Refried Beans

are there foods your kids just love? My kids love refried beans. It makes going to Mexican restaurants... well easy, we go to a lot of Mexican restaurants. But I'm always a little apprehensive about what exactly is in the refried beans. And at home Mikey will eat the canned ones (Zach hasn't tried them) but again, I'm always a tiny bit apprehensive about what they're eating... cause I'm paranoid and I didn't grow up eating much from a can (though we did eat canned refried beans). Plus let's face it, the canned version isn't great, it just isn't. So I wanted to find a version that was healthy, flavorful, and easy to make. I combed my cookbooks, did a bit of research on pinterest and came up with this. It isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's pretty good, and it was a hit over here- Michael had two full bowls... yeah it was pretty much a miracle.


Refried Beans (if by refried you mean not even remotely fried)
1-2 cups dried pinto beans
1-2 onions
1-5 cloves garlic
1 jalapeño, seeds and ribs removed
1 T. butter
1 t. cumin (or less)
1-2 t. paprika
1 t. chili powder
salt (to taste, don't just dump it, i made that mistake)


1. soak beans in water overnight (for a few hours works too).

2. drain water and put beans in a  pot (or slow cooker). add half the onions, garlic, all of the jalapeño, and cover with water. Simmer until beans are soft and squishable (that's right), 2-3 hours on the stove, or I don't know how long in the slow cooker. Make sure you'd don't run out of water, there should always be at least a little bit.

3. Remove bean mixture from pot and set aside. Melt 1 T. butter. Sauté onions until soft, add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add spices, and stir, remove from heat.

4. Drain cooked beans and put in food processor (or you can skip this and use a potato masher or emersion blender), add onion/spice mixture. Process until smooth, adding "bean cooking water" until it reaches the desired consistency.

5. Serve.


yummy!