Refried Beans

My friend Paula gave me this recipe. She also happens to be my pastor's wife and a fabulous cook. Evan loved these beans. I'm so glad because he is hungry all the time! I told him I'd make up a big pot to have on hand so he could have a bowl with a tortilla for a snack whenever the need struck.

*I forgot to add, that I soaked the beans overnight first. This helps digestion and makes them cook up faster!

Refried Beans

2 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed and sorted
8 cups cold water or chicken broth
¾ cup oil
1 bulb of roasted garlic, 6 – 7 cloves
2 – 3 teaspoons salt (less if you use chicken broth with salt already in it)
1 bay leaf
1 finely chopped tomato or 1 8-ounce can diced tomatoes with juices

1. In large pot place beans with liquid and bay leaf. Cook on high heat and partially cover with a lid.

2. As soon as the beans start to boil, lower the heat and continue to simmer. Cook for two hours, adding hot water as it cooks away. Keep water level at 2” above beans.

3. After two hours, beans should be soft. If not, cook them another 20 – 30 minutes. Add oil, salt, tomato and garlic. Simmer 1 – 1 ½ hours longer or as long as you can with the spices and oil. The longer the beans simmer, the better they will taste!

4. If desired, when the beans stick to the pot, turn off the heat, remove the bay leaf and mash them with a potato masher.

5. If cooking for a crowd, double dry beans and add a little more salt, tomato, garlic and oil, tasting as you go. Never fill pot more than ⅓ full of dry beans.

This post is part of the Bean and Legume Recipe Carnival over at Kitchen Stewardship.
Visit Kitchen Stewardship for more frugal, healthy bean recipes as part of the October Fest Carnival of Super Foods. Next week’s theme: Broth/Stock Recipes.

Movie Theater Popcorn

We love popcorn! We recently switched from using canola oil for most baking to using coconut oil and olive oil. We tried making popcorn with olive oil and it was OK. But last week we made it using coconut oil. What a surprise! The whole house smelled like a movie theater. Sure enough it was by far the best popcorn I'd ever made! Here's what we did, if you want a healthy movie theater popcorn.

Movie Theater Popcorn

Coat the bottom of a large pot (that has a tight fitting lid) with 2-4 Tablespoons of coconut oil. Add one kernel of popcorn and heat on medium with the lid closed until the kernel pops. Then add 1/2- 3/4 cup popcorn and cover. Shake over medium heat until most of the popping has stopped. Remove from heat and empty into a bowl. Season with Sea Salt and enjoy!

Win a Home Depot Gift Card!

Would you like to win a Home Depot gift card? I'm sure my husband would love it if we won! Go here to find out the details.

Happenings...

*I started this post last Friday, but never finished it because Sean and the girls spontaneously wanted to go camping in the yard. (Evan was away at Yosemite with the Boy Scouts.) Then Emily woke up with a fever and I've had sick girls since! Sorry that this is a bit random. I had intended to write about what happened for that day. Then I didn't finish, and it seemed wierd. But it was already written and I needed a new post!

Sean is off for a week and a half. Since he doesn't get holidays or weekends off, he gets random vacation times. This means that we won't start school officially until September 21st. In years past, this would have bothered me and worried me greatly. God has shown me that it is indeed sinful to worry and strive against my husband's lead. Regardless, we make plans for the year, but God sometimes has very different ones! So I have peace. We will have to hard charge with school a bit this fall to finish strong, but I'm trusting God that He will provide in that area as well. Evan proved last year that he was able to, and we're praying that this will be the year for Amy as well.

We flea-bombed the kitties' room (otherwise known as the Tack Room). They did not like being placed temporarily in the pet carrier. I used it as an object lesson to teach the girls that sometimes we have to do things that kitties (or little girls) don't like, but that we know are good for them.

After playing with Soliel and grooming her, Amy was in need of a shower. Emily had just sat in the dirt making cakes and was filthy too. She decided that she wanted a shower as well. So today she took her first shower. At first she cried because she didn't like it, then she cried because she didn't want to get out! She's giving up naps and we're adjusting. So she has been crying a lot lately!

Amy put on a t-shirt and laughed. Her belly button showed! Since we're not into the Brittney Spears look around here, she put the shirt in the outgrown box. I think the country life is agreeing with our kids. They are growing like weeds!

For lunch we had leftover soup I made last night. Inspired by this recipe, I made use of what we had: homemade chicken broth, chicken (from the same bird), 3 carrots, a potato, a bag of leftover cooked green beans, two kinds of kale from our farmers market and CSA basket, a handful of chopped parsley, a small piece of grated ginger, one bay leaf, and my secret ingredient a tablespoon or two of sweet wine (I used port). It was so good! And I love that it has a lot of calcium from the kale and homemade broth (since I used the bones, not the whole bird).

We are trying to develop better habits in the kitchen. My new motto is: The dishes aren't done until the stove is wiped down. Thanks for your motivaton in that, Paula!

In my quest for healthier cooking and specifically gluten free cooking to help Emily I've discovered a couple of new blogs that I love! They are on my side bar under Cooking Blogs. Enjoy!

Good Intentions Gone Awry

With the girls skin problems, I've been trying different lotions, soaps, and foods to help them not itch or have rashes. So far, the things that I've bought have been really helpful: fragrance free shampoo, aloe vera soap, probiotics, and lots of natural lotion. Most of the products I've purchased from our co-op, Azure Standard.

But today, I opened a jar of much touted fermented cod liver oil gel. The serving size was 1/2 tsp. I figured I could just swallow that amount even if it didn't taste great. Besides, it was fruit flavored. How nasty could it be? Oh, my! I almost threw up. And I didn't even eat any of the stuff. I just touched my tongue to the side of the teaspoon.

Thankfully, the girls have been responding well to using lotion all the time and not eating wheat (in addition to not eating dairy and sugar). I don't know if the probiotics are doing anything. But it doesn't taste nasty and is easy to swallow!

So, any local friends, if you would like a jar of fermented cod liver oil, I will gladly give it to you! I don't think I can stomach it! (The girls wouldn't even go near it. They said it stunk too much!)

Update...

Evan came back from camp taller. He's outgrown all his shoes, so he said I could have his Teva's and we'll buy him some shoes instead!

Amy's math book arrived. Poor girl, she'd much rather just ride horses all day! Yesterday some friends came by and helped us set up a Picadero (a square pen used for horse training). Amy should be able to work with her horse a bit more independently in the near future.

Emily definitely has some allergies going on. We're looking into getting her tested. Because I'm pretty sure her food allergies are delayed, the regular skin prick test might not show much. But she responded really well to going off of wheat. And I found a great lotion. Thanks, Jess.

We're still working on meal plans, but Sean did find a way to get all three trash cans up to the road!