2lb red beans

1/2 lb bacon

12-16 cups water

If you don’t know how to cook beans the easiest way to go about it is to pick through the beans to make sure they are not broken, old, or have rocks in them. (You’d be amazed how many times I’ve found rocks, particularly in black beans) Next you want to soak the beans over night in lots of water. I usually just set them on the counter. My parents always put them in the fridge. I personally find that unnecessary and that it takes up valuable space. I buy allot of things like eggs, cheese, fruit, veg, and what not in bulk. Mostly because of all the baking I do. Beans just don’t take priority when there are 7 dozen eggs vying for space. And, I’m off my little tangent.

The next morning you’ll want to drain the water. I do this cause I don’t rinse the beans before putting them in there and you want want to be eating dirt, grit or dust. (There’s a mental image for you, lol) Then you’ll want to put them into the LARGE pot you have on hand. Stock pots work great!! Next throw in the bacon. No need to chop it. My FIL never chopped his so I don’t chop mine. See how that works?

Easy peasy right? Next, water.

Aren’t those beans pretty? Now cover and add heat!

Low temp don’t worry it will most definitely get hot enough. I find the the cover makes so that the water does evaporate so quickly. Let it be and cook 4-6 hours.

To be perfectly honest, the crockpot is even better cause there’s no work, watching, chances of scorching if you get busy and forget about it… that is low for 6-8 hours high for 4-6.

For those of us lucky enough to have a fabulous electric pressure cooker I usually halve the recipe, cook on high pressure for 30 minutes with natural release.

Eventually you will have this…

Now, I don’t salt these. I put a shaker on the table because everyone is different in their tastes and sodium in takes.

Now fry bread is exactly how it sounds!

Take your favorite bread dough recipe which I will post mine later. (My data base seems to be down at the moment.) You will want to use a “white flour, yeast” bread dough. Please don’t use a biscuit dough. That is not fry bread. That is a hoe cake! Now I’m not “hating” on hoe cakes. They are quite delicious and if you want one of the most melt in your mouth recipes you want to head over to Southern Plate for Christy Jordan’s recipe, but hoe cakes and fry bread are not the same.

Another thing, wheat flour recipes don’t fry and taste right. I’ve tried. Trust me. Before I forget, you might want to start heating around 2 inches of oil in your frying pan. The temp takes… adjusting. You want the oil hot, but not too hot. If the dough cooks too quick it is left raw in the middle (not good eating) and if it doesn’t cook quickly enough the dough gets saturated in the oil. (again not good eating) I usually take itsy bitsy pieces and drop them in the oil, in seconds it should start to bubble around the dough, then it will float up. If it sinks and stays there your oil isn’t hot enough.

Now, your bread dough. You want to pull off a decent handful.

About like that. Next you want to roll it flat.

And cut it into strips

And then carefully place them in the hot oil. They should bubble at the edges, float and puff up.

It should take a couple minutes. They will turn a golden brown and then you want to flip them. I use a pair of tongs.

I usually take a cookie sheet, place paper towels on it and then a cooling rack on top of that. They don’t usually get to cool. The family usually takes to them as soon as they come out of the pan. ~_^

Okay so as we are moving at the end of the month I’ve been working on keeping things simple.

We’ve been packing like crazy and it takes allot of time and half of my kitchen is in boxes so…

This week:

Sunday - Spaghetti with simple sauce (Jamie Oliver recipe)

Monday - Salmon patties, banana muffins, Rice, pears and cantaloupe

Tuesday - Pasta/rice and Veg. I haven’t really thought this out… Its Hubs has pool league on Tuesday nights so its kind of a “whatever is in the pantry” night with the kids… Maybe I’ll use the left over rice with some bratwurst and make a stir fry. Maybe homemade mac and cheese with broccoli and chicken… (Rachel Ray recipe)

Wednesday - Crockpot Pot Roast(celery, carrots, onion, garlic, tomatoes), smashed potatoes, gravy and biscuits

Thursday - Tacos (you really must try these with dill pickles ~_*)

Friday - Dinner at the Old Spaghetti factory

Saturday - Dinner at My Mother-in-Law’s house for my nieces’ birthdays

Grocery shopping will be either Friday or Saturday. I’m counting on Saturday morning. Usually on Grocery shopping day we have a simple crockpot meal or I pick up a “bake your own pizza” for about 5 dollars at my grocery.

Next week

Sunday - Crockpot Chicken I was thinking of a baked chicken in the crock. Make a foil ring to keep it off the bottom, stuff it with a lemon and some herbs, maybe some roasted veg, etc.

Monday - Leftover chicken shepherd’s pie with home made biscuits

Tuesday - Spaghetti with homemade french bread and green beans

Wednesday - Salmon Patties, Pears, rice and banana muffins (Its a family favorite)

Thursday - Crockpot Baked potato bar (this is the day of the move. I want to make sure its a simple ready made meal) for a great recipe check out recipezzar or A Year of Slow Cooking

Friday - Home made Pizza

Saturday - Crockpot Black bean Nachos

Don’t those pics just make you want to run out a grocery shop?

So I took about 2-3 lbs small red potatoes and quartered them, then I put them in cold water while I did the rest of my prep. 

1 red bell pepper, seeded, deveined and chopped

1 orange bell pepper, seeded, deveined and chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded, deveined and chopped

about 1-2 cups frozen green beans, defrosted

1/2 a large onion chopped

1-2 tbsp minced garlic (I used the stuff in the jar this time)

2-3 tbsp olive oil

about 1 tbsp Italian herb blend

about 1-2 tsp salt

and a bunch of fresh ground black pepper (to your taste)

2-3 tomatoes cut into wedges

I put all my chopped veggies into a bowl with the olive oil and seasonings while the oven preheated (400°F). Lined my baking sheets with foil and popped them into the oven for 30-40 minutes. I just poked the potatoes with a fork to test for doneness. 

Though my family thinks veggies are evil (yes, even my Hubby) my missionaries just loved this. As did I.

I think next time I’d love it with some asparagus, bok choy cabbage, carrots and squash. I think I’m going t experiment allot more with oven roasted veggies. Its also a great side dish my best friend will love that just happens to be gluten free.

Unfortunately the directions say, “Wrap in foil” and  ”if you want a crispier skin, pop into the oven for 5 minutes”. My Hubby loves the skin on his potatoes to be crispy. And turning the oven on for 5 minutes defeats the purpose of “crockpot baked potatoes” so I’m thinking to myself the foil makes for a softer skin, keeps the moisture fm the potato next to the skins. Then I’m thinking if the potatoes are on the bottom of the crockpot without the foil the steam will collect on the lid (as it does in a crockpot) and it will drip down and the potatoes will be sitting in their own water (making for a soggy potato skin). The solution is still foil with the addition of a steam rack. I only had a small rack so I needed the foil too.

See the rack? And the ring of foil I used to keep the potatoes up off the bottom of the crock?

They are washed and poked (to release steam) set to high, cover with lid. Cook 4-5 hours.

Now we found “high” for 4 + hours to be a bit over done. Next time I’m going to try them on low and see how long it takes to cook through. But! The skins were crisp on the outside and everything was soft and delicious on the inside. We served this with a Rotisserie Chicken I made in the neat rotisserie gadget my MIL gave me, and with fresh sliced vine ripened tomatoes and quartered english cucumbers. 

Tonight I’m going to try making “roasted veggies” in the crockpot. Wish me luck!

So my best friend’s family has had to switch to a gluten free diet for health reasons. Gluten free meals planned on my calendar are for the nights I am expecting her and her children to come over for dinner.

Monday

Chicken and Veggie Pasta

Tuesday

Gluten free dinner: BBQ Lentils and Rice, mandarine oranges and corn

Wednesday

Banana Pancakes, no sugar added applesauce and Turkey Bacon

Thursday

Grocery shopping day: Gluten Free Nachos: Beans cooked in the crockpot, Corn Chips, shredded cheese, olives, tomatoes, sour cream, home made salsa, avocado etc.

Friday

Skillet Salmon, baked potato, green beans and biscuits

Saturday

mac and cheese, hotdogs, fruits and veggies are kids choice

Sunday

Soup! Very likely chicken and/or lentil served over rice

Quick Blender Salsa

Don’t those pics look SUPER YUMMY?!

So I had some boneless skinless chicken leftover from the missionaries fried chicken dinner. (I’m late posting this) And so I decided to use it up. I heated a bit of olive oil in a frying pan and when it was all cooked through and starting to brown I pulled it form the pan, added a bit more olive oil and then some diced onion and green pepper and a large carrot shredded.I let those cook until soft and added the cans of tomatoes. Then adding about a tablespoon of minced garlic and about a teaspoon of dried oregano. (At this point your whole house smells great!) I re-added the chicken and let it all simmer while I boil the water for the pasta. I used macaroni but you can use what you like. I love macaroni, rotini and seashell pastas. I cook the pasta about 8-10 minutes. I don’t like them over-done. Before draining the pasta I a a couple cooking spoons of pasta water. (they always say on the cook shows that it helps the sauce stick to the pasta. I think it gives the sauce a pretty look, lol)

Monday

Pot Pie made from my leftover chicken soup

Tuesday

Cheesy Rice and Broccoli

Wednesday

Pita experiments. Kids choice sides: fruits and veggies

Thursday

Pasta with chicken (experimental. we’ll see what happens) kids choice side: fruits and veggies

Friday

Mac and cheese with hotdogs kids choice sides: fruits and veggies

Saturday

Dinner at my Mother-in-laws

Sunday

Having the Missionaries over for dinner again.

Crockpot chili verde, home made tortillas, rice, back beans and salad

Skillet Salmon, mac and cheese and peaches

Tuesday

Breakfast for dinner

Pancakes or french toast (leftovers to go in the freezer for breakfasts), scrambled eggs and fruit

Wednesday

Spaghetti with meatball, home made french bread, salad, green beans, and applesauce

Thursday

Black bean enchilada and salad

Friday

I’m making Shepherd’s Pie and My BFF is bringing corned beef and cabbage cause our missionaries have two very different tastes, and while I will eat corned beef my family will not. I make shepherd’s pie with diced skillet chicken, gravy, corn or green beans and potatoes. My DH and children won’t eat it with tomato sauce, cheese or beef.

Saturday

Nachos;oven baked tortilla chips (considering making these myself), black beans, shredded cheese, olives, rotel tomatoes with chilies, shredded carrots and lettuce. Served with various hot sauces and sour cream

Sunday

Chicken Soup, home made bread and salad (we really crave salads now that spring is here)

I used a recipe from “Tammy’s Recipes” Blog and we loved it!! Only change I made was adding half a bag of thawed frozen blueberries.

Home Made Bagels