Beans

I made crockpot refried beans without the refry this week. I wish I had pictures, but I ate them so fast I couldn't snap one in time. Just kidding, I'm super lazy when it comes to taking pictures of anything but Ava.

I recommend the crockpot refried beans. I bought a huge bag of dry pintos a while back, so instead of buying refried beans this week I figured I could actually act on the frugality I had in mind when I purchased them and make my own. Here's how I did it:

3 cups dry beans, rinsed

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1 red onion, chopped

4 whole cloves of garlic, peeled

2 T fat (I used butter, but you could use olive oil)

2 t salt (I used 1 T and 1 t and it was too much salt)

1 t pepper

big dash of cumin (I didn't measure)

9 cups water

I cooked these on high for 10 hours. At about hour 8, I pulled enough beans out for dinner and let the rest keep cooking. When they were tender, I pulled out the whole garlic cloves (some of them had broken apart and I left those in). Then I drained the juice and set it aside to add back in as needed. I used my immersion blender to blend them into a refried consistency and added the juice as needed. You could use a potato masher if you don't have an immersion blender (that's what the recipe I adapted this from called for). 

I separated them into small containers for lunches this week and a large container to freeze for dinner next week. I'll be making these again soon, but I'll probably double my batch so I can freeze more. I make beans and brown rice (with a salad on the side of course!) for dinner often. It's really affordable since I buy the beans and rice in bulk bags and easy to prepare as long as I give myself enough time. It's been a great way to save on groceries and have leftovers for lunches. 

The end.

P.S. I ended the detox last week when Brian brought home my ice cream cake. I did "cheat" a few times during the detox. But each time, the sugar was too much for me since I had kind of gotten it out of my system. Even my beloved Baskin Robbins Ice cream cake made me feel yucky. I'm not as drawn to refined sugars now as I was, so I feel like I accomplished my goal.