Baked Beans

This recipe has become a regular in our family. My husband was on the quest for a heartier breakfast and stumbled across menus for traditional Irish breakfasts. He sticks to just baked beans on toast and seems to be pretty happy with that.

David, my 13-month old son, recently decided that being spoon-fed was no longer acceptable. Baked beans was one of our healthier successes. He loves these and even allows me to sneak in some pureed peas or sweet potatoes before serving!

2 cups dry beans (navy beans are standard, but anything goes...)

Lots of water

2 med onions (red, yellow, whatever is on hand...)

1-2 c water

1/3 c blackstrap molasses

1/4 c brown sugar (or leave this out and use 1/2 c molasses)

1/3 c ketchup or tomato sauce

1 T soy sauce

4-6 T apple cider vinegar

1 T curry powder

2 t dry mustard

1/4 t cloves

freshly ground black pepper, salt to taste

Soak beans overnight (adding 1/8 t baking soda helped a lot in digestability for my 13 month old)

Rinse well, add water, bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for about 2 hours. Rinse again and transfer to crockpot.

Add remaining ingredients and cook on high until desired consistency. (I usually leave it on for 4-6 hours)

Well, this recipe only covers beans, but would probably be good served over rice- perhaps we'll try that tomorrow. :D

*Adapted from Betty Crocker and Vive Le Vegan!