Crockpot Refried Beans

I found the original recipe for this at allrecipes.com. I tweaked it a little bit to give it more flavor. It's super tasty (even my kid's ate it without complaint), and very economical. Leftover beans can place in storage containers and frozen for later.

Crock Pot Refried Beans

(makes fifteen 1/2 cup servings)

Cost per serving $.09

3 cups dried pinto beans

1 cup of finely minced onion ( I chopped mine up in the food processor)

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 (4 oz.) can of chopped green chili peppers ( I tossed mine in with the onion and chopped them up more)

1 tablespoon chicken bullion

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 teaspoons salt

9 cups water

1. Place dried beans in the crock pot . Cover with water and soak overnight.
2. Drain water off of soaked beans and return beans to crock pot.
3. Add onion, garlic, chili peppers, bullion, and spices to beans. Stir together.
4. Cover with water. 
5. Turn the crock pot onto high and cook for 8 hours. Check beans periodically. If the water seems to be evaporating (the water is below bean level) add  more hot water.
6. When beans are soft and mash easily, drain beans. Reserve the liquid!*
7. Mash beans with a potato masher or mixer adding in enough bean broth to get a soft (not runny) consistency. You will not use all the broth. ( I cheated and ran my beans through the food processor in small batches. I just start the processor and slowly poured the broth in the neck of the lid until the beans reached the desired consistency.)

*Freeze the leftover bean broth to use in soup, stew, or chili.