We were wanting to incorporate more beans, peas, and rice in our diet because we've heard a lot of good things about them... they're cheap, easy to make, they're high in fiber, protein and are pretty versatile in a lot of different foods (chili, soups, stews, dips, burritos, etc.). After realizing how colorful all the different varieties were I thought that they would actually look really nice if they were displayed in the kitchen.
We had a large old-fashioned candy jar that we had picked up at Crate&Barrel back in California that we really liked the look of, but we didn't want to end up paying $20 per jar. Then when we were doing our preliminary "move into a new place shopping spree" we found the exact same jars at Wal-mart for about $4, so we were able to do all the beans and peas we wanted! We also did a jar of brown rice that I forgot to snap a shot of.
We organized these by color... (Black, Red, Kidney, Split Pea, Lentil, Pinto, Chick Pea, Black-Eyed Pea, White and Navy Beans). Now whenever I need some I just take out what we need, put them in a bowl and soak them in water overnight and they're ready in the morning. Not only is it cheaper, but it's better for you, because you get to control the freshness of the beans and eliminate any additives (like sodium or high fructose corn syrup) which some canned beans have.
We also maximized the use of the jar by cutting a piece of foam board to split the jar in two, so we could have more varieties of beans. We decided to use the whole jar for black and pinto beans as well as a single jar for brown rice.
