Simple Pinto Beans

Beans. Should be such an easy thing to accomplish. Dry beans, flavorings, water or broth, cook till soft. Every time I see a post for beans I want to attempt them. But I don't. It's so sad to see all that time and energy in wasted beans tossed to the compost bin.

Until last week, I've ignored my desire to cook beans. Stumbling across Frijoles de la Olla I found myself unwilling to ignore the urge to make them. Besides the recipe was from one of my most favorite food sources and it's host is from my great state. I am hosting his native food does not fail me today.

Modifications Made:

The recipe consisted of six ingredients, three of which were given options. I chose quarter cup onion, one bay leaf, one tablespoon of dry cilantro, three garlic cloves, one bag pinto beans, and one tablespoon salt. Everything was added to the pot asking with water and beans were cooked until tender. Water and salt was added as needed.

Scaled for Likability: Great

Thank you to Rick Martinez for his simple pinto bean recipe. For the first time EVER pinto beans have been cooked with resulting product correct in color, texture, and taste. His toppings were so different from normal pinto bean date they had to be given a try, too. With beans cooling on the counter a quick trip to the store was worth the wait for tasty beans. Tangy radish (not pictured), creamy avocado, zesty like juice, spice from jarred jalapenos, and full flavor beans were a solid hit. Cheese was added but not needed and the second trip the bean bar it was omitted. Delish!

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes for flavored tomatoes, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one can tomato sauce, two low sodium chicken and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots, juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green beans and corn tossed in, heat t

Way Too Rich, Extra Heavy Cheesecake

Pictures are deceptive. What this picture of this recipe does not show is how old and faded the print out paper is, how many stains are smudged across various spots, and the numerous notes written in the top right corner with the first one dating back to college days in 2001. Yikes, twenty years ago makes this paper print out old, no wait, that makes me old. Eek. Sadly, my current living quarters do not allow for cooking of this cheesecake. In fact the last time this recipe has been made have been close to six or seven years. That is just too long. Too long. Luckily, we are spending Spring Break at family with a real oven. A family who will help eat this oh so rich, very decadent, supremely yummy cheesecake. Modifications Made: There are four keys to a successful cheesecake. ONE: all ingredients must be room temperature. If your house is ice chest cold, then warm the ingredients on the stovetop. TWO: do not over mix. Excessive mixing creates air pockets resulting in split mi

Layered Lemon Curd Loaf

Good grief us heat loving Texans have made it. What a week it has been. Winter is over and Texas winter is back. Last night to celebrate the end of The Great Freeze 2021 with heating pads, electric blankets, and space heaters we indulgently ate ice cream. Yes, it was 32 degrees outside but directly in front of the space heater it was bliss.. Tonight it was back to everything lemon with The Best Lemon Curd Loaf Cake using this Lemon Curd recipe. Modifications Made: For the bread, sugar was reduced by a quarter cup, greek yogurt was used instead of sour cream, lemon extract instead of lemon zest, and glaze was omitted. Scaled for Likability: Good Love this lemon curd. Have made several versions and this is by far the easiest. Bread was not excessively sweet, had a moist, crumby inside, and a crunchy top layer. Layers of bread to curd was good but the addition of a sweetened cream cheese would have been better. Bread was served cold and would have been great with a drizzle of lemon

Eating Waffles

Search This Blog