From a young age I became very involved in 4-H through showing livestock and participating in county-wide events. With lots of support from our local community, we were often asked to provide and serve meals at local events and competitions.

Doing it for so many years, our club had a bit of a routine. Customers had the choice of a hamburger or hotdog, fruit, chips, cookie, drink and one particular item that was requested no matter what. That special side was my mother’s beans. She often joked that she could make more than just the beans but no one seemed to really care about that.

It’s one of those recipes where you just throw everything in a pot and let it go. Due to its consistency and contents, it has the feeling of being a chili, which makes it perfect for cold winter months. It reheats very well and can be paired with cornbread or biscuits to be more filling.

Besides being a meal by itself, it can also be served as a summer side dish. Serve it along with steaks, burgers, hot dogs or pulled pork sandwiches and your friends and family will be begging for seconds!

Ingredients:

• 1 can Bush’s original baked beans
• 1 can lima beans
• 1 can garbanzo beans
• 1 can large butter beans
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 cup ketchup
• 3 tablespoons yellow mustard
•  ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• In one skillet cook the the ground beef with salt and pepper to taste. In another skillet, prepare the bacon and crumble; drain the fat from the ground beef
• Place the diced onion in one of the skillets on medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes or until slightly translucent.
• Place the onion, crumbled bacon and ground beef into an oven proof pot; add in the beans, ketchup, yellow mustard, brown sugar and apple cider vinegar. (Place the liquid from the canned beans in the pot as well.)
• Stir thoroughly and place in the oven for 2-3 hours or until majority of the liquid has cooked off.

*If you happen to be at an event, place in a crock pot on low to medium heat as they are best served warm.

 Once thoroughly mixed, the beans can be placed in the oven.

Make sure the rack is not too close to the heat as it can cause the beans to have a grainy texture.

Once the beans have been placed in the oven, make sure to stir them every 10 minutes or so to ensure that all the beans cook evenly.

Cheers,

Bri

May 29, 2017