Legit Mexican Refried Beans

 For many years, I had as new year's resolution to learn how to cook dry beans.  I don't know what it was but it seemed so hard to me!  Well, guess what.  Instantpot makes it super easy!  My husband LOVES the refried beans at mexican restaurants, so I wanted to recreate that.  (I agree with him, they are way better than canned!)  

1 tbs olive oil 
1/3 cup chopped onion 
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced 
4 cloves garlic 
2 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed well and picked through 
1-1/2 TBS chicken better than bouillon (can use chicken stock instead) 
7 cups water 
2 bay leaves 
2-1/2 tsp salt 
1 tsp cumin 
1 tsp oregano 
dash cayenne pepper (up to 1/4 tsp, depending on your spiciness level) 

Saute onion and jalapeno until softened in Instantpot, 3-4 minutes.  Add garlic and saute 30-60 seconds more.  Add a bit of water and stir, scraping up any bits on the bottom.  Add the remaining ingredients, and cook on high for 45 minutes.  Let naturally release 25 minutes. 

Remove lid, strain liquid out into a bowl to reserve.  Blend with a stick blender, adding a little reserved liquid until it is the texture you prefer, about a cup or so.    

Crockpot Steel cut oats

We love steel cut oats, but they take a long time to cook up in the morning.  Solution?  Crockpot!  I had to play around with quite a few failed batches, but I got it!  This also makes a really big batch, so be forewarned. I have a 6 quart crockpot, so you may have to adjust to yours, but here are the basic directions: 

At night, put into your crockpot:

3 cups steel cut oats
11 cups liquid (I do 4 c. milk, 6-1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup buttermilk)
2 T butter (or coconut oil.  Can put up to 4 T butter if you prefer)
1 TBS cinnamon (optional)

Whisk ingredients together.  (It's OK if the butter is still in a chunk.)  Set crockpot to cook on low for 2 hours.  (Hopefully your crockpot is like mine, and will turn off and just keep it warm for the rest of the night.)  Open it up in the morning and it should be done and beautifully creamy. Sweeten to taste. It might burn a little around the edges, but I've never had that affect the taste of the oats.

Note on liquids:
Buttermilk is added to help break down phytic acids of the oats and make it more digestible.  I'm not sure how much it helps because you're cooking it right at the beginning, but it is in there!

You can do all water or all milk.  Milk just makes it creamier.

Smaller ratio:
2 cups steel cut oats
7-1/3 cups liquid (3 c. milk, 4 c. water, 1/3 c. buttermilk)
1-2T butter
2 tsp cinnamon

Shipwreck in a crock pot

Simple, easy, tasty.   And it even has a fun name. 

4-5 potatoes, cut into 1/2" sticks (like french fries)
1 lb ground turkey, cooked
1 onion, pureed
1 carrot (or 6-8 baby carrots), chopped or sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped or sliced

2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp garlic powder 

Put the above ingredients in the crockpot.

Make the sauce in a pot:

1/2 c butter
6T flour or cornstarch
2t bouillon
3 c milk (can do dairy free if desired)
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter, then add flour and bouillon. Mix to make a paste.  Add milk and worcestershire sauce.  Bring to a boil until it's thick.  Add salt and pepper to taste if necessary.

Pour over the top of all the ingredients.  Yeah, it kind of looks like a shipwreck, but don't worry, it tastes good.

Turn crockpot on 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

INSTANT POT DIRECTIONS: 

Saute 2 TBS butter with the chopped onion, carrot and celery 4-5 minutes until translucent.  Add the ground turkey (uncooked), 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1/2 tsp pepper.  Cook until ground meat is no longer pink inside.  Add potato sticks.  

Add 3 cups of water, 1 TBS beef bouillon, 1 TBS Worcestershire sauce, stir. 

Put lid on the instant pot and set on high for 7 minutes. 

In the meantime, mix 1/2 cup of milk with 3 TBS of cornstarch.

Let natural release 10 minutes.  Turn to saute.  

Whisk in to the stew to thicken.