Boston Baked Beans

Before you scroll down and see the recipe let me just tell you from the get-go. This is not a traditional recipe for Boston Baked beans. I am from New England. And because I am I can take certain liberties with certain regional traditional dishes.

Also let me tell you that I've never made any sort of baked beans in my life. I knew I wanted some of these for dinner. See, I grew up having the canned baked beans. They were good. Everyone loved them. Even though Boston is nigh two hours away, no one really questioned why we did not have authentic Boston beans. We had canned beans that were good - so who cared?

My love of cooking and learning about my allergies has definitely changed what we eat. How could it not? We cannot go out and buy cream of chicken soup anymore to make that super-duper wicked easy to throw together casserole. Enjoying food at Christmas parties and church functions has gone out the window. But never have I been so happy. We eat real, fresh, whole unprocessed foods. What can get any better than that?

And seriously, if you haven't figured it out - processed food is soo overrated.

Boston Baked Beans

adapted from JustHungry

1 lb grassfed beef, browned

3 cans navy beans

1 Tbsp organic light brown sugar, packed

1 tsp: black pepper, ground ginger, ground mustard, cayenne pepper

2 tsp sea salt

2 medium sized red peppers, chopped very small

1 medium green pepper, chopped very small

1 medium vadalia onion, diced

4 slices raw/uncooked turkey bacon

2/3 cup molasses

4 cups water*

To make your baked beans:

1. In a crockpot, place all ingredients in and stir.

2. Turn on high for at least 4 hours.

3. Turn on low or warm and simmer until ready to serve.

4. Serve hot with brown or white basmati rice, veggies and real cornbread.

*This dish is not thick - it is more like a soup, so use less water if you want less sauce.

My family LOVED this recipe and said, "I hope you wrote down what you did so you can make it again." I must confess that sometimes I create a dish in the kitchen and do not write it down. Then sometimes they like it and request it again. I can usually remember nearly all the ingredients, but usually am missing some! That doesn't exactly work if we want to have the recipe again!