Dried beans looking pretty dry and in need of a good soak.
Cooking with dried beans costs substantially less than canned beans and you control the ingredients (sodium, preservatives, etc) of what goes into your beans.
A 25 lb (11.3 kg) bag of black beans for $14.79 lasts our family about 5-6 months. I cook 6 cups of dried beans once a week. (Hey, it can’t be tri-tip steak or fresh wild caught salmon every night!) Purchasing your beans in the bulk/bin section is less expensive than the prepackaged beans.
This is an excellent article about cooking with dried beans by Danielle Centoni. It ran in the print version of The Oregonian on Tuesday, November 30, 2010, “Cooking with dried beans avoids the worry of using cans.”
Soaking the beans is key regardless of your cooking method. Make this your weekly ritual like it is for me. If you forget to soak the beans overnight, they can be soaked for 2-3 hours in the morning.
What to do with all of those cooked beans? Make chili, soups, and hummus or toss beans into your pasta or add them to a quesadilla. They’re inexpensive and so good for you.
Cooking with dried beans is easy and inexpensive. I really like this book about beans that I checked out from my library about beans 
any question you have about beans will be answered with this book.
Do you cook with dried beans? Want to give them a try?
Go Gingham related links:
Very easy and tasty white bean dip
Spicy, homemade hummus that you make from dried beans
Corn and black bean salad – made with dried beans
Just say no to baby carrots!
Go Gingham food philosophy – yes, there is one
New to cooking at home? Fear not!
