Unless I’m making a big ‘ol pot of 13-bean soup (Hambeen’s brand FTW), I use canned beans. They take too damn long to cook to make saving forty cents or so worth it. You gotta soak, then drain, then pick, then cook, making sure not to foam over or overcook… forget it.

As far as Hummus goes: Bush’s makes a decent product now that has a good mix of olive oil, tahini, garlic, etc. in a single pre-measured pouch. Combine with a drained can of chickpeas/garbozo’s, and let ‘er rip in the Cuisinart. But if you want to make your own, all you need is a jar of tahini (it’ll be near the peanut butter); the rest (garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper) are pantry staples.