Frozen burritos that you actually want to eat.

As I may have mentioned here before I like to be prepared and make things ahead of time whenever possible. This often means making thing myself but that is no issue for me. I like knowing how to do lots of things. Today's experiment is making home made refried bean and lots of frozen burritos.

For this you will need:
10-12 flour tortillas
1 lbs dried pinto beans
2-3 tbs pinto bean seasoning (recipe below)
2 tsp salt
2 tbs lard or bacon grease
2 cups cheese

In an earlier post is described a quick cooking method that involves using the oven. Today I will describe how to cook them on the stove and in the crock pot with two different soaking methods.

Stove top method:
Preform a quick soak by placing 1 lbs of rinsed beans in a medium sized pot with enough water to cover it by three inches. Bring this to a boil. Place a lid on the pot and remove from heat. Let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse the beans and the pot. Place beans back into the pot with 2 tsp salt and enough hot water to cover by about 2 inches. Simmer till desired tenderness is reached, with lid vented. Roughly 2-3 hours.

Crock-Pot method:
Rinse 1 lbs pinto beans and place in a large bowl with enough water to cover it by two inches. Let soak overnight in cool place. In the morning drain and rinse the beans then place in the crock-pot with enough water to cover it by two inches, and 2 tsp salt. Leave on high heat for 6 hours

I know it may seem pointless to rinse the beans in between the soak and cooking but do it anyway. The rinse actually help wash away the natural compounds that make eating beans uncomfortable, a.k.a give you gas. It won't get rid of it totally but it does helps a lot. Also feel free to mix and match soak and cooking methods they do work either way.

Here is my pinto beans seasoning:
1 tbs Garlic
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 chicken boulion cube

Mix together all ingredients thoroughly. You'll need about 2-3 tbs for every one pound of cry beans you started with.


Once beans are cooked drain them, but keep 1 cup of the liquid. In a large bowl mash the beans. (A hand mixer makes quick work of it.) Once mashed add the cup of cooking liquid, 2-3 tbs seasoning and 2 tbs bacon grease or lard if desired. That's it! You just made your very own batch of refried beans. Step back and give yourself a round of applause.

Consume right away or store in plastic bags in the freezer. Keeps for 2 months. I'm making frozen burritos with mine. Yummy!! Great for a weeknight meal or a quickly made lunch.

Enjoy!