Simple Refried Beans & Homemade Tortilla Chips

I love refried beans. Tasty, smooth, nutritious, and easy to make, they're a great food to have around when you're craving junk food. Nachos with homemade refried beans are much better for you than that can of bean dip or a run to Taco Bell. Just look at how simple it is to make your own batch.

Refried Beans

What You Need:

• 1/2 lb dry beans (or 2 to 3 cans of pinto beans, rinsed and drained)
• 1/2 an onion, diced
• 1/2 a jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
• optional added nutrition: 2 to 3 small sweet peppers, seeded and diced
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

How it's Done:

1. If you're starting from dried beans (and please do. They're so easy, affordable, and much tastier than their canned counterparts), sort through the beans and dump them in your slow cooker. Cover with water almost up to the top of the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low overnight. After breakfast,  drain the beans and continue making your refried beans. If you're using canned beans, be sure to rinse them very well.
2. Let your machines do the work for you. Dump the beans, onion, peppers, garlic powder, oil, salt, and pepper into your food processor. Process until mostly smooth. I like to leave some chunks in mine, You can make yours as smooth or chunky as you like.
3. Store tightly covered in the fridge.

Refried Beans Before Processing...

And after...

Look at these cute tortilla chips I made! I simply followed my recipe for corn tortillas, adding food coloring, then I cut them into quarters and fried them in olive oil. How fun!