up early- beans and odds /ends....

i dreamt about my deceased brother in law...... it was 'interesting' but i didn't say it was exactly pleasant.
however it did get me up
so here i am
bernie forgot the living room window open all night, which concerns me due to bear and raccoons etc.
plus it is now pretty cold in the house
anyway that is some of the morning odds and ends out of the way no?
i got a doctor appointment monday, a new one, as i need a pcp, and this one is an internist.
we'll see
i need a renewal on my thyroid meds
as i feel pretty good right now, i would like to continue that
i have a periodontist on the 30th
heaven help me

friday poindexter and may are leaving for their new home. i am so going to miss them. and we named big foot...... her name is actually AMELIA!!!! who knew?

now i want to talk about beans a bit...... dry beans
i really should save the bean talk until another day right, but i'll put some in here
dried beans are a great staple to have on hand.
try to get them in bulk and try to get them for less then 1.00 a pound
my favorites are kidney, cannelloni, navy, yellow eyes, roman, lima and i also like turtle
there are a ton of different beans

they are simple to cook, soak overnight, drain, rinse, cover with water with an inch over them... add an onion and some garlic and simmer until tender
THEN ADD THE SALT
now you can add stuff like meat or tomato sauce
or the stuff to make boston baked
or ham
or you can grind them to make 'meat' (i add oatmeal, cooked barley, garlic, onions, and oregano plus an egg or two...enough garlic and people don't know it's not really 'meat')

and a few home canned jars of beans ( keep them soupy, soak over night, 1/4 of a jar full of beans, fill with water and pressure can for 60 minutes pints, and 75 for quarts at whatever weight for your elevation)

you can even make PIE with ground up beans, it's quite good actually, tastes like pecan pie without the overload cloying sweetness......
use a commercial pie shell and google 'bean pie' (actually click that link..... it's already googled for you)

a home canned jar of ham, and a jar or two of home canned beans..... heavenly on a cold snowy day- super score if you reheat on the woodstove! or in a solar oven
how cool is that?
the convenience alone is worth the work of home canning dried beans.......and we've found that the more things we pressure can (with a full canner load) the more electricity we save overall for the year!
after a while a jar of this and a jar of that off the shelves really do add up to huge savings....even for someone who is living alone, as this way at least they eat a varied diet of homemade foods, with less crap in them.
ok it's about 5:30 am now..
i am going to finish my coffee.......... (anyone out there with me on the coffee thing?) and try to get some of the other stuff i need done today started...
i realized that i also need to clean the chickens yet again
i don't know why!
the bedding looks fine but there is a slight smell that's bothering me
have a good day everyone