Beans beans the musical fruit- Part 1

Come on, you know the rest-
The more you eat, the more you toot
The more you toot, the better you feel,
So why not eat beans every meal?

Ok, we got that off our chests and had a little fun. Now, let's talk beans. Seriously. I LOVE beans. L-O-V-E them! I could eat them every day! They're not only super-nutritious, but they're also so versatile and can be used in countless ways.

Have you ever looked at what goes into canned beans? Corn syrup and salt. Lots of it, too. That makes those nutritious beans not quite as healthy as they should be. Yeah, you can rinse and drain them, but they've soaked up some of that corn syrup and salt. Plus, if the can was lined with BPA, guess what, the beans absorb that too. Some canned beans also have allergy warnings, so that's another thing to look out for.

I learned a little trick a few weeks ago that I went a tad crazy with, but I'm glad I did. Once again, it involves my favorite major appliance- the deep freezer! Buy a bag of dry beans at the store. Empty them into a large bowl of water and soak overnight. In the morning, rinse them, and stick them in the crock pot (there it is again) with about 6 cups of water and cook on low until the beans are tender. You can also do this on the stovetop more quickly, but then you have to tend the stove. Once the beans are cooked, rinse them and measure them out into bowls. One and a half cups of cooked beans equals one can. You should be able to get about 5 bowls of beans to freeze- all for just about a $1, so this is a money-saver, too! Stick those beans in the freezer and whenever you need beans, just thaw them out. You get healthy, nutritious beans and you know exactly what is in them (and what isn't)!