Weird Bean Fritters

We love to eat tacos and beans around here. And there's something satisfying about eating a "normal" meal that's totally gluten free without putting much effort into it.

But we get tired of the same old same old crunchy tacos or taco bowls blah blah blah.

So tonight, I decided to try something crazy that probably has already been done but I've never tried it.

Instead of plain old boring, get crunchy if they set too long, bland, 89 cents per can refried beans, I man bean fritters. Yum. Lots of flavor, some extra crunch, and I easily threw in some flax seeds without anyone noticing (try doing that with your run of mill refried beans!)

So here's the basic idea:

you dump a buncha nasty looking stuff in a bowl. Your done!

Ok, just kidding. So this is a can of plain, unsalted refried beans, about a tablespoon of diced jalapenos and an egg.

 Then I put in this much arrowroot powder and this much cayenne. I'm not much for measurements. I'd say I started with about a quarter cup of arrowroot and as you can see just a tiny sprinkle of cayenne. Trust me, it's enough.

Then I added about a tablespoon of paprika and maybe 2 teaspoons of cumin. I also sprinkled some salt in there but I couldn't even guess at how much. Just do what feels good. Unless you have high blood pressure, then do what sucks----> don't use salt!

Then stir all that mess up into some nasty looking goop. If it's still super gloppy and runny add some more arrowroot powder. I added another quarter cup and still wasn't thickening enough so I threw in 2 tablespoons of buckwheat flour. That did the trick.

Now, looking back, I can see that there are two options for your batter. You can make the consistency similar to pancakes or you can make it dry and  thick like mine. The thick stuff worked good for little bite size fritters but if I wanted to make a tostada type dish, I'd make it runnier and make pancake size bean patties. Anyway, here's mine....it wouldn't even fall off the fork.

It was all perfect until I thought of my flax seeds. So I sprinkled some of those in too:)

Also, it tastes better if you cook with some good music playing. Although I have to admit, immediately after this song was "The Best Song ever" by ..uh...crap. What are they called? haha I'm stuck in the N*sync/Backstreet boys era. One Direction.

So anyway, heat up some coconut oil and medium high heat and fry those babies up til they're nice and crispy.

Drain them on you eco-friendly cloth napkins (or whatever you drain greasy things on) and sprinkle with some paprika.

These things barely made it to the dinner table. I ate two before serving and each of the girls had one. They're delicious! Also, next time I'll add some cheese and red onion too because those are always good in mexican type stuffs.  And they're great dipped in taco sauce, sour cream, ranch, guacamole, or whatever you dip stuff in at your house.


So here's the recap for those of you that can't follow my ADD recipe:

1 can refried beans
1 egg
2 Tbs diced jalapenos
1/2 C arrowroot powder
2 Tbs buckwheat flour
1 Tbs paprika
2 tsp cumin
cayenne and salt to taste
flax seeds to taste

mix it up, drop by the tablespoon into hot coconut oil, fry both sides, drain on paper or cloth, sprinkle with paprika. BAM. try not eat all of them at once.



So that's what we had tonight. By the way, I have no groceries in my house, which is what inspired this strangeness.

kbye.

also...

Gluten Free Organization

I am such an unorganized person. I LIKE to be organized, I'm just not good at it. In fact, I've made countless binders to organize different projects or weekly/monthly lists and they're beautiful and functional...and empty because I forget to actually use them. I tell people that Scott's one thing he'd love to change about me is for me to be OCD. mainly because he likes cleanliness but hates cleaning (and has 2 toddlers who creates messes quicker than is humanly possible to clean).

Now that we're trying to be gluten free while staying within our very small grocery budget, I have to be very creative and detailed in my planning for groceries each week.

I'll be posting some photos and recipes later on,  but for now, here's our plan for dinners the next week or so:

January 1: frito pie (for those of you who are clueless, that's fritos, chili, cheese and sour cream)
January 2: Tacos wrapped in lettuce instead of taco shells, rice, refried beans
January 3: Salad ( we love salad and put tons of toppings on them)

we're supposed to go hunting this weekend so these next few meals may not work out. But I'm trying to plan things that are easy to reheat while we're away from home. The turnips in our garden are ready too so I might just make a huge pot of turnips and greens.
January 4: Vegetable beef soup with cornbread muffins
January 5:  potato soup with bacon:)
January 6: Tuna salad with baked cheese squares and fruit

January 7: Pork chops with green beans and potatoes. Not sure if I'll batter them in buckwheat and fry them in coconut oil or just baked them with spices. We really love our fried food
January 8: Hellman's chicken...you know the recipe on the commercials? it's mayo, parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. I'll be using either gluten free crackers or homemade gluten free bread crumbs. We'll serve it steamed broccoli and a salad.
January 9: buckwheat biscuits with sausage gravy. I'll have to post about this one because I'll be using all kinds of tricks to stay gluten free.

Last night, by the way, we had sweet potatoes with butter, turnip greens (and a few turnips), and fried salmon patties. We'll have salmon again soon so I'll be posting that recipe and step-by-step as well.

Do you eat gluten free or some other special diet?
Do you have a FANTASTIC recipe to share?