Dan Goodman wrote:
> isw wrote:
>
>> In article > ,
>> "cybercat" > wrote:
>>
>>> "Anthony Ferrante" > wrote in message
>>> news >>>> I am going to make some bean soup in my crockpot soon. This will
>>>> be the first time for me.
>>>>
>>>> Are great northern beans the best to use? Also some have told me
>>>> to soak them first. Others say not to since they will slow cook
>>>> in the pot. Your thoughts?
>>>>
>>>> Anyone have any simple recipes you use for this which you might
>>>> want to share? I thought about going online and checking out the
>>>> recipe for The Senate Bean Soup. Anyone ever make that and if so,
>>>> your thoughts on it compared to other versions?
>>>>
>>>
>>> I like 15-bean soup blends. Dry beans.
>>
>> Why dry beans? Is there any disadvantage to canned beans for soup
>> *other than cost*?
>
> They're more dangerous to my health. I'm supposed to avoid excess
> salt, and canned beans almost always have globbers and sprads of salt.
>
Rinse them in a collander.

Jill

Janet Wilder wrote:
> Serene wrote:
>> isw wrote:
>>> In article > ,
>>> "cybercat" > wrote:
>>>
>>
>>>> I like 15-bean soup blends. Dry beans.
>>>
>>> Why dry beans? Is there any disadvantage to canned beans for soup
>>> *other than cost*?
>>
>> Salt levels. Preservatives. Texture (I prefer the texture of
>> home-cooked beans to canned, most of the time).
>>
>> Serene
>
> I agree about the texture. Canned beans do not have the same texture
> as prepared dried beans.
>
But you don't cook soup made with canned beans for hours on end, either. I
sometimes make a northern bean soup - canned beans (drained) to which I add
chicken broth, onion, garlic, sometimes a little celery if I have it on hand
(and rarely but occasionally carrots), crumbled bacon, salt & pepper as
needed and hot sauce. I can pretty much have bean soup in a few minutes and
it tastes better than many pre-prepared heat & eat bean soups.

Jill

Thanks! Your wife's recipe sounds delicious!

Anthony

>
>
>I much prefer the cannellini bean, Canneloni seems to get too soggy when
>cooked in a soup for my taste.
>
>My wife's fav bean recipe: Tonno e fagioli
>
>12-14 oz. cannellini beans (cheat on time and use rinsed canned beans
>instead)
>2 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
>6 oz. tuna in oil, drained. (fresh seared tuna is a nicer presentation but
>@ 10-12$ a lb a bit spendy for an antipasti)
>1- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice to taste
>1 medium onion, finely sliced ( I prefer red) or 3-4 scallions as
>preferred
>1-2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
>salt/(white)pepper to taste
>
>Soak the beans overnight and then cook for 1 1/2 hours, starting with cold
>water. Salt towards the end of cooking time to keep the beans from hardening
>up. Drain and cool or save your self a lot of trouble and buy quality canned
>Great Northerns or go to the international isle and pay 2x more for the same
>kidney beans with an fancy label. Combine the beans, coarsely crumbled tuna
>and the onion in a bowl. Add the olive oil, lemon. onions, parsley, a pinch
>of pepper and salt to taste. Toss, serve.
>

"kilikini" wrote
> Sheldon wrote:
>>
>> No disadvantage whatsoever... and dried beans ain't so cheap anymore
>> (typically over $1.25/lb in those one pound bags)..

> My husband has been rather upset at the price of dried beans, lately.
> Didn't they used to be about $.69 a bag? Now they're $1.25 to, in some
> stores, $1.79 and the selection is really limited. Even in the Mexican
> market it's the same deal.

Yup, they have gone up but not quite as much as that here. I think what is
going on is the stores see a cheap food and added a higher profit margin to
that one, so the overall other prices can stay a little lower?

> You're absolutely correct about the canned beans. Save yourself some
> money, time and energy and just buy those.

The cooking time on a stove is too much for me. With a crockpot, I still
like making my own but agree that in many recipes it's just sensible to use
a can. As Sheldon says, the small amount I *may* save isnt worth the time
and depending on your cooking method and energy costs, may be more expensive
in the long run to do dried!

"Sheldon" wrote

>Like any other crop beans have poor growing seasons too. Beans ripen
>over a period of a few weeks so are harvested by hand, and labor costs
>have been steadily increasing.

Actually some are machine harvested but I think you are correct that the
majority are not. Even thse that are machine harvested will have gone up
due to the cost of the diesel/gas needed for the machinery.

> It's also becoming increasingly
>expensive to store dried beans, not only do the warehouses need to be
>kept vermin proof, they are also actually giant humidors... like any
>seeds dried beans must be kept darn close to a 6pct moisture
>content... more and they are prone to mold, less and they shrivel and
>crack... it costs money to maintain a climate controled warehouse.

>But even at twice the price beans are still an excellent source of
>economical quality nutrition.

Agree fully.

I seem to recall you aren't fond of crockpot cookery? Thats ok, it's not
for everyone and the biggest drawback to it is in a single eater household.
For most things, just makes too much food! Although I can and do freeze
some types of dried beans after cooking, the texture is not that great if
you need a firmer bean later. Frozen cooked beans are best turned into
'refritos' or one of my other uses is a bean gravy.

"cybercat" wrote
> "Serene" wrote in message

>>> Why dry beans? Is there any disadvantage to canned beans for soup *other
>>> than cost*?
>>
>> Salt levels.
>
> That's a good point. I actually like using dried beans because they store
> so well, and produce less waste. (Meaning the can.) But now that you speak
> of it, they are also more pure. I use so much garlic in my black beans
> that I don't think I have ever added salt. Pepper, for sure, and a bit of
> vinegar, but not salt.

Yup, main reason in my house too is salt and other preservatives.

"cshenk" > wrote in message
...
> "cybercat" wrote
>> "Serene" wrote in message
>
>>>> Why dry beans? Is there any disadvantage to canned beans for soup
>>>> *other than cost*?
>>>
>>> Salt levels.
>>
>> That's a good point. I actually like using dried beans because they store
>> so well, and produce less waste. (Meaning the can.) But now that you
>> speak of it, they are also more pure. I use so much garlic in my black
>> beans that I don't think I have ever added salt. Pepper, for sure, and a
>> bit of vinegar, but not salt.
>
> Yup, main reason in my house too is salt and other preservatives.
>

I don't have any pressing reason to avoid salt, I just don't like a lot of
it.
Almost all packaged snacks, like chips or popcorn or nuts have too much.
The taste of it grosses me out and it makes me feel bad if I eat oversalted
stuff.

From the prepared things I have had, it seems most people like things
saltier than I do.

One thing I will never understand is people who add salt without even
tasting their food first. I have seen people add salt to canned SOUP, which
can have as much as a gram of salt per serving. Ugh.

"cybercat" wrote
> "cshenk" wrote

>>>>> *other than cost*?

>>>> Salt levels.

>>> That's a good point. I actually like using dried beans because they
>>> store

>> Yup, main reason in my house too is salt and other preservatives.

> I don't have any pressing reason to avoid salt, I just don't like a lot of
> it.

We don't have to be super careful, but Don has blood pressure problems if he
goes too much on the salt kick. Had a mini-stroke scare 3 years ago. After
careful testing, we found if he stays within the 2,000mg a day recommended,
he's fine. Thats not a hard target to hit but easy to slip over in a single
meal if you don't pay attention.

> Almost all packaged snacks, like chips or popcorn or nuts have too much.
> The taste of it grosses me out and it makes me feel bad if I eat
> oversalted
> stuff.

Same here. Same for Don. When you say 'makes you feel bad' do you have any
specific symptoms? Email me if you prefer, I promise I'm cool <G>. Address
is not munged.

One early sign fairly common to people who are salt reactive, is they can
hear the blood whooshing in their ears after a very salty meal. This is a
'not good thing' but it doesnt mean you are gonna suddenly keel over.

Oh, and don't worry about all the salt hype either. Recent studies show
that most folks are not very salt reactive or if they are, its often due to
a combination with a medication or a temporary thing like being pregnant.
That doesnt mean some are not reactive (Don is, I am not) but it's not quite
what it at first seems. It's a rote diagnosis from Docs to 'reduce your
salt intake' based not so much on true diagnostics of an individual's
reaction to it, as malpractice suits.

> From the prepared things I have had, it seems most people like things
> saltier than I do.

I've noticed as we have taken our salt down for Don, both Charlotte and I
are finding things too salty. We built a tolerance to it over the years and
were just not aware of it.

> One thing I will never understand is people who add salt without even
> tasting their food first. I have seen people add salt to canned SOUP,
> which
> can have as much as a gram of salt per serving. Ugh.

Grin, I used to do that.

One coda on the canned beans and salt. I havent noticed it being all that
high in most of them (there was one brand that was, but it was supposed to
be I think. A salty garlicy black bean paste meant as a condiment). It's
more like 'every little bit helps' in this case. If I shave off 200mg
sodium from a bean dish, I can use that for a family comfort food of salty
daikon pickles <g>.

On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:22:56 -0400, "cshenk" > wrote:

>"kilikini" wrote
>> Sheldon wrote:
>>>
>>> No disadvantage whatsoever... and dried beans ain't so cheap anymore
>>> (typically over $1.25/lb in those one pound bags)..
>
>> My husband has been rather upset at the price of dried beans, lately.
>> Didn't they used to be about $.69 a bag? Now they're $1.25 to, in some
>> stores, $1.79 and the selection is really limited. Even in the Mexican
>> market it's the same deal.
>
>Yup, they have gone up but not quite as much as that here. I think what is
>going on is the stores see a cheap food and added a higher profit margin to
>that one, so the overall other prices can stay a little lower?
>
>> You're absolutely correct about the canned beans. Save yourself some
>> money, time and energy and just buy those.
>
>The cooking time on a stove is too much for me. With a crockpot, I still
>like making my own but agree that in many recipes it's just sensible to use
>a can. As Sheldon says, the small amount I *may* save isnt worth the time
>and depending on your cooking method and energy costs, may be more expensive
>in the long run to do dried!
>
>

for me, it depends on what i'm making. bean soup gets dried, chili
gets canned. (maybe i should try chili again with dried; i had tough
beans once, but maybe they were just old.)

your pal,
blake

"blake murphy"
"cshenk" wrote:

>>like making my own but agree that in many recipes it's just sensible to
>>use
>>a can. As Sheldon says, the small amount I *may* save isnt worth the time
>>and depending on your cooking method and energy costs, may be more
>>expensive
>>in the long run to do dried!

> for me, it depends on what i'm making. bean soup gets dried, chili
> gets canned. (maybe i should try chili again with dried; i had tough
> beans once, but maybe they were just old.)

Same here except I do dried in chili too now. Could have been old beans
there. I'll add a reminder that for us, most of the reason for dried is a
small salt reduction (so we can save up that little bit for use in something
else and still fit in mandated Doc's limits for Don).

cshenk wrote:

> "blake murphy"
> "cshenk" wrote:
>
> > > like making my own but agree that in many recipes it's just
> > > sensible to use a can. As Sheldon says, the small amount I may
> > > save isnt worth the time and depending on your cooking method and
> > > energy costs, may be more expensive in the long run to do dried!
>
> > for me, it depends on what i'm making. bean soup gets dried, chili
> > gets canned. (maybe i should try chili again with dried; i had
> > tough beans once, but maybe they were just old.)
>
> Same here except I do dried in chili too now. Could have been old
> beans there. I'll add a reminder that for us, most of the reason for
> dried is a small salt reduction (so we can save up that little bit
> for use in something else and still fit in mandated Doc's limits for
> Don).

Back when misc.survivalism discussed survival and survivalism, one
poster found some dried beans about ten years old. He cooked them;
they came out fine, but took a looong time to cook.

--
Dan Goodman
"I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
Journal http://dsgood.livejournal.com
Futures http://clerkfuturist.wordpress.com
mirror 1: http://dsgood.insanejournal.com
mirror 2: http://dsgood.wordpress.com
Links http://del.icio.us/dsgood

"cshenk" > wrote >> Almost all packaged snacks, like chips
or popcorn or nuts have too much.
>> The taste of it grosses me out and it makes me feel bad if I eat
>> oversalted
>> stuff.
>
> Same here. Same for Don. When you say 'makes you feel bad' do you have
> any specific symptoms?

What an interesting question. I tried to figure it out--I guess I feel
dehydrated
or something similar, like the salt is drawing me up and wrinkling me out,
lol!
It makes my throat feel bad. I guess it is almost like an irritant to me.
And of
course I mean too much, not just enough.

There is one salty food I can eat--feta! I love feta. I think the good
earthy
stink of the cheese overpowers the salt for me.

> One early sign fairly common to people who are salt reactive, is they can
> hear the blood whooshing in their ears after a very salty meal. This is a
> 'not good thing' but it doesnt mean you are gonna suddenly keel over.

Hmmm .... I don't think I hear this. I remember having fevers as a child
and hearing my heartbeat, thinking it was "devils marching."

>
> Oh, and don't worry about all the salt hype either. Recent studies show
> that most folks are not very salt reactive or if they are, its often due
> to a combination with a medication or a temporary thing like being
> pregnant. That doesnt mean some are not reactive (Don is, I am not) but
> it's not quite what it at first seems. It's a rote diagnosis from Docs to
> 'reduce your salt intake' based not so much on true diagnostics of an
> individual's reaction to it, as malpractice suits.

I definitley retain water, but eat a lot of potassium. Part of being the
Bean Queen and eating raw vegetables a lot. And cooked.

>
>> From the prepared things I have had, it seems most people like things
>> saltier than I do.
>
> I've noticed as we have taken our salt down for Don, both Charlotte and I
> are finding things too salty. We built a tolerance to it over the years
> and were just not aware of it.

This makes sense. I have a sister, though who seems to have craved salt
from birth. I remember her shaking salt into her hand and eating it as a
child. She still eats salty snacks.

"cybercat" wrote
> "cshenk" wrote

>> The taste of it grosses me out and it makes me feel bad if I eat
>>> oversalted stuff.
>> Same here. Same for Don. When you say 'makes you feel bad' do you have
>> any specific symptoms?
>
> What an interesting question. I tried to figure it out--I guess I feel
> dehydrated or something similar, like the salt is drawing me up and
> wrinkling me out, lol!

Humm! Not a hypertensive reaction there. Just a normal one.

> It makes my throat feel bad. I guess it is almost like an irritant to me.
> And of course I mean too much, not just enough.
> There is one salty food I can eat--feta! I love feta. I think the good
> earthy stink of the cheese overpowers the salt for me.

Grin, I *luv* feta!

>> One early sign fairly common to people who are salt reactive, is they can
>> hear the blood whooshing in their ears after a very salty meal. This is
>> a 'not good thing' but it doesnt mean you are gonna suddenly keel over.
>
> Hmmm .... I don't think I hear this. I remember having fevers as a child
> and hearing my heartbeat, thinking it was "devils marching."

No problem! It's just one of many things folks do not know can indicate
there might be a shift in blood pressure going on.

>> Oh, and don't worry about all the salt hype either. Recent studies show
>> that most folks are not very salt reactive or if they are, its often due
(snip)

> I definitley retain water, but eat a lot of potassium. Part of being the
> Bean Queen and eating raw vegetables a lot. And cooked.

Unless you retain water the the point of shoes not fitting, probably not an
issue there. Your Doc would know best of course, but seems to me from the
little bits we've discussed, you may well not have any medical need to
reduce salt intake. Rote diagnosis would be more likely (all peaople shold
eat less salt runs the rote, regardless if it affects you or not).

>>> From the prepared things I have had, it seems most people like things
>>> saltier than I do.
>>
>> I've noticed as we have taken our salt down for Don, both Charlotte and I
>> are finding things too salty. We built a tolerance to it over the years
>> and were just not aware of it.
>
> This makes sense. I have a sister, though who seems to have craved salt
> from birth. I remember her shaking salt into her hand and eating it as a
> child. She still eats salty snacks.

Hehe take her salt away for a 2 week time and see if she adds as much later
<g>. Yeah I know, she'd kill ya but think about it. The less salt one
eats, the less tolerance in taste for it one has. It never totally goes
away, but the tastebuds get more sensitive to it so a little goes a longer
way.

cyberBLOW sucked:


> "cshenk" > wrote >> Almost all packaged snacks, like chips
> or popcorn or nuts have too much.
>
> >> The taste of it grosses me out and it makes me feel bad if I eat
> >> oversalted
> >> stuff.
>
> > Same here. *Same for Don. *When you say 'makes you feel bad' do you have
> > any specific symptoms?
>
> What an interesting question. I tried to figure it out--I guess I feel
> dehydrated
> or something similar, like the salt is drawing me up and wrinkling me out,
> lol!
> It makes my throat feel bad. I guess it is almost like an irritant to me.
> And of
> course I mean too much, not just enough.


You need to better master the fine points of the art of fellatio,
cyberpussy...

Or ask yer hubbie to drink pineapple juice, his ejaculate will taste
sweeter...


;-p


--
Best
Greg

"Gregory Morrow" wrote

> >> oversalted stuff.

>You need to better master the fine points of the art of fellatio,
>cyberpussy...

Greg, you really should chill out. This was a perfectly normal conversation
on sodium reduction.