Slow Cooker Refried Beans

This next recipe comes to us from the Maxwell Family. It's a delicious recipe for Refried Beans! I LOVE this because we have been converting our home over to anti-canned-foods. WHY you ask? That sounds like a lot of unnecessary work but, there's a VERY good reason for it. Did you know they line food grade cans with BPA? BPA stands for Bisphenol A (a chemical invented by a Russian Scientist.) That's the ingredient you see flashing proud on a lot of baby products: "BPA free!" 

Technically, the FDA has banned using BPA in all baby bottles due to it's possible health effects of the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children. YIKES! And it lines the inside of our food cans? Yep. 

Now, I know a lot of you love your cans. They're so convenient, they store well, you may even have those special racks that rotate your food cans for you! We sure do. But the risk of BPA is not worth filling those cool rotating racks. So instead, we FREEZE. We make extra large batches and freeze them in Ziploc Brand freezer bags (of which ARE BPA-FREE.) Basically, our food storage is in our freezer. See my special links at the bottom for our suggestions on converting your home to anti-canned foods. It's a lot easy than you think, the food tastes better, and it's so much better for you!

Thanks again Suzanne for this next great recipe! She says, "These beans are great for any Mexican dish or just an after school snack.  My kids ask for them in their school lunch with a little cheese on top."

Yummy Slow Cooker Refried Beans

(Gluten Free, Dairy Free) 
Adapted by The Maxwell Family from 100 Days of Real Food

Ingredients:

• 1 chopped onion
• 2 cups dry pinto beans (rinsed)
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 & 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• 6 cups water

Directions: 

1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker (crockpot). 
2. Cook on high for about 8 hours or overnight
3. When the water is absorbed and the beans are soft, mash beans and onions with a potato masher. Yum!
4. If you want a thicker refried bean, drain some of the liquid before mashing.  

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Our Anti-Canned Foods Food Storage:

The crock-pot works an amazing job but does take a LONG time to cook. For jobs we need quickly done, we turn to our pressure cooker again and again! We LOVE it! I can cook Pinto or Black Beans from dried beans in 32 minutes! NICE. 

I usually make large batches and freeze the extra in 1 & 1/2 cup increments. (1 can= 1 & 1/2 cups of beans)

To thaw, I simply put the ziploc bag in a bowl of warm water or cut the plastic off to warm up the beans on the stove. (Remember, microvawing in plastic is just as harmful as using BPA lined cans.)