Apparently, I don't know beans about beans

I'm pretty sure the beans in my pantry are mocking me. I keep buying them. I get so excited when I'm shopping in the bulk bin aisles! Garbanzos! Pintos! Black beans! Then I take them home and put them in my glass jars. Don't they look pretty?

And that's where the mockery comes in. Because I never really manage to cook them. Oh, I have good intentions. Great intentions, as a matter of fact. I love the idea of eating less meat to help save the planet. I've gotten recipes from friends. I've got a husband, myself and one kid that love beans (we'll just not worry about that other kid who is going through a stage of only peanut butter sandwiches right now because technically that is a legume and she's already there!!). I've even come a long way down the Slow Food continuum. I no longer focus on the quickest way I can get healthy food on the dinner table.

So why is it that I never manage to cook the beans? Part of it is I can't think of meals where beans are at the center. I think of things like hummus, where the beans are a dip. Or soups. And perhaps also that I think of beans as coming out of a can even thought I don't want buy them that way any more. The best I ever manage with any regularity are black bean quesadillas (and those are -- sadly -- the pre-cooked beans out of a can). I've been toying with the idea of cooking up a bunch of beans, then freezing them in can-size portions. Is that crazy?

I know there are vegans out there who buy beans in 25-pound bags. I can only assume they also actually cook and eat them. There has got to be a way. Do true bean-eaters just plan meals much further in advance than I do (I sometimes think about it a day ahead, but typically I'm not thinking about dinner until after I've eaten lunch)? Someone help me. I need a bean intervention. How do I get the beans out of my pantry and onto our plates?