I put 2 cups of red kidney beans to soak last night so today I'll consider what all to put into that pot. I add a little heat, but mostly it's a typical sofrito (onion, green or hot peppers, seasonings) and a meat (sausage or ground beef), tomato base (whole tomatoes mashed or tomato sauce, from my home-canned or from cans purchased that are in the pantry). I have sausage in the freezer that I can use, so I'll save the beef for another day (the sausage is already sausage, the beef needs to be thawed then run through the grinder on the stand mixer.) When this is finished I'll freeze most of it in 12 ounce jars for meals in the future.