I've SO Bean There

I have an excess of dry bean/peas. I'm not sure how I got into this predicament - but I am overloaded with beans. My bags of beans compares with my friend Stephanie's chocolate chip stash. So my brilliant sister had a great idea - cook the beans in a crock-pot. Now why is that a brilliant idea, you ask? Well, dry beans are dirt cheap compared to canned beans. The only problem is, well, they're dry (hard, inedible, useless except for homemade bean bags, bean art and maracas). Soaking and cooking are a hassle, because you can't go anywhere whilst the beans simmer away on your gas stove for 6-8 hours only to not be done. So that's where the crock-pot comes it. Throw in a bag of beans, water and turn that puppy on whatever setting for however long and let em' cook. Just add more water as you need to. Hours later, you have perfectly cooked, cheap beans to be frozen and used whenever. I just did some Great Northern beans to be used this week in some white bean chili I plan on making Thursday. I'm telling you; super easy, cheap and healthy!

Ready to be frozen for later meals

We bought a deep freezer a week or two ago. The only problem is, now that we've bought it, we're out of money to buy anything to put in it. I did however, make a double batch of some yummy Cinnamon Oat Scones to tuck away in my new deep freezer. They're perfect for breakfast or a snack. Delicious!

In the scone-baking process

Now that it is almost (in 1 hour, 23 minutes) autumn, I have busted out the pumpkin puree and whipped up a batch of chocolate-chip pumpkin cookies. As you can see, they were well received.

As I have mentioned before, I have been in a cleaning-out frenzy. It resulted in a trunk full of items to be donated to Goodwill. My front seat is also full. We are so blessed, that I feel donating our things is better than trying to sell them.
And finally - we are ready for October and the Halloween festivities. Costume plans are in discussion and old costumes are making their way out of the dress-up box. Even Rose is getting in on the action.

What is it about fall that just makes me want to bake and cook up soups? Is this just me or do you have the same feeling?