Beefy Baked Beans

I should be embarrassed to admit I eat and cook this cookout favorite as a weeknight meal, but I do and I'm not. Maybe I should be embarrassed that I add ketchup, mustard and brown sugar to the mix, but I do and I'm not. Throw in some bacon and browned ground beef and this protein-packed side dish becomes the main attraction. Or is that a fatal attraction? Never you mind, it's good!

I don't ordinarily like baked beans all that much, but I first ate this concoction at a niece's 8th grade graduation party six years ago (Did you know they celebrate graduation of 8th grade these days? Apparently they do, and if they are serving Beefy Baked Beans -- I do too!) and it was true love ever after.

I'm not going to give you a full-out recipe this time. You can remember this one because there are no exact measurements.

First you need to brown some ground beef. About a pound will do, but no matter how much you use it will taste just fine. And while you are at it, throw in some bacon pieces. I only used two strips 'cause I'm dieting! More would have been much better, but two sufficed this time.

Add some chopped onion while your browning the meat (or meats, rather).

Drain well. 'Cause were dieting, remember?

Now you are going to mix in the rest of the ingredients.

And add a big ol' squirt of ketchup, too.

I let mine cook for at least thirty minutes. The gravy turns a pretty dark, rich color. I am sure the color has nothing to do with the dark brown sugar I added or the bacon or the... oh what difference does it make? You have to make something for dinner, why not make it taste good?

There is one more thing you need to round out your BB-Q inspired dinner. You must make Sara's Crunchy Cabbage Cole Slaw. I make myself a bowl of Beefy Baked Beans and slop a scoop of Sara's Crunchy Cabbage on top. Heaven. Make sure you get a little of each dish in every bite. Um-um-good! If you have the family cookbook Sara's recipe is on page 17. If you don't, I post it later.

And some people may like to add a drip or two of Bean-o on top, but I wouldn't know anything about that. Download a $1.00 off Bean-o coupon here.