Long Overdue

Every week I make a list.  Okay, I make several lists on a daily basis (to do, to bake, to buy, etc.) but that’s a different story.  The list I’m talking about is the meal/grocery list with 5 meal listed at the top, followed by two columns titled, “Produce” and “Other.”

If you only knew how many times that list had “Maple Baked Beans + Veggies” written on it.  Every week I have the intention of making those things but it always ends up being the one recipe that gets left out so it gets recycled to the next week’s list and so the cycle continues.

Good thing dried beans don’t go bad.  Veggies are a different story.

I was determined to make those beans this weekend.  Don’t get in the way of me and my determination.

Without further adieu, I give you maple baked beans.  (You can find the recipe here).

Why, oh why did I wait so long to make these?

If you like canned baked beans you will love these.  And consequently you won’t love canned baked beans anymore because these just blow anything else out of the water.  A mix of sweet and savory plus the dried cranberries are the icing on top of the cake, or maybe I’m just obsessed with dried cranberries and want to find a way to incorporate them into everything I eat, but more on that tomorrow.

If you’re  not jazzed about eating a giant bowl of beans I don’t want to talk to you anymore pair a smaller portion with a big ol’ green salad.

And if you’re me, resist the urge to top the salad with dried cranberries too.

Oh and there will be leftovers.  Leftovers galore.  I, for one, am not complaining.

And speaking of things that are long overdue, I realized I haven’t made steel-cut oats in forever.  Mostly because they take forever to cook.  It feels like forever, anyways.

When Joey forgot to purchase my 4 pound bag of rolled oats I had no other choice but to make steel-cut.  As it turns out, when you have enough time to cook them fully, they’re really good.

Or maybe it was the trifecta of butters I had on top.

From left to right: maple cinnamon almond butter, Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter and coconut butter.  (Did you know Justin of Justin’s Nut Butters has cancer? I hope he’s okay!)

Love that chewy texture!

Nom.

Are you a steel-cut or a baked beans fan?