How to make homemade Pinto Beans in 1 day !

 Okay, let me tell you how to make home made Pinto Beans. This process is usually takes two days but I can show you how to make it in 3 hours ! ... And No ! these are not magical beans ! lol

So lets start by listing what you will need, for starters you will need patience lol

Ingredients:

2 cups of dried pinto beans
1 large bowl
1 measuring cup
2 teaspoons of Kosher salt (adding more salt later is optional once cooked)
1/2-1 tablespoon of dried mince garlic
1 tablespoon of dried mince onion
1 large sauce pot with pot lid
1 good sturdy bean smasher and a medium/large wooden spoon
1 cup of milk (maybe optional)



Lets start ! Open your bag of pinto beans and measure 2 cups of beans to pour into a bowl. After your going to add 2-3 cups of cold water into your bowl so you can soak and rinse your beans for 4 minutes. While doing this, boil 7-8 cups of water in your large sauce pot on medium to high temperature.

When your your done rinsing your beans, drain your beans of any excess water. Next, check on your pot of boiling water, it is important to make sure that the water is boiling to the point you can see bubbles rising. Once you have checked and made certain your water is boiling, you can add your pinto beans.

Boil your beans for approximately 5 minutes ! No more than that. After 5 minutes has past, remove your pot from heat and cover your pot with a secure lid.

Now here comes the waiting game, you have to let your beans sit with a cover pot of course for 1 hour to soak.

After 1 hour has past, your beans should look a little soften and enlarged but yet still firm. Your going to drain your beans again and pour again into your bowl you had prior.

Next your going to measure 7-8 cups of water and to bring to boil in your large sauce pot. We have to make sure once again that our water is boiling like before. While your water in boiling, quickly rinse your beans again in 2 cups of room temperature water. Do not let your beans soak in cool water, we want this done quickly.

Now check your boiling water, once you have made sure its boiling. Add your pinto beans and stir gently with you wooden spoon or utensil. Cover your boiling beans with your pot lid and let your beans simmer on medium temperature for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. You may have to stir 3-4 times while your beans are cooking so they do not get stuck to each other or stuck on the pot.

So after a long wait ! lol your beans should look nicely plumped and soft. Now, here comes a little elbow grease. Your going to get your bean smasher, set your pot on low tempt and start smashing. You may develop your own smashing routine and that's perfectly fine ! Kudos ;-)

When your beans are almost smashed completely, you can add your freeze dried mince garlic and onions. Than your salt, if your beans look a little dry or too thick. This is when you add your cup of milk. This is how you get creamy smashed pinto beans.

Once you've added your ingredients, continue smashing until its the way you prefer your beans to be.  Creamy or thick, its your beans and its optional. Continue to heat on low temperature for 5-10 mins and presto ! Your long mission of cooking home made pinto beans is complete! If you feel your beans need more salt, go ahead and add more to your liking. ;-)


Great Job ! And Cool Beans ! lol

Thanks for reading !

Wow ! Thats a Bargain on 2 pairs of Shoes !

Wow ! I got one heck of a bargain at PayLess shoe store !

Now every couple weeks Payless has a fantastic shoe sale. They usually have a BOGO sale, which is buy one and get the other half off of equal or lesser value. Well, my son has been growing pretty fast and it was time to buy the little man some new shoes as well myself.  Just two days prior of the shoe sale, I went shopping around to compare prices of children apparel. And I found these cute Sponge Bob shoes that light up when you walk and these pair of shoes where the ones with the straps, not the one with long shoe laces that cause some kids to trip over. But unfortunately at that time the cute pair of shoes where a whopping $ 22.99! ..I don't know how other parents shop but that was way to much for a two year old pair of shoes. And the shoes I had my eye on were the same exact price as well. I definitely left the store disappointed on the prices because I always thought Payless had affordable shoes, but I was soon to be mistaken.


The day I heard about the shoe sale was on a weekend, the moment I heard. I got myself and my son showered and ready in the morning to finally get his shoes. At the time, I was just thinking I would only buy him shoes but when I arrived at the store and went searching for his shoes and the shoes I had in mind for myself. I was stunned to find that they went on sale for a dramatic price of 7$ for my sons shoes and 8$ for mine. Wow !


I could not believe my eyes, I had to buy them with the great sale going on. So of course my son being the cheaper pair, his shoes was slashed in half by 50% ! His $22.99 shoes came out to $3.50 OMG ! Of course I paid full price fore my shoes but lets not forget. My shoes where the same price and brought down to $8.


So to make a long story short,  I received two pairs of shoes priced at 45 dollars in total several days prior for 12 $...sorry to repeat but Wow ! I saved 33 dollars, that is amazing !

I recommend anyone to take a drive down to Payless to check out their fantastic deals.

Thanks for reading !

How to make homemade Hamburger helper !

How to make home made Hamburger Helper ShipShapeMama style! lol

Now, I'm the type of person that I believe you don't have to make food from out of a box, food is much nutritious when you cook all your ingredients fresh !

Now lets start what ingredients you will need!

* 1 whole garlic clove or 1 tablespoon freeze dried minced garlic
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 2 teaspoons of Lawry's all purpose season
* 1 cup of mix vegetables/ variety is optional (can veg. optional)
* 4 medium potatoes or 3 large
* 1/4 of a onion or 2 tablespoon of freeze dried mince onion
* 2 pounds of ground beef
* 1 Large soup pot / wooden spoon

                        est cook time : 40min-1 hour cook time !


Now for the cooking part, lets start by finding a suitable pot to cook in. I prefer a large sauce like pan because its perfect to fry and steam potatoes. Lets preheat our sauce pan on medium, what is medium? Turn your dial on your stove to the center. If you dial is like mine, it goes to 6. So I would set it to 3 for medium. Wait until your pan gets warm enough before adding in your ground beef. You don't want to add your meat to a cold pan. why? Well, a cooking pan must be evenly heated to evenly cook food inside of it. If your pan is unevenly heated, some bits and pieces of food like potatoes will not cook properly.

Okay ! ..When your pot is nice and warm, add your meat. While your meat is slowly cooking, this is a opportunity to skin your potatoes and dice them up into even pieces. This is important because if you have bits of potato bigger than others, your food will not cook evenly. You can end up with over cooked bits of potato with under cook ones. I would suggest to cut your potato in half and than cut the half's into half's again, you should end up with four pieces from one potato. From there you can cut your four piece pretty easily and evenly. Now make sure you check on your meat while slicing and dicing.

Be sure not to cook your meat all the way through, we only wanted cooked half way. Meaning, you should still see pink or redness in your meat.The time your done cutting your potatoes, your meat should be cooked half way. So, this is the time to add you diced potatoes. Be sure to mix your meat and papas well in your pot once you added them. Cover you pot with your lid so it can steam for a few minutes.

While your meat and potatoes are steaming, this is the time to dice up your fresh onion and garlic clove. Be sure again that they are cut evenly ! But if your deciding to use freeze dried garlic and onions, this is fine and good because you know already they are cut evenly.

After your done cutting up your onion and garlic, check on your meat. You should still see pink and remember your heat temperature should still be set to medium.

You next step after checking you meat will be to add your Lawry's all purpose season, black pepper(amount optional), mince onion and garlic. Be certain that once you have added your seasons, to stir your mixture properly. Never cut into the meat with your cooking utensil, be sure to gently start by swiping your cooking tool by sliding it through the walls of your pot and work your way to the center. You don't want to mash up your potatoes because you will end up with soggy mashed up food in fatty oil. Eww ! lol Be gentle with your food !

Now for the important part, once you mixed your mixture well. Cover it again with your lid to the pot and let steam for 6 more minutes. Its important to have the lid closed properly for this process.

After 6 minutes have past, check on your mixture. Your potatoes should be cooked half way through, which means the outside potato bits maybe a little soft but still slightly firm in the center. When you have made sure you are on track cooking, this is the best time to add your frozen/can mix vegetables in your mixture.

If you are wondering why we add our vegetables last..its because they cook very fast and sometimes your store bought vegetables might of been cooked before but just not all the way through.

Once you have added your last ingredient, be sure to mix your mixture well.. but remember ! Gentling mix, so your potatoes do not fall apart. Cover your pot once again and let steam for another 10 minutes. You can slightly turn up the heat at this point but this is optional. Some stoves get hotter than others and gas stoves cook faster than electric stoves. I'm working with a electric stove.

After you 10 minutes have past, your food should be ready ! Be sure to check that your potatoes are cooked all the way through, if not..steam for another 5 minutes. Once your food has finished cooking, this is the most important part in my opinion to reduce the fat.

Be sure to drain your food from excess oil from the pot, do it while your food is still warm and not cooled. When oil cools, it sticks to your food and maybe hard to remove. You can drain the fat from your meat by keeping the lid on the pot and carry your pot to the sink and slowly tip your pot to drain the fat. I keep the lid on while doing this so my food does not spill out into the sink. lol

Once you have done this, you are ready to eat !

Now you may ask your self, what can I eat with this? Well, I enjoy eating 2 tbsp of light sour cream with mine with 2-3 small corn tortillas.  Yummy !



Bonn Appetite !
Thanks for reading !