Mama Reed was a good person. She worked hard all of her life raising up ten good hearted, hardworking kids. She ran a farm, took care of her family and anyone else that needed taking care of whenever the need arose and she had the ability to do so. She grew a garden to raise food for her family and canned whatever she didn’t use. She went to church and lived her life according to the principles taught there seven days a week rather than just the one.

After you mull that one over, how about reaching for a cornbread pan sandwich? They are sure to be counted among your blessings on the supper table

You’ll need: An onion, two packages of corn muffin mix*, Spicy Brown Mustard, 5-6 slices of cheese, a few slices of ham or some other lunch meat of your choice.

*You’re also going to need whatever the corn muffin mix package calls for but I’m not listing that here because between all of us, there is no telling what brands of corn muffin mix we may come back with so the instructions will be different. This is the package size that makes six cornbread muffins so that is the size you should try your best to get. Then we’ll prepare that mix according to package directions.

Mix up corn muffin mix according to package directions. 

Chop your onion, and add it and the spicy brown mustard.

Stir that up really well. 

Spread about half of it in the bottom of a greased 8×8 or 9×9 pan. 

Top with ham slices. If you need to get creative in tearing them up so the spots are covered, go for it  

Top with your cheese. 

Pour the rest of your batter over the top and…

Spread it to cover everything. 

Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until nice and golden brown on top. 

Allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting. 

Serve warm. 

Enjoy ! 

For a quick supper, These go great with Simple and Delicious Tomato Soup and are also great with Sweet and Sour Green Beans (which I make ahead of time and keep in my freezer!).

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts to us in our pains. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

~ C. S. Lewis

Submitted by Debbie Strum, thanks Debbie! Submit your quote by clicking here. 

We have a lofty goal of taking our kids to as many states in the USA as we possibly can and this summer’s state is ARKANSAS!
Can you believe we’ve never been there?

To get more details and leave your suggestions,

click here to visit our Arkansas Event Page on Facebook.

We’d love your ideas!

Sloppy Joes were one of my Mama’s favorite weeknight suppers for busy days and I’ve always loved them. I have my skillet Sloppy Joe recipe on here already (click here) but this one is what I use on those days where I don’t have time to brown my beef so I just throw it all in the slow cooker. Yup, you don’t even have to cook the beef (as long as you use lean ground chuck)! Toss it in, turn it on. Supper is ready when you are.

I grew up in a small neighborhood populated with families, kids, and bicycles. We’d all congregate at the vacant lot three doors down and across the street from my house. At best, it was only 1/2 an acre but all the neighborhood kids referred to it as “The Big Field”.

Once, we had a new neighbor move in named Miss Sandy. She had teenagers mostly and we didn’t know what to think about them. Then, one day Miss Sandy opened up her screen door and started making popcorn in her kitchen. It wasn’t long before the scent drifted across the road to my yard and curious kids began showing up. She peeped her head out the screen door with a grin and held out two brown paper lunch sacks, filled to the brim with freshly popped kernels. “Who wants popcorn?” We left a dust cloud as we raced over, not believing our luck as more and more sacks appeared until we were all sitting in her driveway on our bicycles, holding brown paper bags like we were some type of popcorn loving huffy bicycle gang.

About the time we finished our popcorn, someone rode by on a bicycle and yelled  ”Hey! We’re going to play kickball at the big field. You wanna play?” and a slew of bicycles fell in line as we shouted behind us to Miss Sandy’s kids to join us, telling them that they just had to because we had so much fun there.

We played with new friends until we heard our Mama’s calling us and then we picked our bikes up off the ground and pedaled on back to our waiting suppers and hot baths that would wash our dirt necklaces off. After supper, a few of the kids made an appearance outside again to catch lightning bugs in jars with orders from our Mama’s not to get dirty again, then we’d head back into the house and watch a little television in our parents laps before heading off to bed.

I don’t think about those as the “good old days” like some people do, though. Because if you spend your time looking too wistfully to days gone by you miss all the good in days that are still here and yet to come. There is just as much good in today as there was in yesterday, that hasn’t changed, our appreciation and ability to recognize it has.

Now let’s make some Sloppy Joes.

Don’t forget to wash your dirt necklace off before coming to the table.

You’ll need: Diced tomatoes, Ketchup, Mustard (maybe), BBQ Sauce, and Sweet Relish.

And also some LEAN Ground Chuck, buns, and whatever you want to serve with your Sloppy Joes.

Note : A lot of this stuff is optional and you can easily customize this. You might want to add chopped onion, garlic, omit the mustard, etc. You really need to use the ketchup, bbq sauce, and tomatoes, but other than that knock yourself out playing with it.

And I really like to add a tablespoon or so of these puppies.

They aren’t enough to make it hot, but it is enough to give it a weeee little kick.

Okay so the beauty of this is that you can put your ground beef in the slow cooker uncooked.

See? This really is an easy one. Toss it in sometime in the morning with no prep work needed.

Chop up your ground beef a little bit.

Now, I know from emails that a lot of folks find the appearance of raw ground beef rather unappetizing. If you fit into this category, I strongly suggest that you have your servants prepare this meal. If you find yourself without servants, I strongly suggest you get used to the appearance of raw ground beef. It’s looked mighty fine to me going on about forty years now! 

Add all of your ingredients in on top of your beef.

Stir that up good.

Then put the lid on and place this on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-4

“A pessimist sees only the dark side of the clouds, and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides, and shrugs; an optimist doesn’t see the clouds at all — he’s walking on them.”

~Leonard Louis Levinson

Submitted by Bonny (thanks, Bonny!). Click here to submit your quote. New ones always welcome! ]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/05/slow-cooker-sloppy-joes.html/feed 54 http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/slow-cooker-pasta-fagoli-small-batch-finding-clovers.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/slow-cooker-pasta-fagoli-small-batch-finding-clovers.html#comments Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:51:34 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=22826 please click here.

Yesterday I came in from the back yard with a hand full of four leaf clovers…

You know, some people think that four leaf clovers are hard to find but when I was a little girl my mother could always walk right up to a clover patch, look down for a few seconds, and pluck one right up.

It seemed she had a special gift for finding clovers, and as I grew older I came to realize she had a special gift for finding a lot of good things. In the middle of the worst storm, Mama could find a song to sing. When we came home with a bad hair cut, Mama could point out the one thing that made it just perfect and turn everyone’s opinion right around. When our school friends went away on trips we could never afford, Mama would invite all the neighborhood kids over to play in our back yard and fill our days with homemade popsicles and hosepipe tag.

She could find good in any situation as easily as looking down at a patch of hundreds of clovers and plucking out the one with four leaves on it.

I spent my childhood looking to her as my example and this morning, I got to thinking about those clovers and how much better I am at finding them now that I’m older. Now, when I walk outside and come back in with a handful of four leaf clovers my daughter exclaims with delight that I must be really good at finding them! I just smile and tell her that they’re there for anyone who looks. Like the special little moments in life, pockets of happiness, and reasons to be grateful.

Four leaf clovers aren’t rare. The people who take time to look for them are.

~takes a moment to look at the picture and let it sink in~

Alrighty, time to package my heart back up and get on to the cooking!

If you’ve never had this soup, you’re in for a treat and a half. It’s kind of like an Italian version of chili – and my family LOVES it!

There are all sorts of variations of Pasta Fagoli out there. Translated from Italian, it simply means “Pasta and Beans” and is traditionally an economical meatless dish. I like to add meat to mine but you can certainly leave it out.

I was originally inspired to make it due to my favorite soup, salad, and breadsticks treat at the local Olive Garden. This is not the exact recipe Olive Garden uses, of course, but it  is close. This is also not the exact recipe found around the web, but it’s close enough to those, too. My recipe is a little more streamlined and makes about half as much as the other recipes do. My recipe makes about 4 quarts, which is a reasonable amount for a family. Leftovers reheat and even freeze really well, too.

You’ll need: Kidney Beans, Navy Beans, Beef Broth, Crushed Tomatoes, Tomato Sauce, Matchstick carrots (or carrots you cut yourself), diced onions, small ring pasta (or small pasta of your choice), and browned ground beef.

Note: I was tired the day I made this and decided to cook up some ground beef. As soon as I got it into the skillet I went and sat down to gift myself with a little time reading my latest Tamera Alexander novel…a while later I remembered my ground beef. Needless to say, it was a little overcooked but the beauty was that I was browning it for this recipe and since this is a slow cooked soup, that gives the overly cooked ground beef time to soften up a bit. Crisis averted. You know, really, most crises can be averted if we just refuse to let them become crisis in the first place, don’t you think?

You’re gonna need some seasonings, too. I’m using salt, dried parsley, and dried Italian seasoning.

Now if you’ve been with me a long time you may be thinking “Christy sure does use Italian seasoning a lot!”.

If you’re thinking that, you’re right.

I like it.

It’s good.

It’s cheap.

For me, it is the ketchup of dried herb blends! Having said that, if you would prefer to make it a little more complicated, feel free to come up with your own herb blend. I’m sure it will be great – or just give yourself a break and do it my way. It’s not like you don’t work hard enough as it is.

So basically, you dump everything in a slow cooker except for your pasta. I drained my beans but it’ll be just fine if you’d rather not.

Dump, dump, dump, dump, then….

Stir.

Now put the lid on it and let it cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

About half an hour before serving, stir in your pasta and put the lid back on so it can get done.

Top it with fresh grated parmesan if you want or just go my route and use some mozzarella. There is no rule that says you can’t use whatever cheese your heart desires – and if you find that rule written somewhere, just go ahead and break it.

C’mon, be a rebel with me. Speaking of rebels, we should start our own gang. We can wear yoga pants and ride Schwinn’s – the kind with the big comfy seats, not those factory puppies that give you a total of two square inches to balance your entire body weight on. We’ll get those little horns that honk like we had when were were kids and big tall flags to go on the back of our bikes so when we’re about to crest a hill, the kids will know we’re a coming! I used to have a battery operated loudspeaker on my bicycle with a little cb type handset that let me talk to people as I passed and that could come in real handy, too. “Hey Amy! What’s for supper?” as we drive by a friend’s house. Or the occasional “EHHH!” really loud if we see a kid, dog, or random person about to do something they should know better than to do. ~giggles~ That would be fun. Remind me to start a gang in my spare time. Y’all go ahead and pick out a name...

Oh look, our soup is done! If there are any leftovers, they refrigerate and even freeze well. I thought I’d have leftovers from this but after teenage son ate two bowls and husband ate three…then I myself came back for another bowl…it disappeared pretty fast.

There are four things you cannot recover: The Stone—after the throw, The Word–after it’s said, The Occasion–after the loss, The Time–after it’s gone.

~Anonymous, submitted Faye Hillard (thanks, Faye!). Click here to submit your own  

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]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/slow-cooker-pasta-fagoli-small-batch-finding-clovers.html/feed 50 http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/quick-asian-skillet-budget-friendly.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/quick-asian-skillet-budget-friendly.html#comments Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:56:09 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=22781 If you’re on Pinterest or Facebook and could use one of the buttons above, I’d sure appreciate it! 

This dish with it’s sweet blended honey sauce coating tender bits of meat, assorted veggies, and noodles has become a weekly favorite at our house since I first whipped it up about two months ago.  I always seem to have everything I need on hand, especially considering the ease of substituting in this, and it can be thrown together using only one skillet and a few minutes of my time.

My son, a teenager growing at warp speed, relies on ramen to supplement his daily diet. I serve him three meals a day, he is still starving to death (he’s at that age where you can’t get food into him fast enough) so he supplements by making ramen.

I used to not be huge on ramen myself. I could take it or leave it but never found myself just having to have it until I started watching Korean Dramas.

~For those not interested in hearing me talk about Korean Dramas and make amazingly insightful analogies (if I do say so myself) between today’s failed relationships and trees,  scroll down to the next line of smilies to jump straight to the recipe~

Korean dramas aren’t like American dramas, where two folks meet, go out on a date, and wake up together the next morning. Pulleeze. Those are Bradford Pear relationships, Korean dramas are more like oaks.
Did I lose you?
You see, Bradford Pears are these gorgeous trees that are often planted in new subdivisions and such because they spring up fast and are really pretty above ground.

The thing about Bradford Pears, though, is that they are all prettified on the top but their roots are about as deep as…well as a relationship of two people who spent their first night getting to know each other and their next morning learning how they liked their eggs.

Come the first big storm or strike of lighting, that tree is severed in half. The Alabama Extension Service even warns against planting Bradford Pears for this very reason: “Despite their standing as one of the most popular landscape trees in the Southeast, Bradford pears aren’t what they’re cracked up to be. For despite all the beauty they lend to thousands of landscapes throughout the region, the trees are plagued with one fatal flaw: due to their combination of vigorous growth, weak wood and poor branch structure, they often begin falling apart…” Sound Familiar?

In  K-dramas, we plant an acorn because we aren’t seeking a Bradford Pear, we want an Oak. Oaks are slow growth trees, taking much longer than Bradford Pears to grow, but while doing so establishing a deep root system strong enough to support the tallest growth. Oak trees are a long held symbol of strength and endurance, and that there have been oaks documented to have lived for over 1,000 years.

So many people want Bradford Pears, and are perfectly happy with that, but then they’re shocked when theirs crumbles and the Oak in the neighbor’s yard survives. It’s like planting a tomato seed and not understanding why it doesn’t grow into a tulip.

So Korean Drama…No Bradford Pears in anything I’ve watched yet.  In an entire season, say 20 or more episodes, we may build to the grand finale ….a kiss. Some of the best ones are when it ends in a hug. Not just any hug, though, a hug with meaning – an embrace.

Relationships build over time and life experiences. There is a lifetime of fixing eggs for each other to come but we actually start by developing a root system that can sustain any storm.

So if you’ve hung with me past these metaphors, by this point you know that a big part of what I just wrote has absolutely nothing to do with Korean Drama and is more of a plea for us to look for the acorns and nourish them in our lives rather than the quick-to-sprout and quick-to-die off saplings. Just a thought.

Moving back to Korean Drama though, some of you are probably wondering where to start so here are my top three along with things I’ve loved and things that unnerved me about them.

1. Faith - A female surgeon is transported back in time over 600 years and a whole lot of other stuff.

Things to get past: The leading character has a medical degree and is a noted surgeon but during the first four episodes she has so little sense that if it were to come a hard rain she’d drown to death looking up at it trying to figure out what it was.

Hang in there though because – Her character suddenly becomes intelligent around episode 3 or 4 and Lee Min Ho. Yup, Lee Min Ho. Those three words make any drama worth watching. I love his character in this. This becomes an incredibly fulfilling drama.

2. City Hunter –  An action based drama about a young man who sets out to right some wrongs from his past, untangles quite the web in doing so, gets a great girlfriend and she rescues a tomato shortly before he rescues her in a really cool scene somewhere mid-season, and a bunch of other stuff.

Things to get past : The leading female character is chosen as a member of Korea’s secret service to guard the presidential family – but outside of her work, again  she has so little sense that if it were to come a hard rain she’d drown to death looking up at it trying to figure out what it was.

Hang in there because - Lee Min Ho. I know, but seriously. Love him in this. The waters of this drama don’t run too deep but it still rates above and beyond anything this side of english subtitles.

3. Boys over Flowers – Basically, there is this private school and 4 incredibly wealthy guys (practically quadruplet Prince William’s to see  the response to them) go there. Through a series of events, a dry cleaner’s daughter is given a full scholarship and one of the 4 guys sets out to make her life miserable – taking it to an extreme. And this is where it gets really good… By the way, this all happens in like, the first half of the first episode. No one can complain that Boys of Flowers drags on and on, I think they pack a few lifetimes of events into an hour of their character’s lives in each and every episode you watch. Definitely an A.D.H.D. Friendly KDrama. P.S. ADHD is my super power, more about that here. 

Things to get past : Wondering how on earth Jan Di survived all those years of her life without the fab 4 to save her every single day. Also, the continual string of highly unlikely events. Just sit back, check your brain at the door, and enjoy it. I imagine that is how folks watch American reality tv but the big difference here is that you are at the very least honing your reading skills with the subtitles There really isn’t a point in this drama where you are left unsatisfied and it is the one I find myself watching again and again.

How do I watch these? I use Viki.com (which is free). You can watch them online or use the free app if you have an iPad. Viki is free, there are a few little commercials that play during the course of watching (usually about three) but you get to see your shows with english subtitles – and maybe learn a little Korean in the process .

If you ever want folks to get a wistful look in their eyes and set mouths to watering just mention a good old fashioned meatloaf sandwich. In fact, I know a lot of folks who make meatloaf just so they can have sandwiches the next day! I’m a fan of both but when I find myself hankering for a tender hunk of meatloaf on a bun, I just cut out the middle man and make these burgers. With all the flavor and texture of tender meatloaf, they hit the spot every time.

I sing. It’s what I do. It’s a huge part of who I am. I don’t neccesarily sing well but I can carry a tune and know when to stop if a note goes higher or lower than my voice is capable of going.

I can also remember anything if set to music. Back in my college days, I once had the name of every single muscle and bone in the human body set to tune within my head. Got an A on that paper but I bet the professor still wonders why I was bobbing my head as I filled in the answers.

So of course, my children have heard me singing from the time their ears were able to hear. I sing to the dogs, I sing to myself, I sing to the walls, I sing on the phone. When I’m not singing, I’m humming. When I’m not singing or humming, I’m rapping – which is a fun one to pull out because it embarrasses my son to no end.

It’s no wonder that my kids are full of songs as well, espcially my youngest, who is as bad as I am about putting anything and everything to music. She also plays piano by ear, something that I would have never believed if I hadn’t of seen it first hand.

We have songs for folding laundry, songs for taking showers, and songs for finding the hairbrush in the morning (although I have to credit Larry the Cucumber with that one). If folks were to walk into our house sometimes they’d think they  had  stepped into an elaborate opera of untrained but good natured singers. My teenager has moved on from singing for the time being (it’s a phase, he’s a boy, you know how it goes), but he still spends a great deal of time composing music on his computer and playing french horn in the symphonic band at school.

Music is part of our lives and a constant source of joy.

When I was a girl my mother was the same way and spending my childhood around her just planted a song in my heart – so I like to think I’ve done the same with my kids.

It’s a beautiful thing, music. A simple song has the ability to break our hearts in two or mend them together again.

A heart with a song is a stubborn heart. No matter what, that song is protected and no matter how long it goes unsung, the notes and words are quickly called to mind when they are needed most.

So now, no matter where life takes me or what pressures or trials I face, I still have my song within me. When the going gets tough, when the hope feels lost, my song rises up.

Rather than be defeated. I sing.

The same can be said for the spirit within us. We come out fighting, even when we’re knocked down.

Even if we’ve stayed down far longer than the usual count. We just have to remember that we were meant to rise.

Remember your song today.

 and maybe sing it while you cook this for supper… 

You’ll need:  Quick oats (old fashioned will work, too), eggs, chopped onion, chopped bell pepper, tomato sauce (can sub ketchup), and some seasonings: Salt, Pepper, and Garlic Powder.

And of course since this is meatloaf, you’re gonna need some ground beef.

A few weeks back I did a post on dividing up ground beef in perfect little 1/2 lb, quick to thaw packages so I grabbed a few of those.

Meatloaf is, of course, a meat heavy dish, so I usually only cook a meal like this once a week because I prefer to stretch my ground beef to cover several meals in recipes like Taco Pizza, Skillet Lasagna, and Garden Skillet Supper. (Click here for 35 Ground Beef Recipes to help stretch your food dollar). But there are times when you just need some meatloaf and nothing else will do but a big old hunk of it!

Still, for this whole recipe – 4 generously sized burgers – we’re only using 1+1/2 pounds of ground beef.

Place all of your ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

Now we need to mix this up. There are several ways of doing this but my favorite is to use my hands. This is by far the most efficient and quickest way to get a meatloaf mixed up . For anyone horrified at the thought of this I want to point out that hands are washable.

Just give ‘em a good wash, dig in and mix this up, then wash them again. Voila! Clean hands AND meatloaf!

Whereas before, you had clean hands and NO Meatloaf. See the bonus here?

 When it’s all mixed up it will look like this.

Shape that into four doughnut shaped patties.

We make them doughnut shaped because this helps the center to get cooked quicker, so we don’t end up having to burn the outer edges while waiting on the center to cook. I do regular hamburgers this way, too.

As it cooks, the meat shrinks and the center hole closes up.

A close up shot of our gorgemous meatloaf burger

Place these in a large skillet over medium high heat until browned on both sides, about 5-7 minutes on each side.

Then, add 1 cup water to the skillet and continue cooking until juices run clear, about five minutes more.

Note: These will be more tender than traditional hamburger patties so be a little gentle with turning them until they get good and browned because then they’ll hold together better.

Serve on your favorite bun, topped with this wonderful quick and easy burger slaw.

 There aren’t a lot of photos of this because as I was holding the burger to take this shot, I looked down at my camera screen to see how it turned out and without even realizing it, took a big old bite out of this Mouthwatering Meatloaf Burger.

And boy was it ever good!!! 

 This burger  is tender and moist, just like a slice of your favorite meatloaf. Enjoy!

To get the Burger Slaw recipe, please click here.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

The only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know very well.

~Unknown

Today I’m going to talk about a subject that I may have talked about before on Southern Plate, but I’m really in the mood to talk about it today so I don’t really care if I’ve talked about it before. I love that I get to make the rules over things like this!

Yesterday, I was having a conversation with someone about my “career”. I have to put that in quotes because it’s just tooo funny for me to say in a serious tone. If I had set out to have a “career” that would be one thing, but this all just kinda happened so rather than see myself as someone steadily setting and meeting goals, I just see myself as someone working as hard as I can, enjoying the ride, and not really expecting anything else to happen but appreciating it when it does. I’m pretty sure careers are more focused than that, but I digress (as is my gift)

Anyway, they said something and paused suddenly, afraid they had inadvertently said something that might offend me. I sensed it and laughed as I said “Look, don’t you worry about offending me. I don’t get offended. Even if you tried to offend me, you’d still fail.”

But I could understand the trepidation about offending someone, as it seems to be all the rage these days, and so many people have to worry if they will “accidentally” offend someone.

I’ve been looking, checking out the web and news outlets, asking around, and for the life of me I can’t seem to find out who is offering the prize for being the most offended or what that prize is, but there sure are a lot of people taking the competition seriously. Sometimes it seems like folks just wake up looking for the first opportunity to be offended.

And trust me, I realize that so much of what is out there is offensive, but goodness knows I don’t have time to stop what I’m doing and be offended by it!

The thing to remember is that most of the time, 90% at the very least, when we are offended by something, no offense was intended. And the other 10% of the time, when someone was actively trying to offend us, well people and situations like that certainly don’t deserve the attention we’d give it by bothering to take offense.

Christy’s first rule of not being offended: Don’t take a paper cut and turn it into a sword wound. 

I’ve learned that it is best to assume the best of people and have found that to be a good general policy in daily life (my attitude changes in dark alleys, mind you).

Christy’s second rule of not being offended: When you assume the best in someone and they disappoint you, it is a reflection on who they are. 

When you assume the worst of someone, regardless of how they behave, it is a reflection on who you are. 

Oh I know it can be hard starting out. Sometimes the drama of being offended is hard to resist, but resisting it has it’s own rewards so I decided to list a few of them

Christy’s Handy Dandy List of Reasons Not To be Offended:

I’m referring to myself in third person a lot today, but let’s just roll with it…

1. People can enjoy being around you. Being friends with an easily offended person is exhausting. Truly. Here is an example from my teen years but there are just as many silly examples around us today, and I’m sure you can find a few in your own life: There was a precious person I knew in my younger days who was always upset over something, someone had always hurt her feelings. Eventually, each of her friends ended up taking turns being that one person who had to apologize and then try to make it up to her. It got ridiculous. My turn came when I referred to her boyfriend as “my friend” in front of her. She was heartbroken that I’d used the term “my” with regards to her boyfriend and paraded her personal agony around school for well over a week until the next opportunity for offense came up to take the heat off my transgression.

That was when I came up with Christy’s third rule of not being offended: “Folks who complain about always having their toes stepped on need to look at how far they are sticking their feet out” and decided to keep my feet as close to me as possible. This attitude has served me well for a couple of decades now.

My dear aunt reminded me of a great quote from Dolly Parton that goes well with this “Get down off the cross, honey. Somebody needs the wood.

2. Being easily offended is draining to you, too. Imagine being at peace. having a smile on your face and laying in the sunshine absorbing the warmth and happiness of life. Being offended is opposite of that

3. Being offended is a distraction that hinders the ability to appreciate and notice the good things in your life. It takes a lot of energy, focus, and effort to be offended. We may not want to see it that way, but being offended is an action and actions require energy to back them up. We can take that same energy and put it into being happy and looking for the good in situations. If you’re going to be using your energy to gain traction on a road, don’t you want it to be on a road that leads to a good place?

4. Being easily offended is the sign of a fool. Wow, impact statement! I thought of saying “is not the sign of a wise person” but decided to just quote Proverbs instead. Either way, your Mama didn’t raise no fool. Proverbs 12:16 

Disclaimer time (kinda like Hammer Time! only different): Now I’m not talking about someone infringing on your rights. I’m not talking about someone stepping over the line in a big way. I’m talking about the little things. The petty things that we should let slide right off of us but instead we choose to let them stick to us like lint to velcro. Velcro is a bristly, uncomfortable thing. Don’t be velcro.

Sometimes, people themselves are just offensive. A while back, I spent a day working with one of the most offensive human beings ever to be born on this planet. On every level that I can possibly imagine I had a justified, sanctified, right to be offended. I endured it, I got over it. Rather than being offended for myself I felt sorry for him and all that have to endure him while I no longer have to. I had a victory party after that day – and a few showers.

I have friends who, because of situations on their lives vs situations in the world, have more right than anyone I know to walk around being offended all day long. Rather than do that though, they bob along happily, almost dancing on top of the storm clouds of life – just because they’ve decided not to be offended.

I’m so grateful for the example of people like that.

It is to a man’s credit to be quick to listen, slow to offend, and slow to speak. (James 1:19)

There is something to be said for being an even keeled person with a heart that shows grace to others. You know those people, you just feel relaxed in their presence. You know you can’t accidentally offend them because they are not looking for offense. Instead, they assume the best in you. I’ve been around those people enough that I want to be one of those people.

I decided a few years back to stop being offended. Life is dramatic enough without me manufacturing more.

Slow to take offense. Quick to love.

That’s the stuff.

Alright, so eventually I have to talk about food so here’s the deal. Today I’m going to show you how to make dried beans without soaking them ahead of time and without having to pay any attention to them during the cooking process.

Because I’m too unorganized to remember to soak my beans most of the time and I prefer to be neglectful of food that I’m cooking whenever possible.

There are many virtues to dried beans. They are a great source of protein for meatless meals, they taste AWESOME, I grew up on them, and they are a much more budget friendly than canned ones but at the end of the day, sometimes you just need a big bowl of pintos and cornbread for supper. It’s good for the soul.

This method and recipe is not just for pintos though. You can use this with any type of dried bean you like: Pintos, navy beans, northern beans, black eyed peas, black beans, limas, etc. If it’s a dried bean, you can cook it this way. Just take your favorite bean and picture it in the photos of this recipe because it will work.

So lets get started.

You’ll need: Slow Cooker, beans, salt, pepper, water, and preferably a ham bone to season it with. Pepper is not pictured here and is optional. I use it but I don’t force it to have it’s picture taken when it’s not in the mood.

I’ve found a great resource for hambones in my local ham store. These come LOADED down with meat , really enough for a casserole or skillet meal, and ready to go. They give me very meaty and delicious beans and they cost $3.99.

Sort your beans and place them in a slow cooker with your ham.

By “sorting” I mean look through them a handful at a time and make sure there are no stones. This is just part of life with dried beans. Sometimes, while being harvested, stones hop up from the fields and the machines can’t tell them from the beans so we have to do that on this end.

Add in your salt (and pepper if using)

This quantity pictured is a measurement my grandmama refers to as “a good bit”.

Fill up with water, to about an inch from the top.

Cook on low 8 hours. You can cook them for longer than that if work keeps you away. I have cooked mine up to ten before, no worries. As long as you have a fairly new model slow cooker (I recommend one that has been purchased within the last five years) and enough water in there, it’ll be just fine.

I often cook these overnight and then turn the setting to warm during the day so I can have them for lunch and supper but they also work great to put on first thing in the morning for supper that evening.

When you remove your lid, poke at the ham a bit until it all falls off the bone, then stir it up in there – but throw the bone away because you probably don’t wanna eat that

Note: The color of the walls in my kitchen are “sweet buttered corn“, not “putrid peas mashed together with a lemon” as my camera and lighting portray it in these photos

DIG IN!

Pictured here are these beans topped with Pickled Onions and Mama’s Mexican Cornbread.

WHOOWEEE, What a meal!

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

Whenever anyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it.

~Rene Descartes

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/03/make-beans-without-soaking-and-live-without-being-offended.html/feed 114 http://www.southernplate.com/2013/03/roasted-pork-tenderloin-with-balsamic-reduction-super-easy.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/03/roasted-pork-tenderloin-with-balsamic-reduction-super-easy.html#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:52:39 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=22434

You’re looking at a photograph of our Sunday dinner from yesterday. This is an EASY PEASY meal to throw together but sure won’t taste like you took any shortcuts!. Roasted Pork Tenderloin with balsamic reduction, MeMe’s Mashed Potatoes, and a light and lovely Squash side dish. All of this was thrown together in about thirty minutes, counting prep and cooking time. Today I’m going to share the recipe for the pork tenderloin and balsamic reduction with you, the Mashed Potatoes recipe can be found by clicking here, and the squash dish can be found by clicking here.

But first, it’s Monday and I want to chat a bit

I have a lot of neat things in my kitchen. Vintage items I’ve picked up from time to time, family heirlooms, mason jars filled with dried beans and corn sitting on the counter rather than in the pantry because they’re just too pretty to put away, enough Pyrex for a museum, and even an obituary of Mr. Edward C. Upton, professionally framed and hanging at eye level directly across from the main entryway to the room.

Usually, when folks spy the obituary they ask if he was a relative. My reply is “No, I found that in an antique shop and figured that if I could live a life where folks would write an obituary like that about me, I’d really done something.” At this point their curiosity is piqued and they mosey over to read it, and then come back to me with a smile of understanding.

I happened upon the newspaper clipping of his Obituary in an antique shop during my college days and, being my mother’s daughter, paused to read it. The words written about this precious man warmed my heart so I bought it and paid to have it framed. It has hung in the kitchen of every place we’ve ever lived as a reminder to me that I need to be the kind of person I want to be today, instead of dreaming of the person I might become tomorrow.

Lest you think I’m trying to bring you down, I thought I’d share the obituary with you today in hopes that you’ll feel as inspired as I am by it. And I want to assure you that though this was written in another era, technology has changed but basic human makeup has not. People like this still exist and from what I know about the folks who read this site, you’re more than likely one of them.

Edmund C. Upton

E.C. Upton died at his home in Trenton township March 4th, after an illness of two months with a complication of diseases. He was born in Clark county, Ohio, and on January 28, 1908, he and his wife who survives him, celebrated their golden wedding. James C. Green, justice of the peace, married them in Trenton township and they lived on the same farm for fifty years.

They never had any children, but their marriage was a very happy one and they had hundreds of friends in this county. Mr. Upton was one of the finest men we have known, honest and upright, he didn’t know how to do wrong.

In politics he was a ____ and you always knew where to find him on the big questions of the party. He was on the side of right and justice.

He was not a rich man as his ambition was not to accumulate a lot of money which he could hoard. He always made a good living and owned a farm and enjoyed life. When he was doing something for a neighbor or a friend he was happiest. For years, he paid for four copies of the Free Press, three copies being sent to people who formerly lived in this county. He said that would have him writing letters, but we think he did it also because he enjoyed doing things for his friends.

The funeral was held Thursday at Green Mound which is located in the township in which he lived so long and where he had many, many friends who mourn the deth of a noble and good neighbor.

His wife who is not in good health will live with Mr. and Mrs. Jaco Beaber of this town. Her friends extend their sympathy in her hour of grief.

At the end of our lives, I doubt anyone’s obituary will read “He/She had a lot of facebook friends.” or “They updated their status religiously, our newsfeeds will never be the same.”

The world of new media can never replace the importance of a hug, a face to face conversation, being a person of honor, or being a friend to others.

Inspire someone today. Don’t wait for a stranger to write your obituary, make your life count for something now.

Now let’s make some food!  

You’ll need: boneless pork tenderloin (about 1 pound), coarse ground peppercorns, kosher salt, and a dried herb of your choice. I’m using basil – because I love Basil.

To decide which herb I want to use in a dish, I usually just open the lids and smell them to see what I’m in the mood for. I’m sure there are more complicated ways to do this, because there exist people whose only goal in life is to come up with complicated processes for pretty much everything, but my smell method has always served me well so I’ll just stick with that. Life is complicated enough.

For the Balsamic reduction, all you need is Balsamic vinegar and sugar.

First off, we need to make our reduction. I know that word sounds fancy but it’s not. All it means is that we’re going to cook this until it boils down to about half as much. If you don’t like Balsamic, this tenderloin is also delicious without it so feel free to skip these steps. I LOVE the gentle, yet sweet tang this gives it though. My husband, who is not a vinegar fan, also really enjoys this.

Pour balsamic vinegar into a saucepot and place over medium heat, stirring often.

Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until it’s cooked down to about half as much as you started out with, still sturring often.

This will take about ten minutes. During this time, prepare to have your sinuses cleaned out with the vapors!

Remove from heat and stir in sugar until dissolved. Set aside and let cool. I like to refrigerate mine to get it even thicker.

You can even make this the day before if you want.

Now that big old package I showed you at the start actually has two pork tenderloins in it.

I’m going to freeze one for later because one is plenty to feed my family.

To help keep our grocery budget in check, especially if we have a more expensive meat, I usually make plates in the kitchen, put one meat serving on each, and then load up on veggies.

Place your pork tenderloin on a greased baking sheet.

Sprinkle BOTH SIDES with cracked pepper, dried herb of your choice, and kosher salt.

You can just eyeball this but if I had to guess how much I used I’d say about a 1/2 tsp coarse pepper, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon dried herbs per side.

Bake this at 475 for 10 minutes.

Flip and bake 10-15 minutes more, or until no longer pink in the center. I stick a sharp knife down in the middle and open it up a little bit to have a peek.

Remove tenderloin from oven and allow it to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing. 

Drizzle pork slices with Balsamic Reduction just before serving.

I’ll be sharing the recipe for my squash and zucchini side dish later in the week!

 Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

“As you read my stories of long ago I hope you will remember that the things that are truly worthwhile and that will give you happiness are the same now as they were then. Courage and kindness, loyalty, truth, and helpfulness are always the same and always needed.”

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

Submitted by Jenny. Click here to submit your quote! 

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/03/roasted-pork-tenderloin-with-balsamic-reduction-super-easy.html/feed 57 http://www.southernplate.com/2013/02/canyon-casserole.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/02/canyon-casserole.html#comments Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:46:35 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=22317

Canyon Casserole, photo courtesy of Martha White

I don’t know what y’all had for supper last night but this easy to make casserole is what we had and I barely had to wash the dish when we were done because my brood scraped it clean! Usually, an 8×8 casserole is enough for the four of us, but I’m going to have to double this recipe next time because while my husband and son ate their fill at supper, they both asked me later in the evening if any was left.

I love suppers like that, don’t you? The beauty of this recipe is that it is pretty economical, a meal in one, and packed with a wonderful southwestern flavor. I want to thank my friends at Martha White for letting me share their recipe with you. This one came from their website originally (lots of fun recipes there!), but I’ve now adopted it into my personal recipe file.

While we’re talking about Martha White, how many of y’all are planning on coming to the National Cornbread Festival this year? I’m so excited to have been asked to be a judge again and plan on making it early this time so I have more time to walk around and enjoy all of the great festivities! Food, crafts, fun, and more. This is a big old hometown festival done right and it’s definitely worth the trip! I do hope you’ll join me in South Pittsburg, Tennessee April 27-28, and come hungry!

You’ll need: Milk, Taco Seasoning, Vegetable oil (just a little bit), egg, Self Rising Cornmeal Mix, Diced tomatoes, whole kernel corn, ground beef, and some shredded cheddar cheese.

The cheddar cheese was shy and I hated to make it pose when it didn’t want to so just imagine it there.

Cook ground beef until well done then drain.

Stir in tomatoes in juice, drained corn, taco seasoning, and water.

Stir up really well and cook it over medium high just until nice and bubbly.

 Grease an 8×8 baking dish. 

Pour meat filling into dish.

Mix up Self Rising Cornmeal, egg, milk, oil, and cheese. Stir until well blended.

Drop by spoonfuls over the top of meat mixture.

Bake at 400 for 30-35 minutes.

While this was in the oven, my teenage son came in the kitchen twice to declare

“Something smells good, when is that going to be done?”

“Is it done yet?”

Canyon Casserole

DIG IN!

This recipe has a few very minor adaptations. Original recipe may be found here. 

“The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I’m gonna be short on today’s post because I’m working on a massive pyrex post that I hope to have up tomorrow. Yesterday I had a lot of fun playing with pyrex for a photoshoot we had at my house and I had such great feedback on Facebook and Instagram (follow me and look at all of my photos by clicking here) that I feel the need to do a full post of how I organize and display my Pyrex, as well as more information on some of the patterns I have.

BUT I had to stop that for a bit so I can bring you this recipe, because we seem to have the same taste in food and I LOVE SKILLET LASAGNA – so you need this recipe. In fact, you need to cook it for supper soon. I’m jes sayin’…

Ooh, speaking of that phrase “I’m jes sayin’”, have you noticed how often it’s used in such ugly ways nowadays? Folks say something awful or mean and then follow with that like “Oh you can’t be mad at me, I was just saying…”. No honeybunchesofoats, I won’t have to be mad at you but if you like to go around sticking barbs in people for sport, I sure can delete you from my friend’s list. See quote at bottom of today’s post for a little more insight into this and don’t feel guilty for wanting people of kindness and grace in your circle of friends.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen…

I absolutely love Lasagna, but it has a few strikes against it. Even though my slow cooker lasagna is a dear favorite, it makes enough to feed an army and requires a little bit of planning ahead – and if you’re just not tuning in, there are two things that I’m not: organized or a planner.

This skillet lasagna is a new favorite of mine for several reasons. First of all, let me start by telling you that no matter what you think, it does not taste just like spaghetti. It tastes like skillet lasagna, and you need to make it soon because it is:

1. Easily made in about 20 minutes
2. Economical (stretches a 1/2 pound ground beef to feed 4 people)
3. All the flavors I love in Lasagna but in a perfect serving size for a smaller family.
4. Easily doubled (see recipe for notes on how I do that)

I love this so much that when my birthday rolled around a week or so ago, rather than going out to eat, I opted to stay home and make this dish instead. It’s just that good. Seriously.

I’m hungry so let’s get started:

 You’ll need: Italian seasoning, garlic powder, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, ground beef, onions, mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, and about 1/2 a package of egg noodles. 

The beauty of this recipe is that it feeds about four people with only 1/2 pound of ground beef, which is a real budget saver.

I say “about” because putting servings on a recipe is very relative. The first thought that comes to mind every single time anyone asks me how many a recipe feeds is “How hungry are you?“. If you have a casserole that some “say” feeds 6, but four are little kids, it may feed 8-10. Likewise, if you have a half starved lumberjack in the family, it may feed two .

In a large skillet over medium high heat, brown ground beef and onions until it’s no longer pink in the center, breaking it up into smaller pieces as you do so. Drain off any grease once it’s cooked.

Add in your water, tomato paste, tomatoes (with juice), Italian seasoning (Pronounced EYE-talian by my grandmother), and garlic powder.

Stir that up good and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about ten minutes – or until you get tired of simmering.

Either or works for me – I promise I’m not grading on how well you follow instructions.

Cook ‘em noodles!

Your package tells you how in case you need to know

Stir in your cooked egg noodles.

Interesting fact: You know when I do TV I’m not supposed to say “your” egg noodles or “your tomatoes”. I’m supposed to say “the” egg noodles and “The tomatoes”. Which is completely and utterly ridiculous (not that I have an opinion on it or anything) because at this point, if they don’t belong to you, you really shouldn’t be cooking with them. It is not often that I break into people’s homes and cook with ingredients I find in their pantries but I supposed tv folks are supposed to use general terminology in order to avoid make burglar chefs feel guilt or shame about their unfortunate but tasty habit.

The world is a crazy place and I’m just a swinging over it on my trapeze…

Stir your two cheeses together.

Drop that by spoonfuls onto the top of your skillet.

You don’t have to put it in the center like I did, you can just go crazy putting it all over if you want – or even make a smiley face out of cheese blops on the top!

Get creative but if you do anything really fun be sure and send me a picture

“The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people.”

~Colin Powell

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/02/skillet-lasagna.html/feed 71 http://www.southernplate.com/2012/10/banjo-pickers-the-sandwich-thatll-make-you-sing.html http://www.southernplate.com/2012/10/banjo-pickers-the-sandwich-thatll-make-you-sing.html#comments Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:04:54 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=20876

Are you on Pinterest? Follow me by clicking here. Leave your pinterest url in the comments on this post and I’ll follow you back!

I normally don’t care for sandwiches for supper because when we were little, sandwiches were what we had when we didn’t have anything “good” to eat. Sandwiches were a backup plan or a budget fall back. This is not one of those sandwiches. This is a hot, hearty, and flavorful sandwich that leaves you feeling as if you’d just ate A MEAL!

A little background on the Banjo Picker: There is this restaurant in Decatur, Alabama called “The Brick” that I hardly ever get to go to. It is a sandwich place in a brownstone building downtown and everything they serve is wonderful. My favorite sandwich on the menu is the “5 Finger Banjo Picker”. Since I don’t get to go there as often as I’d like (I’m doing good to make it out once a year!) I have to make my own version at home. While my Banjo Picker is a little different, it’s every bit as good to me and I know you’ll enjoy it as much as I do. So I hope you get to make this at home soon and next time you find yourself around Decatur, Alabama you can stop in at The Brick and compare!

Ooh, but before we get to how to make it, I wanna share a bit of my thought process today.

When we were little, my brother used to play on baseball teams a lot. So Mama would pack up me and my sister and the whole family would head out to the ball park where my sister and I would try to find someone to play with or risk having to pretend we were actually following the baseball game.

There was this thing that the boys on the opposing team did whenever someone went up to bat, they’d chant “Hey batter batter batter batter batter batter batter batter..” No, they weren’t requesting that someone mix up some muffins. Apparently this chant was to throw off the batter’s concentration in order to give them an advantage (If you have to throw off their concentration in order to win though, what is that saying about your playing abilities? Just a random thought from a backseat driver, I’ll shut up now).

I woke up this morning and was thinking of how many of us have something on the sidelines, chanting as we take our turn at bat. How many times we get distracted by petty things that nag, nag, nag, so distracted that we lose sight of our original goal.

On a grander scale, we may set out to change the world and be fully capable of doing that, but we get so caught up in swatting a honey bee that the sun sets and we missed the chance to give our orders to the assembled army. They’ve all gone home out of boredom, and we’re not a single step closer to our goal.

Why? Because we spent our day swatting at a honey bee.

Annoying, isn’t it?

There are so many batter chants in our life. Things that steal our focus, things that cause us to go tilting windmills instead of accomplishing what we’re meant to accomplish. Those little honeybees could be anything from ugly acting people to congested traffic.

I have a hundred petty things that call for my attention each morning. I’m not talking about laundry, dishes, or such. Those aren’t petty. I mean things like getting irritated over something someone else does or says, chasing after offenses or spending my time getting frustrated that I can’t make something work the way I want it to when there is another way that will work staring me right in the face. Crazy, huh?

I have to remind myself that my life is too short to dedicate it to trivial things like that.

A dear friend (hey Auntie!) pointed out to me recently that the Greek word for “offense” also means “bait” as in, to bait a trap to ensnare. So if you think about it, when we waste our time taking the bait of a honeybee or those folks in the outfield trying to throw us off, we’re allowing ourselves to be caught in it’s trap – and when we’re caught in a trap, we’re not doing what we need/want to do.

I know you’re gonna hear some chants today and probably have more than a few honeybees buzzing about your head but I challenge you to ignore them as you go up to bat. This is your time to hit it out of the park and you have limitless home runs within you

In the meantime, let’s make a sandwich.

You’ll need: Mayo, Swiss Cheese, Sauerkraut, Spicy Brown Mustard, Kielbasa, Hot sliced Banana Peppers, and a large loaf of French bread.

*You can use regular mustard in place of spicy brown. You can also use sliced jalapeños instead of the banana peppers. Really, you can do whatever you want because it’s your kitchen. All we are required to do is die and pay taxes, everything betwixt is kinda up to us.

 Cut your sausage into two inch segments and cut each segment in half lengthwise.

Place these in a large skillet over medium high heat and cook, turning as needed, until lightly browned on both sides.

Cut your loaf of bread down the middle and open it up on a baking sheet. Spread mayo on one side and spicy brown mustard on the other.

I go a little light on both but you can go heavy if you prefer. I’m not a big mayonnaise person.

Spread out five slices of swiss cheese over your loaf.

Place keilbasa slices over one half of the sandwich and on the other half put sauerkraut and pepper slices.

Place this in the oven, open faced,  at 350 for 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bread is toasted.

When you get it out of the oven, close the sandwich.

Cut into four sandwiches.

These are great served with kettle chips or a side bowl of white beans.

“I see the glass half full and thank God for what I have.”

― Ana Monnar

Thanks to Jackie for submitting this quote! You can add your favorite quotes to our collection or see others by clicking here.

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