Crockpot Refried Beans

Thanks for sharing Kristi!

A vegetarian recipe for refried beans slow-cooked in the crockpot with jalapenos and spices, and then mashed. Homemade refried beans can be served as a low-fat side dish, with Mexican rice, or wrapped up into a burrito. These crockpot refried beans are vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free.

3 cups dry pinto beans

8 1/2 cups water

1 onion, diced

1/2 jalapeno pepper, de-seeded and minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp cumin

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot or slow cooker. Cover and cook on medium-high for 8 hours.

Drain out most of the water. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding back in some of the liquid if needed.

Please send in your rice and/or bean recipes with tips and pictures to recipes@eatriceandbeans.com!

The Children benefiting from Rice & Beans Month

Causes are great and all, but what can really motivate me to action is love. Love cause me to travel, speak up, and sacrifice for others. What we hope to do through Rice and Beans is to deepen your love for brothers and sisters around the world who are vulnerable and could use some love.

The kids that Lahash partners with live in three different nations. I'd like to share photos of the kids that will be receiving our gifts at the end of March.

The kids in this first picture live at Amazing Grace in Adjumani, Uganda. Many of you are familiar with the hell that these kids have been through by following the good work of Invisible Children. War, disease, and hopelessness have marked the past 20 years in the region. Currently the region is stabilizing, but these children can use all the help they can get as they grow up. I took this picture in October when our team stopped there for several days.

The picture below is of the Tenderfeet School in Kibera during early 2007. These children live in the world's largest slums (Kibera, Kenya) and have had a rough go at life. The compassionate teachers at Tenderfeet Education Center are showing God's love to these kids by providing free or subsidized education, food, spiritual counseling, and medical assistance. The children are now schooling at two campuses and we are excited to help the food program at these two school buildings.

My friend took this photo of me and the kids of Dodoma, Tanzania early in 2009. These kids have been infected or affected by HIV. Some of these dear kids have incredible courage despite having life cut short by the horrible disease of HIV/AIDS. Many of them live in homes with many vulnerable kids and the food provided is minimal. We hope to share God's love with them through meals over this next year with your help.

Black Beans, Corn and Yellow Rice

This recipe is courtesy of Erin and AllRecipes.com- if you try it out, feel free to email a picture or two to: recipes@eatriceandbeans.com and post your comments too!
Thanks for sharing Erin!

1 (8 oz) pkg yellow rice mix
1 1/4 C water*
2 T olive oil
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
2 t lime juice
1 t ground cumin

*Many of the reviews felt this was a typo and should be 2 1/4 cups just to give you a heads up so you don't burn your dinner!

Bring the rice, water and olive oil to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to med-low, cover and simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, 20-25 min.

Mix together the beans, corn, lime juice, and cumin in a large bowl. Stir in the cooked rice and serve. (Serves 8)

Share Your Recipes!

If you have any good Rice and/or Bean recipes, we'd love to hear from you! Send the recipe and and any notes, pictures or tips to recipes@eatriceandbeans.com.

We'll be posting recipes here, Facebook and using them in other media.

Thanks!

Downloadable PDF for Rice & Beans

Click on the image below to begin a download of an Adobe PDF to your desktop!

Rice & Beans for Dan & Erin

My name is Dan Holcomb - and my wife and I went through a week of Rice and Beans in December to test it out! See how our experiences went and what to expect during your month!

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!