Ten Reasons Soaking Dried Beans Can Change Your Life
- February 18, 2008 by Fox | Comments: 28
OK, so I am feeling a little dramatic today about the lowly bean. I feel like I’ve discovered this new (well old) way to really make a difference. Perhaps I spent too much time soaking in the bathtub this evening, but I really think switching from canned beans to dried beans is really good for my health and good for my wallet.
If you have been reading this site you already know I have become pretty darn frugal about groceries and shopping in general.When I was entering my grocery bill into Quicken the other day I couldn’t help but notice how the price of organic chick peas (also called garbanzo beans) has gone up! A can used to cost $0.99. It seems the good people at Superstore have jacked-up the price to $2.40 a can.
It’s kinda funny but my “better half” was more indignant about the price increase than I. So after several heated discussions on how inflation has attacked our beloved garbanzo bean, we decided to dry-up and buy dried beans.
Here are ten reasons soaking dried beans can change your life:
1. Price:
Buying dried beans is extremely cheap. All you frugal types will agree you can get significantly more beans by forgoing the canned variety. I like saving money and at the same time getting more beans for my buck! The cool thing about dried beans is they expand when soaked, so you end up with even more beans per dollar spent. This is the new math!
2. Sodium Free:
Salt is bad for you. It’s a sad truth, people. Salt is terrible for your arteries and body in general. Canned beans can be loaded with sodium. Sure, you can buy canned cooked beans with low or no sodium, but why bother when dry bulk beans are salt free?
3. Healthier:
I don’t know how long canned beans can survive in canned-captivity, but I bet they have some kinda preservatives to keep them juicy and fresh. Now, the dried beans I buy are preservative free and have a shelf life of eons. I have no scientific bean data, but I have a hunch that dried beans are healthier than canned beans cause they are less processed, less preserved, and less exposed to chemicals.
4. Tastier:
My “better half” came up with this point. He really thinks soaking and cooking dried beans is far tastier than eating precooked canned beans. I have to agree with him as they just taste better and more natural.
5. Less waste and environmentally friendly:
I think buying dried beans really helps the environment. Dried beans require less energy expended in production, less energy expended in recycling, and less material usage for the packaging (steel can and the paper label). I am thrilled I can reduce my footprint (foodprint) and at the same time save lots of bucks. It may seem small, but if we all reduce the amount of canned goods we consume I think we can make a big difference. Think positive! Ohh, and I really hate buying all those steel cans just to recycle them again.
6. More variety and selection:
Have you ever seen a can of mung beans? I sure haven’t. But when I saw a nice bin of mung beans for $2 bucks a pound (dry weight), I knew I had to try them. Gentle reader, mung beans are delicious and can be added easily to soups and stews! Anyways, there is sooo much variety to be found in dried beans. It’s awesome to try new varieties every now and then and bypass the canned bean aisle with the same old stuff. Bean there, done that.
7. More cooking control:
I used to hate opening up a can of beans only to find them a little too mushy for my liking. So, I was thrilled to find that soaking and cooking beans gives the cook ultimate control in how firm, juicy, or mushy the final bean will be. This is good news for bean fanatics like me.
8. Bisphenol A (BPA):
You know how cans have a plastic liner in them? Well, this liner apparently contains a chemical called bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is a component for making several polymers and polymer additives. Bisphenol A has recently become controversial because it mimics estrogen and thus could induce hormonal responses. Personally, the less I expose myself to chemicals the better.
9. Less storage space:
I hate filling my pantry with lots of cans. I live in a small house, so every inch of food storage space matters! Dry beans take up little to no space, so I can be frugal with both my money and my space.
10. Soaking beans is easy:
My friends seem to have this preconceived notion that soaking beans is hard work and takes lots of time. Not true I say. It’s not like you have to stand there and watch the beans soak. To soak my beans, I just pour them into a bowl, and add water. That’s it! I then leave them submerged in water to soak over night and have them ready for my slow cooker in the morning. It’s easy!
Need more dried beans information? Try:
Are you fanatical about beans?
Pings:
- Festival Of Frugality #114 February 26th, 2008
- A heartfelt tribute to bags of dried beans - Smart Spending February 29th, 2008
- Tuesday Megalinks and Tuesday Megalinks March 1st, 2008
- Vegetarian Carnival #14: yummy winter recipes and more March 10th, 2008
- SmarterFitter Blog » Blog Archive » Veggie Carnival March 11th, 2008
- Welcome! « Adventures in Soaking Beans May 9th, 2008
- Waterpeas « Twigs and Tofu June 8th, 2008
Comments:
BEANS!
I would say we have gone pretty fanatical about them. We’ve had beans in the last 10 of 10 meals. All my leftovers for the week? Beans. And we definitely soak our own. The price alone is what got us started, but as you noted–there are many other benefits. The best thing is that a few months ago my kids (6, 5, 3) would totally pout at the prospect of having beans AGAIN! Now (since we have been gung-ho about getting out of debt) they have been gobbling them up at dinner time. It’s wonderful!
Nathaniel: I am so happy to hear I am not alone in my frugal bean soaking ways. Actually, I too have probably eaten beans in my last 10 (or more) meals.
Beans just make sense as they are healthy, affordable, and tasty. I just love how they can be added to just about any meal too!
MAJOR KUDOS to you for getting your kids to eat healthful beans at such a young age! So many parents nowadays grapple with their kids wanting all the unhealthy “packaged meals” targeted to them by advertisers. How the heck did you get your kids to eat well?
I love beans! They remind me of my childhood, when my great-grandmother (who was born in the mid-1800s) used to make the most wonderful but very plain beans. And it’s true: dried beans cooked in your kitchen ARE tastier than canned!
If you forget to put beans to soak the night before, you can hurry the process along so you can get them cooked on the same day: cover the beans well with water (about 5 cups water to 1 cup beans). Bring the water to a boil; allow to seethe exactly one minute. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let sit for one hour. Then cook the beans in the regular way.
If you pour off the soaking water and use fresh water, you get around certain gastrointestinal issues that afflict some of us bean-eaters.
I agree. beans are the way to go. I have a lot of canned beans in my pantry but have been considering buying dry beans and soaking them. You’ve convinced me to change. Thanks!
Funny about Money: My grandmother was also a bean soaker. Isn’t it interesting how the simple and frugal things in life are generally lost on later generations? Thank you for including the HOW TO instructions for avoiding windy gastrointestinal issues.
boomie: Now that I soak my beans, I no longer use all my pantry space for cans. It’s kinda refreshing finding more space by using less cans.
I also wrote a post on How to Soak and Cook Dried Beans if anyone is looking for additional pointers. Let me know how it goes!
I like all kinds of beans, but have a soft spot for lentils since they don’t require soaking.
When I was a ‘poor starving student’ I’d go to the bulk store twice a month on pay day to buy enough dried lentils to make 14 meals. I wouldn’t necessarily eat lentils twice a day every day, but that allowed me to ’stock pile’ some for the days when I needed to eat them three times a day or have nothing else to eat.
At any rate, my lentil bills never came to more than a couple of dollars . That’s right, I could feed myself for a month on less than 5$. Add in seasonings (like onions, soy sauce, tomatoes, spices, etc.) to shake things up and I was still at under 10$ a month.
There aren’t many other foods that are this cheap, this filling, this nutritious, and this tasty. Yup, I still eat lentils regularly!
My best tip for easing ‘gastrointestinal distress from eating legumes: eat legumes. If you eat them regularly, your body begins to produce an enzyme that solves the windy issue naturally.
Raven: I really enjoyed your comment. In fact, I just ate some lentils cause I enjoyed your comment so much. I LOVE LENTILS. My picture above features lentils prominently. I agree with your tip on easing the vapors…it’s very true, the more beans you eat, the better for your heart…the less you…well, you know…
I got my son(age 7) to try beans by teaching him both versions of the bean song (Beans, Beans are good for the heart and Beans, Beans the magical fruit). I told him he could sing them at the table any night we had beans with dinner. He now asks for them all the time and eats beans with gusto!!
This is a great article, and I’m so glad I discovered your blog (by clicking on a link in the MSN smart-spending blog).
Beans are excellent food, and I have been buying them dry, at the bulk store. I still remember the first time I soaked some: a mason jar full of kidney beans, which I topped up with water, forgetting that they *expand* ! Well, I had to chisel them out of that jar, and they had soaked up all the water… I still laugh when I think of it.
We are fortunate to have a Bulk Barn store in our area (here in Canada) with a wide selection of dry beans, lentils, etc. It is good protein for a small cost.
Saryn: I’m well past the age of 7 yet I still sing “The Bean Song”. Heck, I love the bean song.
Chickadee: I am so happy you clicked the MSN link and found me! I am truly astounded with the MSN Smart Spending article by Karen Datko. I cannot imagine how she found me and my beans over here.
It’s funny you mention your kidney beans incident as I had a similar issue with chickpeas about 2 months ago. I let my “better half” soak the beans and his water-to-bean ratio was well off. Eight hours later I had nicely soaked beans on the bottom and perfectly solid beans perched on top. The bean tower grew out of the bowl like a massive iceberg. I should have taken a picture. Ahh, the Bulk Barn. I too am Canadian, so I am very familiar with the shop.
Smart Spending Link: A Heartfelt Tribute to Bags of Dried Beans
I too am a committed soaker.
And I would add another variation on the less waste argument in that you can cook dried beans in any quantity you like. So you can scale up your recipes by a quarter or a third without having left-over cans in your fridge.
But can somebody give me a rule of thumb about converting a recipe which calls for a can of beans to dried beans. I am sure it is not one dry ounce for one canned ounce.
Beans, beans the magical fruit… I love beans. And you’re right, they’re cheaper, tastier, and better all the way around.
Thanks for the comment on my vegetarian travels in Egypt.. being Indian vegetarians, lentils are staple diet. We eat it twice a day. Rice, lentils and a side of vegetables is our daily fare. Lentils can cook pretty fast in a pressure cooker.
Oh, I love it. Beans are one of my favorite foods, and I almost always use the dried variety, but I had no idea that were so many good reasons for doing so.
Thanks…………..:)
Howdy, I fell lucky that I located this post while browsing for converting vegetarians. I am with you on the topic of Ten Reasons Soaking Dried Beans Can Change Your Life. Ironically, I was just putting a lot of thought into this last Saturday.
Would you mind sharing some of your mung bean recipes one day? I bought them for something, and now can no longer remember what. I’d like to use them for something!
crazypumpkin: Yay on bringing mung beans home with you. No doubt you’d like to give them a try! I would be happy to share some mung bean recipes with you. In fact, I’m in the middle of writing a mini series on frugalicious foods and will add some mung bean ideas just cause you asked! So you don’t have to wait till I post the series…here’s what I normally do with mungers during the week: I make a batch and refrigerate them in a bowl. I then add them to my soups, salads, stews, eggs, and anything I feel like eating. This week I’ve been really enjoying them with my leafy green salads. I use them in recipes just as anyone would use lentils. I’m in the process of trying to sprout them to see how they taste when bursting with goodness. I hope this gives you a start. Now go get soaking!
And don’t forget you can sprout some types of bean: gives you a fantastic nutrient rich food and a useful educational tool at the same time. Also, you don’t need to buy huge amouunts of equipment to start. Check Wikipedia for details: it gives you a rundown on where to begin.
So fun to find someone else who is passionate about the benefit of beans for ones health and budget. I just stumbled upon this site through a friend, but I have bookmarked it for a deeper look.
We are traveling the world on a tight budget and we take our beans with us and loooove them. Soaking is easy, even in an RV. LOL.
Nice thread, I enjoyed it, if you dont know about them here is a cool link to great dried beans, Rancho Gordo.
http://www.ranchogordo.com/
I used to HATE beans! Maybe it came from being the second oldest of a large family and having to eat them a LOT, especially when my dad was out of work.
Now I love most of them. We do still use canned beans, just because of the convenience, but things are changing for us. When we do use canned beans, at least for the kidney and black beans, I rinse them completely, which helps cut down on SOME of the sodium.
I do know that if you soak beans overnight (when possible), before cooking them, it will tend to help get rid of some of the adverse side effects that seem to affect us all in a bad way.
I have a bag of black beans sitting on my counter, just waiting to be made into black bean soup, to be eaten with homemade cornbread and butter!