Cowboy Stew

We finally made it through the rotation of kids (one a week helps me plan a meal to cook with me during that week). So this week we rotated back to child 1. When I asked him earlier this week what we should make, he said (without hesitation), "Cowboy stew".

I think my exact words were "Are you sure about that???"

In our school district, for several years now, the first graders have had a rodeo unit (I believe it started as an economic unit because of the annual rodeo our town hosts). As part of that unit, the kids make "cowboy stew" to try.

So I went to the first grade teachers and asked for the recipe.

Oh joy.

There is no set recipe. You just kind of throw beans, hot dogs, brown sugar, and barbecue sauce in a crockpot or a pot on the stove and cook.

Sounds easy enough but I actually do much better with an actual recipe. I may not follow it to a T but I at least know where we are headed.

I sure didn't with this one.

So we just made it up as we went along.

We ended up adding a can each of great northern beans, chili beans, kidney beans, and black eye peas in a large pot on the stove. We then added a bottle of Sweet Ray's barbecue sauce. And we decided to use Little Smokies (cut in thirds) instead of hot dogs.

I could NOT bring myself to add the brown sugar because I had already calculated the calories for this recipe without it and the calories were UNREAL. Barbecue sauce is FULL of calories.

Anyway, once it was boiling (set on high), I turned the stovetop down to a low/warm. We let it cook about two hours, stirring constantly.

I will be honest, it wasn't my favorite. I mean, it was like "pork and beans".

But it wasn't terrible either.

And it was very filing (which was good since I didn't eat much after seeing the calories for this thing).

And for a cold night, it was warm in the tummy.

Child 1 thinks it would have been that much better with brown sugar. :)

But it was fun anyway.

Reba