It's in the Freezer: Beans

I read with great interest the article “Building Block Dinners” in the Family Fun, September 2010 issue. I had tried a make-ahead meal program several years ago, but it used so many canned soups, I couldn’t follow through with it. Between the BPA and the sodium, well, I didn’t care if cooking all day and freezing meals would save me time; it wouldn’t be healthy for my family. This article, however, gives three foods you can cook ahead and then recipe ideas on what to do with them when you are ready to use them. I put one of them together and then decided this would be a fun subject to blog about.

So last week, I decided to try the “Start with Beautifully Basic White Beans” idea.

I bought one pound of organic white navy beans from the bulk food section. I paid $1. 99 per pound. At home, I froze* about four quarts of beans. I controlled all aspects of the process, assuring my family healthy beans in our future meals. A can of beans, such as S&W, contains salt (440 mg sodium), sugar, dehydrated onion and calcium chloride and calcium disodium EDTA. My beans are organic, contain none of those ingredients and no BPA.

A few days later, I decided to make a White Bean and Sausage Saute, one of the recipes in the September 2010 Family Fun magazine. I had to substitute Italian sausages with pork andouille sausages and chicken broth with beef broth; otherwise I followed the recipe. Wow! Spicey! (A little too spicey for my seven year old, so I reserved a few navy beans and rinsed a sausage for her. I then added in some different things for her to eat). It took me no more than 30 minutes to put the whole thing together and I fed four of us dinner on a chilly, rainy night. Perfect, except there were no leftovers!

My overall experience is positive. Here's a summary:

• I have three bags of beans (about 8 cups) in the freezer to add to soup, salad or chili anytime.


• Raw beans are less expensive than canned beans and really don’t take long to cook. (The only thing I will do differently is cook them less time. I left them on low in my Crockpot for five hours and they are a bit too soft).


• I control all aspects of what goes into the cooked beans.

A couple of days ago, I made meatballs per the article’s instructions and they came out tasty. Now I have six cups of frozen meatballs in the freezer. Next, I plan to freeze black beans and kidney beans. I might even haul out the pressure cooker! Look out!

* How to Freeze Beans

1. Rinse and drain the beans, pick out all of the rocks and damaged beans.


2. Soak the beans in a large bowl: Just cover them with three inches of water and soak for 8 hours.


3. Drain and rinse the beans well with fresh, cold water.


4. Transfer the beans to your slow cooker. Add 7 cups of water and a bay leaf.


5. Cook the beans in your slow cooker on high between three and four hours, just until tender.


6. Save the liquid, but strain the beans.


7. After the beans have cooled, measure out two cups at a time and freeze them in freezer bags. Cover them with the reserved cooking liquid, push all the extra air out of the bag, seal, and label; lie them flat in your freezer. Store them for up to three months (so be sure to date them when you label them).

To defrost: throw them in the fridge in the morning or in a cool bath of water for about thirty minutes before you need them.