My trip to the Bulk Bin. Long overdue!

I have been reading about BPA seeping into our canned goods (see link below) and have decided to try to stop eating canned beans and tomatoes. Apparently, tomatoes are the worst in terms of leaching BPA from the can because of their acidity. In any event, if you are not aware of the hazards of BPA, they are well documented from the FDA's recent findings to the New York TImes editorials. But I digress!
The idea of soaking my own beans seemed very intimidating and time consuming as well. However, after mustering my courage and attempting a couple of dried bean soakings from the supermarket, I realized I was ready to experience the bulk bin store. Basically, it's an entire store of whole grains and natural ingredients. There are not plastic containers, cardboard boxes or packaging of any sort. Just bags and whole grains. Aisle upon aisle of the most exotic and mundane. They have lentils of five different varieties, flax seeds, chickpeas, black beans, adzuki, you name it. I could not have been more excited when my grand total of four different items (chickpeas, kidney, lentils and black beans) came to a grand total of 9 dollars. Trust me, I bought enough beans to feed a family of four for at least a couple of weeks. Now granted, you wouldn't want to eat the beans/grains without lettuce, vegetables, spices etc, but still a pretty incredible bargain. If you don't have an entire store devoted to this philosophy, check out your local health food store and give it a try. It will be an adventure to say the least.

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-starkman/tests-find-wide-range-of_b_342967.html)