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Meatless Monday: How to quick soak dry beans

Soaking your own beans will not only save you money, you'll get a better-for-you-bean to boot.

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Beyond The Peel
Some beans require soaking overnight. A short cut version is to use boiling water and a couple of tablespoons of vinegar to speed up the softening process.

One of the biggest challenges that I hear about most often is that transitioning to a whole food diet will be cost prohibitive. Here’s just one of the many food items that is less expensive than its processed counterpart, takes little to no effort to prepare, and is very simple to do! Beans and legumes.

Make your own and skip the canned version. The homemade ones have a better texture, cause less digestive upset, and are healthier for you.

It's simple: add a couple cups of dry black beans to a bowl, add a couple of tablespoons of apple cider, cover with 6 cups of boiling water. Let them sit for 1 hour. That's it!

After you’ve finished with the soaking process (whether you choose the 1 hour or 8-24 hour process) you’re ready for the cooking part. Drain the beans, rinse well and place the beans in a pot. Add water in a 3:1 ratio to the beans and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until tender. This could take anywhere from 45 minutes to 1-1/2 hours. If at that point they still aren’t cooked (some beans are really old and need longer cooking times, but it’s rare), add a teaspoon of baking soda to the water and continue to cook until tender.

I’ve heard stories of beans not being cooked after 4 hours. At that point, I’d toss the beans and buy different ones, but I hear the baking soda trick does work. You choose.

To salt or not to salt? It’s entirely up to you. You can even use vegetable or chicken stock instead of water or add spices and herbs to the pot, but if you want to keep it simple, basic water does the trick.

A can of organic beans will cost you $2.99 a can (that’s 1-1/2 cups of beans). You can make them for a fraction of the cost. A 1/2 cup of dried beans will make 1-1/2 cups cooked. Organic dried beans might cost about .30 cents for 1/2 cup. Now that’s saving some money.

If you want to learn more about traditional methods of cooking as taught through the teachings of Weston A. Price and Nourishing Traditions visit our friend Wardeh’s website Gnowfglins. Wardeh’s online course will teach you everything you need to know.

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