My New Favorite Shortcut for Beans

Welcome back to our 30 Days of THRIVE Tuesday!

Today we have another side recipe that can easily be turned into an economical main meal with the addition of homemade tortillas to our recipes.

Double Decker Mexican Pizza made with Shortcut Refired Bean Recipe.

I was excited to see that the THRIVE Black Beans were on sale this month because there is a new trick I've been dying to share with everyone this month.

I know in the past we've already discussed how I like to substitute beans for butter in my desserts.  I bring them to events and get asked for recipes and no one is the wiser until I let them in on the little secret.  (In fact, I have another fantastic one coming again soon :) People either think its genius or disgusting.  Make sure to tell me what you think by commenting below.

Well, I think this next trick I am going to share with you will be considered genius across the board.  I love beans and really love the simplicity and ease of bean burritos.  I do often think about how nice it would be if less electricity and time were used to make them.  It would bring me so much joy to cook up some tasty burritos in the blink of an eye without having to have soaked them the night before and cooked them all day in my crockpot.

Enter bean flour...
Some of you may be saying what the heck is that.

This is bean flour... white bean flour.  It amazes me how similar it looks to well, flour.

It has totally changed things for me and I am excited to share a bean recipe that will now only take you a few minutes so you really can have that "instant" bean fix at any time.

I love my Blendtec Kitchen Mill Grinder since I can use it on SO many things (post coming about that on Saturday), so I would highly recommend getting one because they truly pay for themselves  once you take the time to mill your own products.  However, if you don't have the money to buy one right now, you can even do this in a blender.  Make sure that you only blend small amounts of beans at a time so it can grind everything to an even powder.

The first time I ground my beans into powder, lets just say breathing was not easy and I wasn't sure what I had done wrong.  Thankfully, I found out that this is a common thing for people so here are some tips for success.

When using the Kitchen Mill Grinder, here are some tips for success:
- Set Kitchen Mill in a DRY, empty kitchen sink, fill hopper with beans, cover with a towel before turning on, then start the machine.  This will trap a lot of dust that may have seeped out.
- Be sure to clean your "F" shaped filter out with each hopper load of beans.  You can just scrape the edges of this into the hopper before loading your next batch of beans so the flour isn't wasted.  (It holds alot!)
- Clean your "F" filter with soap and water and allow to completely air dry before next batch so it will be ready for the nest use.

Now for the recipe.  Although when I make refried beans, typically I just season them the way I like depending on the mood I am in, I got this one off of allrecipes.com because it specifically calls for BEAN FLOUR to make the recipe super speedy.  Now I know that is calls for Salsa and if you are using this as a THRIVE only (plus spices) recipe then you may not have salsa on hand, but you can simply add a little more seasoning, Tomato Powder FD Green Chile and you're in business.... or if you'd prefer, you can decrease the water to 2 c and and add in my Homemade El Pato Recipe.


Printable Recipe
Shortcut Refried Beans 30 Days of THRIVE Recipe:
3/4 c THRIVE Black Beans (Equals about 1 c bean flour)*
1 1/2  t THRIVE Salt
2 T THRIVE FD Onions
1/4 t garlic powder (optional)
1/2 t ground cumin
1/4 t chili powder
3 c warm water
2 T THRIVE FD Green Chile
2 t THRIVE Tomato Powder

1. Grind beans in a blender or grinder.  Set aside.
2. Combine water, FD Green Chile, Tomato Powder and seasonings in a medium sized pot.
3. Whisk in Black Bean Powder.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes or until thickened. Serve warm.

*To make mixture thicker for bean burritos, increase to 1 c dried beans.  You can also use Pinto Beans instead of Black Beans if you'd prefer and it will work great.\

Original Recipe:
3/4 c dried bean
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t chili powder
2 1/2 c warm water
1/2 c salsa

1. Grind beans until fine using blender or food grinder.  Place in a saucepan and whisk in salt, cumin, chili powder and water.  Boil for 15 minutes.

2. When the mixture has thickened stir and cook another 4 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in salsa.  Use as dip or for burrito filling.