Slow Cooker Baked Beans

Whether you want something for a Barbeque, Easter Brunch, or a cheap slow cooker meal, these beans are perfect. I started making them 14 years ago when we had a cupboard full of dried beans and I was not familiar with how to cook them or what else to use them for. Now all sorts of dried beans line the shelves of my pantry for soups, salads, casseroles, and anything you could do with canned beans.

1 pound dried pinto beans*
1 large onion
1/2 pound bacon**
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup molasses
1 tablespoon real maple syrup
1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Rinse beans well and discard any shrivled, discolored, or deformed beans. Add beans to a pressure cooker and cover with 6 cups of cold water. Seal cooker and place on medium heat. Cook for an additional 12 minutes once the pressure regulator rocks. Remove from heat and let pressure drop on its own. Drain (reserving liquid) and rinse well. Add beans to slow cooker. ***

Thinly slice the onion and cut slices into quarters. Saute in a lightly oiled pan over medium heat until golden brown. Add onions to slow cooker.

With a pair of kitchen scissors, cut bacon slices into 1/2" pieces. Cook over medium heat until fat has run off, drain on paper towels, and add to slow cooker.

Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker and stir well to combine. Add some of the reserved cooking liquid as needed to make beans saucy. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Sample sauce and adjust salt/pepper/molasses/brown sugar to your personal taste.

NOTE: You MUST cook the beans before adding them to the slow cooker. Read more about why here.

OPTIONS
* Or 4-15oz cans, skip the below instructions for cooking the beans
** Or 1 cup chopped ham, perfect for using up leftovers. Or 4 hotsdogs, cut into coin slices.
*** Or COLD WATER SOAK: Rinse beans and soak in 6 cups cold water for 8-12 hours. Drain and rinse beans, cover with 6 cups of hot water. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat to medium and cook for 2 hours, or until beans are tender and can be mashed between your fingers. 
Or HOT WATER SOAK: Rinse beans and add them to 6 cups boiling water. Boil 2-3 minutes, turn off and let soak overnight. Drain and rinse beans well. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat to medium and cook for 1 hour, or until beans are tender and can be mashed between your fingers.




 

Orzo Salad

This is a great pasta salad for a quick dinner or sharing at a gathering. It's very simple, light, but flavorful. The recipe makes enough for a crowd so I cut it in half if I'm just making it for my fam.

1 box Orzo pasta
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 generous cloves garlic, grated
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
juice of 1 lemon
1 cucumber, quartered and thin sliced
2 plum/roma tomatoes, diced
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp dried dill
1/4 cup crumbled feta

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and put into a large bowl with olive oil, onion and garlic.

Once pasta cools, add remaining ingredients and stir well. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Greek Dressing

We have been making our own dressings lately because its quick, healthy, and you can use what you have on hand. Make this in a shaker or mason jar and pull it out of the fridge a few minutes before serving to let the olive oil thin out at room temp.

1 cup extra virgin olive oil (good quality)
zest and juice of 3 fresh squeezed lemons
red wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

In your dressing container (make sure it has a lid), add olive oil. If you have any olives on hand packed in oil (from the deli section), use that oil and add regular olive oil to make 1 cup total. Replace the oil you took from the olives with regular olive oil.

Roll lemons in your hand or on the counter until they feel very loose and soft. Zest lemons with a grater or zesting tool. Cut lemons in half and squeeze out as much juice as possible. Add enough red wine vinegar to make 1/2 cup total. Add to oil.

Grate garlic and add it to oil and vinegar with remaining ingredients. Shake well until all ingredients have combined. Let stand at least 15 minutes before serving.

This is great over a "Greek" salad. I enjoy mine with an iceberg bed, and topped with thin sliced onion, diced tomatoes, pepperoncini rings, pitted kalamata olives, and of course TONS of feta cheese crumbled over the top.
 

Pumpkin Spice Protein Squares

It took me a few tries to get this right, but I finally found a homemade bar I like. These are pretty dense, and pack a ton of protein in a couple bites. The  fall flavors do a great job hiding the taste of the protein powder which is a plus for me. This is a very dry batter, so I recommend an electric mixture to get it combined.

4 TBSP coconut flour
3/4 cup vanilla or unflavored protein powder (I use soy)
2 each tsp cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1 TBSP sweetener of choice
4 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredient and set aside. Combine wet ingredients in mixer bowl until smooth. Slowly add dry to wet.

Spread mixture into a greased 8x8 glass baking pan. Bake 30 minutes. Let cool, and cut into 9 squares.

With artificial sweetener, my bars have approximately:

125 calories
4g fat
82g cholesterol
250mg sodium
3g carbs
1.5g fiber
1.5 net carbs
1g sugar
20g protein
64% Daily Vitamin A
21% Daily Iron
8% Daily Calcium


 

Taco Meatloaf

1 lb ground meat
2 TBSP taco seasoning (equal to 1 packet)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, finely chopped (omit seeds for milder version)
1 tsp worchestershire sauce
1 egg
3/4 -1 cup breadcrumbs
optional: 1/2 cup taco sauce

Saute onions and pepper until soft to release extra juices. Mix all ingredients together by hand until combined, and all breadcrumbs a little at a time until mixture holds together.

Form into a loaf on a broiler pan or in a loaf pan. Top with taco sauce and bake at 350 for 60-75 minutes (depending on the thickness) until juice runs clear. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.