Beans, Beans the Musical Fruit.....

I've been rather manic today as I've been cooking most of the day! I've decided to make Monday a cooking day (this week anyway, lol). I think by doing this I can have things in the fridge ready to just warm up or pull out during the week. This will hopefully allow me to focus on other things during the week such as my ART! YAY!
(Collage Cafe Art Studio)

I started off the day by cooking a big pot of pinto beans that I had soaked over night. Dried pintos are only $1.25 for a 1 lb bag, wow! They turned out soooo yummy! My son loves making bean burritos whenever he gets hungry (which is about every hour it seems) and I can also use these in soups or whatever.

Here's how I cooked them.

*1lb bag of dried pinto beans (rinsed, picked and drained) soaked over night in 6 cups cold water, or a couple of inches of water above the beans.

*The next morning drain off the soaking water and add 2 cups chicken bouillon and enough water to cover the beans by 1-2 inches (or just use water if you don't have bouillon).

*Add a small chopped onion, a couple of cloves of minced garlic, 1 tsp of dried oregano, 1/4 tsp of cumin, 1/4 tsp of Cayenne pepper and 1/4 tsp if black pepper (note: don't add salt until the end of cooking cuz it interferes with the cooking of the beans, or so I read).

* Bring beans to a slow simmer and partially cover with a lid.

* Let them simmer for about 2 hours until tender, stirring occasionally.

I didn't even have to add salt at the end, I think because of the boullion. Anyway now they're ready to use for whatever and they're so much better than the canned mushy ones and way CHEAPER!

Note: You may use this same recipe in the crockpot for 6-8 hours on high.