Soaking your Beans

This is my first time buying dry beans. 

But...

It's cheaper.

And I'm all about that.

"Canned beans are cheap enough, why bother?"

Because when you're seriously trying to save money, every little bit helps.

It's actually really easy. Put your beans in a big ol' pot, cover them with water, swish it around, drain, cover them with water again, and bring them to a boil. Bring the temperature down, and check on them every half hour or so. The water evaporates, so you have to keep adding water. Once they get soft {like the canned kind} drain them and rinse. 

 

Mine are still in the strainer, cooling.

I put a bag {16 oz. each} of pinto, black and small red beans. 

So.... yeah, it made a lot. 

~

I thought I was being all smart.

I'm having taco soup for dinner tonight. {recipe to follow}

The recipe calls for one 15.5 oz can of each of the beans.

so I got out my measuring cup and measured about 15.5 oz, and put it in the pot. 

There wasn't much left in the bags, so I just threw all the beans in, and I figured I'd freeze the leftovers. 

Anyways, I put it on the stove, but by the time I brought it to a boil, the beans had definitely grown. I added more water, because it had all evaporated already. 

My pot was almost filled to the brim, and I didn't want to make a huge mess, so I had to switch to my largest pot to avoid catastrophe. 

I said all that just to say... start out with a much bigger pot than you think. 

Also, 15.5 oz of dry beans is way different than cooked beans. Measure after cooking them :)

*Edit: My husband told me the beans tasted better than they usually do! See? It's not just cheaper!