I just got home from work, and tonight is my night to cook. Unfortunately, I just realized this recipe for Mexican beans says I should simmer the beans for 3 hours. I'm too hungry for that, but I really want to eat these.   Would be okay to skip the simmering? Or is there something else I can do to produce the desired effected? 
If you have a pressure cooker, you can shorten the time to cook the beans by using it.  You will find many recipes and articles by googling "beans pressure cooker", such as this recipe posted on Serious Eats for refried beans, or this recipe for Boston Baked Beans, again courtesy of Serious Eats.  However, without a pressure cooker, you cannot increase the temperature of the cooking beans past the boiling point of water, so they will require a certain amount of time to cook. 