For as long as I can remember I have eaten Heinz baked beans. I have always thought about making my own because homemade always tastes better but canned beans are just really convenient. Last summer when I looked into which products we eat that contain GMO ingredients I noted that Heinz beans are on the list of those that may potentially contain GMO's. It is most likely related to the pork in the beans and their inability to determine if the pigs being used eat GMO free feed. So I decided to take the leap and make our own.
The difference between canned and homemade is remarkable. I can't even put into words how much better they taste. It is like baby food vs adult food. I used this recipe and did not make any alterations. Obviously the key to replacing a product that contains GMO's is to make sure that what you are using to make the homemade version also does not contain GMO's.
I didn't find it was time consuming to make my own beans either. It is quick and simple to soak the beans over night and then assemble in the morning before work. The beans will be ready when you get home from work. In total it was 10 minutes of my time to prep the ingredients to go into the crock-pot. Completely worth it! This recipe made enough for 2 adults and 1 toddler for dinner and enough leftovers for another 3 meals.
An added benefit to replacing canned beans with homemade is reducing our exposure to the BPA that lines the cans.
What product have you replaced with homemade? Have you tried making your own beans?
Looks fantastic! The nutritional value must be way better too!
ReplyDeleteSo much less sodium!
ReplyDeleteI've made our own, just because I didn't have any ready prepped ones here and my DD has been asking for them ever since. I try to keep her off sugar too so mine are sweetened with agave syrup AND I was able to make the entire recipe organic for a fraction of shop-bought NON organic! Yours look lovely; it's so fantastic when something like that happens isn't it! And you've reminded to get back into the habit of making them more often because I've slipped back into lazy ways - thanks for that!
ReplyDeleteI try to keep an extra batch in the freezer in case we have the craving to have some and not enough time to make them from scratch!
ReplyDeleteI generally keep a few cans of beans or chickpeas on hand for last minute dinner decisions, but I have a whole supply of several types of dried beans. The last thing I made from scratch was refried beans and it tasted great. Any time I open a can of refried beans it smells like cat food... bleh! The main reason I like to cook with dry beans is because there is less waste; even though the cans can be recycled, I feel guilty every time I use one!
ReplyDeleteI'm the same way with the guilt. I know the cans can be recycled but just using them one time really irritates me. Now I save them for upcycling but there is only so much you can do with that.
ReplyDelete