Hearth & Garden Beans {Boogie's recipe}

Back in 1976....4 years before I stormed into the world...my mom, dad and sister lived Panama City Beach, Florida on Thomas Drive. Lucky dogs.
There was a restaurant at the time called Hearth & Garden that was also on Thomas Dr. and my mom loved the beans they had on the menu.


She tasted and tried out many recipes trying to find the perfect match to the beans at Hearth & Garden until she figured it out and those beans became a regular addition to the dinner table. These beans are like many basic baked beans recipes but there might be some ingredients that others don't use. You can never have too many baked beans recipes.

These are perfect to bake and take to a BBQ!

You could double and triple this recipe to your heart's content and feed an army.

And why not throw these babies in the slow cooker and cook them on low while you're out and about?

I called my mom {aka Boogie} for the recipe today and she cooks like I do....or rather I cook like she does....measurements are loose and there is a lot of "taste and see" involved. So, for those of you who like exact measurements (which I imagine is most of the cooking world) I will do my best to estimate correctly and for those little bit of this, little bit of that, a splash here, a sprinkle there kind of cooks like myself....go for it! You can not screw up this recipe!

I mean, I'm sure it's possible...I've screwed up many but this is pretty cut and dry.

You can mix and match the beans with whatever you like. My mom used pork and beans and kidney beans. I used Busch's baked beans and kidney beans. I would imagine any beans would work and a lighter bean would be a pretty contrast if you were bringing to a pot luck.

As with the beans, you can mix and match the meats as well. We had a 2.5 lb. package of lean ground beef in the fridge as well as a pound of Owen's breakfast sausage so I just split them both in half and browned them together. One pound of ground beef would work fine. Throwing in Italian sausage would be pretty good too.

What I absolutely love about this recipe is that you will probably have most of these ingredients on hand and if you don't, a substitution wouldn't be hard to figure out. A lifesaver for me: keeping my freezer stocked with diced onions. Just go ahead and dice them up after you buy them, throw them in a freezer bag and you're prepared!

Hearth & Garden Beans

Hearth & Garden Beans 
{adapted from Boogie's special recipe}

1 large can baked beans
1 small can baked beans
1 large can red kidney beans (rinsed and drained well)
1.5 lb. lean ground beef
.5 lb breakfast sausage (Owen's, Jimmy Dean, etc.)
1 onion-diced (I used a Vidalia that I grabbed while we were on vacation)
2 T. ketchup
1 T. (or so) yellow mustard
2 splashes Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins)
2 heaping T. brown sugar
1 T. BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's)
1 Bell pepper, diced (optional, I left out)
2 tsp. Garlic powder
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. coarse ground black pepper


Spray a 9x13 pan with olive oil Pam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Brown ground beef and sausage, add onions towards the end of browning and cook until onions are translucent.

While meat is browning, in a large bowl, combine all other ingredients and stir until everything is mixed in.

After bean mixture is combined, add the meat and onions to the beans. Stir.

Pour into 9x13 pan and bake for 25 minutes covered. Remove foil and bake for 10-15 minutes more. Like I said, the recipe is forgiving, just check the beans and when they are bubbly and look warmed throughout, they are ready.

Serve alongside salad for a complete meal. Or do what I did tonight and pair with the ever-so-healthy buttermilk biscuits....whatever floats your boat, man.

Enjoy!!!!

I never claimed to be a food photographer...