Ok I'm going to go ahead and start by saying...don't do this. Don't do what I did. Don't believe everything you read on the internet.
I found this recipe for "quick" refried beans and thought I had happened upon some great secret. I read through a bunch of reviews, some good and some bad, and went along with it. I had a thought in the back of my mind that said, "I think this is too good to be true." I should have listened to that voice.
Ingredients:
1lb dry beans (I used pinto)
1 Tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
6+ cups water...add more as needed
1 can of tomato paste (what?!)
Directions:
Grind your beans in a wheat grinder.
Or blender. Or both.
Mix all of your ingredients together in a large pot.
Taste test for about an hour while trying to convince yourself it will get better.
"Hey...the ingredients list on store-bought refried beans includes tomato paste! I'll add a can of tomato paste." Whatever you do, don't do that.
Once you've given up on it getting any tastier, or less crunchy, go ahead and dump it all into the trash can. You gave it your best, champ. Good game.
Le sigh.
Live and learn. Or live safely and learn from bloggers who tried the too-good-to-be-true stuff first.
Anyone have a GOOD recipe for refried beans from dried beans? I promise I'll take the time to soak them.
If you're like my husband and I, you love cookout food! My husband absolutely loves having hot dogs, beans and chips for dinner. He'd do it al the time if I let him. That and spaghetti! Don't worry, we get GOOD all beef hot dogs, not processed mystery meat!
Speaking of hawdogs...
With that being said, hot dogs and beans go together. Baked beans are essential to a delicious cookout meal. I recently decided that I needed to attempt making them myself since buying the cans can get pricey. Buying dried beans is so much more economical, even if it does take a little more time. It's really not bad, though. You just have to soak them the night before you want to cook with them.
I found one set of recipes from Squawkfox. And another from AllRecipes. I used these as a starting point and threw things together to make it my own.
Ingredients:
1lb of Navy Beans (about 4-5 cups dry)
4 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 12oz can of tomato paste
3/4 cup molasses (I used blackstrap but I'm not sure what the differences are)
1-1/2 Tablespoons of salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 Tablespoon dry mustard
1 Tablespoon onion powder
6-7 strips of turkey bacon (or regular bacon if you prefer)
Directions:
Soak the beans overnight. Mine soaked for almost 14 hours. They over doubled in size in that time. General rule of thumb is that the longer you can soak them, the better. If you don't know much about cooking with dry beans, check out Squawkfox's post How to Soak and Cook Dry Beans. You should also check out her post 10 Reasons Soaking Dried Beans Can Change Your Life. Good stuff!
Strain your beans then put them into your slow cooker with about 4-6 cups of fresh water. Turn the slow cooker to high.
There's some debate as to whether you should cook the beans in the water that they soaked in or not. I used fresh water. Anyone have a preference and why?
Fry or bake your bacon just before pouring the ingredients into the slow cooker. Or don't. The beans need to cook for so long that it doesn't really matter. If you start the beans and bacon at the same time, just toss the bacon in when you're done! Mine was cool by the time I was ready so I just ripped it into smaller chunks and tossed it into the slow cooker!
Dump all the ingredients into the pot, stir it up and cook on high for 6-7 hours or low for 10-12.
This was less than an hour into the cooking.
This is what it looks like about halfway. Stir every so often if you're around to do so and add more water as needed. Cook for 6-8 hours on high or 10-12 on low.
Serve and enjoy!
Towards the end do a few taste tests and add what you feel it needs.
I think next time I'll make mine a little sweeter! But overall they were delicious and were a hit with my husband and a friend of ours!
Another great things about this is that there were a ton of leftovers! I divided the rest into 3 quart sized freezer bags for the next time my husband and I are craving hot dogs and beans!
These beans definitely take a long time, though. It's not a quick recipe, but it is easy! Mine cooked for probably close to 9 hours. They definitely weren't mushy like the canned baked beans but were still delicious! It's sometimes difficult to readjust to something when you're so used to the old thing!
All in all, I don't think I'll be going back to store-bought baked beans!
What's your favorite style of baked beans? Homestyle, country style, Boston? Do you ever cook with dried beans?
I recently showed you all how to make an awesome (and cheap!) pallet garden, well, I've also got a few things in pots that are growing on our patio! I've also shown you my container potato plants as well. I've also got a small pallet garden going with herbs but I'll have to share that on another day.
Apparently I'm just never satisfied! I still want more food to grow! I'm thinking another strawberry plant and a couple blueberry plants...what do you think?
Actually before we made the pallet garden, we went to a local greenhouse and picked up a few plants and some seeds. The soil is the cheap stuff from Ollie's at $2 a bag! What a deal! Even if the quality of the soil isn't too great, I've got my worm farm to supplement it!
The bag of seeds are Improved Tendergreen Beans. I never knew there were so many types of beans! I just picked the one that looked the most like the classic green beans I used to snap with my grandma.
I got four Roma Tomato plants. I personally don't like tomatoes (I know, I know!) but my husband does so since he'll be eating them the most, he picked them out. I'll cook with them though!
And my little Allstar Strawberry plant! I can't even tell you how excited I was to get a strawberry plant! It's little, though...definitely think I should get another one. Or two...
Wittle baby strawberries!! They've almost doubled in size in just a couple of weeks!
Ready to plant!
Senor Strawberry seems to be settling in ok!
I doubled up the tomato plants so I didn't have to buy 4 pots. If they grow really large I'll repot them, though.
Update: Lesson learned...tomato plants need lots of space! They won't thrive if they're crowded!
If you're searching for a healthy snack, look no further!
Simply roasting chickpeas (garbanzo beans) with some olive oil and seasoning salt makes such a delicious snack! I had heard of this before but honestly was a little skeptical. But now, I wish I had made these ages ago!
For my book club meeting last weekend I wanted to make a little snack that everyone could enjoy. One lady is vegan, another eats gluten-free and everyone is pretty health conscious. I found the original recipe from Oh She Glows, a wonderful vegan lifestyle blog. I took the basic concept but used different seasoning, while still keeping it basic.
Overall this recipe is delicious and easy to make, but, it does take time. It's totally worth it, though.
Ingredients:
2 cans of garbanzo beans/chickpeas
Seasoning salt
Olive oil
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 425. Boil the chickpeas for a few minutes then remove from the heat and let cool for about 30 minutes or until you can safely handle them.
Strain the chickpeas. You can run cool water over them if you're short on time.
Get your seasonings out! You could do anything with this recipe! I using Seasoning Salt and olive oil but you could do just salt and pepper, Italian spices, cinnamon sugar...whatever your belly desires!
Lay some aluminum foil or parchment paper on your baking sheet and drizzle olive oil and sprinkle your seasonings.
Pour the chickpeas on top.
Then sprinkle and drizzle some more! Roll them around with your hands to make sure they get evenly coated with olive oil and your seasonings.
Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes, rolling them halfway through to ensure even baking.
Let cool and enjoy!
So delicious!
If you've never had chickpeas, this is a great way to try them. I like them cold on my salad but this is the first time having them hot and it was so good! They were a hit at my book club meeting! I thought they would be a little messy because of the olive oil but they're not at all so it's no biggie to eat them by hand like popcorn!
You can bet I'll be making more of them soon!
What seasoning(s) would you use? Do you prefer to call them chickpeas or garbanzo beans? I've always wondered, are they peas or beans?
If you've read some of my previous blog posts, you know I love Leonard Mountain Soups! They're awesome! They're great by themselves but also fantastic when you add other things! They're very Weight Watchers friendly too. You can find my other posts HERE and HERE.
Confession...I'm a forgetful blogger! I made this recipe recently when my in-laws came to visit and it turned out beautifully! But we were all so excited and hungry I forgot to get pictures of the soup in a bowl! Oops.
Ingredients:
3 Amigos Enchilada Stew
A jar of your favorite salsa (my favorite is Newman's Own but this is what I had)
2 cans of chunk chicken
1 can of black beans
1 can of pinto beans
1 bag of frozen corn
6 cups of water
You can maximize or minimize this recipe as you need to. I added a lot because I was feeding 6 people so I wanted more than enough to go around.
Directions:
Turn your crockpot on low and mix in your pre-made soup mix with 6 cups of water. I cooked this on low for 5-6 hours but you can do it on high for 3-4 if you want. You can also make these soups in a regular pot on the stove! I let it cook for an hour or so.
Then I added the corn and both cans of beans. I let it sit for another hour or so.
Then the salsa, let it sit.
And last but not least, the chicken. Let it cook for maybe another hour and serve! Don't forget all the fixin's!
The reason I waited so long between adding the ingredients it that I didn't want it to all get mushy. Maybe it wouldn't have...who knows. If you're starting this stew then running errands or doing chores then I'm sure it would be fine to just toss it all in together at once.
My in-laws absolutely loved it! They devoured the soup! Of course I had shredded cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream too and it was de-lish! Definitely something I'd make again!
Again, sorry for not having any good pictures. I promise it looked as delicious as it tasted! When I make it again sometime I'll be sure to get some mouth-watering pictures for you all!
Have you ever tried Leonard Mountain Soups? What's your favorite recipe for Mexican-style soup?
