Instructions: Put in crockpot and cook about 4-6 hours on high or overnight on low. Beans should be soft (small white beans take longest, pinto beans shorter)

Add spices, vegies, etc. (see below) cook about another hour.

Spices:, vegies, etc:
1. 1 tsp dried cumin, 1 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1-2 Tbsp. soy sauce, a few chili peppers, chopped, chopped green pepper, can chopped tomotoes, some frozen corn. (Good with black beans) 1/2 tsp liquid smoke tastes good added.

2. 1 tsp cumin, 1 can chopped green chilis, chopped green pepper, 1 Tbsp soy sauce (good with white beans).

3. 1-2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1/4 cup molasses, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp dried mustard, (good with pinto or black eyed peas)

Garbanzo beans I usually use as a substiute in chicken recipes, so Ill freeze them with just the onions and garlic. Frozen black eyed peas are also a good staple to have on hand (for some reason thats the only legume that comes frozen except for lima beans which I dont like).

It may seem like it takes a lot of time to cook dried beans, but the actual effort involved is minimal. Cover the beans with water to soak all day or overnight.

Chop onions and garlic, throw it all in crockpot (at this point I havent even always decided what spices to use). When ready throw spices in and cook another hour: done. Freeze in batches. I have a rice cooker too, so the actual time I spend cooking can be minimal unless Im in the mood.

I live alone, so I typically cook a batch in a crockpot, put about 1/3 in the fridge, freeze the rest in similar sized batches. That way I can pull out diFFerent flavored batches from the freezer and dont have to eat the same batch til its done. The batch in the fridge will keep 4-5 days.

NOTES :

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