I really love it when my slow cooker can do the work for me. January usually means a freezer and pantry challenge, including rice and beans. So, about once a month I batch cook some beans to tuck away in the freezer. Especially in the winter months, that means navy beans.

Using the slow cooker to batch cook takes only a little pre-planning.

• You need to rinse and sort beans the afternoon or evening prior to cooking.
• Next, let the beans soak overnight in the slow cooker.
• The next morning, strain out the soaking water, rinse your beans and rinse out your slow cooker.
• Put your beans back in the slow cooker.
• Cover your beans with fresh water – about an inch above your beans.
• I season my beans with minced garlic and onion.
• Cook at least 10-12 hours on low. If you are in a hurry, you can cook the beans on high for several hours then adjust the setting to low. You’ll just need to test the beans to be sure they are done.

Overnight variation: I have also rinsed and sorted the beans mid day. Let them soak until bedtime. Drain then cook the beans, as mentioned above, in the slow cooker overnight. Cool, bag individually and freeze in meal-sized portions. Then, serve those beans up with other veggies and some cornbread. Or choose from the recipes below:

• All of Erin’s bean recipes
• Erin’s Batch Cooking Beans the regular way
• Erin’s How to Cook Dried Beans
• A Southern favorite Senate Navy Bean Soup
• You might like my recipe for batch cooking black-eyed peas in the slow cooker.
• I love to use my slow cooker for batch cooking. I cook ground turkey in the slow cooker: It’s the Super Supper Saver

There’s no set-in-stone way to batch cook beans in the slow cooker. It takes a while but requires very little supervision. And the investment pays off big on busy weeknights. In our home it helps fill all those hungry tummies the frugal way!

(Please pardon the iPhone photos. My camera battery was charging!)

Lechoza. Lechosa.

That’s the spanish word for papaya.

Pronounced “Le-cho-za.” Short e, short 0 sounds.

I’d never had a lechoza/papaya until I lived in the Dominican Republic. And there, I had the three trees growing in my front yard. I’ll tell you what…there’s nothing better than eating fruit that you watched grow and get to pick at the peak ripeness. But even still, you can get a good papaya in the parts of the world where they are not grown.

So that’s what a papaya looks like on the inside (above). Little tiny, black and slimy seeds. And just as with any other melon, you scoop them out along with the white-ish membranes that hold the seeds to the fruit. Then you remove the skin, slice and dice the flesh into bite size pieces…then eat as is, or toss into a fruit salad.

How to you know a papaya is ripe and that you should purchase it?

• It has a sweet smell coming from the stem end, similar to a ripe cantaloupe.
• It is soft and you can gently press your thumb to make a small indentation. (Much like you would for a ripe avocado.)
• When you slice open the papaya, the deeper orange/red the flesh, the sweeter it will be.

This was Tyler’s first time trying papaya…and he couldn’t get enough! I think had it not been so ripe and sweet, he wouldn’t have enjoyed it so much.

What do you do if you think it’s ripe, then you open it and it’s not ripe at all?

Don’t fret.

You just turn it into a “batida.”

That’s the Dominican word for smoothie.

Just toss your papaya into a blender with some milk and sweetener of your choice and blend away. The end result is a rich, creamy and very smooth “batida.”

You can learn more about the health benefits of papaya.

Have you tried papaya before? Did you like it? Was it ripe enough to be sweet?

Homemade Break n Bake

Chatting with my friend Becky this weekend about frozen cookie dough gifts. And in the same instant, we both said, “Homemade Break n Bake!” And here they are…

Just spoon them together onto plastic wrap, wax paper or parchment paper, wrap in foil and put in the freeze. When you’re ready to deliver your frozen cookies dough gifts, simple add a cute Christmas card on top, place in a decorative bag, if you wish, and put them in a cooler for transport.

Perhaps the most delicious and convenient gift you’ll give this Christmas!

Slice and Bake

Photo Credit

From a fantastic article at The Charlotte Observer…a few great recipes for slice and bake cookie dough.

Cookie dough can be gifted cold or frozen…whichever you prefer. And be sure to tell friends that should be used within 3-4 days of making, or be frozen.

Packaging

Photo Credit

I love this packaging idea of recycling a used foil container for giving muffin gifts…but it would totally work for a roll of cookie dough as well! Just cut the cookie dough roll to the size of the foil container, then wrap the dough in plastic wrap and/or parchment paper to keep it together inside the container.  Keep it chilled or frozen.

Recipe on Packaging

Photo Credit

Print the recipe for the cookie dough onto a piece of white paper or vellum paper and wrap around the dough. Or you could also print a recipe onto a tag template and attach it to the dough.

What are your (frozen) cookie dough gift tricks or tips?!

Photo Credit

Loving this concept from Young House Love…I love it because I don’t have a whole lot of counter space in my kitchen. This would be a great way for me (and you) to keep that small stack of recipes, meal ideas, shopping list and coupons off of your counters and out of the way.

This would work in just about anyone’s kitchen and would only cost a few dollars to purchase the cork boards and pins. I do believe I’ll pick some up next time I’m out and about on errands!

How do you keep the papers from piling up in your kitchen?!

Katie from Kitchen Stewardship has a wonderful recipe for healthy pumpkin muffins and breads. I really like how she breaks down the recipe and shows you what substitutions to make to make the muffins healthier!

• Healthy Pumpkin Muffins and Breads

Photo Credit

Alright…for those of you were wondering about cooking your own pumpkins…here you go.

Couple things you should know before you embark into the land of homemade pumpkin puree:

• You have to use a certain kind of pumpkin. The kind that you get for carving…yay, those won’t work. *bitter
• Look in your store for the “pie pumpkins”…they will be on sale and super cheap over the next few weeks.
• Easiest, no fuss way to make your own pumpkin…in your slow cooker. How to Cook a Pumpkin in your slow cooker…Toni’s got your covered!
• You can cook it in the oven as well…I prefer this method of steam-baking. Cut into wedges, then follow the “steam-bake” directions, scoop out flesh once cooked, puree, let cool and freeze.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments…we’ll help you out!

As promised, my homemade pumpkin pie spice.

You’ll notice that it’s very similar to the apple pie spice…just adds ginger and a bit more cinnamon.

And just like I said the other day, “why buy a jar of spice that you only need 1-2 teaspoons of when you can mix up your own with what you’ve got already?!”

Over time, you accumulate all the spices you need to make up your own mixes!

Other Homemade Spice Mixes from $5 Dinners

• Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix
• Homemade Taco Seasoning
• Homemade Onion Soup Mix
• Homemade Apple Pie Spice

Afternoon friends!

I’m posting these week’s “Friday Night Bite” over on SCJohnson.com. I love mixing up my own seasonings and have shared my recipe for homemade jerk seasoning, along with how to use it to season chicken.

If you want some extra “jerk” to your seasoning, just add a little more red pepper. I try to keep things on the mild end because of the little ones in the house.

Hope you enjoy it!

Note: I am a paid freelance writer for the SCJohnson.com Family Economics blog.

As we head into pie season, you might take a peek in your spice rack and see if you have the spices needed to make homemade apple pie spice recipe.

(I’ll be sharing my homemade pumpkin pie spice recipe next week as part of “PUMPKIN WEEK“…the “theme week” for October!)

There is no need to spend $2-$3 on a apple pie spice jar from the spice aisle, when you already have the ingredients you need to mix up your own. And you can mix up however much you’ll think you’ll need…leaving none or little to waste.  Seriously, why buy a jar of spice that you only need 1-2 teaspoons of when you can mix up your own with what you’ve got already?!

This apple pie spice mix would be perfect for…

• Slow Cooker Maple Sweetened Applesauce
• Baked Apples with Maple and Granola
• Homemade Granola

Do you make your own spice mixes!?!

I always end up with just a little bit of pasta left in each box. We usually need about 12 oz. of pasta to feed our family dinner…leaving 3-4 oz. in the box.

So the other night I decided just to combine a few of the different varieties…and boy did the little people get a kick out of it!  (Note: I did combine varieties with the same cooking times.)

What do you do with the leftover pasta noodles in the box?