Recipe Tuesday

I am going back to my roots this week with a hearty country meal complete with Sweet tea. My favorite meal this week was Beans and Cornbread. It is my Papa's favorite meal so I grew up eating it at their house. It is nice to sit at the kitchen table and make new memories while reminiscing about old memories. Although this is one of my childhood favorites I want to encourage you to go back to your roots and share a childhood memory with your children at dinner tonight. I can't say that all of my food memories are good ones. Let me tell you we ate plenty of tuna casseroles, and kielbasa sausage meals to scar me for life. We take the good with the bad. So let's focus on the wonderful times.

Recipe: Beans and Cornbread

Prep Time: 30 Minutes | Cook Time: 2 Hours | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• Bean Ingredients:
• 4 cups Pinto Beans
• 4 slices Thick Bacon (can Also Use Salt Pork, Or Ham Hock, Or Diced Ham)
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 2 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
• Cornbread Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup Plus 2 Tablespoons Shortening
• 1 cup Yellow Corn Meal
• 1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Buttermilk
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1 whole Egg
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

Preparation Instructions

BEANS: Rinse beans in cool water; pour into a pot, cover with water by 2 to 3 inches. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover. Simmer 2 hours, or until beans are tender. Add water to pot as needed. Beans should have a thick broth. Toward end of cooking time, add salt and pepper and season to taste. Don’t over-salt. For a variety try adding chili powder, garlic or Tabasco. Serve in a bowl with cornbread. Can serve with small bowls of grated cheese, chopped onions, chopped fresh jalapenos, sour cream, and/or cilantro.
CORNBREAD: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat shortening in an iron skillet, muffin pan, or other baking pan. Combine corn meal, flour, and salt in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, milk, and egg. Add baking powder and baking soda. Stir. Add ¼ cup melted shortening, stirring constantly. Pour into hot pan, smoothing surface with spatula. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Here is a link to The Pioneer Woman's Beans and Cornbread recipe. If you haven't visited her before she takes step by step photos. Plus she is a lot of fun to read. Enjoy
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/08/beans_and_cornb/

I topped the beans with Greek yogurt (it has replaced all the sour cream in our house. It is a healthier option and once you start you can never go back.), shredded cheddar cheese, red onions, and a dash of hot sauce. If you have a husband who loves beans but you don't love him after beano is handy to have before dinner.

We made honey butter to go on the cornbread. Cornbread is good crumbled into the heavenly beans but if you love bread on the side honey butter is a quick mix away. All you need is about 1/4 cup butter and 1/8 cup of honey mix together. If you use the real sticks of butter like me soften it in the microwave for 15 seconds or until you can easily mix it. Spread it on the cornbread thick.

Finally Sweet tea. We use Stevia to sweeten our tea. We also use fresh mint from the garden to flavor the tea. If you are up for a little Tea adventure try putting fresh peppermint (any flavor of mint will work) into the hot tea let it sit for a few minutes before adding ice or cold water. We often leave the mint leaves in the picture because it adds a pretty color in the clear glasses. Fresh stevia leaves taste just like the store bought processed stevia so you can sweeten with your Stevia leaves.

I hope you enjoy these recipes and your week is filled with love, laughter, and sweet smells of childhood memories floating from your kitchen.

A beautiful Article

Today one of my friends posted this article called We Need More Boring Christians. It was not about being boring. The article is talking about celebrating God in everyday life. Not all of us can travel the world spreading God's word. This is one of my favorite qoutes from the article:

Scripture calls us into radical service—but that does not allow others to eviscerate tedious, less “spiritually” glamorous tasks of their meaning in God’s Kingdom. Scripture also calls us to embrace the mundane and ordinary as holy and beautiful: “... aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands” (1 Thessalonians 4:11). 

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/deeper-walk/features/26398-we-need-boring-christians

I reccomend you read this article and maybe let yourself be inspired to be great at what it is you do in your daily life.

Menu Monday

Back from my menu hiatus. We went to Panama City the week before last and then last week the broken air conditioner we tried not to cook at all. So I was looking forward to getting back to the kitchen this week. Yesterday I made Beans and Cornbread and I felt like a country girl. It made me homesick as it is my grandfathers favorite meal (he is a real Texas cowboy). I am sure those beans tasted better to me then anything else could have. My grandparents live in Oregon which is where I call home even though I haven't lived there in ten long years. So to honor my Grandparents, my favorite meal last week Beans and corn bread.

Menu for the Week

Monday

Roast Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

Jamie Oliver

Tuesday

Chicken Pot Pie

Wednesday

Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich.

Pioneer Woman

Thursday

Meatballs

Pioneer Woman

Friday

Potato and leek pizza

Pioneer Woman

Saturday

Lamb Stew

Jamie Oliver

Sunday

Meatloaf



I hope you week is filled with love, laughter, and yummy cooking smells.

14 August Lessons Learned

August 14 Lessons I learned this past week

Air Conditioning is a luxury and not a necessity. The boys and I sweated through most of the week in our P.J.'s or in underwear(the boys refused to get dressed). As much as I love central air it is a privilege and we will not die from being to hot to do anything useful.

I miss making out a two week menu. I like knowing we have the majority of our food until we get paid again. Rob wanted me to do shopping for one week at a time which is fine until he needs dirt, or hoses (and he always needs dirt and hoses).

Making meal plans based on what the farmers market is selling for the week is hard and often not very exciting. Ever tried to make meals made up of zucchini for more then once a week? I love zucchini but my family misses the different meals I would normally make. It is hard cooking only local food. So we are back to the frozen vegetables, and super market produce (it pains me), if what I need for the weeks vegetables are not available.

Grey's Anatomy  is an addiction! While we waited for the maintenance man to come and fix our Air Conditioner we (I) watched Grey's Anatomy on Netflix. I have not watched them all I think I have 26 more to watch but finally I stopped clod turkey and decided that I had had enough. I think it was crying for three hours straight at the very sad story line i.e. Izzy has cancer and George (my favorite) dies! So of course I spent time googling why T.R. Knight left the show. I hope he does something new for T.V. or a Movie so that I can visit him again. In case you don't know he is doing Broadway and he left because he felt like his character was disappearing from the show and never got a straight answer about his character. Izzy left because Katherine Heigl was a squeaky wheel, seriously I feel bad for Alex! I know I have problems but I stopped, I swear.

Yesterday I took the family to Lakeshore Learning Supplies. Rob who generally takes a backseat to all things learning fell in love with the store. Stopping and looking at everything often proclaiming that we need this, or Damian needs that. We bought posters, and a Book Record journal for Damian. We are planning on going back for more posters, workbooks, and games. But we can only do a little at a time. Not to worry about Damian's education along with workbooks he has a full online curriculum and he is a reader.

Boy Scouts or Cub scout uniforms are expensive. I have the feeling that in order to get Damian involved in things with other kids/boys his age we will continue to spend to much money! I hope he likes it.

There is another boy who is Home Schooled in Damian's Cub Scout Troop! God answers prayers for sure!

I hope your week is filled with Love and Laughter

7 August Lessons learned

August 7 Lessons learned this week.

We drove to Panama City, Florida for a lovely visit with friends that are family. It is a fourteen hour drive. So I packed the car with plenty of toys, and books to keep the boys busy on the long, long trip. Of all of the things I packed James only played with his puppy on the way there. Damian only read one book. Mostly the boys spent most of their trapped time dreaming of sandy beaches and Mimi.

On the way home which felt like twice the drive. James took out all of his toys and books unable to get comfortable and occupied. Damian read the same book.

Damian likes to know where we are so when we are driving, which we love Road trips, he will ask what state are we in, How much longer until we are in the next state, and How long have we been driving now. Although they seem like odd questions he knows where states are on the map and keeps a mental log of where he has been. He may never forget that Florida is next to Alabama, then Mississippi, followed by Louisiana, and finally Texas. He does the same thing when we drive to Oregon but we often take different routes depending on what we want to see on the way.

As nice as it is to get out of the house for a week it is always nicer to be home again.

We had a lot of fun in Panama City and we all enjoyed seeing great friends this week. It was filled with lots of love and  laughter. I can hardly wait to see them in April.

Recipe Tuesday

I know I am publishing my favorite recipes early this week but I have been thinking about it all week. This week is Egg week. A simple frittata and Egg in the Hole. Both easy and if you haven't tried either one yet today is a good day to do so.

I buy my eggs from a family farm. They are fresh when I get them and I go through 4 dozen eggs in two weeks. I love eggs, my kids love eggs, and I am a baker. I did not always love eggs. I used to find them disgusting that runny weirdness that we call store bought eggs. These are the eggs I grew up with. Then when we made the switch to store bought eggs I found out why you would name an egg dish Sunny Side Up. They are beautiful. Really. The yoke is thick it can be hard to break. The whites are clear and also kind of thick too. Really comparing store bought to farm fresh eggs should be a crime. If you can find a farm near you I encourage you to support a local farmer and find your love for eggs.

The Frittata

I browned the sausage and onion then added the spinach. If you are using fresh spinach it cooks down so use a lot. Then you use 6-8 eggs beaten with a little milk and salt and pepper and shredded cheese. Pour this egg mixture over the sausage mixture. Put some shredded cheese on top to make it pretty. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or when the eggs are firm. Serve hot. Easy.

I have made Frittatas with potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, mixed vegetables, broccolli, hamburger, corn, honestly I think you can make it with any number of ingrediants. For you recipe lovers out there here is a recipe from Allrecipes.com to help yout hrough your first Frittata

 American Frittata
Serves 8 ready in 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 onions, sliced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 8 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup cubed ham
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a cast iron skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft.
3. Stir in eggs, drained potatoes, ham, salt and pepper. Cook until eggs are firm on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Top frittata with shredded cheese and place in preheated oven until cheese is melted and eggs are completely firm, about 10 minutes.

Enjoy! I haven't tried this recipe yet.

Finally the  Egg in the Hole. I got it out of The Pioneer woman cooks.

You melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a pan. Cut a hole out of a piece of bread. Place the bread into the melted butter and after about 1 minute break an egg right into the hole. Don't forget to salt and pepper the egg.  After another minute or so flip the bread and egg over. Serve Hot. Yum!

I love making heart shaped holes and my boys love it too. So if you want to change it up and you have small cookie cutters experiment with your egg in the hole.

I hope your week is filled with Love and Laughter.

Menu Plan

Well Rob called home with a little surprise today. I do not have to cook this week. I will explain more in another post later. Last week went well. My favorite thing this week were egg dishes. So today you get a picture of Frittata with pan sausage and spinach. My kids declared me the Queen of Frittata and told me I need to go into business making them. I do not think I will follow this very sound advice but I will continue to make them.

Meal Plan Vacation! I hope It all works out in a nice way.