For my beans, I begin by making Ham stock. ham hocks can be bought here 2 for ~$3.
2 ham hocks, flesh/skin scored
1 onion (chopped)
2 celery stalks (chopped)
1 carrot (chopped)
4 cloves garlic, smashed a little.
1 bay leaf
Roast the scored ham hocks in a 400 oven (I score them so the skin gets those little diamonds, but not necessary) after 40 minutes of roasting, add half of the vegetables, but not garlic.
After the hour, pull the hocks and vegatables out and place in a 8 qt pot, add remaining vegatables, garlic and bay leaf. Add ~ 7 qts cold water. here you can add many extras. I like a few sprigs of thyme, pepper flakes, or a jalapenos, or jabenero. Simmer this mix for 4-6 hours. Strain liquid, returning liquid to pot. Reduce the liquid volume by half. Cool and refrigerate. Once very cold, defat the broth/stock. It will be a solid disk easily removed (note: most hocks aren't real fatty anymore. So you may only have a little solids on top. )
you can pull the meat off the hock, but at this point, it has given its all to your stock.
Soak you preferred bean. I like a mix of pinto/kidney/northern; equal parts to a total of 1.5 cups dried. Drain most, but not all the soaking liquid
To a pot, add 2 tablespoons oil,1 chopped onion, 1 celery stalk, chopped, and 1 carrot, chopped. Sweat until onion is clear. Add one ham steak, chopped, 3 cloves garlic-minced, saute lightly.
Add the stock, beans and remaining soaking liquid. When the beans are tender, add salt and pepper to taste. For a kick, you can add hot sauce or a can of Rotel. Serve with hot corn bread.
Note, I keep a bag of the Ham stock in the freezer at all times. Usually next to a frozen ham steak. My pantry always has a variety of canned beans as well. In the time it takes you to watch Rachel Ray, you can put the frozen stock in pan with chopped ham steak, bring to a boil, add drained beans and veggies and make a pan of corn bread with a jiffy mix (hey, it ain't homemade but is is pretty good and easy. Oh and cheap).