I made some very simple and very delicious pinto beans yesterday from Feed Your Family Fast, Healthy Meals on $10 a Day. After rinsing them off a few times, I did not soak them but just cooked longer since I was in and out of the house all day and that suited my schedule better.

1 pound pinto beans

1 onion, quartered

1 Tbs chili powder

1 ham hock (could also use a few strips of bacon)

Put the beans in a pot, remembering that they will swell to about 3 times their dried state once cooked. Cover with two inches of water. Add the onion, chili powder, and ham hock. Bring to a boil, stir everything, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover loosely and cook until done. Mine took about 3-4 hours but then it was so close to dinner I just let them continue. I served them as is, like a simple bean soup. Very delicious and about as cheap and delicious as you could hope for! At about 10 servings per pound of beans and a 1.50 for the ham hock, the base price for this is about 30 cents a serving. Make up a batch of cornbread to go with it and you have a great simple dinner.

Tonight I’m going to take some of the beans out, fry and mash them in some bacon grease, and make refried beans for chalupas.