Your doctor would tell you that butter is bad for you. Its got all that saturated fat...I would beg to differ and here is why...
Margarine...
For the sake of argument, lets look at sticks. We will use Land o' Lakes since I can compare both products from the same company.
Serving Size 1 TBSP (14g)
Servings Per Container 32
Calories 100
Calories from Fat 100
Amount/Serving %DV*
Total Fat..........11 g......17%
Saturated Fat.......2 g......11%
Trans Fat...........2.5 g
Cholesterol.........0 mg......0%
Sodium............105 mg......4%
Total Carbohydrate..0 g.......0%
Dietary Fiber.......0 g.......0%
Sugars..............0 g
Protein.............0 g
Vitamin A..........10 %
Calcium ............0 %
Vitamin C...........0 %
Iron................0 %
INGREDIENTS: Liquid Soybean Oil, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Water, Buttermilk, Contains Less Than 2% Of Salt, Soy Lecithin, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Vegetable Mono And Diglycerides, Artificial Flavor, Vitamin A Palmitate, Beta Carotene (Color). CONTAINS: MILK AND SOY
Now looking at the label you see that it says 2.5 trans fats. If you scan through the very encouraging list of ingredients, you will find the source. Partially Hydrogenated Soybean oil. Hydrogenated oil and fats are Trans fats. It also lists Vegetable Mono And Diglycerides. Monoglyceride and Diglycerides is a code name for hydrogenated oil/fat. Usually listed as "mono-diglyceride" Otherwise known as "trans fat. Trans Fatty Acids triple risk of Coronary Heart Disease Increases total LDL ( this is the bad cholesterol). Lowers HDL cholesterol and this is the good one.
Increases the risk of cancers by up to five fold, lowers the quality of breast milk, decreases immune response and decreases insulin response. These facts alone should be reason enough to avoid margarine, but let's continue...
Also in the ingredients you see artificial flavor so its tastes like butter. It does have buttermilk, which should improve the look, taste and consistancy, and they add Vitamin A so it has some nutrition like butter. They also add Beta Carotene(more vitamin A?) for color rather than Yellow 40. This is encouraging...
Now lets look at Butter
For the sake of comparison, a 1lb package of salted butter.
Serving Size: 1 tbsp (14g)
Servings Per Container: 32
Amount Per Serving
Calories 100
Calories from Fat 100
% Daily Value*
Total Fat..........11 g......17%
Saturated Fat.......7 g 37%
Trans Fat...........0 g
Cholesterol........30 mg 10%
Sodium.............95 mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate..0 g 0%
Dietary Fiber.......0 g 0%
Sugars..............0 g
Protein.............0 g
Vitamin A...........8 %
Calcium.............0 %
Vitamin C...........0 %
Iron................0 %
INGREDIENTS: Sweet Cream, Salt. CONTAINS: MILK
Okay, first, let me just say that I CAN READ ALL THE WORDS!
I would also like to point out that it says no trans fats, but natural butterfat contains 2-5% trans-fatty acids (mainly trans-vaccenic acid, a variant of the normal vaccenic acid). The government allows labels to say "0g of trans fats" if it amounts to less than 500mg PER SERVING. Since butter says "0", I would like to point out that the naturally occurring trans-fatty acids rumenic acid and trans-vaccenic acid (trans-vaccenic acid is used by the human body to make rumenic acid) show anti-carcinogenic properties, which is quite opposite to the artificially created trans-fatty acids.
Butter also contains both vitamin A and D, as well as other beneficial substances, including trace minerals. Conjugated linoleic acid in butterfat is a powerful protection against cancer. Certain fats called glycospingolipids aid digestion. Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients. If you were to obtain butter from a grass-fed cow (I am certain this butter is not), all the benefits I just listed would increase dramatically. This is because cows are supposed to eat grass and when they are fed what they are supposed to eat, they produce a more nutritious cream and milk.
So to summarize, both have the same calories. Margarine has 2.5 grams of trans fats and butter has very little. Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few only because they are added. Butter does have 7 g of saturated fats, this particular margarine has 2 grams. Saturated fats from animal sources(not plants or chemical processes), form an important part of the cell membrane; they protect the immune system and enhance the utilization of essential fatty acids. They are needed for the proper development of the brain and nervous system. Certain types of saturated fats provide quick energy and protect against pathogenic microorganisms in the intestinal tract; other types provide energy to the heart. While you should not overdo in your consumption of butter, it is a healthy part of a balanced diet and far better for you than the chemically-laden-substitute better-known-as-margarine.
Margarine, while having been invented in the 1800's is normally a grayish-white and until recently was not legally allowed to be sold with the color yellow added. The color is what makes it look buttery and that's half the battle; making it look better than it actually tastes. And it really isn't food... if you set it out open on the counter, it won't mold, nothing will eat it, flies won't touch it and it will not go bad. It was, at one time, illegal to sell margarine in tubs larger than 1lb(maybe it still is). Why is that?
A note on trans fats:
Other food products, including margarines may say "0" and still have trans fats. That is because the government regulations allow them to say "0g" trans-fat, which effectively means less than 500 mg trans-fat per serving; however, no fat is entirely free of trans fats. Even natural butterfat contains 2-5% naturally occurring trans-fatty acids. When this legislation was passed, some companies just reduced the serving size to make it seem like they had no trans fats. For instance, instead of 4 cookies being a serving, now its 3. Nice, huh?
Long story short and back to the game, butter is tasty, healthy, and when it comes from a cow that eats grass instead of candy bar wrappers, as God intended. Margarine is unnatural, not so tasty and one molecule short of plastic. Would you melt your empty milk jug and spread that on your toast? Just sayin'
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Sugar's effect on your health
The average American consumes an astounding 2-3 pounds of sugar each week, which is not surprising considering that highly refined sugars in the forms of sucrose (table sugar), dextrose (corn sugar), and high-fructose corn syrup are being processed into almost every convenience food on the market. Many foods such as bread, breakfast cereal, cereal bars, mayonnaise, peanut butter, ketchup, lunch meats, spaghetti sauce, and most microwave meals have some sugar. Then there are the obvious foods like bottled drinks(including juices), cookies, candies, yogurts, ice cream and all the desert products you see on the shelves.
In the last 20 years, we have increased sugar consumption in the U.S. 26 pounds to 135 lbs. of sugar per person per year! Prior to the turn of this century (1887-1890), the average consumption was only 5 lbs. per person per year and Cardiovascular disease and cancer was virtually unknown. Today they are the top two causes of death in the United States.
How Sugar plays a role in health
The "glycemic index" is a measure of how a given food affects blood-glucose levels, with each food being assigned a numbered rating. There are many diets on the market today touting the importance of eating low-glycemic foods. The lower the glycemic rating, the slower the absorption and digestion process, which provides a more gradual, increase of sugars into the bloodstream. On the other hand, a high rating means that blood-glucose levels are increased quickly, which stimulates the pancreas to secrete insulin to drop blood-sugar levels. These rapid fluctuations of blood-sugar levels are not healthy because of the stress they place on the body. Insulin also promotes fat storage (rapid weight gain) and elevated triglyceride levels.
Sugar depresses the immune system
In the 1970's researcher Linus Pauling found that vitamin C was needed by white blood cells so that they could ingest viruses and bacteria(phagocytize). While studying the phagocytic index(a chart rating the speed of this process), he realized the high doses of vitamin c were directly related to how rapidly certain good cells could destroy virus, bacteria or cancer cells. He went so far as to say that high doses of up to 10 grams of vitamin C each day aided in anti-cancer activity within the body. Linus Pauling wrote the book, "How to Live Longer and Feel Better" and "Vitamin C and the Common Cold" and was at one time ridiculed for his theories, but today, Vitamin C is used by doctors treating cancer patients who are fighting the deadly disease.
White blood cells require a 50 times higher concentration inside the cell as outside so they have to accumulate vitamin C and since our bodies do not manufacture vitamin c so we must ingest it. We know that glucose and vitamin C have similar chemical structures, so when the sugar levels go up, they compete for entry into the cells. The thing that mediates the entry of glucose into the cells is the same thing that mediates the entry of vitamin C into the cells. If there is more glucose around, there is going to be less vitamin C allowed into the cell. It doesn't take much: a blood sugar value of 120 reduces the rate the good cells “phagocytize” by 75%. This affect lasts for several hours. So when you eat sugar, think of your immune system slowing down to a crawl.
Now we are getting a little bit closer to the roots of disease. It doesn't matter what disease we are talking about, whether it’s a common cold or cardiovascular disease, or cancer or osteoporosis, the root is always going to be at the cellular and molecular level, and more often than not insulin is going to be involved.
The health dangers frequent use of sugar causes are certain. Simple sugars have been observed to aggravate asthma, move mood swings, provoke personality changes, aggravate nervous disorders, cause diabetes and hypertension, speed up heart disease and hypertension, and aggravate arthritis. Because refined dietary sugars lack minerals and vitamins(unlike raw sugars), our bodies must draw upon its own micro-nutrient stores for it to be metabolized into the system. When these storehouses are depleted, the body’s ability to process cholesterol and fatty acid is impeded, contributing to higher blood serum triglycerides and cholesterol, and obesity due to higher fatty acid storage. In addition, since it is so lacking in minerals, vitamins, fiber, it has a deteriorating effect on the endocrine system. As a result, the American Dietetic Association and American Diabetic Associations agree that sugar consumption in America is one of the 3 major causes of degenerative disease.
Sugar and cancer
Of the over 4 million cancer patients being treated in the U.S. today, almost none are offered any scientifically guided nutrition therapy other than being told to "just eat good foods." I doubt many are told that sugar feeds their cancer. Not long ago a dear friend discovered he had cancer. They wanted to do a PET scan to see how extensive it was and fed him a sugary glucose liquid to excite the cancerous cells so they could clearly see them during the scan. Cancer's preferred fuel is GLUCOSE; it makes them very happy. The saying "Sugar feeds cancer" is simple; the explanation is a little more involved.
Otto Warburg, a German doctor, received the 1931 Nobel laureate in medicine for discovering that cancer cells have a fundamentally different energy metabolism compared to healthy cells. The gist of his Nobel thesis was this: malignant tumors frequently exhibit an increase in "anaerobic glycolysis" when provided with glucose. A process where glucose is used by cancer cells as a fuel for growth. The byproduct of this “fuel-making” is lactic acid. This conversion by fermentation of glucose to lactate creates a lower, more acidic PH environment in your tissues as well as an overall physical fatigue from lactic acid build-up. The abundance of lactic acid produced by the cancer cells is then transported to the liver. Virtually all degenerative diseases, including cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, kidney and gall stones, and tooth decay are associated with excess acidity in the body. Cancer cannot exist in an alkaline environment.
By reducing or eliminating sugar and balancing your glucose levels you not only slow the growth of cancerous tissue and other acid-loving diseases, but you also make it possible for your immune system to catch up to the disease by giving it a fighting chance.
In the last 20 years, we have increased sugar consumption in the U.S. 26 pounds to 135 lbs. of sugar per person per year! Prior to the turn of this century (1887-1890), the average consumption was only 5 lbs. per person per year and Cardiovascular disease and cancer was virtually unknown. Today they are the top two causes of death in the United States.
How Sugar plays a role in health
The "glycemic index" is a measure of how a given food affects blood-glucose levels, with each food being assigned a numbered rating. There are many diets on the market today touting the importance of eating low-glycemic foods. The lower the glycemic rating, the slower the absorption and digestion process, which provides a more gradual, increase of sugars into the bloodstream. On the other hand, a high rating means that blood-glucose levels are increased quickly, which stimulates the pancreas to secrete insulin to drop blood-sugar levels. These rapid fluctuations of blood-sugar levels are not healthy because of the stress they place on the body. Insulin also promotes fat storage (rapid weight gain) and elevated triglyceride levels.
Sugar depresses the immune system
In the 1970's researcher Linus Pauling found that vitamin C was needed by white blood cells so that they could ingest viruses and bacteria(phagocytize). While studying the phagocytic index(a chart rating the speed of this process), he realized the high doses of vitamin c were directly related to how rapidly certain good cells could destroy virus, bacteria or cancer cells. He went so far as to say that high doses of up to 10 grams of vitamin C each day aided in anti-cancer activity within the body. Linus Pauling wrote the book, "How to Live Longer and Feel Better" and "Vitamin C and the Common Cold" and was at one time ridiculed for his theories, but today, Vitamin C is used by doctors treating cancer patients who are fighting the deadly disease.
White blood cells require a 50 times higher concentration inside the cell as outside so they have to accumulate vitamin C and since our bodies do not manufacture vitamin c so we must ingest it. We know that glucose and vitamin C have similar chemical structures, so when the sugar levels go up, they compete for entry into the cells. The thing that mediates the entry of glucose into the cells is the same thing that mediates the entry of vitamin C into the cells. If there is more glucose around, there is going to be less vitamin C allowed into the cell. It doesn't take much: a blood sugar value of 120 reduces the rate the good cells “phagocytize” by 75%. This affect lasts for several hours. So when you eat sugar, think of your immune system slowing down to a crawl.
Now we are getting a little bit closer to the roots of disease. It doesn't matter what disease we are talking about, whether it’s a common cold or cardiovascular disease, or cancer or osteoporosis, the root is always going to be at the cellular and molecular level, and more often than not insulin is going to be involved.
The health dangers frequent use of sugar causes are certain. Simple sugars have been observed to aggravate asthma, move mood swings, provoke personality changes, aggravate nervous disorders, cause diabetes and hypertension, speed up heart disease and hypertension, and aggravate arthritis. Because refined dietary sugars lack minerals and vitamins(unlike raw sugars), our bodies must draw upon its own micro-nutrient stores for it to be metabolized into the system. When these storehouses are depleted, the body’s ability to process cholesterol and fatty acid is impeded, contributing to higher blood serum triglycerides and cholesterol, and obesity due to higher fatty acid storage. In addition, since it is so lacking in minerals, vitamins, fiber, it has a deteriorating effect on the endocrine system. As a result, the American Dietetic Association and American Diabetic Associations agree that sugar consumption in America is one of the 3 major causes of degenerative disease.
Sugar and cancer
Of the over 4 million cancer patients being treated in the U.S. today, almost none are offered any scientifically guided nutrition therapy other than being told to "just eat good foods." I doubt many are told that sugar feeds their cancer. Not long ago a dear friend discovered he had cancer. They wanted to do a PET scan to see how extensive it was and fed him a sugary glucose liquid to excite the cancerous cells so they could clearly see them during the scan. Cancer's preferred fuel is GLUCOSE; it makes them very happy. The saying "Sugar feeds cancer" is simple; the explanation is a little more involved.
Otto Warburg, a German doctor, received the 1931 Nobel laureate in medicine for discovering that cancer cells have a fundamentally different energy metabolism compared to healthy cells. The gist of his Nobel thesis was this: malignant tumors frequently exhibit an increase in "anaerobic glycolysis" when provided with glucose. A process where glucose is used by cancer cells as a fuel for growth. The byproduct of this “fuel-making” is lactic acid. This conversion by fermentation of glucose to lactate creates a lower, more acidic PH environment in your tissues as well as an overall physical fatigue from lactic acid build-up. The abundance of lactic acid produced by the cancer cells is then transported to the liver. Virtually all degenerative diseases, including cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, kidney and gall stones, and tooth decay are associated with excess acidity in the body. Cancer cannot exist in an alkaline environment.
By reducing or eliminating sugar and balancing your glucose levels you not only slow the growth of cancerous tissue and other acid-loving diseases, but you also make it possible for your immune system to catch up to the disease by giving it a fighting chance.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Gevalia Coffee Deal
Gourmet coffee plus free gifts to make it even better! Get 4 boxes of coffee for $19.95 plus a free Stainless steel coffee maker and mug for trying Gevalia.
Coupon Adventures 1/20
This weeks email coupons include $1 off $5 in beef and $1 off Tombstone pizzas
Food Lion
Tombstones are b1g1 (with coupon above that’s about $1.50 for a pizza)
and cube steak and stew beef are both on sale.
Don’t forget the angel soft, which is $4.99 for a 12pack of double rolls or 24 single
Deli Ham $2.75/lb.
Snapple rebates are available on Snapple displays making a 6 pack free after MIR!
While you are out,
Harris Teeter:
Nice deal on various beef roasts(all 50% off): Rump Round $2.29, Bottom Round $2.19, Sirloin Roast $2.19. All great meats for the crock pot!
Also nice deal on Snow Crab Clusters for $2.29 / lb. (Most HT 's will even steam these for you if you ask)
Ingles
Bone in Boston Butt .98/lb
Boneless Chuck Roast $1.80/lb
Tyson Thighs or Drumsticks $.98/lb
Bi-Lo
G2 Gatorade is 10 for $10 which is an awesome deal if you have 50 cent gatorade coupons from 1/17!
I got a Catalina add last week that says if you buy 5 Kraft cheese products, you get a $5.00 catalina for your next order. The Breakstone cottage cheese doubles are on sale for 1.00 each. Buy 5, get a $5.00 coupon on your next order. This one can be rolled which means you can use it on the next shop and you can get them multiple times.
Food Lion
Tombstones are b1g1 (with coupon above that’s about $1.50 for a pizza)
and cube steak and stew beef are both on sale.
Don’t forget the angel soft, which is $4.99 for a 12pack of double rolls or 24 single
Deli Ham $2.75/lb.
Snapple rebates are available on Snapple displays making a 6 pack free after MIR!
While you are out,
Harris Teeter:
Nice deal on various beef roasts(all 50% off): Rump Round $2.29, Bottom Round $2.19, Sirloin Roast $2.19. All great meats for the crock pot!
Also nice deal on Snow Crab Clusters for $2.29 / lb. (Most HT 's will even steam these for you if you ask)
Ingles
Bone in Boston Butt .98/lb
Boneless Chuck Roast $1.80/lb
Tyson Thighs or Drumsticks $.98/lb
Bi-Lo
G2 Gatorade is 10 for $10 which is an awesome deal if you have 50 cent gatorade coupons from 1/17!
I got a Catalina add last week that says if you buy 5 Kraft cheese products, you get a $5.00 catalina for your next order. The Breakstone cottage cheese doubles are on sale for 1.00 each. Buy 5, get a $5.00 coupon on your next order. This one can be rolled which means you can use it on the next shop and you can get them multiple times.
Coupon Adventures: Glade Deal at Kmart
Buy 2 Glade candles(on sale 2 for $5)
Use $3/2 Glade printable coupon that can be found here.
You should be able to print this coupon two times
a $3 Catalina coupon good on your next purchase will be generated at check out
this means you will have an initial out of pocket cost of $2
use the $3 coupon and the $2 coupon on the next purchase of 2 and buy for only tax (you will then get another $3 to buy something else you may need or want, I would spend this while in store) if you buy something for $3 this will be FREE as well (tax only)
Do this deal twice, you can submit it for the $5 SC Johnson Rebate on 3 products and MAKE $3 cash on the purchase of all 5 items
CLICK HERE to download the special rebate form and get $5 back when you purchase any 3 SC Johnson products.
Use $3/2 Glade printable coupon that can be found here.
You should be able to print this coupon two times
a $3 Catalina coupon good on your next purchase will be generated at check out
this means you will have an initial out of pocket cost of $2
use the $3 coupon and the $2 coupon on the next purchase of 2 and buy for only tax (you will then get another $3 to buy something else you may need or want, I would spend this while in store) if you buy something for $3 this will be FREE as well (tax only)
Do this deal twice, you can submit it for the $5 SC Johnson Rebate on 3 products and MAKE $3 cash on the purchase of all 5 items
CLICK HERE to download the special rebate form and get $5 back when you purchase any 3 SC Johnson products.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Online Coupons
Most people are familiar with the coupons available in the Sunday paper. Some people clip them and use them that week, which is the manufacturer's goal. Getting you to buy what the coupons advertise. I tend to go about coupons in a different way. I do clip them each week, but then I file them and wait for the item to go on sale. This maximizes my savings and makes my dollars go further.
In today's market, with everything being online, companies have gone online with their coupons as well. I use a site called Coupons.com a lot. Particularly when I am looking for a coupon for something on sale and I don't have a coupon in my binder. Other coupon forums online will tell you about deals you can make with these online coupons and a sale or even a regularly priced item in a store. While some of the coupons will match what you got in your paper, others will be completely different and offer you unexpected savings on something you wanted. The key to saving the most money is combining the techniques effectively to get deals on what your family needs. As I have said before, it does no good to get a bottle or box of something that no one in your family will ever use.
Another mistake some people make is printing all of the online coupons on the site. This is a costly error. Only print the coupons you need. If nothing you are going to buy this week is on the coupon site, then don't print anything. The coupons you find online will often be there for a while,so unless is something you KNOW you will buy, wait to print until you need it. Also be sure to set your printer to a more economical setting. You can often print in black and white and lower the quality settings and the coupon will still scan and be just as usable a the store while costing you less to print.
In today's market, with everything being online, companies have gone online with their coupons as well. I use a site called Coupons.com a lot. Particularly when I am looking for a coupon for something on sale and I don't have a coupon in my binder. Other coupon forums online will tell you about deals you can make with these online coupons and a sale or even a regularly priced item in a store. While some of the coupons will match what you got in your paper, others will be completely different and offer you unexpected savings on something you wanted. The key to saving the most money is combining the techniques effectively to get deals on what your family needs. As I have said before, it does no good to get a bottle or box of something that no one in your family will ever use.
Another mistake some people make is printing all of the online coupons on the site. This is a costly error. Only print the coupons you need. If nothing you are going to buy this week is on the coupon site, then don't print anything. The coupons you find online will often be there for a while,so unless is something you KNOW you will buy, wait to print until you need it. Also be sure to set your printer to a more economical setting. You can often print in black and white and lower the quality settings and the coupon will still scan and be just as usable a the store while costing you less to print.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Pinto Bean Soup
This recipe is a family favorite and is very easy to make. It is nearly meat free, and can be made so by substituting the chicken broth with vegetable broth. Since beans are so inexpensive, this recipe is very economical.
Another plus is that it can be made several ways. I usually quick-soak the beans and then pressure cook them for 25 minutes in fresh water. At this point they are cooked and ready to be placed in the crock pot. I mash about half of them using a potato masher or immersion blender, then I proceed with the recipe. Another option is to soak the beans overnight, drain the water then start them cooking on low in the morning, adding the other ingredients that morning and letting it cook all day. Both methods work well.
3 cups of dried pintos, rinsed, soaked and cooked
2 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
1 med red pepper, cored, chopped*
4 cloves chopped garlic
2 quarts of chicken broth
2 T Apple Cider Vinegar
1 T chili powder(if its a strong, hot chili powder(like chipotle)-more if it isn’t)
1 T cumin
1 T liquid smoke
2 T hot pepper sauce
Put cooked pintos in the crock pot on low, reserving the cooking liquid. Mash about half of them(I used a potato masher).
In a small pot on the stove, heat the oil and saute the onion, celery and red pepper. When almost tender, add the chopped garlic until lightly browned. Add this mixture to the pintos. Add the chicken broth** to the crock pot along with the apple cider vinegar, chili powder, cumin, liquid smoke and hot pepper sauce. Let it simmer*** for the rest of the day. You can salt this to taste once the beans are tender. Watch it toward the end of the day, adding liquid if it gets too thick or starts to burn. Serve with grated cheddar and tortilla chips.
*You can use 1/2 cup dried chopped red pepper. I dry many peppers in the summer and use them in this recipe. Simply add them to the pintos without sauteing.
**At this point you can add about 2 quarts of chicken broth. If you do not have broth water is fine or the reserved liquid from cooking the pintos can be used. You can also use some chicken bouillon cubes to add flavor if desired.
***In my crock pot, for it to simmer, I use the low setting. In some crock pots, this may require the warm setting.
Another plus is that it can be made several ways. I usually quick-soak the beans and then pressure cook them for 25 minutes in fresh water. At this point they are cooked and ready to be placed in the crock pot. I mash about half of them using a potato masher or immersion blender, then I proceed with the recipe. Another option is to soak the beans overnight, drain the water then start them cooking on low in the morning, adding the other ingredients that morning and letting it cook all day. Both methods work well.
3 cups of dried pintos, rinsed, soaked and cooked
2 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
1 med red pepper, cored, chopped*
4 cloves chopped garlic
2 quarts of chicken broth
2 T Apple Cider Vinegar
1 T chili powder(if its a strong, hot chili powder(like chipotle)-more if it isn’t)
1 T cumin
1 T liquid smoke
2 T hot pepper sauce
Put cooked pintos in the crock pot on low, reserving the cooking liquid. Mash about half of them(I used a potato masher).
In a small pot on the stove, heat the oil and saute the onion, celery and red pepper. When almost tender, add the chopped garlic until lightly browned. Add this mixture to the pintos. Add the chicken broth** to the crock pot along with the apple cider vinegar, chili powder, cumin, liquid smoke and hot pepper sauce. Let it simmer*** for the rest of the day. You can salt this to taste once the beans are tender. Watch it toward the end of the day, adding liquid if it gets too thick or starts to burn. Serve with grated cheddar and tortilla chips.
*You can use 1/2 cup dried chopped red pepper. I dry many peppers in the summer and use them in this recipe. Simply add them to the pintos without sauteing.
**At this point you can add about 2 quarts of chicken broth. If you do not have broth water is fine or the reserved liquid from cooking the pintos can be used. You can also use some chicken bouillon cubes to add flavor if desired.
***In my crock pot, for it to simmer, I use the low setting. In some crock pots, this may require the warm setting.
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