaghetti sauce! So the next 50lbs or so will be chili base and unseasoned sauce.
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On top of this school is starting with a hybrid in building & online system. And I'm seriously slacking on some things I need to do. I'm not good at juggling multiple things and the balls are falling. But I keep reminding myself... be patient. This too shall pass. This is only a phase. So I pick and choose what's the most important, focus on that and go from there.
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So if you feel overwhelmed with your current phase, remember, this too shall pass. It's okay to rearrange priorities. It's okay to take a breather.
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This too shall pass.
If you didn't start finding interesting ways to ge If you didn't start finding interesting ways to get rid of the squash, can you say you even planted any?
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Good news, I'm almost caught up! Bad news, the garden has more.
Super busy here... but I wanted to share that wins Super busy here... but I wanted to share that wins can come in super small packages. I thought I'd spend $380 to clean the band instruments in this house. I ended up spending $234. So the remaining $146 can go to reimbursing what I pulled from our EF.
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No matter the win, celebrate it!
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What are some wins you have had lately?
In total we have 15lbs green beans, 10lbs cucumber In total we have 15lbs green beans, 10lbs cucumbers, 5lbs blueberries, and countless zucchini and squash with more on the way! My weekend is spoken for... and this isn't all of it. 😳
Rather than looking back through all our non-month Rather than looking back through all our non-monthly bills for the year and try to remember what I paid and when I paid it, I make a note of how much it was on our bill pay tracker. That way I can easily tally it up at the end of the year, set our sinking funds next year accordingly, and not spend more time than is necessary on this... because kids and all.⁣
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Anyone else do this? Do you have a different method of tracking these expenses?⁣
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This particular printable is in my Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MakingCentsMatter⁣
It's also part of my budgeting workbook, also in my Etsy shop.⁣
Good news though... there's a very similar free version in my resource library as well. Links are in my profile.⁣
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Probably an unpopular opinion here... but these tw Probably an unpopular opinion here... but these two things are NOT the same to me.⁣
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𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 paycheck to paycheck means that you're using all of your money for expenses with none left over for savings. This usually happens when you're not aware of where you are spending your money, and how much you are spending. For us, this happened in the form of those tiny expenses that can add up to even larger expenses, and then an unexpected bill comes and you have nothing left to cover it.⁣
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𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 paycheck to paycheck means that you are giving every single cent you earn a job to do that aligns with your priorities - like in sinking funds, savings, expenses, debt payments, etc - until the next paycheck. You have the money on hand to cover some unexpected expenses, and you are mindful of your spending so that you're not leaking money through small purchases.⁣
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This doesn't mean that there still aren't bad months. Murphy's Law does happen. But you are aware of the spending, aware of the priorities, and where your money needs to be allocated.⁣
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So... just because you're budgeting paycheck to paycheck doesn't mean you're living paycheck to paycheck.⁣
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June's paycheck was a doozy! I haven't looked forw June's paycheck was a doozy! I haven't looked forward to a paycheck since we first made the switch to monthly pays. It was so bad we've got a new order to things.⁣
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Good news is that if our state keeps closing things down, we should hammer this out in no time!⁣
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To see the full breakdown of how bad June's paycheck was, check out the June 15th Budget Review on our YouTube channel here https://youtu.be/gXoEo33hIYQ. Link is also in the bio.⁣
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