Crock Pot Refried Beans and my homemade whole grain frozen burritos

This is the easiest, best recipe ever for refried beans!  My brother Steve, taught me how to cook beans in the crock pot years ago, and then my sister Cari told me about crock pot refried beans from pinterest.  I can't remember which recipes I started with, but I ended up changing it for my taste.  (I think one was from 100 days of real food)  It is very little more work than canned and doesn't have any unnatural ingredients or chemicals from the can. :)  I usually fill my crock pot using about 7 cups of beans, but I've included a per pound guideline below.

Per 2-2 1/2 cups (1 lb) of dry thoroughly washed and sorted pinto Beans add
4 cups water (2 to one water to bean ratio)
1 pepper  Either 1sweet red or green pepper or a can of green chilies or a couple on anaheim peppers, or jalapeno, whatever you like.
1 onion
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1-2 tsp minced garlic
Salt to taste approximately a tsp? (I never measure, I just sprinkle it over, and if it needs more, I do it again)
2-4 oz cheese (I use either cheddar alone, or a mixture of cheddar and pepper jack)  When I use pepper jack cheese I sometimes lessen the three spices to about 2/3 of a tsp.  But it shouldn't be overly spicy even if you leave it in.

Add everything but salt and cheese to your crock pot.  THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.  You shouldn't ever add salt to dry beans before they are fully cooked.  Cook for 8 hrs on HIGH.  Make sure they have a creamy texture, that is when you know they are done.  If there appears to be too much water, scoop some out into a bowl and keep it in case you need to add it back in.  Some water is needed.  Blend with an immersion blender.  When I make these, with slightly less water than 2 to one water ratio, I never need to drain out the water.  Sometimes it looks a little too wet at first, but this thickens up a lot when it cools a bit.  And you don't need to pull out the vegetables either.  Just blend with an immersion blender, or regular blender.  (I'm telling you, if you don't have an immersion blender, it is worth the investment!  If you mess up and make lumpy gravy, blend out the lumps, if you make any kind of pureed soup, you just have to put it in there and blend it up, as well as for these beans.  SO much easier than blending them a little at a time.)  Then you salt it to taste, and cheese and stir it up.

I usually do about 3 lbs at a time in my big 7 qt crock pot and it fills it right up.  My favorite mixture is this:  3lbs beans, 3 large sweet red peppers, 2-3 large or 4-5 small onions( note I LOVE onion), 1 scant tbsp each of the cumin, chili powder, and paprika, 2 tbsp minced garlic (I use the big jar you keep in the fridge and it seems less potent.  Be more careful if you use fresh, maybe 3 cloves), Salt, and 1 cup pepper jack, 2 cups cheddar

Then, I make my own frozen homemade burritos with whole grain tortilla shells.  You just warm the shells a little.  (I'll share a little tip I got from todd wilbur for this below)  Then you put a strip of beans about 2 inches from the edge closest to you  across the width of the tortilla. I try and make it about 1 inch wide and about 1/2 inch thick. (I haven't actually measured)  You do not need very much.  I use about 1/4 cup, for the mission whole wheat tortillas.  It took me YEARS to realize that the reason my burritos didn't always go over well is I put WAY to many beans.  Then I realized the ones they love have so few.  This is also the reason I melt the cheese into the beans.  My kids don't like finding a layer of melted cheese.  go figure... :).  Sorry, I digress.  Back to the tutorial.  Spread the beans, only leaving about an inch or 2 on each end.  Then you fold each end with your right and left hands, pick up the side facing you with your thumbs while still holding the sides with your fingertips, and roll it over your strip of beans, continue till it is all rolled up.  I hope this makes sense.  I want to put photos, but knowing me I never will get around to it.  Comment if you want me to, and that might push me to do it :).  Anyway, this makes a really nice, uniform burrito perfect for freezing.  I fill up zip lock bags and then they are ready to go.  You can heat them in the microwave for approximately 2 minutes, or heat them in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes, but what I like to do is use my panini pan I got for Christmas last year. (any frying or grill pan would work the same though).  I cook it on medium heat browning all sides, because my family likes crunchy burritos.  I don't even use butter or oil with my panini pan, and it leaves nice grill marks all over.  But like I said, I've even used a regular flat griddle.  That works great too.  I have added butter in the past, but we like them so much this way, so why add all of that unnecessary fat?

So here is todd wilbur's awesome tortilla softening technique.  I read it years ago, so it might have evolved a little over time.  Slightly dampen a flour sack towel.  Lay it across a microwave safe plate, and place your tortillas on it.  (He does five at a time I think, But I just throw in a whole pack of ten)  Fold the sides over the tortillas wrapping them all up.  Then microwave for one minute.  (If they don't seem pliable you can go longer, of course microwaves vary)  This helps soften them up without drying them out.  This is super important for burritos so you don't have them folding or tearing.  It makes them so easy to use!

When I do three lbs of beans, they make a LOT of burritos.  I usually buy five or six bags of tortillas when I buy them, but since we usually use some of it for bean dip and other meals and I use some of the tortillas for other things too, I don't have an exact estimate of how many burritos it makes.  You can freeze refried beans, and reheat them in a little water, if you end up with leftover beans after your tortillas are gone.


*One last tip about homemade beans, they are SO MUCH better on the second day.  My family gobbles them up even on day one, but when I am tasting them, trying to make sure they are how I want them, they always seem not quite right.  But by the second day, the flavors all mesh together and they are great!  Not to mention, they are fully thickened up.