Mmmmmmm, Baked Beans. . . .

This year we grew so many dried beans that I decided to try canning some. I love the dried beans in soups and chili but I don't make baked beans often because of the time it takes. I'm always looking for new ways of using dried beans - they're so healthy and incredibly easy to grow.

So I tried canning a couple of small jars of beans - expecting the whole time that they would just end up a yucky mushy mess. Was I ever surprised! I had precooked them a tiny bit (I did not want them to expand too much and burst the jars) packed them into jars and covered with a small amount of water. After 30 minutes processing in the pressure canner I took them out and could see that they had at least held their shape, though a few looked quite split. That was 2 weeks ago. Today I opened a jar and dumped it into a pot, added about the same amount of homemade ketchup (that I had also canned a couple weeks ago)a dollop of molasses, a pinch of dry mustard and a handful of chopped ham. I heated it up for about 5 minutes and Ta-Da - "baked" beans! I did not add any extra sugar and no salt so really this is a very healthy and very quick meal. The beans had canned PERFECTLY! They had held their shape well and were firm but soft, not at all mushy. They were almost indescribably good!