Today was a bean day at our house. On a friend's blog she tells how to make your own "canned" beans. I must admit it really is quite a bit of savings. I bought two pounds of Kidney beans and 4 pounds of Pinto beans at the grocery store for less than $1.00/lb. Out of that I ended up with 12 quarts of canned beans ready to use in any recipe at a moments notice. Normally I would buy cans of beans at the store for about $.70 each but with this I spent about $4.00 and ended up with 12 quarts. I think it was definitely worth it. Sometimes when I make up a big batch of beans I freeze them but I always ended up forgetting to set them out to thaw for dinner. This way all I have to do is pop open a jar and make a meal with it.
Here is how you do it if you are interested...
Soak a big ole pot of beans overnight. I did a huge bowl and a stock pot. Drain and rinse the beans the next morning. Fill your quart jars 3/4 full, add a teaspoon of salt and fill with water. Put your lids and rings on and pressure can according to your canner directions at 10lbs for 60 minutes. Voile...canned beans.
My pictures above are backwards...the first one is the finished product and the bottom one is some of the jars awaiting their turn in the pressure canner.
Next I am going to make homemade refried beans. If you have any tips on that, feel free to leave a comment.
Isn't she just a pretty teapot? DH bought this for me the other night. It was definitely not a necessity although my other teapot got broken so maybe I can count it as a necessity. Depends on who you ask... I did not grow up drinking hot tea, sweet iced tea was the main beverage in our southern home. After I got married I was a coffee drinker. I do still love coffee but not my husband's boring drip coffee. I love a good Hazelnut Mocha from the local coffee stand and have even started making something similar from home. But recently a friend introduced me to a hot cup of tea and now that is what I go for first thing in the morning. Heat the kettle up and make some Bromeley/Earl Grey tea. The boys usually ask for some too.
This is my favorite tea cup. It is from a Libery Blue set and has Paul Revere on it. You have to find these used or in antique stores since they were only made for a limited time. I bought one for B#3 for her birthday tea cup. Sometimes I browse craigslist to see if I can come across a whole set. Maybe someday...
