Monday, May 20, 2013

Crock Pot Ranch Beans & SRS

It's that time of the month again for our Surprise Recipe Swap.  This swap is graciously hosted by Jutta over at Hungry Little Girl.  This is a super fun swap where we are assigned a secret blog buddy and we get to stalk their blog and have fun choosing, cooking, and blogging about one of their recipes.
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This month I was assigned Cynthia over at Feeding Big and I was so excited to get her blog.  Cynthia has a ton of delicious recipes and I had a hard time choosing just one. I actually printed her Cheesecake Mini's - Have it your way, Pasta Carbonara,  her Best Coffee Cake Ever and I finally decided on her Ranch Beans with Peppered Bacon.

If you haven't stopped by yet to check out Cynthia's blog do so before the day is out and tell her Michelle sent you!  You won't be disappointed!  She not only has wonderful food recipes but hosts a weekly series for Living Big on Less Money and who wouldn't love to keep a little more dough in their pocketbooks????

Here's what you need for today's recipe

8 Sliced peppered bacon, or regular which is all I had on hand, quartered, cooked and crumbled
1 large sweet yellow onion, diced
1-2 medium jalapenos, deveined and seeded, minced
3 garlic cloves, grated on a microplane
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 cup of beer, original recipe calls for stout but all I had was Corona
2 - 15 oz. cans white or navy beans, I used Cannellini beans, drained but not rinsed
2 - 15 oz. cans pinto beans, drained but not rinsed
1 cup barbecue sauce of your choice
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (next time I'll only use 1/4 cup because it was too tart for me)
3 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce
3 Tbs. Dijon mustard

Turn your crock pot on to high (always put hot food into a warm crock pot and cold into a cold one)

In a skillet or the base of your crock pot if you can put it on the stove top like mine, cook the bacon until done but not too crispy.  Remove from pan and set aside on a paper towel to drain, then crumble.
 
In the hot grease from the bacon, saute the onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno for a few minutes until translucent.  Add the grated garlic and stir.  Cook another minute.
 
Add the beer and bring to a simmer.  Cook at a simmer for 3 minutes.
 
At this point if you are using an insert that CAN go on the stove add the beans, and the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine.
 
Bring to a simmer and then transfer the insert to the crock pot base and cover with lid.

**If you are using an insert that CAN NOT go on the stove, after you have simmered the beer mixture, transfer the mixture to the warm crock pot and add the beans and the rest of the ingredients.  Stir to combine and cover.
Cook on low for 6 - 8 hours and on high for 4 hours, I usually cook on high.
The end result was a delicious bowl of Ranch Beans that I will definitely make again!  Thanks Cynthia for the wonderful recipe :)

Serves 14 - 18

Enjoy!
Here's the handy printable - Crock Pot Ranch Beans

If you are interested in joining our fun monthly swap just click on the link below and sign up.

HungryLittleGirl

10 comments:

  1. I love slow cooking. On busy days or not-so-busy ones, you can have this chili working away in the background. Perfect for a lazy cook like me!

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  2. Michelle, as always a great pick! How could you go wrong with Bacon, right?! I especially love that it is a slow cooker dish - it saves so much time and stress :)

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  3. Looks so yummy and easy! My favorite combination :)

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  4. Baked beans are perfect for summer BBQ's. Great SRS pick!
    ~Amber @ Dessert Now, Dinner Later!

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  5. I love baked beans and this sounds delicious. Following you now through bloglovin and facebook... Thanks for stopping over at my blog.

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  6. Yummy! Just bookmarked! Please feel free to share with our G+ Community, The Crock Pot Crowd! We welcome recipes from bloggers! :)

    http://bit.ly/Zmy5vZ

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  7. Cynthia does have some delicious recipes .... this is a great choice, Michelle! My boys just looove beans :)

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  8. Looks like a great recipe - love those crock pot recipes, simple and tasty. :)

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