Calico Baked Beans

or as we like to call them...Annabelle beans..after our cute little calico cat :)

yesterday morning I woke up and we did our usual lazy Sunday morning routine..Mr. Allan fed the cats and made himself some coffee...he then came back into our bedroom where we read the Sunday paper and watched the Today show. I started to organize the grocery list and plan our meals for the week. It just popped into my head that I wanted to make baked beans. I grew up with my Vava's baked bean recipe and decided I would tackle that this evening. After talking to my mom and learning that those beans literally take a day to cook, I needed a plan B. My mom told me to grab the family cookbook she compiled and told me about a recipe for Calico Beans...I took a peek...and Calico Baked Beans it was for dinner last night!

This recipe was super easy and a little short cut from having beans bake in your oven all day. We had some kielbasa links from our meat CSA that we buy from a local farm, and these beans make a great sidekick to the kielbasa!

Fresh out of the oven.... 

Calico Baked Beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

1 can of baked beans (any brand goes...I used regular Bush's Baked Beans)

1/2 cup of ketchup

1/4 cup of light brown sugar

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 small onion (diced)

8oz ground beef or turkey*

Preheat over to 350. In a lightly oiled skillet, saute meat and onion until the meat is almost cooked through.

Open and drain the kidney and garbanzo beans. Add those as well as the can of baked beans (do not drain or rinse the baked beans). Then add the remaining ingredients- ketchup, sugar, and vinegar. Cook for 3 or4 minutes until all ingredients are combined.

Transfer to a casserole dish and cook uncovered for approximately 30 minutes. (you can take a tiny taste of the beans and see if they're soft enough for your liking)

Just a note...the original recipe calls for 1lb of ground beef. I used some ground white turkey meat instead and used only about 1/2 lb to cut down on the calories a bit. As you can see from the picture above..I thought my beans were beefy enough with only half the meat!

Enjoy!