Stretchy Beans

I know that I have mentioned Stretchy Beans quite a bit lately as part of my 13 Week Menu Plan. It occurred to me that every time I mention them, it is part of another post or a page. I was thinking today that Stretchy Beans being incredibly popular and useful at my house deserved their own post.

I was first introduced to the concept of Stretchy Beans a few years ago on a blog that I would visit. That blog was appropriately titled Lentils and Rice. The blog author shared many of her wonderful Stretchy Bean ideas. Sadly, the blog is no longer around.

I’ll admit I was no stranger to beans prior to reading that blog. Growing up, my mama usually made a large pot of pinto beans on Friday night and we ate on them all weekend. As a young (very broke) adult I also cooked pintos fairly regular and used the leftovers to make a delicious chili. But during my non cooking years I had pretty much got out of the habit of beans. When I found the Stretchy Bean idea it came at a time when our budget really needed it. Beans were a logical thing to keep cooking when we began to switch to a real/whole/traditional foods diet. Their cost makes them very real food friendly and by saving a little serving beans we are able to add other more expensive things to our diet like grass fed beef and real milk.

What are Stretchy Beans?

Stretchy Beans is a concept of making one big pot of beans and stretching that pot into many meals. It is the same idea as taking one chicken and turning it into numerous meals which Jenny from Nourished Kitchen demonstrates beautifully in this post. Of course, the beans are usually the more frugal option.

The Method

The first step is deciding what kind of beans you want to use in your Stretchy Beans. Pinto, black, white, garbanzo, mung, kidney, lentils, lima or probably any kind of bean will work. Then I sort the beans to remove any foreign material or funny looking beans. Beans need to be soaked before cooking. Some require soaking in an acidic liquid in order to eliminate the phytic acid. I love this guide that Wardeh has on Cooking Dry Beans in which she lists which bean needs what regarding amounts of acidic water (cooking instructions are also included).

Cooking usually comes next. Beans take a bit of time to cook so planning ahead is necessary. I like to use my crock pot to cook my beans. For my cooking liquid I try to use whatever broth that I have made that week. I think the broth ups the nutrition a bit by adding in all the wonderful protein and minerals that a good bone broth contains. I do not usually add any seasonings to my beans when I cook them preferring to add my seasonings to the finished dish. But you could go ahead and season if you like. Andi has a delicious looking recipe for pinto beans that I keep meaning to make that starts out with spices and flavorings. You may have noticed that I said I usually cook them at this point. I do not cook my mung beans or lentils. Be sure to keep reading to see what I do with those.

Once my beans are soft, it is time to start working with them. I take out the amount of beans that I will need for that nights dinner. Sometimes all that is required is seasoning the beans and serving them along with my side dishes. Sometimes I’ll turn it into something slightly different which may require a little more work.

Meal 1: Garbanzo Bean Curry

Meal 2: Garbanzo Bean Patties in a Pita