Women's Bean Project

More often than not, if you visit my home, you will find a pot of soup bubbling away on my stove. We love a bowl of hearty soup and chilis all year long.  They also often fill my slow cooker on busy days, or on days too hot to cook on the stovetop or oven.  I make big batches and freeze the extra, or I drop some over at my daughter's house so she does not have to cook after a busy day at work.  

If you look at my Pinterest boards you will find a board for Soups, Stews, and Chowders with countless recipes for soups that I've collected and tried over the years. We also love beans of all kinds and my Chili Creations Pinterest board reflects that favorite one-bowl meal.

One of my favorite products I use to make soup, or chili, is packages from the Women's Bean Project. I discovered this wonderful Colorado non-profit organization through my daughter, as the company she works for is one of the corporate sponsors of their program.  They sell their products in nearly 1,000 stores nationwide, including King Soopers, Whole Foods, Safeway, Meijer, and H.E.B., as well as small specialty retailers. You can also shop for their products online on their website, Amazon.com, and Walmart.com.  You can click on a map on their website--here--to see if they are sold in a store near you.

The Woman's Bean Project's mission is to change women’s lives by providing stepping stones to self-sufficiency through social enterprise. 

They believe that

"...all women have the power to transform their lives through employment. So we hire women who are chronically unemployed and we teach them to work by making nourishing products. They learn to stand tall, find their purpose and break the cycle of poverty. Because when you change a woman’s life, you change her family’s life."

As it also explains on their website: 

"Back in 1989, our founder, Jossy Eyre, was volunteering at a daytime women’s shelter in Denver, CO. She realized that while the shelter kept the women safe, it could not help them make lasting changes in their lives. To help the women achieve independence and self-sufficiency, she needed to provide an opportunity to experience the dignity of work by learning how to get – and keep – a job. She invested $500 of her own money and put two women to work; the start of the social enterprise we are today."

 

You can read some of the stories of the many women that have been helped by the Women's Bean Project on this link. I love that each package is hand-signed by one of the women in the program.  Buying their products really has an impact on helping women learn job skills, gain independence and feel empowered to change their lives for the better.

As you can see by the photos above the recipe on the package is easy to follow.  They also have recipes using their products on their website.  I have never been disappointed by any of their products, which says a lot as I live at a high altitude and often have difficulty cooking dried beans because of our lower boiling point. Their beans always cook well and taste delicious! 

They also sell other products through their website other than soups and chili mixes. They have spice blends, snacks, coffee and tea, baking mixes, instant meals, popcorn, and even dog treats for sale, as well as gift boxes and sets.

As you can see, I love making and eating soup and chili!  

Many in this photo collage were made with the Women's Bean Project Packages. 

This is how I like to make easy vegetable stock. I save almost all my washed vegetable and herb peelings, stems, and ends in freezer bags until I have two large bags full. I then empty the bags into a pot, cover them with water, and simmer them all for a couple of hours. When they all cook down I strain out all the vegetables and place the stock they made in containers to freeze for future use in soups and stews and chilis.   It's a great way to not waste anything!  If you have never done this before give it a try.

I'm headed to this pretty town in Colorado this upcoming week to get my second dose of covid vaccine. It will be such a relief!  I'll let you know how I fared afterward in my next blog post.

In the meantime, my friends, stay healthy and safe!

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