I love to cook and I’m starting to love sharing recipes with y’all. I don’t want to give you the impression that every night is a signature recipe night our house, though. We eat quick and convenient stuff like Lean Pockets and boxed macaroni and cheese or frozen minute steaks at least once a week. And there are a ton of simple things in the kitchen I have yet to master. Like using a knife. I also can’t figure out how to get dried beans to actually be soft, no matter how long I soak them. And don’t get me started on my lax housekeeping. My sweet husband is such a help to me in that department. I tell myself if Kate wasn’t such a tornado, I’d be more on top of things, but I don’t enjoy cleaning at all. Except for maybe using my dyson.
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I don’t lovelovelove cleaning, but I sure miss back when I actually could devote a sufficient amount of time to it. Even cleaning while 8 months pregnant was so much easier.
Do you have a crockpot, or a pressure cooker? If you do, I have a foolproof, dead-easy bean recipe for you! I don’t think beans will ever get truly soft simply from soaking them, though; you have to cook them…
I HAAAAATE cleaning. Who doesn’t, in all honesty? I live in a really old (100 years old) house, so on top of the usual messiness of life, I’m constantly battling dust. It’s nasty.
I have both a crockpot and pressure cooker, so Eucharis, send your recipes. (I’ve had my pressure cooker for 2+ years, and living in the Southeast, I ought to intuitively know how to use one. But I’m very intimidated by it. What’s the secret?)
Rebekah
That’s cool of you to be so honest, Kristen. I’m definitely not a great cook yet, but I’m slowly learning more difficult recipes (and when I say difficult, I mean not using a box). Heh.
I have a friend who loves cleaning. Seriously. She said it makes her feel better. I mean, it’s a nice feeling to have a clean house, but I like procrastinating more.
The crockpot would earn its place in my kitchen if it was only ever used for dried beans. I don’t even bother to soak them. Just throw them in the crock with water and turn it on high while making lunch; by suppertime they are ready to be used in whatever dish I’m making. The crockpot makes dry beans as convenient as canned beans, but much cheaper (especially purchased 25 lbs at a time from the food coop). I cook about 2 lbs at a time and freeze what I don’t need for that meal, so I usually have two or three kinds of cooked, frozen beans in my freezer to choose from too.
I love minute steaks. I used them to make cheesesteaks…I saute/fry/whatever them with onions, peppers and mushrooms and then add mozzarella or provolone. mmmmm. i need some of that!
i seriously get a natural high from cleaning.. it’s weird, but the dyson completes me
Another Dyson fan here.
These days, it doesn’t get much action.
But the Nilfisk that we borrowed from a local healthy homes advocacy agency for lead dust clean up? Its social calender is totally full. I love that vacuum. It sucks! Really well! If it wasn’t so expensive, I’d eBay my beloved Dyson in a heartbeat to get a Nilfisk.
Poor, poor Dyson. Your day is coming!
Hmmm… I will try the crockpot with my beans. We have a monstrously large crockpot, which is great for some things (roasting whole chickens) but seems too big for tasks like making oatmeal for three or beans. I should look for a cheapy used small one… I need to figure something out. I have soaked for 24 hours and then cooked for ages and still had rock hard beans.
What kind of beans are you using? Do you get these results with all beans, or just certain kinds that you regularly try cooking with?
Kristen I cook beans regularly. Keep experimenting. Don’t EVER put tomatoes in with the beans or they’ll stay hard. It’s a chemical thing that I don’t understand. I’m on a quest to make refried beans, using pinto beans, as good as the Mexican restaurants (without using lard – oh that grosses me out). I keep getting closer but haven’t gotten it down yet. Black beans are very nice with rice, and they are a smaller bean. Keep trying.
I have always struggled with cleaning and I’m married to a neatnick. But I can say that the Lord has really helped me to improve. Schedules have been helpful. It was a weird concept for me to clean the bathroom because it’s the day I do it, before it got really yucky. The other thing that helped has been using a timer and just doing something for 15 minutes.
I have to say that I can only name three people I know who are simultaneously avid readers and good housekeepers. When my head is in a book I never see the cobwebs until the doorbell rings…
It’s fun to read your blog.
okay,carol, I LOOOVE this quote!! That is just so true!!! :) “I have to say that I can only name three people I know who are simultaneously avid readers and good housekeepers. When my head is in a book I never see the cobwebs until the doorbell rings…”
Ditto on the Carol quote! I can keep my living room fairly tidy (emphasis on fairly) and I always notice the dishes (even though I don’t always do something about them), but cobwebs, geesh. Even my husband has noticed that they’re taking over the house.
Kristen, if *I* can cook up beans, I’m absolutely certain you can, too. Try again! : )
I have only tried to cook dried beans with black beans. Beans and rice are things I regularly screw up… but I can make really complicated dishes with ease. I am an oddball.
I am usually good at tidying public areas and vacuuming, but I put off deeper cleaning as long as possible, which is disconcerting. I feel like a lazy bum.
I do my crock beans basically the same way Sora does. Kristen, I have a ginormous crock too, so don’t worry about that; once your beans are cooked, drain them and then FREEZE them! Then they’re ready whenever you need them.
Crockpot Beans
3 C any kind of beans, rinsed
1 onion (optional)
2-5 cloves garlic (optional)
Put the beans in your crock and fill to 1″ of the top with water. Add a peeled and quartered onion and peeled garlic cloves if you like, or chop the onions and garlic if you’re feeling ambitious. Cook on high for 5 hours. No soaking needed. Plus, like Sora said, they are ridiculously cheap.
For fat-free refried beans, simply mash the cooked beans (I use pinto beans for this) in a bowl with some of the cooking liquid. Do this in a cast-iron pan over heat if you plan to serve the beans right away (I usually mash up a whole crock full for lunches and for the freezer).
Black beans are my favorite.
I’m scared of the pressure cooker, too. I don’t use it now that I have the crock pot. My husband uses it all the time, though. It cooks the beans in about half an hour without any presoaking. You MUST add oil to the water or the foam from the beans will clog the pressure release valve, which is very dangerous. I use this page (http://missvickie.com/howto/beans/howtobeantypes.html) as my resource for beans in the pressure cooker, although I don’t presoak my beans.