Basic Baked Beans

(I have no pictures for this post as well! :( I was going through my recipes and saw that I hadn't posted this one, and have NO clue where the pics are for this, but let me tell you, I DO KNOW for a FACT that I will be making this again! This would be GREAT with hamburgers or hot dogs for a cook out! Yummy! I'm thinking I am going to have to make this, and soon!!! :D)


I actually remembered to soak the beans last nite! :) Also, since I was up early, I went ahead and started cooking them. It took about 2 hours to cook and let me tell you, the house smelled sooooo good! I don't know what it is about beans cooking, but I just LOVE the smell! ;) Maybe it's because I remember my mom cooking them and when she did, she always cooked something good! Most likely a recipe that was my Aunt and Uncles, so it was G-O-O-D!!!!!!!! ;)

I served this with rice. It as really good! The kiddos all asked for more, so that's a plus in my book! :)

I really liked the fact that I could just put this in the oven and pretty much forget about it for 4 hours! I am pretty sure you could put this in the crockpot, but this was soo good in my cast iron pot just baking in the oven! Plus, it made the house smell really good too!

This recipe calls for navy beans, which I thought I had, but I couldn't find them. So I just soaked 2 pounds of pinto beans. I knew the recipe for the next nite would have pinto beans, so now, one step done for tomorrow's recipe! ;)

Basic Baked Beans

Soak overnite
1 pound navy beans and enough water to cover and then a bit extra. Your beans will swell up, so you want to make sure there is enough water. ;)

In the same liquid that you soaked the beans in, simmer for about 2 hours. Bring it to a boil and then turn way down to simmer for an hour and a half to 2 hours.
Drain, reserving the liquid.
Preheat oven to 275-300 degrees.
Combine in 2 quart casserole:
cooked beans
1/2 cup molasses
1/3 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon mustard
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 onion, chopped
2 slices bacon, chopped, or 1/4 pound salt pork (optional)
reserved bean liquid to cover
Stir it all to combine.
Bake 4-8 hours adding liquid occasionally if necessary. Cover during first half of baking time, then uncover.

*I didn't have any bacon, so I didn't add any meat. I think it would be GREAT with some bacon flavor in this!
The recipe also calls for 1/4 cup ketchup, but I added a bit more.
And like I said at the top, I didn't have any navy beans, so I used pinto. Tasted just fine to me! ;)
Enjoy this super easy meal! It does take time, but really, the only time is waiting for the beans to soak and then to cook in the oven!

Orange Bread

So... I didn't make our breakfast last nite, but since I was up at the crack of dawn, no wait, scratch that, BEFORE the crack of dawn, I just made it this morning! This orange bread was sooo good!!! The only downfall of this was that i only have 3, nope, scratch that, 2 slices left! We had this with an orange, strawberry, and banana smoothie! It was soooo good!

It was really easy to make, seriously only took about 10 minutes to throw together! It took right at an hour to bake, but the smell was intoxicating! The kids woke up to the smell of fresh bread and could NOT wait to get their hands on a piece, or two, or three! ;)

I really am trying to do better to make some hot for the kids for breakfast, plus a smoothie. Nothing wrong with cold cereal, but something hot and homemade fills them up more and gets them through the day a bit better!


Blend the orange juice, milk, coconut oil and egg in bowl...


Add all other dry ingredients plus the orange peel... (save the orange, either eat it with the bread, of finish peeling it and throw it in your smoothie for the morning! ;))


Stir it all up!


Pour in loaf pan and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar... and bake!


All done, boy did it smell GOOD!! SOOOO wish this was a scratch and sniff picture! You'd be running to your kitchen to make up a loaf right now! ;)





The top, sooo good! I think I liked the top part the best! ;)


Orange Bread

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups white flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cooking oil (I used coconut oil)
1 egg beaten

Top of bread you will need:
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine orange juice, milk, oil and egg in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth. Add both flours, sugar, orange peel and baking powder. Stir until well moistened. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan. Sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon.
Bake 60-05 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

*This is soooo good! I got it from my MCC, More with Less. It calls for 3/4 cup sugar, but I only put in 1/2 and it was just fine! :) also calls for cooking oil, and I substituted coconut oil. A for sure make again!!! ;)