Crock Pot Beer Brats

Sorry, I didn't take any pictures of this meal.  It is pretty easy to make.  I took two packages of Johnsonville Beer Brats, Blue Moon beer and about a cup of water.  Threw everything in the crock pot and turned it on high.  Cook it for about 4-6 hours.  Basically, you are just boiling the brats.


You can serve these on hot dog buns or with mashed potatoes.  I'm serving ours on buns with some chips.


Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy. Simple and delicious dinner with little effort.

Epic Crock Pot Fail

I made dinner tonight and used the crock pot.  I was so very excited.  I had boneless pork chops, rice, carrots, broccoli and orange sauce.  Sounds delish!


I put the rice, pork chops, salt, pepper and water in the crock pot.  Turned it on low.  Checked it throughout the day. About an hour before serving, I added the frozen carrots, broccoli and the orange sauce.


I went to serve the kids dinner.  Put the food on a plate and it smelled delicious.  I tasted it.  It was ice cold.  The crock pot was unplugged, but not all the way. It was in the socket, just not plugged all the way in.  When I added the frozen veggies it must have gotten unplugged.


Anyway, I plugged the crock pot back in, but I'm not sure how dinner turned out.  We all had chicken nuggets for dinner.  Here are the pictures I took.  It looks good.  Lol

The ingredients 

The finished product (sort of)

Crock Pot Refried Beans (Original Post 5/10/2009)

This is a very loose recipe. I'm not one who follows recipes. I kind of just make things up as I go along, and I go by my own taste.

Anyway, I use to think that making refried beans would be difficult, boy was I wrong. They are so easy to make. And very inexpensive. You can buy a bag of pinto beans for a little over a dollar at most grocery stores. I use 1/3 of a bag for my family of four. You can use as much or as little as you need.

Put the beans in a bowl full of water. Make sure the water covers all the beans. Soak the beans overnight or for at least 8 hours. This softens the beans and releases some of the gasses.

Drain the beans and place them in the crock pot. Cover the beans with water. Now this is were you add your seasonings. I add different things all the time. You can add whatever your family likes. I always add onion powder and garlic powder. And a few other things that I find in the cabinets. Go crazy and have fun with it.

Turn the crock pot on low and cook for 8 to 10 hours. After the beans are cooked and soft, turn the crock pot off or if it has a warm setting you can choose that. Get a potato masher and mash the beans. You can mash them as little or as much as you like, it is what you prefer.

When you are ready to eat, take the beans and put them in a pan and fry them. That is what makes them refried beans.

You can top them with cheese or put them in your tacos or burritos. Enjoy!