Beans ala Domestica

I did it! Mark off another accomplishment on the Domestic Goddess checklist.

I have a habit of buying dry beans. Do I have any idea how to prepare them? No, not really. But they are a good food storage item, and they are so much cheaper and better for you than the canned beans. I buy canned beans in the same shopping trip as the dried beans. Does that make me extra prepared?

I finally decided I had to learn this skill. I remember Aunt Scottie preparing and cooking beans at the beach. Why didn't I ask and learn then? Oh yeah, I was a teenage twit. I found a great tutorial that seemed simple and fail proof.

Last night I sorted and pulled out the broken beans and the rocks, just like the directions said. Why on earth are there rocks in with beans? If technology can dismiss the substandard Cheeto before it gets to the bag, why can't technology get rid of the rocks? I'll solve that mystery later. Right along with where all the socks go.

Oh yeah, beans. I sorted and got my hands dirty. Dirty, dirty beans. Then soaked them in hot water in my super huge and oh-so-nice Pampered Chef 6 quart bowl. This morning I drained and rinsed them. And I discovered the wretched little black beans turned my bowl black. Eventually it did come clean. Otherwise, I might never attempt fixing my own beans again. Lucky little beans.

Beans, the point of this story. Sorry. They cooked on the stove for a long time. They boiled over and made a mess of my stove top. They bubbled and spit on the back of my stove. They made a big black mess. Should have taken a picture.

They were done, finally. Not like I did anything but stir them once in a while. The tutorial didn't say to stir, but it made me feel better. Then I started bagging them. And I burned my right hand. I overfilled the measuring cup and the hot bean liquid sloshed back all over my hand. Note to self and lesson learned. Ouch is all I have to say about that one. A friend suggested shocking them in a bowl of ice water before putting them in the freezer to prevent gritty beans later. Nobody likes gritty beans.

I now have 5 bags of black beans in my freezer just waiting to be added to some rice in a burrito. I even saved some for my lunch today.

My kitchen was a mess, but now all dishes are clean. The counters and stove are all clean and black bean free. Go me!

No more cans for me. Unless I forget to do the next batch of beans and need to fix dinner now and don't have any beans ready and call my mom to see if she has any she can bring or send my fabulous husband to the store to save my tail again because I am a dingbat and can't figure out how to plan ahead or replace something when my stash is running low. But that is a whole other post for another day.

For now, I am one step closer to becoming a Domestic Goddess. And I have about a dozen more bags of dried beans in my pantry just waiting to be prepared and stashed in the freezer. I feel healthier and more frugal already.