Instructions: [] If no specific amounts, youll have to wing it! All of these recipes and directions were written by contributors to Real Food 4 Real People. []

Cook pinto beans with a few slices of onion and salt. (We add smoked ham hocks once in a while to add a little extra flavor.) Cook enough so that you have 2-3 cups cooked beans. If you do decide to use ham hocks, once the beans have cooked, take as much meat off of the bones as you can and add them to the beans once theyre mashed.

Melt pork fat in a large frying pan enough that when its completely melted it measures about 1/2 in. in bottom of pan. Add sliced onions and fry for a minute or two. Add 2-3 cups of cooked pinto beans. Smash pinto beans with a spatula or masher. (Beans dont all have to be mashed.) Add salt to taste.

Now, my mother-in-law adds 1/2 to 3/4 can of El Pato brand tomato sauce

(Mexican Hot Style). Again, this is to your taste but it adds a little punch.

I think the key to authentic Mexican refried beans is the lard, or pork fat that they are refried in.

I make mine without the pork fat. I just smash the beans using some of the water left over from cooking. Then I add the El Pato sauce.

My mother -in-law cooks a big pot of beans maybe once a week. She leaves the whole cooked beans in the pot in the refrigerator. Then each day she makes a fresh batch of refried beans using a cup or two of the cooked beans at one time. (Depending on how many of us are going to be home for dinner.) I like having the whole cooked beans once in a while and its convenient to get home and just pop them in the microwave to warm with some leftover meat or chicken and make a burrito. My husbands grandmother does not let anything go to waste.

Shes in her late 90s and shes always telling everybody to drink the water that the beans were cooked in "for strength" she says. I guess she means the iron from the beans makes the water a healthy drink. (Maybe thats her secret to staying young.) Anyway , good luck.

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