A while back I got two books by Rita Bingham, "Natural Meals in Minutes" and "Country Beans." It is a combination of food storage and recipes for quick cheap (inexpensive) meals.

I dislike soaking beans, I forget to soak them and dislike the time it takes to cook them. I know I could pressure cook them, but I don't have a pressure cooker. I've considered getting one, but I am always years behind fads (bread machines, rice cookers, etc). My 1qt & 2qt farberware pans work fine for rice. So I've used canned beans, but I decided since I was yard saling to make a wish list. On it was a coffee bean grinder, brand new, never used. For $2 I became the proud owner of a Krups coffee grinder. It did a great job of grinding up split peas and chickpeas, so next I will get some black beans.

Start 2c of water boiling with one boullion cube, grind the beans (40 seconds for my grinder) and then add 3T of bean flour(whisk in). Stir 1min on med-high then 2min on med-low. Voila! Tasty bean soup in minutes. Quick and easy. The bean flour can also be used in place of wheat flour as a thickener.

Next I'll try black beans and experiment with thickness to make hummus. I love black bean hummus especially in the heat of summer.

Note: Do not make 5 min. soup from kidney beans.