Frugal Tip: Leftover Beans

I got this idea from a friend of mine recently when we were discussing how I usually purchased canned beans to put in recipes, when the entire meal isn't going to be based around beans. I try to be careful when buying beans because so many of the manufacturers are putting extra ingredients like corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. Yuck! In my beans?? No thanks!

Melissa said that when she makes a pot of beans she will take the extras and put a cup of them (which happens to be the size of my ladle) into one of the disposable red cups. She then freezes them. When they are completely frozen she removes them and puts them into a gallon zip-lock bag for later use. I learned you need to run the cup under warm water for a few seconds to release the beans. Don't forget to wash and reuse your plastic cups for more beans.

This might be old news to most of you, but it was like a lightbulb moment for me. The thought of soaking and cooking a cup of beans was preposterous! This I can do - and I did! I usually make a plate for Big P that we put in the freezer for a lunch, but I always have lots of beans left - always!

Beans are more than the musical fruit, they are cheap and good eats! My friend Raye Ann, has great ideas for doing lots of different things with beans that are super cheap! Basically any flavor of bean you want, you can add in a tablespoon or two of seasoning. The other day when we had pinto beans, I made them kind of "southwest-ish" by throwing in 2 tbsp. of a steak seasoning that we get from our local Mennonite bakery. It ended up being a little too pica (spicy hot) for my little guys. They would eat it like crazy, stop to drink water or milk, and resume!

Here's to making up a big pot of beans and freezing the leftovers *ching ching*! That could be money dropping into your savings jar or your toasting glasses chiming.