Oh, yes! Cooked dry beans taste so much better than canned. I've started cooking a big pot of black beans and then freezing it to use in the future. Its so much better than using canned beans.

I grew up on a small family dairy and cash crop farm. Not enough flat land to go straight to crops. The cows, while needing a lot of work 365 days a year, meant a milk check coming in. When I was little, Dad had to put it in milk cans and haul it to the dairy. Only 25 or so cows, not like the hundreds and thousands that farms have now.

While my grandmother was alive, we had chickens. So milk and eggs were a given - as were old chickens and cows that no longer produced. Let me tell you, dairy cows that are old are not all that great eating. Some years we had a couple of pigs, but not always. Big garden, lots of freezing and canning. One of the crops Dad grew was kidney beans! I didn't even know they came in a can until I was grown.

Both of our girls grew up eating foods made from scratch, and like to eat good food. So now, they also cook from scratch. Our younger daughter has twins who are not quite a year old and are allergic to dairy, so their meals are somewhat unusual for babies, lol. No yogurt or cheese, for example. They love salmon and eat a lot of beans! She cooks them in an instant pot (aka pressure cooker), quick and easy. She's a single mom through the miracle of science - she didn't want to wait any longer so went the medical route. Was supposed to be one, but had identical twins. So inexpensive and quick are very important.

I honestly don't know if packaged foods were scarce here, it's not something we have on hand. Recently, I needed to make a dessert to take to a family and wasn't feeling inspired. Somebody said, "Just make up a cake mix!". Yeah, I don't have that on hand...

Anniedeb- your story about your Dad was so touching. :)
I went to Catholic school until college but grade school was free. My Dad only had to pay for our high school years.
I know it's not that way now though. Maybe city taxes paid it? I don't really know.

Freezing them is a good idea! I wish I had a bigger freezer. I'd stock it full of things that I make during the plentiful seasons.

We like black bean burgers. They are tasty and economical. If you dry the cook beans in the oven for about 15 min first, it makes a firmer burger. I has the same protein as ground beef and really cut my grocery budget when I needed to scrimp when the kids were little. We all liked them so I kept making them.

A few years ago we bought a little box freezer. It's about 2' x 3' and fits right in the corner of the breakfast room. Best purchase ever. I bought it to keep the dogs frozen food in, but we use it for everything. It's a great overflow freezer for the one in the frig.

My husband hoards food the way I hoard fabric https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images...es/biggrin.png
But we have a large chest freezer and who knows what's in it. I'm trying to talk him into getting an upright. We keep it in the garage.

After my 90+ year old neighbor died, her son tried to give us her huge freezer. We really didn't have room or the need for it, but one of our employees who has 4 kids took it. Freezers are so nice to have, but those huge ones are really overkill for just 2 people. We got this small one because it holds a lot but doesn't take up much room so we can put it in the house instead of the garage. With the heat here, it costs a lot of run a freezer in the garage.

I bet ours is a huge electric hog!!

I sent hubby to get some frozen shrimp for a gumbo yesterday and was quite pleasantly surprised that the price of a bag of frozen shrimp had not gone up!

Gumbo was delicious...

Thanks for the tip about drying out the beans first. Good idea!

I pack my granddaughter's lunch. She likes kiwi and I put 2 kiwi in her lunch every day. They went from 34 cents each to 50 cents each in a week's time.

Yikes, even the bananas at my local target when from 19 to 25 cents!

Bananas are 50 cents a piece at my store. Augh!

I stopped using the drive up service last week at my store. The reason being that they never wanted to sell me the items that I wanted to buy, namely the healthier foods. I would go on to the computer to start my order and every time I got to something like bulk nuts, good bread, or any kind of vegan product, the computer would say that, "This product is not available for drive up delivery," or just, "Unavailable." It was getting really frustrating to find good, quality food that they would deliver to my car. I asked the checker about it and she said that they were doing that to push their preferred brands. That's no surprise.

So, I still make up my list at home to help with budgeting, but now I'm back in the store doing my own shopping. I went to the various food sections and low and behold, there were all of my favorite products, overflowing from the shelves. IMHO, it's a sad commentary on what is happening with the food and grocery industry today.

My weekly food list is simple, fresh produce, eggs, butter, milk, cheese, and fruit. My monthly buys are to replace the pantry items I have used. I have six months of pantry items stored at all times so I don't have to buy anything for six months if it came to that. My husband buys the meats, he's picky about his meats. I wanted to replaced some can soup we like and it has gone up from $1.49 to $2.50. . I won't be surprised if it goes to $5 a can if available in a few months.

Dry beans are inexpensive and a source of protein. Of course, they have to be soaked and cooked and the general public doesn’t wish to do that. I had to convince our church ladies to make & serve Ham & Bean as a soup choice at the Fall soup supper. It sold out in nothing flat.

I have cooked them without soaking. It takes much longer to cook but tastes the same. Soaking over night in the fridge is what I was taught to do.

I like making my soups from scratch and my beans from dry beans. I soak them in a covered pot overnight.

I don’t always soak my beans overnight. Instead I will do a hard boil for about two minutes, drain and rinse, then cook as usual.

this is my preferred method too. I cook them in my Instant Pot so I do t have to decide a day ahead. Boil in the Instant Pot on sauté, let sit a couple minutes, drain and do the next steps.

I went shopping this morning at local grocery store. No name brand ground coffee but some house brand. Chicken was plentiful and other meats but has gone up in price. Cereal aisle was sparse but Kellogg has a strike going now. Cheese low in stock except for the deli dept. cheese. Spice and herb shelf was very low. And eggs were low stocked except for the organic ones. Bananas were .69 lb. I plan to go to a larger chain grocery store this afternoon.

'I also cook from scratch, all healthy food. I also keep a supply and watch for good sales then buy more for our stash. We also make soup and keep in the freezer in serving size for our family. This day mothers don't teach kids basic in cooking and keeping a house clean, and don't have chores to keep them busy.

I think in some cases that is true but too wide a swath if you get my drift. I taught mine and all 3 grands know their way around a kitchen and laundry. Sometimes fathers are better at some things.

Yes, must be a regional thing. Where I live most families have moved on from pink jobs and blue jobs. It’s no longer the mother who is solely responsible for teaching/looking after the kids. I have two adults sons, 6 grandkids and they all pitch in with housework, cooking etc. My younger son is the main cook in their family, DIL doesn’t enjoy cooking, so that has been modelled to their kids. He learned how to make meals for the family when he was in high school . We wanted our sons to be self sufficient.

My other son likes to cook but his wife does too so they share the duties. One of the 14 year old twins (boys) loves to sew. He does most of the baking for their school lunches.

back in the day (50's and 60's) we did the blue and pink thing. My sister and I did most of the housework, cooking, dishes, gardening, canning, washing produce from the garden. My brothers did most of the lawn mowing, digging gardens, chopping and sawing wood, hauling it in, helping with the oil changes, etc. However, my parents believed in cross training so yep, by the time we were in high school, I could chop wood, use a swede say, change a tire, haul in the wood and my brother's could do the laundry, iron, cook, and clean the toilet. When I went to college, I could not believe the young adults there that did not know how to do laundry, cook them selve an egg, and figure out a budget. My conclusion to this was if your kids can't take care of themselves and do basic tasks by the time they leave the nest, they have failed as a parent no matter how good the kids' "self esteem" is. Oh, and my parents also taught us that other people sometimes know more than we did and our job was to figure that out and maybe change our views if warranted.

The blue and pink chores have their place in everyday life but each child should know basic skills in the kitchen and the garage.

How much each of us eat out is largely a generational thing and only partly on cost. My son's generation eats out a lot... but in his household he does more cooking than his wife who believes her mom is the best cook ever and never took time to learn, only to appreciate!

I’m not understanding. Explain, please.

Double post.

Most couples work out a division of labour that suits the relationship. Thankfully gender doesn’t have to determine the role.

DH and I have done just that. We seem to fit/follow the pink/blue roles. That, however is by choice, in that I certainly can perform most blue roles. I was changing my own oil in high school. I can mow lawns, snow blow, and run a chain saw. I just chose not to. DH can do household chores, but loves the garage and outdoors. My sons were raised early on to do their own laundry, room clean-up, and were often asked to vacuum and sweep. Both are really good cooks also. If something needs to be done we just do it.

Blue skills are usually considered for boys to learn as in household repairs, car maint. A few but not many girls have an interest in those. Pink is usually for girls to learn like, sitting tableware, decorating, A few but not many boys have an interest in those. Cooking, cleaning, budgeting, child care, and providing should be learned by both.

I think it is useful/helpful to know what each person in a household will usually do. I also think it is useful/helpful to know - or at least be aware of - what the other people do.

I know of some families that when dear old dad died, dear old mom did not have a clue about finances.

Ours has fallen into a more or less "pink and blue" division of labor - but I have no great desire to mow lawn and he has no great desire to sew.

We both used to work on the car and cut and stack wood for the woodstove. Both cooked. Both did laundry. I taught DH to sew and we made quilts together for years. Most importantly, we took care of finances together, and when he passed, I wasn't a helpless widow. I even do my own taxes as we did that together too.

ahhh, now I understand. I think nowadays all kids should learn all skills so that they can be independent, well rounded and self sufficient. I don’t believe in gender specific roles.

I do believe in gender specific roles but not that everyone has to stay in those roles. I don't want to do finances, work on the car, use shop tools. So why should I learn? As a child I had to help my brothers do 'boy work' and didn't like it one bit. My brothers washed dishes and cook meals and hated it but they could do it. They had to learn to crochet to make fishing nets and they were okay with that. LOL

My Mom was a wonderful cook but didn't want anyone in the kitchen with her. I have 2 brothers and 1 sister. My brothers are fabulous cooks, my sister and me? So-so at best. But my husband and 2 of my 3 sons are also fabulous cooks. It still cracks me up how my brothers are such good cooks and our Dad never boiled water haha

One big problem I have with gender specific roles (I have many) is I always loved baseball and when I was little girls just didn't do that. No fair!!
To this very day I watch Major League baseball and wish I could have been a player!! :D

I might be off topic here...the conversation has taken a different turn...I'll chime in anyway. :)

Coffee savings: Lavazza Coffee is a really good Italian brew and is served in 5-star hotels around the world. It has been on sale for a few months now at our local Safeway for only $4.99/12 oz bag. Sometimes they even offer a buy one get one free! It comes in different roasted varieties and it's usually located on the top shelf, away from the more popular brands. I think that they are using these discounted prices to break into the US market. Look for it in your store.

Just a suggestion to at least learn a little bit about your finances. I have seen some widows who did not really struggle after their husbands passed away or had a stroke. Hope that doesn't happen and perhaps you have somebody that handles them for you. Cars can be towed and brought to mechanics, and you probably will not need to use the shop tools although being able to use a screw driver and hammer does come in handy.