I have been on a bit on an economizing kick lately. Moving was mad expensive, and now that I am going to have to spend some money on unexpected legal expenses, so like a lot of people these days, I am trying to cut my spending in every way I can.

I’ve always been good about keeping the thermostat turned low- 64 in the daytime, 59 at night- and those kinds of things. My downfall is food. I spend way too much at the grocery store every week and am guilty of eating out more regularly than I should. Erin and I made a deal that we would try not to eat out at all for a couple of months to save money and would be really diligent about eating leftovers until they were gone.

And so far, we have been really, really good. But today, I think I may have outdone myself.

A few weeks ago I stocked up on lots of basics at the big grocery store in Charlottesville, including several bags of dried beans. Black beans. Pinto beans. Red beans. And white beans. And seeing as today was a rainy, cold, stay-indoors-all-day kind of day, some kind of white bean dish seemed like exactly the right thing for dinner.

But- and this is a big one- I have never had great luck with cooking dried beans. Either they cook forever and never soften or turn kind of mealy. I’ve read that you have to buy dried beans in a store that has good dried bean turnover, but how on earth am I supposed to know that? Shall I mark the bags and then stake out the bean isle for a couple of weeks? Crazy, right?

But for some reason I haven’t given up up the dream of one day making good beans. I’ve had amazing white bean dishes at restaurants and friend’s houses and I was determined that someday, I would master white beans. And today was that day. And I did it not with the help of any of the dozens of cookbooks on my kitchen shelf. Nope, I used the recipe right on the back of the bag. A recipe called “Economy Dish.”

Here’s what you do. Rinse your beans and throw them in your dutch oven. Little white beans, Northern beans or Navey beans will all work. Add one diced onion, and 3/4 cup of diced ham, bacon or a ham hock. (Ham hocks are available in your grocery store’s meat section. If you don’t see them ask the butcher.) I substituted a meaty ham bone that was left over from the ham biscuits we served for lunch on Saturday. Add 6-8 cups of water to the pot, then 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard and 1 tablespoon of dark molasses (I didn’t have any molasses so I just left it out and it was fine) and stir everything up a bit.

Now put the lid on and pop the dutch oven in a 350 degree oven for two to three hours. That means set your timer for two hours and taste one of the beans to see if it is fully cooked. A properly cooked white bean should be almost creamy with out any hint of graininess. You might need to add a bit more water if the beans aren’t fully cooked when you check them the first time, just half a cup or so.

Once the beans are fully cooked stir in half a teaspoon or so of Kosher salt (more if you need it) and lots of fresh ground black pepper. Throw together a green salad and some crusty bread and dinner is served!

Here’s why I love this dish:

1. It’s easy-peasy and takes less than 5 minutes of actually work.
2. It’s mad delicious.
3. It cost less than $2.00 to make and serves four people.

Even if you aren’t worried about money this recipe is definitely worth a try.