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.
