I'm a few weeks into working on my list of 101 things I want to do in 1,001 days. My mom and sisters and I all have our own lists and are keeping up with each other's progress. It's surprisingly exciting. Kendra's #31? Cook with dried beans. Never done it. Always wanted to. Now I have.

I thought I'd do red beans and rice, but since I've never actually had a correctly made bowl of the iconic dish (and thus have no idea what it's supposed to taste like), this is essentially a pot of grown-up pork and beans. Surprisingly tasty for something so simple. We ate on it for a few days and didn't get bored at all. And we get bored.

A word on beans. You can use canned beans for this, rinsed and drained. I do think though that using dried beans is way too easy not to do, and the texture is pretty great. All you need to do is soak them. Dump the beans into a big bowl, pick out any unappetizing ones, cover well with water, and let it sit for 8-10 hours or overnight if you're making the crockpot meal the next morning. Couldn't be easier. Really.

Crockpot Pork and Beans

• one 11-oz.(ish) bag of dried red kidney beans that have soaked overnight
• 1 lb. smoked pork sausage (the big links in the bologna section of your grocery store)
• 2 yellow onions, sliced (or diced... doesn't really matter)
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tbsp. chili powder
• 2 tsp. cumin
• one can of chicken broth (about 2 cups)
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• a splash of Worcestershire (is there a harder word in the English language to pronounce? I mean seriously...)
• 3-4 cups of cooked white rice (optional)

First, cook the sausage and onions. Slice the sausage into little medalions, and I'd go a bit thick with the slices. I cut mine thin-ish, and I wished for more texture with the end result. The meatiness is yummy. Cook those over medium heat in a skillet in a quick drizzle of canola or vegetable oil for just a minute or two until the edges get brown and yummy. No need to cook through. Take those out, and drain on a paper towel if you'd like. I personally like a little of the fat, so if you're cool with that, just dump them in the crockpot. Then add the onions to the same pan with the leftover drippings, season with salt and pepper, and cook until they're just browning, about two or three minutes. Take those out and add them to the crockpot.

Second, add the spices. Add a bit more oil to the pan (just a quick drizzle), turn the heat to low, and add the garlic powder, chili powder, and cumin. Stir for 30 seconds, and the heat will bring out a nice level of flavor from the spices. Pour in the chicken broth, and let the spices dissolve for another 30 seconds. Pour that into the crockpot along with the dried beans.

Add everything else. Add the two cups of water, the ketchup, the brown sugar, Worcestershire, and a few good pinches of salt and pepper to the pot, and turn to high. Cook for two hours. Then turn to low and cook another six or so. This is so the beans get hit in the beginning with some good heat to jumpstart the cooking process. This is only if you're using dry though. If you're using canned beans (probably three cans' worth), no need to start on high.

A note. I didn't originally add the ketchup, brown sugar, and Worcestershire. After the pot cooked with the other stuff and I tasted it (which you should totally do when you cook), I realized that there was a lot of smoky flavor from the sausage and spices but no sweetness to balance it. Not good. So I added those other things to see if it would help, and it made it a completely different dish. Really tasty. Now those things didn't take the slow-cooking journey with the other ingredients, but I don't think that matters. Go ahead and add everything at once, and the flavor should be just fine. Know though that if you taste your finished product and want a little more sweetness or saltiness or whatever, it doesn't have to be a finished product. Go ahead and make it what you want, and then serve it. It's better that way.

Next on my list? I can't decide between roasting my own peppers, eating local beef, or cooking with saffron. Yes, 92% of my list is food related. Can't help myself.