Could You Please Pass The Legumes?

Could You Please Pass The Legumes?

Before life interrupted the Food Storage series I started writing, I had covered spices, condiments/sauces, and grains. Today I am going to cover legumes.

Quite frankly, I am still working on this area with my family. I am still experimenting with incorporating more legumes in our diet. Legumes are peas, beans, peanuts, and lentils. These are all very cheap to purchase. Beans and lentils make an excellent alternative to meat in one’s diet when paired with a grain or something made with a grain. An example would be beans and rice!

However, with skyrocketing meat prices, I am looking at legumes more seriously. My family seems to be willing eaters of them except for my youngest and he is learning to like them. I have discovered that the cheapest legumes are the dried variety, but the dried variety needs to have some planning to cook them. Lentils and split peas are easy in that they do not need the soaking time that regular dried beans and peas need. Canned varieties of beans are easy to use and make a quick addition to any meal.

As I mentioned before I am still experimenting with legumes and what my family likes to eat. As of right now, this is what I have on hand:

1. Lentils

2. Canned black beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, chili beans, baked beans, refried beans and great northern beans

3. Dried Split Peas

4. Dried kidney beans, cannelloni beans, black beans, pinto beans, great northern beans, and navy beans

5. 16 bean soup mixes

I have some variety listed, but in the legume category the variety does not come from the products listed. The variety comes from the multiple ways they can be prepared! You can make:

Many, many kinds of Soups
Beans and Rice
Casseroles
Baked Beans
Calico Beans
Cowboy Beans 
Skillet Dishes
Chili
Lentils and Rice
and many more things! Legumes are so versatile! 

I am canning my own beans as well as making my own soup mixes from the items listed. I like having options for using these delicious things!

What do you keep in your pantry for legumes?

Thanks for reading,
Erica


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2 thoughts on “Could You Please Pass The Legumes?

  1. We have a stack of jars, two deep, with red lentils green lentils, kidney beans, pintos, black beans, great northern beans, black-eyed peas, and chickpeas (garbanzo beans).

    The chickpeas and great northern beans go with rosemary trimmings into chicken soups, while the black beans are often paired with corn and tomatoes to serve as a side dish, or combined with kidney beans and beef for a chili. Chicpeas make great hummus as well, and the lentils can be a solid dish or a thick soup, as well as the base for several Indian and Greek dishes.

    Right now we're not using them much, as we're on very-low-carb diets to combat medication side-effects. That said, beans are definitely a good carb, and we still enjoy them in small amounts. Should life become dire, my cooking options will actually increase!

  2. I have lots of the same beans you have. I think of canned beans as fast food alternatives. Dry beans are for when I plan ahead and use the crock pot. Lentils make yummy soup, stew and complement brown rice nicely. I have some lentil recipes I'll be sharing on my blog soon.

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