Dehydrated Refried Beans

Dehydrated refried beans are a staple that you should include in your stockpile of provisions in case of an emergency or catastrophic event. Beans and rice are touted as the inexpensive way of meeting nutritional needs in the day-to-day routine and it is no different for those times of distress.

Dehydrated Beans

Storing dehydrated beans have a number of advantages over storing bags of dried beans besides requiring less space, being lighter and more resistant to pest infestation. Some of the benefits for buying and amassing dehydrated bean supplies include:

• Cost - At an average of 28 cents per ounce for refried beans compared to $1.86 average for freeze dried chicken, the beans are an economical way to add protein, iron and fiber for a nutritious meal.
  
• Water - When you are ready to use the dehydrated beans, it takes less water to reconstitute these beans than it does to soak dried beans. If you have a limited water supply, you have better uses for it than soaking beans.
  
• Time - Dehydrated refried beans reconstitute in minutes as opposed to hours to soak dried beans. Using these refried beans in your normal routine, you can quickly put together a healthy meal for a reasonable cost in comparison to fast, often fatty foods.
  

Availability

Portability, easy storage and the high nutritional value of beans makes it easy to find commercially prepared refried beans. Saratoga Farms refried beans have a shelf life from 10 to 20 years, come in a #10 can and provide up to 28 servings. The servings provide 17% of your daily protein and 47% of your daily fiber.

Provident Pantry has a 40 ounce #10 can of refried beans and offers approximately 20 servings per container. The shelf life of this food item is 25 or more years as is the MyChoice 10 ounce refried beans package that offers six servings per package. The smaller container is a good way to try the dehydrated product to see if it is something you would use and enjoy.

Practice

Don't wait until you have to use your dehydrated refried beans to learn how to cook with them, start using them ahead of time, especially if you have children. You can create a varied number of dishes with refried beans including burritos.

Adding Saratoga Farms dehydrated chopped onions or some freeze dried green onions from Provident Pantry will add flavor to your beans and you can sprinkle some Provident Pantry dehydrated cheddar cheese on top. You can always make a soup by adding tomato chunks, garlic, and some additional dried beans for a flavorful robust soup. Beprepared.com and the ReadyStore both offer a variety of dehydrated and freeze dried items to add flavor to your refried beans.

Preparing recipes using dehydrated refried beans before the catastrophic event occurs is an advantage because:

• Experiment - You have an opportunity to experiment with flavors and if something goes wrong, you still can replace your provisions or if something else would enhance your dish such as dehydrated red chili beans, for example, you can still buy them.
  
• Develop tastes - You can develop tastes for this high protein and fiber diet. Going back to establishing some kind of normalcy in a new type of living situation, you would continue to prepare meals with which your group is familiar.
  
• Comfort food - You learn what you and those who will be with you like to eat. If people are hungry they will eat whatever is available, but having food everyone enjoys is a comfort you can provide in an atmosphere where many comforts might be gone.
  

If you and your family have not enjoyed the flavors and benefits of refried beans, it is time to get started. Dehydrated refried beans are an economical means to add iron, fiber and protein to your diet and lend themselves to a variety of recipes and tastes.

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