Even The Best of Us Have THOSE Days!!

My sister recently emailed me a recipe for Crockpot refried beans!Being a HUGE fan of mexican food (both cooking and eating) of course I wanted to make them right away! On a side note, does anyone really like the smell of soaking/cooking pinto beans? I sure don't and Captain Hunk DEFINITELY doesn't! So on my first attempt to make the beans, I put everything in the crockpot and went to bed! We started smelling the beans in the middle of the night. At 7 am the next morning, Captain Hunk came home from PT and said "Those better be the BEST DANG beans I have ever tasted because the whole downstairs STINKS!" I went down to check on them and all of the water had cooked out of the Crockpot and the beans were burned to the sides! So if you think cooking pinto beans stinks then you should smell BURNED cooking pinto beans! It was BAD, to say the least!! But it didn't keep me from trying batch number two, which I immediately started!! Thank goodness I own two Crockpots!!  THis time they turned out FANTASTIC!! The only downside is I felt like I had to add more salt because they were a little bland! We still ate them though! Don't they look yummy?!

So I decided to make them again for my friends only this time I changed it up a bit and did green chiles instead of the jalepenos it originally called for. It made a WORLD of a difference in flavor. No extra salt or seasonings was necessary. I have the best friends who are always willing to be guinea pigs for my new creations!! So I decided to share a few recipes with you that I think went very yummy with the beans!! First here is the bean recipe:

Refried Beans

1 onion, peeled and halved

2 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
½ fresh jalapeno or other hot pepper, seeded and chopped (I subbed this with two fresh chopped anaheims)
2 cloves garlic, minced
¾ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
One big pinch of cumin
6 cups water

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.

       Cook on high for 8 hours or overnight while you are sleeping.
       Remove the bigger onion chunks and drain the excess liquid. If desired, save excess liquid until the final product is desired consistency. I HIGHLY recommend this!
       Mash remaining beans with a potato masher and voila! You have homemade refried beans. I don't have a potato masher so I just put my beans in my Kitchen Ninja and pressed the pulse button until they were to my liking!! And by the way, Captain Hunk thought they were pretty dang delicious!!

Next I thought I would give you my salsa recipe!! Now before you get TOO excited, keep in mind this is my FRESH salsa recipe and not the one that many of you have tasted. That recipe is staying locked in my book until someone steals it from me or I die!! :) In my opinion though, I think I am starting to like this fresh one more and more!! Here are some of the ingredients ( as well as some for our next recipe) that I started with.

Salsa

1/2 bunch cilantro

2 lbs roma tomatoes

3 fresh Anaheim green chiles

1-2 fresh jalepenos

1 medium yellow onion

2 Tbl Lemon Juice

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Salt

Cayenne Pepper

Chile Powder

Put the tomatoes in  boiling water and boil for 5 to 10 minutes or until skins begin to come loose. Then place them in a cold water bath. Mean while, finely chop the onion. The chop the green chiles as well as the jalepenos. You may roast your green chiles if you like. I turned on my gas stove and did it that way! :)

Peel the skins off of the tomatoes and cut off stems. Then add the tomatoes and cilantro to the blender and blend until smooth.

Put all ingredients in a bowl. I don't really measure my spices so you can put in how much of each until it tastes to your liking! Also, if you like to add extra yummy stuff to your salsa, try adding a fresh chopped peach or mango. I made one jar of regular and one bowl of mango! The mango was my favorite!!

The next recipe I want to share with you I found on Pinterest. A FANTASTIC website with creative ideas! I can't really take credit for it other then the extra avocado I added!

Guacamole Salsa

1 lb. tomatillos (or more if you want it thinner)

1 jalapeno pepper (or more if you like it spicy)

1/3 bunch cilantro

1 thick slice of onion

1 garlic clove

1 avocado

1 tsp. salt

Peel and wash the tomatillos - they are usually found over by the cilantro & peppers, and have a husk on them. Cut them into quarters and put in the blender. Follow with the jalapeno, cilantro, onion, garlic, avocado & salt. Be sure to put the tomatillos in the bottom of the blender and not the avocado so it doesn't stick to the blade. You might have to help it start by shaking or using a mixer at first. But, once it gets going the juice from the tomatillos will help move the other ingredients around.

I decided to add an extra avocado because my tomatillos were very citrus(y). And you can never have TOO MUCH avocado!! :) It was so yummy and disappeared quickly!! Don't always judge things by the way they look! ENJOY!!