Day 63.
Let's suppose that there is a group of girlscouts who spend their morning in front of the local pancake house and sell 240 boxes of cookies, without eating any out of respect for the girls with food allergies and it's noon and everybody is starving---what do you feed them?
A big ol' pot of nitrates and beans.
It's only fair.
And you will be their hero.
And be offered a patch. Which you will graciously decline, but secretly wonder what a "best bean maker" patch would look like...
The Ingredients:
--1 pound of dry kidney beans (I was fancy and used dry beans--PLEASE see note below!. If you are crunched for time, this would work fine with 4 cans)
--4 cups of your favorite barbecue sauce
--2 packages of Lil' Smokies, or cut up hotdogs
The Directions:
--wash and sort kidney beans the night before
--in the morning, drain and put into a large pot with enough water to cover with an additional 2 inches. Cover, and bring to a boil. Boil briskly for at least 10 minutes before draining, rinsing in cold water, and adding to the crockpot.
--in the morning, drain and put into a large pot with enough water to cover with an additional 2 inches. Cover, and bring to a boil. Boil briskly for at least 10 minutes before draining, rinsing in cold water, and adding to the crockpot.
--cover parboiled beans with enough water to cover another 2 inches
--cook in your crockpot on low for 7-10 hours (these cooked for 9 and were a bit mushy. No one seemed to mind but me. I felt like they should have been prettier.)
--drain and rinse the kidney beans
--cover with bbq sauce and plop in your hotdogs or smokies
cook on low for 4-5 hours, or high for 2-3. Everything is cooked already, so it's just a matter of heating through. If your hotdogs or smokies are still frozen it will take longer.
(gee, thanks for that tidbit of wisdom, steph..)
IMPORTANT NOTE!! PLEASE READ!: Kidney beans have a toxin in them and need to be parboiled before using. Please do your research!
The Verdict.
Surprise, surprise, these were a huge hit. My three-year-old told me that these were the best beans she's ever had and thanked me a few too many times.
Oh, and if you're 6? The bean song does not get old.
Ever.
Is there anything better then knowing at 8 am that dinner is in the crockpot and you don't have to think about it again? It is better then...dare I say it... knitting! Tonight it's taco soup (original, even tho I started to make the other by mistake!). Last night it was chicken and eggplant parm. The chicken was fabulous, the eggplant fair (too mushy). Next time I'll add the eggplant later in the cooking.
L
March 3, 2008 at 5:25 AM
Oh these look good :-) Good for a gathering since you can make lots!
March 3, 2008 at 6:31 AM
This sounds really good - I have a question though...I've never used dry beans before but would like to use them instead of the canned ones.
What does it mean to "sort" them? I assume it means to pick out bad looking ones but I'm not sure.
March 3, 2008 at 6:59 AM
Hi Disneypal. I had never cooked with dry beans before this year, and didn't know what that meant, eiter. Here's a photo of some "undesirable" beans from the black eyed peas fiasco.
When you rinse them in a collander, the "weird" ones will be quite obvious.
xoxo
steph
March 3, 2008 at 7:22 AM
Amen on the bean song! My hubby is the instigator on this one. That looks so warm and cozy as I sit here freezing in my house. (It'll get up to 80+ today, so I'm enjoying the cool almost-too-cool morning with all the windows open)
March 3, 2008 at 8:26 AM
Ok I just found your site and I have to say I am in love!!! I love my crock pot too! I am a working mom who is usually pressed for time so the Crock pot is my lifeline, matter of fact I made 2 things this weekend. Turkey Chili and Chocolate delight! I will be back trust me!
March 3, 2008 at 9:30 AM
FYI: I saw some lil' smokies at Costco that were nitrate free. This is a big deal to me since my son is sensitive to them! I don't actually shop at Costco, I was just there with a friend, so I don't know if they still have them but I did see them once upon a time :)
March 3, 2008 at 3:20 PM
lolandpooh, I agree that having dinner "done" at 8am is awesome!
CS, you are right, and we have leftovers for lunch for a few days, too!
amie, I am pretty bad with the bean song, too. It cracks me up.
steph, thank you! I like your name.
autumn, thank you for the heads up. I'll keep my eyes open for them at costco in the future.
xox
steph
March 3, 2008 at 3:37 PM
Thanks for the sorting info - I was wondering how you knew which ones to sort out.
Can't wait to try this!
March 3, 2008 at 5:58 PM
Hi Steph - You asked for my Moo Shu recipe and I just created a post which sort of has it. I didn't save the original, but I think there's enough here to make a tasty meal. Good luck! Michele
http://www.michelesmix.com/2008/03/vegan-moo-shu-beef.html
PS - some of your veg meals look great! I bookmarked them to try later!
March 3, 2008 at 9:10 PM
ooh, thank you michelle! I'm excited to try it out.-steph
March 4, 2008 at 6:22 AM
Can you tell me if you can cook just regular hotdogs in the crockpot? We are having a carnival and don't want to grill 200 hotdogs, I thought maybe the crockpot with some water might be a good way to cook a lot of hotdogs at one time.
May 21, 2008 at 8:55 AM
Jayna, yes. You can totally cook hotdogs in a crockpot. They are already cooked as it is---it's pretty much bologna in a long squishy shape. I would fill the entire crock with hot dogs, and add water to cover them. You don't actually need all that much water to heat them through, but the water will keep them from drying out and will give the dogs the "steamed" look.
good luck!
-steph
May 21, 2008 at 9:00 AM
You could throw a can of tomatoes in this and make it even healthier (as beans are already really good for you). If you liquidised them first, the kids would never know!
March 10, 2011 at 1:23 AM
I absolutely cannot wait to try this! My Grandpa (R.I.P.) made something similar top this with the lil smokies and sauce (no beans) and this makes me think of all those great memories with him! Thank You =)
July 14, 2011 at 12:02 PM
About the sorting of the beans.... another reason to sort is that little pebbles make it through the cleaning process into the bags and pebbles are no bueno! ;)
May 24, 2012 at 9:54 AM
I was wonderin if i could use bushes baked beans in this instead of the kidney.. probably a dumb question.. lol
February 3, 2013 at 4:01 AM
Hi Mia,
It's not a dumb question! We love Bush's baked beans. Yes, go ahead--- there's really no cooking that needs to be done, then. Just dump in the can and the smokies and cook on low for 3 hours or on high for about 90 minutes, or until it's hot and bubbly.
enjoy!
February 3, 2013 at 6:51 AM