Pressure cookers are great for beans. I also cooked a bunch of crock pot meals in November and froze half of them for later. We have been enjoying all month. It feels great to eat homemade stew that you can heat in 20 minutes. If you guys like brown rice I have a new technique for cooking it. Treat it like pasta. So instead of the normal two to one ratio, try a four to one ratio of stock to rice. Cook on med-high for about 30 minutes and drain like pasta when done. So much easier this way. Good luck!
I haven't had much luck with brown rice in the rice cooker, which is why I went looking for alternatives. I think the culprit might have been the cheap-o rice cooker we inherited from an old roommate. I just have a hard time parting with my $ for something that doesn't go in my tool box or office.