the musical fruit

Beans, beans... 

Beans have gotten a bad rap over the years.  Known as the "musical fruit" because of the havoc they can wreak on some people's systems.  I for one have no problems with beans, which is great because they're so good for you.  Kidney beans especially have great benefits for anyone with insulin resistance, or issues with sugar.  They're very high in fiber and as such have a much lower impact on how your blood processes sugar.  They're also really great for lowering cholesterol, basically they're a wonder food.

Even better?  This recipe is SO easy & it uses the crock-pot, which seems to be a favourite among fat girl skinny readers.  So here's my take on barbecue baked beans a la crock-pot (or some much more catchy name).

ingredients:

• 1 cup Kat's homemade barbecue sauce (from the shredded BBQ chicken recipe here)
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 can white kidney beans
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 4 oz ham, diced

First thing you'll need to do is make your BBQ sauce.  I had made the sauce for my shredded chicken, and since it makes 2 cups I had kept the other one sealed in a jar in the fridge ready to use.  The sauce won't keep as long as regular condiments do.  If you keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge it should keep about 2 weeks.

Next up you'll need to rinse your cans of beans.  Empty them into a colander and run water through them until all the soapy bubbles stop.  Some of you may want to use dried beans, but you really shouldn't when using a crock-pot.  Raw kidney beans contain a toxin that is destroyed after 10 minutes of being cooked in boiling water.  However the crock-pot doesn't heat to a temperature that is hot enough to get rid of this.  So it's much safer to use canned beans which have already been cooked to prevent any food illnesses.

Throw your beans in your crock pot, along with your diced onion & ham.  Gently stir it all together so that all the ingredients are mixed up.  Pour your barbecue sauce over top, and gently stir once more.

Cook on high for 4 hours (or low for 8 hours).

Serve as a side-dish or a main meal, makes about 3-4 servings.