I have tried and tried and tried to add more beans into my life. But everything I try is just not that great. Dried beans are SO cheap, so I would love to use them. But I have tried the soaking over night thing, and they still aren't that great.
I really would love to just throw them in my crockpot, cook a big thing of them, and then have them in a tupperware to add to any meals. How do I cook them in the crockpot...anyone know?
I would appreciate any advice!

throw them in the crockpot, cover with water by 3-4 inches, turn on high or low until soft.

easy peasy.

i usually throw in some garlic, an onion and maybe some celery to the crockpot to flavor them a little, but it isn't necessary.

So does that replace soaking them then? And I have heard red beans have some dangereous gas they release, so does this work for red beans too? Your idea sounds great actually.

I think the only reason to soak and rinse is your own digestive system. We eat lots of beans all the time so don't bother soaking at all. I either crockpot or pressure cook them. If I'm home I put the beans and water in the crockpot first and cook for a few hours, then I add tomatoes, veggie sausage, spices, etc and cook more. If I'm not home I throw it all in before I go and it seems to work just as well. If I'm adding grains I usually wait until a couple of hours before the end just because they can soak all the liquid up and cause sticking.

There are some tried and true recipes in the crockpot section.

I think some people just don't like them Try this recipe linked here. This has been my on plan breakfast now for months. It is a lot like having oatmeal in the mornings, that kind of comfort food feel. I reheat them with some shredded monterrey jack cheese on top. You can also add a poached egg or put them in a whole wheat tortilla. I love beans in soups. Try that too. Black beans are my favorite.

Have you tried the oven roasted garbanzo beans from Kayln's Kitchen? What about black bean brownies? I make my own hummus, though the serving per day I think is only 2 tbsp. because of the tahini and olive oil content. I also make a big pot of calico beans every once and a while when we want that BBQ side dish kind-of fix. I took a family recipe and just subbed in SB-friendly ingredients such as no-sugar-added ketchup, sugar free pancake syrup, brown sugar splenda, and turkey bacon along with multiple kinds of beans. It's one of my husband's favorite dishes now.

I used canned beans much more frequently than dried. I just rinse them off in a colander and give a good toss to get rid of extra liquid. Just read the ingredients to make sure that there isn't any added sugar. I don't have the patience to do dried beans, and I don't own a pressure cooker to speed the process up!

Just want to be sure to say don't add any salt until you are finished in the crock pot, unless you want tougher skins on your beans

I also don't soak mine and I usually take several hours out of a day every other month or so and just make a ton of beans in the pressure cooker, then I put them in freezer bags after they cool and freeze so I have them on hand whenever I need them. I just throw them in a pot with a bit of water cover and heat! So worth the effort in the long run... its a LOT cheaper and also I don't have to get all that extra sodium that comes with the cans ;0)

The purpose of soaking overnight is quicker cooking time...so you really only need to soak bigger beans...like red beans if you want to.

The way I do mine is to saute onions, garlic, celery and bellpepper along with some turkey bacon in a little olive oil. Throw the sauted veggies and a pack of dried beans into a crock pot. Add some creole seasoning (I like Zaterains) and a bay leaf or two and cover with chicken stock or veggie stock and let them cook all day either in a crock pot or on the stove. Add some tabasco when serving (or not according to taste)

I really like black beans as well...Ive always used kidney beans in chilis and soups till I discovered black beans. They arnt as mealy as other beans.

Garbanzo beans are my favorite!

A word of warning, though...brown sugar splenda is not SB friendly. It contains real brown sugar. I wanna say it was "brown sugar twin" or something like that that people recommend. OR you can take 3/4 cup of splenda and mix in a tablespoon of sugar free maple syrup and let it sit for about 10 minutes and you'll have your own SB friendly brown sugar.