Pinto "Painted" Beans: 101

I grew up on beans.  Beans and cornbread. Not only were they cheap but my Dad loved them, always wanted Mom to keep a pot of them going on the stove.  Seems like Dad knew what he was doing.  Beans are good for you!!!  

According to the World's Healthiest Foods

When you "Combine the creamy pink texture of pinto beans with a whole grain such as brown rice.....you have a virtually fat-free high quality protein meal. 

Pinto beans have a beige background strewn with reddish brown splashes of color. They are like little painted canvases, á la Jackson Pollack; hence their name "pinto," which in Spanish means "painted." When cooked, their colored splotches disappear, and they become a beautiful pink color. 

Pinto beans are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber, as are most other beans. In addition to lowering cholesterol, pinto beans' high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal, making these beans an especially good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia. 

But this is far from all pinto beans have to offer. Pinto beans are also an excellent source of molybdenum, a very good source of folate and manganese, and a good source of protein and vitamin B1 as well as the minerals phosphorus, iron, magnesium, potassium, and copper."

You can read more about what they have to say about beans by clicking here.

So now that we know beans really are good for us, and as we all know budget friendly let me share with you my basic recipe for a "Pot-o-Beans"

Marie's Pot-o-Beans

(Serves 4-5)

2 to 2-1/2 cups dried pinto beans

7-9 cups water

5-6 Tablespoons of Knorr beef bouillon 

1. First measure out your beans and scoop a handful on a plate. Look through the beans for debris, bad beans, etc. Pick these out and throw them away.  

2. After you have sorted through all the beans put them in a small pot, run some warm water on them and swish them around with your hand to "clean" them.  After you have done this, strain the beans in a strainer and rinse some more. Repeat until you think they are cleaned.

3. Now lets cook our beans. In a large stock pot pour in your beans, 7 cups of water, and beef flavoring.  I prefer beef flavor more than chicken but this is totally up to your taste preferences.

4. Bring the pot-o-beans to a boil, when it comes to a good boil, place lid on pot and simmer for 3-4 hours.  As it cooks some of the water will evaporate, I usually add 2-3 more cups of water halfway through.

Thirty minutes before beans are finished cooking I like to cook some brown or parboiled rice.  My family loves to eat their beans over a plate of rice and if we have cheddar cheese to sprinkle on top it's even better!!!

My dear hubby was not so happy when I used to fix beans, and that was so disappointing to me because beans are such a cheap meal to add to the menu.  I finally learned it was the cornbread with the beans he did not like. When I started making rice instead to go with them and used the Knorr bouillon, he LOVED it! I mean he REALLY does. And that makes me happy!!!

LEFTOVER BEANS

I like to make a huge batch of beans and turn that into different meals through the week.  There are so many things you can make with them here are some ideas:

1. Make chili

2. With left over chili make Frito pie

3. With the left over chili, add a block of Velveeta for chili cheese dip!!!

4. Mash the beans up and put in tortillas, add your favorites, such as cheese or sour cream, roll up for quick and easy burritos.

These are just a few ideas, feel free to share what you like to make with leftover beans!!! :)

Homemade Egg Noodles (How to)

Growing up we did not have much money at all, well let's just be honest we didn't have money. ;-)  So on our birthday we got to pick what meal mother would fix for us, and one of my favorites was homemade chicken noodles and angel biscuits.  Here below I have a step by step process on the making of homemade egg noodles, such comfort food!

You will Need:

• 2 cups white flour
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/4-1/2 cup water

Measure flour into bowl, make a well in center and add egg yolks, whole egg and salt.  With hands thoroughly mix egg into flour. Add water, 1 Tablespoon at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. (Add only enough water to form dough into a ball.)

Turn dough onto well-floured cloth-covered board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Cover, let rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 4 equal parts.

Roll dough, 1 part at a time, into paper thin-thin recntangle, keeping remaining dough covered. Roll rectangle around rolling pin; slip out rolling pin.

Cut dough crosswise into 1/8-inch strips for narrow noodles and 1/4-inch stripes for wide noodles. Shake out stripes and place on towel to dry. about 2 hours.

(NOTE:  I do not roll my dough out paper thin, I am sure it is a personal preference, I also do not have a noodle cutter so a pizza cutter works great or a large knife.  I was in a hurry when I made this batch and it only air dried about 45 min., and they still tasted wonderful! )

When dry break dry stripes into smaller pieces. Cook in 3 quarts boiling water 12-15 min. or until tender.  If you are making chicken noodles add the noodles to your pot of cooked chicken and broth.

Finished product, as you can see my noodles are very thick!  Nothing like it on a chilly fall day, it's great with Amish Bread too!

Amish Bread and Egg Salad Recipe

This morning I made Amish bread, it is my new favorite bread recipe. It calls for all white flour but I have been adding 3 cups of fresh ground prairie gold wheat and 3 cups of white. It is delightful made into egg salad sandwiches, I will post my egg salad recipe as well.

Amish White Bread Recipe

2 cups warm water (110F)

2/3 cups white sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

6 cups white flour (or 3 cups wheat, and 3 white)

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in the warm water, add yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam, about 10 minutes.

2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Work in 6 cups of flour. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in well oiled bowl, and turn once to coat the entire surface of the dough with oil. Cover with a clean damp cotton cloth. Allow dough to rise until double in size. (Mine took about an hour).

3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves and place into well oiled 9x5 loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes.

4. Bake in a 350F oven for 30 minutes. When you thump the top of the bread it should sound hollow.For a buttery crust, brush hot loaves with butter. Cool on a rack and enjoy! Also find the recipe here

Marie's Egg Salad Recipe

8 hard boiled eggs

1/4 cup mayo

Squeeze of Spicy Brown Mustard

Squeeze of Yellow Mustard

Lemon Pepper

Seasoned Salt

After my eggs are done, I dice them up and then add my mayo, squeeze of mustards, and lemon pepper and seasoned salt to taste. I just sprinkle it across the eggs lightly, so I'm not sure how much I use.

This is a salty flavor and I love the contrast with the sweet Amish bread, it's a family hit!

Cooking on an Open Fire

Sunday after church we hurried home to make a skillet dinner on an open fire, for the first time. It was so much fun, before church that morn Steve had added a couple of logs to the fire so it would still be going when we got home.

I was nervous about burning it or it not being hot enough, etc. But we had purchased a metal grate that sits in your pit and I had it just to the side of the flame and it worked perfect. Here is the recipe we used below. I forgot to add my squash out of the garden but we also added a can of corn at the end, very tasty.





Here is the Recipe:


Cast Iron Skillet Dinner
1 Package Polish Sausage (any kind you like)
3 Sweet Potatoes
3 White Potatoes
1 Large Onion
2 Bell Peppers (1 green/1 red)
2 Medium Yellow Squash
Vegetable oil Directions:Using your favorite skillet, heat oil then add sliced sweet potatoes and begin cooking. Cut other ingredients as listed and add them as you cut. Add sausage last (if precooked) and cook until potatoes are soft. Best when cook on a campfire but works fine on stove.

It can also be found here

It was much fun, then that evening I took a piece of foil and cut up white potatoes, squash and onions in chunks, threw them in the foil added a glob of butter and seasonings. rolled it up tight and then I put it in the ashes, left it there for about 1-1/2 hours, the kids and hubby loved it!