I just learned to cook dried beans!

Either it's good news
that I love my husband so much to be sympathetic to his cause
that I have never learned to cook them before now,
or it's bad news
that I no longer care that he HATES them.

Anyhow, beans have been a staple in my life till I got married.
I like them best with ketchup.
There's really nothing you can do to ruin them.

Hubby spent days,
maybe even weeks,
sitting at the kitchen table unable to leave
till he ate those beans on his plate.

So, I have some dry beans sitting in the cupboard that I have had for a long, long, long time from being on WIC. Probably from when Kort was a baby.

Looking for something to eat that is high in fiber and protein, I decided to experiment with some free beans.

Apparently beans cook slower if you add salt or tomatoes at the beginning.

So, I soaked the beans overnight. rinsed them and put them back in a big pot with 14-16 cups of water.
I used a bag of pinto beans
and a bag of small red beans.
I simmered them till they became tender, since they were so old it took longer, about 4 hours.
I put in 2 bay leaves. I have no idea why, I have just heard that you put them in. I would have put them in at the beginning if I had remembered to.
I added about 2- 3 teaspoons of salt, 1 teas. of pepper.
I added 1 teas of baking soda, and it about foamed over the top of my pot. I would have added 3 teas of soda, but I ran out. (How do you run out of baking soda?! It is almost as cheap as salt!) Anyway, I think you add soda so you won't have so much gas build up in your intestines. (Where's the fun in that?)
I sauteed 2 yellow onions in about 2 Tbls of butter and added them to the pot.
I added a diced green pepper. I added one, cause that's all I had. I would have used 3 if I had them.
I added a can of diced tomatoes. Only one, cause that's all I had.
I added a can of tomato paste to make up for the diced tomatoes I thought I had, but didn't.
Then, I found some cans of Italian stewed tomatoes. I didn't want to add them, cause I wasn't looking for the Italian flavor today, but I was desperate for canned tomatoes.
Then I used my immersion blender and pureed gently the Italian stewed tomatoes while they were in the can. Gently- so it would be a little chunky. 4 cans of those. I was craving tomatoes.
I added a little parsley, like 2 Tbls
and a teas. of garlic powder.
I dumped in about 2 Tbls of olive oil cause I heard that was good in beans.
oh, yeah, and about 1/4 cup of shortening because my mom said my grandma always added that for flavor.

It simmered the whole time I was adding stuff, so it was about 6 hours total for the beans.

I can't figure out if there's something wrong with the beans or with me, I am on my 5th bowl!
The best is when I get to wash it down with a Diet Mountain Dew.

Yum