Recipe

Refried Beans

I've heard several of you speak of fear of the dried beans. I've broken down the how-to to give you a no-fail recipe. I'm a refried bean snob and won't even think of buying that canned stuff so see if you enjoy these as much as we do.

2-lb bag of dried pinto beans
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 large onion diced
2 jalapenos roughly chopped (seeds too)
Salt and pepper to taste

Soak dried beans in water at least 12 hours. (I soak mine on the counter not the fridge.) After soaking rinse and make sure there aren't any questionable beans (or rocks).

Pour beans into a crock pot. Cover with water until the beans are submerged by about an inch of water. Cook on low all day (8 hours?). (Do not season!!!!!) If you season now the beans will remain hard and inedible.

In the last hour season move the temp up to high then add salt, pepper and jalapenos (don't worry they will not be too spicy). Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil and add to beans. I usually use habanero peppers because I like the heat and so do the girls.

After they have cooked for another hour use a submersible blender, potato masher or blender till smooth (unless you like chunky beans).

We use these for a lot of things but our favorite is have bean burritos. I use whole wheat tortillas, sprinkled with cheese, homemade pico de gallo, sour cream and guacamole. We freeze the leftovers in z iplock bags pressed flat.

Pico de gallo
1 large tomato diced
1/2 onion diced
1 T fresh cilantro
salt to taste
juice of 1/2 a lime

Guacamole
2 avocados
2 T fresh cilantro
juice of 2 limes
couple of dashes of hot pepper sauce
salt

Sidenote: I'm so grateful for all of you. Starting to pull myself out of the hole. I've even started (baby steps) on commenting again. *gasp*