Pinto Beans....Poor Man's Dinner

This came from Emily's blog, it's Mandy's recipe and I've had it for almost 2 years now. It is finally making it on my food blog because I served it for dinner last night, and for the first time......the kids ate it. I probably doubled the garlic, pepper and tomatoes.

Pinto Beans (poor mans dinner)

1 (1 lb.)bag of dried pinto beans
1 large can of diced tomatoes
2 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp garlic minced
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf

1) rinse beans and pick out foreign material. Place in crock pot and add remaining ingredients.

2) cover with water plus 2 inches above beans.

3) Cook on low all day (8-9 hours) adding more water when necessary..

Pinto Beans

I made pinto beans last night, actually it was the last three days, because that's how long it took to cook them! I like buying beans hard; they're cheaper and last forever. I usually just use the quick soak method and they are ready for dinner. This has worked for all my beans except my pintos. They always end up a little too crunchy and I can never get the flavor right. So this week I did a little google work and found several very similar recipes that gave me some ideas. I started cooking the beans on Tuesday. I cooked them all day....still hard. So I pulled them out on Wednesday and cooked them again...a little better, but still hard. I was about to throw them all out when I read something about the hardness of your water affecting the cook time. I knew not to put salt in them until they were done, but I hadn't thought about the water I was using. So on Thursday I put them on the stove again. I added half a pound of bacon (doesn't that have salt?), three cloves of chopped garlic, and one onion. It cooked, and it smelled good, and the beans softened. I added a dried jalapeno pepper, some basil and salt. I was very pleased with the result. Not delicious, after all, they are just beans, but they were very satisfying.

2 cups hard pinto beans
1/2 lb bacon
3 cloves garlic
1 onion, diced
1 hot pepper
basil (optional)
2 tsp salt (added when beans are soft)

*So, you may be wondering why I didn't use my slow cooker for an overnight simmer. Simple, the next days dinner never crosses my mind when my tummy is full and ready for bed.

White Chicken Chili

White Chicken Chili

1 T oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (4.5oz)can chopped jalapeno peppers (or not)
1 (4.5oz) can chopped green chilies
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 (10.5 oz) can s chicken broth
3 C chopped cooked chicken breast
3 (15oz) cans white beans
1 C shredded Monterrey Jack or something similar

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly cook and stir the onion until tender. Mix in the garlic, jalapeno peppers, green chilies, cumin, oregano, and cayenne. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in the chicken broth, chicken, and whit beans. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the mixture from heat. Slowly stir in the cheese until melted. Serve warm.

*If your going to freeze it wait until you reheat to mix in the cheese.