Refried beans

I made my own refried beans the other day. "Why?" you ask. "When canned refried beans are so cheap?" Well, for two reasons: 1. Have you looked at the ingredients list on a can of refried beans? and 2. Canned refried beans smell like cat food.

Also, 3. Making your own from a bag of dried pinto beans is way cheaper.

So I got a bag of dried pinto beans (cost: 89 cents), soaked them overnight, and precooked them in my Crockpot. Then I drained them, saved the bean water, and mashed them with a potato masher. (All this took a combined two minutes of effort, don't worry.)

1 bag pinto beans as above, soaked, precooked, drained and mashed
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
Seasonings: chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper, cayenne, oregano

In a large skillet, saute the onion in bacon fat (if you have it; if not, olive oil) until soft. Add the garlic, jalapeno, and seasonings, and cook 1 minute. Add the beans, and mix well. Add the bean water a tablespoon at a time if the beans are too dry. Cook for 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

Now you can use your refried beans to make refried bean enchiladas with canned tomato salsa, like I did. A great meal that is super-cheap and came almost entirely out of the pantry.