Crockpot Pinto Beans, BBQ Style

I've never been a fan of baked beans... But as of late, they've been growing on me. I decided to try my own version this morning, and I am so excited to share the recipe with you! They turned out GREAT!!

Mix the following in your crockpot (turned on to low):
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped (I used 2 Hatch chile peppers for a little more heat)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 can of diced tomatoes (I like Rotel brand because they have green chiles in them)
(Here's the diet kicker) 1 package of uncooked bacon, chopped into small pieces
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 tbsp. McCormick Grill Mates Pork Rub or Mesquite Seasoning
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 cups of sorted and rinsed pinto beans
Approximately 5 cups of water

Cook on low for 6 - 8 hours, or until the beans are tender to your liking.

Once they are finished, place a large pot in your sink and put your strainer over it. Pour the beans into the strainer so that all the liquid strains into the pot. Place the beans back in your crockpot (you can turn the crockpot off), and put the pot with the liquid on the stove over high heat. Boil the liquid until it is reduced atleast by half. You'll want it to be a thick glaze-like mixture. You can also add more seasoning, brown sugar, or salt at this point until you are happy with the flavor. Once it's reduced, mix it back in with your beans and serve!!

A couple notes -

1. Yes, I am aware that there is a lot of oil in the liquid that has cooked out of the bacon. I left all of that in mine. So it is pretty unfriendly to my diet. Next time I'll try to skim the oil off the top of the liquid before I render it down for fat and calorie purposes only. It tastes great with it, but I know it will taste great without it too.

2. In my opinion, beans like this taste better the 2nd day and on. I made these for our dinner tomorrow night so that they'd be 2nd day beans...

These were really easy and I am so excited to have a new way to cook pinto beans. They are so cheap!!