Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Adventures in CrockPot Cooking: Cowboy Beans

I haven't been hitting any "homeruns" in the kitchen lately...I don't know if it's me or I'm just not picking the best recipes. Considering Brian will eat almost anything without any complaints, I can never really judge how bad my cooking is. To make things harder, morning sickness in the evenings has decided to return and it is NOT fun! [I'm so excited though, because that means hormones are changing again which I can only assume baby BAL is getting ready to make his/her entrance!!] Read on to see how this recipe for Cowboy Beans ranked in our home :-)


Ingredients
1 pound dried pinto beans, soaked overnight
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 pound lean ground beef
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 (10-ounce) can Rotel
1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
7 cups water
sliced jalapenos, optional (jarred or fresh)


Directions
You must soak the beans overnight then drain in the morning & sort out the "bad beans" - I tried to take out all the beans that had split, were a darker color, or lost their skin. Pour the beans into the slow cooker.


On the stove, brown ground beef and onion - drain fat, then add on top of beans. Add the rest of the ingredients into the CrockPot (except jalapeños). Stir to mix ingredients, cover and cook on low for about 10 hours. [I learned that you might want to do 6 hours on high, and 4 hours on low to make sure the beans cook properly.] 


Our Reactions

Sarah - This particular day, the smell of the beans cooking either made me really hungry or really nauseous, so I never really ate this as a meal. I had a few bites of Brian's. I accidently added CHOPPED jalapeños for the whole cooking time, so I think it did alter the intended taste a little bit. I felt like it took forever for the beans to tenderize, but the beans did have a great flavor to them! Also, for whatever reason, my taste buds kept thinking taco soup so when I took a bite and got a different flavor, that affected my nausea again :-(

Brian - He gladly ate this for dinner 2 nights and lunch 2 days and then decided we should freeze the rest for after baby comes. GREAT idea!! He usually complains about red or green peppers in foods, but he didn't seem to have any complaints other than the strong jalapeño flavor.

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