It's been 8 hours and the chili is still not done!
By dragon54u
@dragon54u (31636)
United States
January 24, 2009 9:07pm CST
My chili went through a bunch of delays, forgetting to turn on the crockpot then the wrong setting and finally finding I didn't plug it in....well, I thought it was done but no! See, I bought a bag of kidney beans to save a few cents. I usually buy the cans. I soaked those beans overnight then put them in the chili.
Lo and behold, the chili was done and the beans were hard as rocks! I didn't know you needed to cook the beans instead of just soaking them like navy beans. 
It's 10pm and they're just about done. At least it'll taste wonderful tomorrow! The kitchen is a hard taskmaster, and very unforgiving! 
Any disasters you'd care to share? C'mon, make me feel less of a dufus! 
It's 10pm and they're just about done. At least it'll taste wonderful tomorrow! The kitchen is a hard taskmaster, and very unforgiving!
Any disasters you'd care to share? C'mon, make me feel less of a dufus! 3 people like this
6 responses
@GreenMoo (11834)
•
30 Jan 09
The first (and pretty much only) time I made bread by hand, my Mum had to get one of my Dad's chisels to break the crust! I'm not what you'd call a natural in the kitchen ;-)
I can well understand your dried beans problem. I used to use canned beans but have moved over to using dried ones as I think they're more economical. I do wonder how much cheaper they actually are though, once you've factored in all the energy used to cook them for hours.
1 person likes this
@marciascott (25529)
• United States
11 Feb 09
Well, You get more beans in the bag. I usually use Can Beans, but sometimes I use Pinto Beans in a bag.
1 person likes this
@marciascott (25529)
• United States
11 Feb 09
Well, You get more beans in the bag. I usually use Can Beans, but sometimes I use Pinto Beans in a bag.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
30 Jan 09
I think using the dried beans is false economy for me. A can of beans is about $.50, the bag is $1.00. I get 3 times as many beans but I have to cook them for about an hour. Figure in the time and the electricity and the canned beans are probably a lot cheaper!
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
25 Jan 09
i hope your chili was good after all that. bless your heart u had a time. as u say tho u want have to cook today because you'll have chili. lol some days u can't win for losing, good luck.
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
25 Jan 09
I'll be finishing the chili today, after finding that I should have cooked the beans after I soaked them! I had to pick them all out and cook them for an hour, they were hard as rocks! I also had a good laugh at myself and learned a few lessons so this was a VERY good pot of chili!
1 person likes this
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
26 Jan 09
we all learn from our mistakes. i should be a genius but i'm not.
@marciascott (25529)
• United States
11 Feb 09
It has never took, 8 hours to cook Chili, Never. Who taught you how to make Chili, It should take no more that 1/2 to an hour.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
11 Feb 09
Marciascott, it was my own mistakes that made it take so long, not turning on the pot or getting the temperature right and then the beans weren't done.
My mother makes great chili and usually cooks it slowly for at least two hours so that all the flavors will merge and mellow. Hers is the best! 
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
25 Jan 09
I have had half cooked beans in chili, and dumped too much salt in food. I have substituted sugar for salt, and forgot to turn the burner down. Oh and when I made sponge cake, I put in the ingredients the wrong way. I dumped the flour and sugar all together instead of putting the sugar in first, whipping the whites, and then folding in the flour. The cake turned out all right. Oh and one time, I opened the wrong side of the pepper, and it all came out, so there I was taking the spoon and taking out as much as I could.
Yes been there, done that.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
25 Jan 09
Oh boy, that reminds me of the time my boys and I were going to make a pound cake. I bought a mix, what could go wrong, huh? Well, you know how similar sugar and salt look? I had a canister of sugar and one of salt, not labeled. For some reason, I chose the wrong canister and when we tasted the cake----eeeeewwwwwww!!!
Yes, you can screw up a mix! The boys and I still laugh about that every couple of years.
The boys and I still laugh about that every couple of years.
@ersmommy1 (12588)
• United States
25 Jan 09
Sounds like a rough day! lol I make chili in a crock pot too. Sometimes these things happen. Enjoy it tomorrow.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
25 Jan 09
I will definitely enjoy the chili tomorrow, thank you! Since I've learned to cook for one instead of 4 (I'm divorced with grown children), I won't have to eat it all week but I did make enough to freeze some. Chili, chili spaghetti, egg white omelets stuffed with chili are all things I'm looking forward to!!
@mommamusic (882)
• United States
25 Jan 09
Oh dont feel i do things like that all the come home from work so hungry and i forgot t turn the damm thing on,it will be good tomorrow.@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
25 Jan 09
Yes, it'll be great tomorrow! They're done now--it's 11:15pm!--and I'll dump them in the refrigerated pot before I go to bed.
When I'm working, and even when I'm not, I usually spend a couple hours on the weekend to cook ahead and freeze stuff--tuna casserole, chili, chicken with noodles and sauce,spaghetti, simple stuff like that. I make a batch and leave enough for the week and then freeze the rest for the future. When I come home, I just pop the frozen stuff in the microwave. I also buy frozen dinners (diet or low fat/calorie) when they're on clearance. I recently got a 14 healthy choice dinners that I really LOVE for $.84 apiece!!!
Cook ahead, save yourself some tension! Take a little time and make some plans to make your life easier--you deserve it! 
