Munchie Monday: Fritz's Settlers Baked Beans

 Whew!  It has been a long time since I sat down to write.  All is well, just have not taken the extra time needed to write.  Plus  I had to excavate the computer from its Family History location...

Today was Break the Fast at church.  (The first Sunday of every month members of our church around the world fast for two meals and donate the money they would have spent on feeding their family to the local bishop or branch president to use to help the poor and needy.  Many people who are physically unable to fast also donate money to the Fast Fund to help those in need. It is a good thing.  We all benefit physically and spiritually.)

In our particular church unit there has always been a theme to the Break the Fast meals.  Today it was Father's Favorites.  Dear One has always loved baked beans.  I asked him what we should bring. That was his immediate response.  I asked if it would be acceptable to use a recipe we acquired in the last few months.  He was agreeable.  This is it.

Fritz’s Settlers baked  beans
1/2 lb Bacon, chopped 
1 lb ground chuck beef
1 med. Onion
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/3 cup white Sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup BBQ sauce - sweet baby ray’s original. 
1/2 tsp pepper, less probably 
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Dry Mustard 
2-16 oz cans pork and beans
2-15 oz cans Navy white beans. 

Slice bacon into half inch pieces - easiest if still slightly frozen. Brown in fry pan on low heat. Covered, which keeps the grease spatter to a minimum.

Chop onion and cook on low heat in covered Dutch oven with a little bit of oil until just tender. Add ground beef and finish cooking with it. 

Combine brown sugar, white sugar, freshly ground pepper, salt and dry mustard. Mix well with fork.

 Add ketchup and Barbecue sauce and stir. This can just be added to the cooked meats with the beans and not combined first if time does not allow. 

Rinse kidney beans/black beans if using
Rinse navy/white beans
Add to Dutch oven. Cook covered for 1 hour at 350.

These are the beans we used.  So easy.  I did not look at the labels to be scared into making my own baked beans this time...

What I Did

First I decided to double the recipe since a lot of people are there for Break the Fast and since we have a 7-quart crockpot.  

Next, I decided not to add the two sugars.  There was enough sweet in the canned beans. I did not put in salt for the same reason plus I forgot. I also forgot the dry mustard and the pepper. We can add pepper at the table.  I added a chopped bell pepper with the onions.  The beans we used were Bush's Homestyle Baked Beans plus Luck's Pinto Beans with Onions.  I did not rinse any of them.

The hamburger was from a local butcher so there were fewer steps between the hoof and our kitchen.  It was pretty expensive but only buying meat every month or two makes it acceptable to our pocketbook.  The hamburger was put into our large dutch oven then the chopped onions and peppers were added and cooked until the meat was done.  After that I added all the other ingredients and stirred well.  The addition of that small amount of bacon really made the flavors pop.

This was popular for all who ate it.  Me and Dear One most especially.  Also my sister who was on a flying visit.