Monday, August 4, 2008

Beans!!!

I did it! I made pinto beans from scratch. I only cheated a little. I cooked them in the crock pot on high for about 3 hours. It's the biggest pot I have. Plus, it keeps from heating up the house. Also, since I don't eat meat anymore, I used Crisco for the fat. I was following a recipe from hillbillyhousewife.com. Randy chopped and sauteed some onion, and graded some cheese, and it was yummy! We also added some Johnny's Garlic Spread & Seasoning. It's for garlic bread, but we're garlic freaks. Anyway, we may do a mexican style next time. My next endeavors will be bread and flour tortillas. Yahoo! I'm having fun cooking and saving money, just a couple of my favorite things. I really must learn more about solar cooking.

Escape pod update:
Still working on updating the inside. The hitch stuff came in, and Randy is getting his mind around all of that. If all goes well, I'll be sewing up some curtains on my grandmother's sewing machine soon. There's still lots to do.

I'll be honest here. It's not always easy to be so upbeat about doing things the hard way. It gets overwheming sometimes. That's why I write this blog. It helps me remember the things that I have accomplished. With that in mind, it makes it easier for me to keep on keeping on. So, thanks for your encouraging comments. They keep me moving too, just so I can have something to report.

7 comments:

Mayberry said...

It is great encouragement to be able to go back and see your accomplishments.

Kim said...

Thanks, Mayberry
You're right about that. Keep that in mind. You've done a lot in your own life as well. Randy and I wrestle with depression/anger every day over where we are right now.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes you make it sound like you had a crappy mum. ;) Always remember, we do the best we can with what we have to work with and it sounds like you are doing exactly that!! Also, if that sewing machine is not black, it belonged to your "live life to the fullest" aunt.

Kim said...

Hmm...
Anonymous huh? Thanks for the correction on the previous owner of the sewing machine.

Staying Alive said...

Made your own Pinto Beans from scratch? Sounds like you were making refried beans from scratch, the kind that you put on Taco's. They be delicious. I'm doing Horticulture Beans this year, more commonly known as Cranberry Beans. I should get some good Tacos out of those devils. Of course I eat meat with my Tacos. You got a recipe for making corn chips? I got the corn and the Mill to grind it and I have a gallon of commercial cheese spread to grease 'em up with. I have so much canned Chili I can hardly wait for hard tikes to come so I can start eating it. Scotch- English-German genetics but I really like some of the Mexican dishes. My wife's Cayenne plants are loaded with blooms this morning. We should have a big crop of those for drying and turning into pepper dust with an old coffee bean grinder.

Enjoyed your blog!

Michael

Kim said...

Michael,
I'm telling you, you gotta check out the recipes on hillbillyhousewife.com
She makes a big batch of these beans and then uses the leftovers for refried. I use recipes for a starting place, then embelish from there. I don't have a background in home cooking. I'm just now trying to figure it out. Better late than never.

The Scavenger said...

Nothing like the smell of those good ole pinto beans cooking. We have them every 2 or 3 weeks and we love 'em. Glad I found your blog. Love reading about the escape pod that both you and mayberry have.

Chris