Tostada's

Brooke Anderson couldn't make it, but sent in the following: We make tostada's with the store bought tostada shells, the refried beans from the recipe below, some cooked hamburger meat with taco seasoning in it, and whatever else you want to add(cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, sour cream, salsa, lime). It is way quick if you can plan ahead by starting your beans in the morning. Plus it makes your house smell delicious all day!! Here is the recipe.

Refried beans without the refry

1 onion, peeled and halved
3 cups dried pinto beans, rinsed
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
5 tsp salt
1 3/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground cumin, optional
9 cups water

1. Place onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a crock pot. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on HIGH for 8 hours, adding more water when needed. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high. 2. Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency. Note: I use my blender to mix it all up. I just put beans in, add some of the liquid, and mix. I prefer to do it all that way because it is easy.