Beans-Long Term Food Storage

    WHAT TYPES OF BEANS CAN I STORE IN MY LONG TERM FOOD STORAGE?

    There are all types of beans for food storage.  My favorites to have on hand are: White, Black, Kidney, and Pinto beans.

    WHY SHOULD I STORE BEANS IN MY LONG TERM FOOD STORAGE?

    Beans give you a lot of bang for your buck.  They are low in cost, cholesterol free, low in fat, and high in fiber, protein, carbohydrate, folate, and many trace minerals.  In fact, because they are high in fiber and low in fat, they can actually help lower your cholesterol.  And my favorite-now brace yourself-you can actually use these as a fat substitute which will really come in handy.

    WHERE SHOULD I STORE MY BEANS?

    Store it in a cool, dry area.  Unopened it will store for 30+ years.  Opened, it will last a couple of years.

    HOW MANY BEANS SHOULD I HAVE IN MY LONG-TERM FOOD STORAGE?

    For a one year supply, you need about 60 pounds of dried beans or legumes per person per year, or about 5 pounds per month.

    WHICH TYPES OF BEANS AND HOW MUCH OF EACH SHOULD I HAVE IN MY LONG-TERM FOOD STORAGE?

    It depends on your preferences, and what you would use.  But I store more white beans (they work the best in baked goods), followed by black beans (we like Mexican food), and then equal amounts of pinto and kidney beans.

    WHERE CAN I PURCHASE BEANS FOR MY FOOD STORAGE?

    If you want to save a little money, you can visit your local LDS Cannery and can it yourself.  Or, you can purchase a case of PINTO beans online already canned through LDS Distribution Services Online.  Unfortunately, you can’t purchase white or black beans online through LDS Distribution Services Online-but it IS available at LDS Canneries.

    If you just want to click a few buttons and have your wheat ordered and shipping to your house, you can check these online sources.

    HOW DO I USE WHOLE WHEAT IN MY BAKING/COOKING?

    There are so many ways to use beans-soups, chilis, etc. But did you know you can use it to replace butter and oil in your favorite baked goods? If you need to replace oil, mash the beans with enough liquid to make a puree and use it in your recipe 1:1 (meaning if your recipe calls for 1 cup of oil, you’d use 1 cup of your bean puree). If you’d like to replace your butter, then use whole, cooked, drained beans in your recipe 1:1 (meaning if your recipe calls for 1 cup of butter, you’d use 1 cup of whole, cooked, drained beans). You simply insert it in the same place as your recipe calls for.

    WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COOKING WITH YOUR FOOD STORAGE?

    Learn to love your food storage!

    • allison

      ive heard about grinding beans and cooking with the flour? any good recipes you have tried? specifically kidney beans flour is sweet and makes great pancakes supposedly
      .

    • cacci

      do you have any recipes for legumes, it would be very helpful. thanks.

    • Crystal-Everyday Food Storage

      Yep! Stay tuned!

    • Maha

      Hi Crystal, Thanks for all the wonderful tips. I wanted to add what i usually do with my beans…. I soak it over night and store them all in the freezer in a ziploc and they come in handy when ever i need them (from my cooking experiences they take about 20 minutes to cook)

      Happy cooking

    • Cyndi

      I was impressed by the information about beans substituting for fats, so I went ahead and gave it a try. I have no concerns about it “working” in quick breads and such, but I wanted to try in my most used recipe-wheat bread. The recipe uses 1 stick of butter and 3/4 cup of oil (that adds up when baking four times a week). Well, I jumped in with both feet, substituted all fats with thick and thin bean purée, and it worked perfectly! Thank you for the idea. :)