Tis the Season for Sauerkraut...

I have resolved that this year, we WILL do the Lenten fast, all three of us, to the same uniform standard, with the exception of Kittyboy having eggs and dairy. He loves eggs, cheese and peanut butter, he in fact WAS a vegetarian (who ate eggs, fish and cheese) until he was two, and his diet and nutrition have never been an issue, so it's not unthinkable that he also could give up meat for Lent.
What exactly the uniform standard will be, I haven't fleshed out yet. Husband and I have been just awful the last couple years, starting Advent 06 when I was pregnant, so we're easing back into it.
Of course, if I'm pregnant again, this all goes out the window.
Sauerkraut sandwiches for dinner last night, bean soup tonight. I have canned 12 pints of beans so far. Why would I can dried beans, when they store so well dried? Because I have horrible luck with getting every bean in the pot completely cooked, and because they take so long to cook. So I just can a pound at a time, which yields 4 pints. Figure a pound costs a dollar (at least red, black, and pinto beans, generally), that's 16 oz of beans for $0.25 plus the cost of a lid - pretty sweet. Not to mention there's no salt unless you add it!
The technique I found at pickyourown.org is REALLY easy, too. Boil the beans for about 2 minutes - I do five - let soak for an hour (or two, or six) - boil again with FRESH water for half an hour, then jar up and process at 10 pounds, 75 minutes for pints, or 10 pounds and 90 minutes for quarts.
I tend to play fast and loose with the soaking times, because it's an easy project to start midday, but I try not to can when Kittyboy's awake. He has a thing about the noise the canner makes when it's venting.