Author Archives: Clucky

How to Make Refried Beans In A Slow Cooker

When I was growing up, canned refried beans were one of the staples that I could always count on to be in the house. I could always count on my mother to break them out once a week or so to make tacos, burritos, or some other south of the border delicacy that my brother, sister, and I gobbled up with gusto, despite the fact that I couldn’t help thinking that they looked like dog food when they first came out of the can.

Even to this day, refried beans continue to be a staple in my home. Of course, now that I spend half of my supermarket hours pondering over ingredient lists and nutrition labels, I’m always glad when there is a simple way to replace a processed food with an easy homemade alternative and refried beans were the first, not to mention the easiest, to transition from storebought to homemade. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this homemade refried beans recipe is the single easiest recipe in my repertoire. Lucky for me, they have a thousand and one uses and freeze beautifully.

Homemade-Refried-Beans

How to Make Refried Beans In A Slow Cooker
 
Author : Tіm Gоodmаn
Recipe type: Side Dish, Ingredient
 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Serves: 12
 
Homemade refried beans are not only tasty, simple to make, vegan, and incredibly cheap, but they are perfectly suited to the slow cooker.
 
Ingredients
  •  3 Cups Pinto Beans, Dry
  • ½ Large Onion, Diced
  • 2 Tsp Salt
  • 1 Tsp Black Pepper, Ground
  • 2 Tsp Cumin, Ground
  • 2 Tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 Tsp Chili Powder
 
Instructions
  1. Pick over three cups of pinto beans, discarding any rocks or discolored beans.
  2. Rise beans thoroughly and transfer to slow cooker.
  3. Add diced onions, spices, and water to slow cooker.
  4. Cook on low until beans are tender and some are just starting to split, between eight and ten hours. Generally, the older the beans are, the longer it will take for them to cook.
  5. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid.
  6. Mash the beans using a potato masher, adding reserved cooking liquid until you reach the desired consistency. I like them to be a little runny at this point because they will thicken up quite a bit as they cool.
  7. Serve or freeze or later use.

Homemade-Refried-Beans-Calories

Not surprisingly, when you make them yourself, they are much better for you than the canned varieties you find in the supermarket, though they need to be refrigerated or frozen in order for them to keep. This recipe makes twelve servings.

Five minutes of effort and eight to ten hours of patience later, you have your very own mess of refried beans. I like this recipe quite a bit, not only because it lets you make your own homemade refried beans that are much better for you than the canned variety (not to mention cheaper), but also because it shows even the most skeptical cook that anyone can cook. Making refried beans is a simple, tasty introduction to slow cooking that is almost impossible to mess up.

Save Sweet Corn Seed Early

Many sweet corn growers have experienced considerable trouble in getting their early plantings started because the seed rotted quickly. Much of this trouble can be avoided if the growers will select and save their own sweet corn seed.

fieldofcorn

Just before the corn is ready to pick for the table the most desirable ears and stalks may be marked for seed purposes with a ribbon, string or paint, or by simply bending the stalks over above the ears. In selecting, the moderate-sized stalks which produce heavily and are a little earlier than the average are preferred.

Allow these ears to remain on the stalks until they are thoroughly ripe, then husk and spread out in a dry, warm, airy place, such as an attic. By saving the seed of each variety from the earliest planting, the ears will have an opportunity to dry out during hot weather. During the winter the most desirable ears may be laid by themselves. Thus, a very excellent and dependable strain of sweet corn may be developed. This seed will be more likely to come up in the following spring under adverse conditions than most of the commercial seed.

What Are Your Chickens Saying About You?

homesteadhenIt was a beautiful spring day, chickens were out for the first time.

One hen hollered to the neighboring hen, “Why, hello, I’ll bet you are glad to get outside after being locked up all winter.”

“Why, no. I think it is cold outside. The wind is awfully strong and sharp. Believe me, I’ll go back to the house,” replied the neighboring hen. “We had a very nice house most all the winter, big windows, plenty of ventilation, all kinds of nice things to eat. My master comes to the house, speaks kind words to us, strokes our backs, looks into the nests and takes our eggs away.

“We always had plenty to eat and drink. Never was hungry or thirsty. Once in a while our master brought us some oats that had sprouted.”

“Oh, stop,” replied the first hen. “You make me so downhearted. We were locked up in that old house all winter with not a single bit of light. Damp, the floor was so cold, nothing to walk on except the cold, bare ground. I have stood on first one foot then the other so long until now I can stand that way almost half a day at a time.”

“Well, you need to have the Stranger explain to your master the proper care of chickens in winter, like he did mine. Our master would often come to our house in the afternoon, look into the nest, utter a few harsh words, kick one of my mormon wife friends out of the way,  go out and shut the door with a slam.

“We would wonder what he really meant. One time our master went away, anyway he did not come to our house for sometime. A Stranger came. We were all afraid of this man the first time he came, but he spoke something that sounded awfully kind to us, left some feed and water for us to eat and drink, that night the same man came back, left more feed and water. The next day he brought some clam shells. O, my, how we did like that man, and the good things he brought for us to eat.

“The third time he came he had an arm full of straw. He threw it down on the floor. My, how it did scare us; but he soon had it scattered about six inches deep. What do you think? He threw a lot of feed in that straw. How we did scratch!

“By the time our regular master got back we were just feeling fine – plenty to eat and drink.

“What do you think? I went into the nest and laid my first egg. That night some one came, struck a match, looked into the nest and took my egg away. I couldn’t make out who it was, but they certainly did feel good.

“The following day I went into the nest, laid my second egg. While I was there two men came, both my master and the Stranger. The first place they both looked was the nest. Of course, I was there. The Stranger reached his hand in toward me. I wanted to pick at him, but he had been so kind to us I just ruffled my feathers and he gently stroked me on the back, stooped down and said something kind.

“Both went out, stood by the house, talked for a long while; the Stranger pointing to the house and yard, seemed to be explaining something to my master.

“A few days passed by. My master got busy and put big windows in the south side of our house, covered all the cracks, fixed the roof and now we have a very nice house.

“Since the Stranger took care of us, we always have plenty to eat and drink. Our house is always cleaned out; regular. Drinking water and feed pans always clean. Every one in our family feels fine.

“We are all thankful that the Stranger took care of us for we honestly believe our regular master really didn’t know the care we needed. We are now a contented family of singing hens.”

hensgossiping