Accomplishment #3: Homemade Refried Beans

Truth be told, it's been a couple of years since I've been excited about cooking. But, last week, in a quest to cut my grocery bill, I pulled out the old crockpot, and used the pinto beans in my pantry. It was the first time I've ever made homemade refried beans, and I've got to say, I was pleasantly surprised. I'll be making them again -- my kids gobbled them up!


I've always been intimidated by the idea of cooking with dried beans (it seemed unnecessarily complicated), but it was really quite simple -- I just had to plan ahead.

If you decide to give homemade refried beans a try, here's the recipe:

5 cups water
2 cups pinto beans
1 + tablespoon dry minced onion
2 + cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt

Sort, rinse, and soak pinto beans overnight. (I usually start soaking around midnight, and change out the water once or twice in the morning, then start cooking the beans around noon or 1:00 PM). Drain beans. Mix 5 cups fresh water, beans, onion, and garlic in crockpot, and cook on high for 5 hours. Use a slotted spoon to reserve a cup or two of whole beans. Then, ladle out & reserve most of the excess liquid in a separate container. Mix beans in the crockpot with hand mixer, adding in reserved liquid as desired. Stir in salt and reserved whole beans. Now go and eat (preferably with a yummy homemade salsa and corn chips)!