Blog the First (in which I discuss what amounts to a hill of beans, sans BPA)

Today, I've done something I've never done before. No. Not blogging. Lord, if I had a nickle for all the half-baked blogs I've started... I'd have about 15 cents. But I digress.

Today, I am making beans. Yes, the musical fruit. The more you eat, the more you fart. Those beans. I mean, I've made beans from a can before, but today I am making beans from a bulk, dried state. It has been an anxiety-filled undertaking. Should I do the long soak or is the hot-soak as good, or better? Do I cook them for 1 hour? 2 hours? More? Should I add kombu or epazote to reduce the, erm, musical qualities?

Despite my pride (I think they turned out perfect), I am a little annoyed. I have developed a deep love for canned beans over the last few months, for good reason. I have become a vegan and beans, along with rice, are a daily staple for me, and one of the larger sources of protein in my diet. It is also one of my daughter's favorite foods, and even though she isn't a vegan herself, she eats beans on a daily basis. Canned beans were one of those modern conveniences that made my single-working-mom existence just a tiny bit less rushed and more pleasant.

And now, canned beans are dead to me. Dead, I say. Why is this?, you may ask. I'll tell you in three little letters:

B P A. BPA, which also stands for bisphenol A, a chemical that is used in the linings of cans used for foods and beverages. Here's a link to the Environmental Working Group's article on Bisphenol A (which anybody who is considering eating anything from a can should read):

http://www.ewg.org/reports/bisphenola

But suffice it to say, this is some nasty stuff. A few of the possible effects of low-dose exposure to BPA include breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, obesity, infertility, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Unfortunately (yet, not surprisingly) the US Government has decided that BPA is safe at low-dose exposure.

Wait! What about organic canned vegetables and beans? The ONLY company I know of at this time that is using cans they can guarantee do not have BPA in them is Eden Foods, and that is ONLY for their beans and beans & rice products. I don't know about you, but to me it ain't organic anymore if they stick the organic food in a poison-lined can.

Which leads me back to my adventure in bulk dried bean cooking. I'd buy Eden Foods beans if I was wealthy woman, but at $2.00 to $2.50 a can (even if i were to have them delivered by the case from Eden Foods direct!) this single working mom can't justify the expenditure considering how many beans we eat as a family. So my new Sunday chore? Cooking da beans.