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I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! We decided to hit the road and spend the extra few days with the Georgia Jordans and just got back in last night. The kids really enjoyed playing with cousins and grandparents and the hubs and I enjoyed sitting around visiting. Okay, so I might have gotten a wee little bit of shopping in, too, but the North Georgia Premium Outlets just say my name so sweetly that whenever I am near it is hard to refuse.

We left out on Friday around lunch and decided to take backroads in order to avoid the perpetual traffic jam just outside of Chattanooga. Note: We love everything about Chattanooga. It is one of THE most family friendly places on earth and we dearly love to visit there every chance we get. But seriously, there is almost always a traffic jam just outside of it. So you can either hang on to your bladders and hope you get through in an hour or so, or you can go through Mentone .

We had gone through Mentone a few months ago and discovered the cutest little place called the Wildflower Cafe. We actually passed it the first go around but turned around to go back and have lunch there. It was so good that we stopped again on this trip. If you are ever in Mentone and have any room at all for some good food in your stomach, go to the Wildflower. Order anything at all on the menu and you’ll be happy, but you simply must try the tomato pie. It is to die for. While we were sitting there I told hubs that if I ever had a restaurant, I’d want it to be just like this one, but with a little less descriptive naming on the menu. Don’t get me wrong, the menu is divine and very well written. I think I’d just got a bit more common sense and down to earth because that is more my style. If I had a restaurant (which I definitely do not have time for) my menu would read something like this:

• Filet Mignon- The way we cook this steak makes the cow’s death a more noble cause than anyone could have ever thought possible.
• Rolls – Just like grandma made and served hot enough that the butter will be half melted just by sitting on the same tray on the way to the table.
• Tea – Iced. Sweet. Good. Required with every meal.

As we headed out of Mentone on the little winding mountain road, our road trip bliss was interrupted with a very sudden WHOMP WHOMP WHOMP WHOMP. You got it folks, we have us a flat.

This is how our tire looked. When we get a flat, we don't halfway do it!

Thank goodness there was no one behind us as we pulled over to the side of the road. It was far too busy a road to be able to change the tire on but we were able to move into a nearby driveway and safely get started. I went up to the house in hopes of apologizing and explaining what had happened, and also to assure the owner that we’d be gone as soon as we possibly could. As I knocked I heard some noise inside but no one answered so I went back to the car to help change it. We both immediately got on our phones to look up where the jack was, how to get the tire down from under the car, etc. By the time he had the tire released I knew exactly where to safely insert the jack to raise up the car and we were off to the races. Isn’t internet a wonderful thing? (Our car didn’t come with an owner’s manual, but we have google)

About that time two teenage boys appeared from inside the house and stood staring at us from a distance so I smiled and approached them to explain what had happened. They leaned on their father’s tow truck (which I had previously viewed as a sign Ricky might have more help than me with the tire) and said “Yeah, thats what our dad said probably happened.” I apologized for us being in their driveway and they said “Well, good luck with the tire” and turned to disappear back into the house.

Looks like Ricky had me as his trusty assistant after all. That lucky dog…

It took us about 45 minutes to get the tire off and the spare on before we were on our way again but I couldn’t help but be grateful that Ricky’s head was just where mine was when I said “There is no telling what us having that flat tire just protected us from” he replied “Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing.”

Sure, it could have just been a flat tire. But it could have been the one thing keeping us off the road when an eighteen wheeler veered a little too far to the left..or when a deer ran across our path, or when someone who was dozing off turned onto the road without checking traffic beforehand.
True, it could have just been a flat tire but it could have just as easily been a small event orchestrated to protect us from a devastating event. Nothing wrong with being grateful..just in case

Oh, wanna see what it was we ran over? Here ya go…

Whooooweeee Dawgie! See what I mean about not halfway doing it?

Most folks would be content to run over a nail or screw or something. We had this entire thing embedded in the tire except for the last inch or so. Call us overachievers

Now let’s make some Italian Beef Sandwiches. These are SUPER easy and I took them to our tailgate last week. They stayed nice and warm in the slow cooker until everyone was ready to eat and we really enjoyed them. But they’d also make a great weeknight supper or game day meal at the house and leftovers heat up like a dream

You hungry yet? Lets get on in that kitchen and cook us up some grub!

I get bored taking ingredient photos in the same places all the time so today I took my ingredients into the living room. This is what my mantle looks like now. Okay, so I don’t really have a *real* fireplace but I’ve always wanted one so a few years back I saved up and we got an electric fireplace. It still puts out heat and has a beautiful fire look to it, but it’s not real. I’m cool with that though, I have a good imagination and someplace to hang the kid’s stockings on Christmas Eve .

I had it all decorated at one time and it was actually pretty, too, but time and kids tend to redecorate your house and that isn’t always a bad thing. Ours is much more colorful now . So here is my beef roast and can of beef gravy posing on my makeshift mantle with some painted picture frames, crayons, and a hello kitty hair barrette.

Woo, I’m feeling chatty today! Okay, I’ll try to actually get through this post now.

You’ll need: Beef Roast, can of beef gravy….AND

1-2 bottles of Zesty Italian Dressing.

You’re also going to need 1-2 Bell Peppers and 1 Onion.

Pretend you see those here. You’ll see them in a few pictures but they were kinda camera shy so I couldn’t really get a photo of them until I had cut them up and removed their will

I say “1-2″ bottles of dressing and “1-2 bell peppers” because it really depends on how much you like them and how much flavor you want from them. Me? I could drink a bottle of Italian dressing and eat every bell pepper you put in front of me. I only used one bottle in this but I sometimes add another half bottle or so just to up the zingy flavor.

Place your beef roast in a slow cooker (my favorite kitchen appliance!) and cover with can of beef gravy.

Put lid on and cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.

* Note that you are not using your Italian Dressing now. 

After it has cooked all day, remove the roast, drain off and discard all juices, shred the meat and return to the slow cooker.

Add in entire bottle of Zesty Italian Dressing and give it a good stir.

 Chop up your onion and bell pepper and place in a skillet over medium high heat to brown slightly, until your onions are caramelized and your bell pepper is tender. 

I don’t add anything to this but if your skillets tend to stick, you might want to add a tablespoon or so of cooking oil before adding in your veggies.

Now like I said, cook until that gets tender or do like me

and cook it until you get tired of fooling with them and want to get on with things.

Add them in with your beef and give it a good stir.

Place slow cooker on warm setting until ready to serve.

Serve on buns, topped with mozzarella cheese.

 Special thanks to my friend, Tammy, for modeling the sandwich for me! 

Add this recipe to ZipList!

Italian Beef Sandwiches

Ingredients

• Beef Roast (Pot roast, chuck roast, sirloin roast, top roast, etc. Whatever kind you have, just not eye of round)
• 1 can beef gravy
• 1 bottle Zesty Italian Dressing
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 1-2 bell peppers, chopped

Instructions

1. Place roast in slow cooker and pour can of beef gravy over. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.
2. Remove roast from slow cooker and discard juices. Shred meat and return to slow cooker. Pour bottle of dressing over meat and stir.
3. In large skillet, place onion and bell pepper. Sauté over medium high heat until tender. Stir into beef mixture.
4. Cover and place on warm until ready to serve. Serve on buns and top with mozzarella cheese.

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Great News! 

Another local business in my area has signed on to be a drop off point for our Nursing Home Project. Special thanks goes out to Suzanne’s Bakery and Eatery in Athens, Alabama. Anyone living in that area who would like to help can drop off bottles of Suave Bottle Wash at Suzanne’s and we’ll use them to help adopt more nursing homes this Christmas.

For more details on how the project works (and how you can do something similar in your neighborhood), please click here.

If you have time, head on over and become part of our Southern Plate Facebook Family and while you’re there, visit Suzanne’s on Facebook as well and tell her thanks for helping us out in such a big way!

I like to start each day with a positive or uplifting message on our Facebook page each morning – and I sure do hope you’ll join us over there if you haven’t already! Today’s message bears repeating so I’m adding it here, too!

‎”When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light. Give thanks for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. And if perchance you see no reason for giving thanks, rest assured the fault is in yourself.”
~Chief Tecumseh, Shawnee Indian Chief

If you haven’t been following me on the Southern Plate Family Facebook page you may be wondering why you haven’t heard from me in a few days. I have a good excuse, honest. I just got home from a little road trip to Savannah, Georgia, where I spent a day filming with Miss Paula Deen. I’ll be in an upcoming episode of her “Paula’s Best Dishes” show on the food network. We had a wonderful time together and I have to tell you, that is one hard working lady and as good hearted as the day is long. She actually left her house before we did to fly to New York and host the Today Show the next day!

I can’t post pictures until I have permission from the Food Network but I’ll be telling you more about my time filming and cooking with Miss Paula in an upcoming post.

Yesterday Susan Hatcher asked on Facebook: Help me out on bread dough. I bought some frozen from Kroger for the first time and don’t have a clue what to do with it.

Well boy howdee Susan, do I ever have a post for you! I have a lot of fun with frozen bread dough and post some of my favorite recipes using it on Southern Plate from time to time. I have tons more I’ll post over the next few years but today I wanted to bring you (and Susan) a compilation post of all of the great Frozen Bread Dough posts on Southern Plate so far.

This convenient wonder can help you turn out beautiful kitchen creations for dinner, dessert, and beyond in no time flat! Enjoy!

Stuffed Pizza Sticks

These are delicious as a snack or even a fun meal for your family! Customize them to your own family’s tastes.

Homemade Cinnabuns – The Easy Way!

You could pretty much control the world if you kept these babies coming, warm from the oven and slathered in cinnamon cream cheese icing.

Baked Sandwiches

Another easily customizable recipe with a gorgeous outcome!

Cinnamon Love Knots

Half dinner roll, half sweet cinnamon treat, these are one of my fun favorites to make with the kids.

Super Easy King Cake

Not in a Mardis Gras mood? Just ditch the sprinkles and you have a DELICIOUS cream cheese filled coffee cake ring.

I have many more recipes using frozen bread dough but these will get you off to a great start. Subscribe by email to never miss a single recipe and be sure and join us over on Facebook to keep up with day to day happenings. As soon as I have permission to post photos from my visit with Paula I’ll let ya know!

Stay tuned for the Air Date. You’ll know as soon as I do!

Gratefully,

Christy

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Submitted by Jenny (thanks, Jenny!). To submit your quote, please click here to visit our Give A Penny Page.

I’m glad I got y’all to keep me up to date on important dates and such because if it wasn’t for you, I’d miss half of the big food events in any given year. Today’s example is Vicky, who informed me that there was a big football game this weekend when she asked me what I was making for it. I made a few phone calls and lo and behold, found out that it’s the Super Bowl!

Now don’t get me wrong, I know exactly what the super bowl is. It’s that thing that happens that has all the neat commercials. The cool thing is that you don’t have to actually watch and wait on the commercial breaks nowadays because you can just get up the next morning, check out the ones getting the most buzz on the web, and go watch them on Youtube! I love technology.

So thanks to Vicky on Facebook, I’m going to be bringing you game day recipes all week long, beginning with these great Pulled Pork Sliders.

The makings of these pork sliders are what make them so good. Slow cooked Southern Style pulled pork bbq is made overnight in your slow cooker (and so very easy!). Then we make Jordan Rolls (don’t freak out if you have never made yeast rolls, you CAN do it and I show you how) and top them with a little vinegar slaw. To streamline the slaw, I bought the bag of pre-shredded cabbage (which had some pretty carrots in it for color) and just added in the rest of my ingredients.

The best part is that the recipes and step by step photos are already here on Southernplate.com.

Just visit the posts below and use that handy print button at the bottom of each to print out the recipe.

Slow Cooked Pulled Pork BBQ

Jordan Rolls

Vinegar Slaw

I’ll be back tomorrow with more great recipes you can whip up in a jif while you’re watching all those great commercials this weekend!

~grins and winks~

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What became of our Pork Slider Models?

One of the questions I get asked the most is from folks wanting to know what I do with all the food I cook here on SouthernPlate.com. Well thats the easy part, I feed people! Often times when you see a big spread it is from one of our Sunday dinners and already eaten and gone by the time I post it. Today I had these made by nine thirty this morning with plenty of fixin’s leftover to make more for our supper tonight. So I made a phone call to my husband first, who was too busy with work to come pick them up. My second phone call hit pay dirt when my dad answered and said he was near my house and on his way to an office of folks he works with. He swung by and picked them up to take to their new home

Here they are, about to get packed up for their new home…

So somebody is getting a little snack courtesy of me, you, Southern Plate, and Vicky reminding me that the Super Bowl is this weekend.

Today, instead of a quote I have a cute poem I found this past weekend. It’s just precious and brings a smile to my face every time I recite it.

If birds have little birds

and fish have little fishes

Why can’t sinks have little sinks

Instead of dirty dishes?

~giggle~

My friend, Jyl wrote a post on her blog about the Legend of Trail Trees. I’d never heard of these before and found the post fascinating! Click here if you’d like to read it. Her post is of special interest to those of us with Native American ancestry, boy scout roots, or dreams of someday being McGyver when we grow up Surprisingly, I actually fit all three of those criteria, but thats a story for another day…

Are you hot enough yet? Join me this week as I bring you an entire menu for the fourth of July that doesn’t require an oven or a grill! Subscribe by email so you don’t miss a post! Gratefully, Christy

There is no telling how many different kinds of slaw there are in the world but most of what I’ve seen during  my time is coleslaw and vinegar slaw. Today, in order for you to be able to make the BBQ sandwiches like I posted about yesterday, I’m bringing you the recipe for vinegar slaw, which is commonly served on top of pulled pork sandwiches in my neck of the woods.

This recipe is easy as pie but I’m gonna make it a little bit easier for ya. The original recipe is done in proportions but I’m giving you exact measurements in case you’ve never made it before, then you can work with proportions later once you get more comfortable with it.

One head of cabbage, vinegar, sugar. It’s that easy.

The best things in life are easy.

Now lets talk a minute about “rules”. Some folks will tell you that you should never serve pulled pork without slaw. Some folks will tell you that you should never serve pulled pork with slaw. Some folks will tell you that you should never serve bbq without red sauce and so on and so forth.

Here is my take on that. There are no rules in your kitchen except for those which you choose to make.

If you wanna make jello and call it creme brulee more power to ya. If you wanna call all your beef dishes chicken dishes, knock yourself out. When I come to your house and eat a big old plate full of beef roast I’ll just declare it the finest chicken I ever did taste!

Your kitchen = no rules.

Have fun with it.

Chop up your  cabbage.

Note: I’m only using half of my head of cabbage. That yields about four to five cups and that is plenty for me.

I chopped mine up in a food processor but you can use a sharp knife and chop it, shred it, whatever cranks your tractor. Remember, no rules.

Now add your vinegar

and your sugar

The ratio here is equal parts vinegar and sugar.

Give it a stir.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. This will make more liquid after a while and is better if you let it refrigerate for a few hours before serving it but if you need to eat it now go ahead. I’m not big on waiting myself. ~grins~

Serve on top of pulled pork (the recipe is here) or as a side dish if you like. No rules!

Add this recipe to ZipList!

Vinegar Slaw

Ingredients

• 4-1/2 to 5 Cups finely chopped or shredded cabbage (about half a head)
• 1 Cup white vinegar
• 1 Cup sugar

Instructions

1. Place cabbage in a bowl. Add in vinegar and sugar. Stir. Cover and place in refrigerator a few hours or overnight before serving. Will make more juice over time.
2. *The proportions for larger quantities are equal parts vinegar and sugar.

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To see the recipe for the pulled pork bbq pictured with the slaw, click here.

“Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.”

~Sam Keen

Submit your quote here (I need more quotes!)

Southern Plate is more than just me typing and chatting away. In fact, YOU are the most important part of SouthernPlate.com. With that in mind, I hope you’ll take time to leave a comment and share your favorite sandwich from your childhood. See bottom of this post for more details! Gratefully, Christy

When my mama was a girl they had a tradition of going out riding through the countryside on Sunday afternoons. They’d stop off at a little store to have thick slices of bologna cut off and made into bologna and cheese sandwiches. Pair that with a bottled drink and they were living high on the hog! “There just wasn’t anything like getting to ride in that car and look out the window while you ate a bologna sandwich!”.

This treat was passed down to my generation when we often sat down for lunch with a big loaf of bread and a stack of cheese slices in the middle of the table while Mama fried up bologna in a skillet. We’d each make our own sandwich and I’d make mine just like my brother did: Fried bologna, cheese, and potato chips settled in between two pieces of “loaf bread”.

Bologna sandwiches, sometimes referred to as “the poor man’s steak”, are such a part of our culture, they’re even used to gauge a person’s character. On the day we got married, my husband’s best man, Jim, had driven in a ways and was planning on staying overnight before heading back. He stayed with my Grandmother, who lived across the road from what was to be our new home. It had been quite a day with the wedding and reception and that evening Grandmama and Jim went out on her porch to relax and look out over the river.

For supper, Grandmama made the two of them bologna sandwiches.

To Grandmama, Jim and my husband represented a new generation, with a huge divide between folks her age and them. Grandmama had grown up dirt poor and picking cotton all of her life and here was this young man newly graduated from college with an engineering degree whose experience with her world had been nothing more than glancing at the cotton as the car went by. Its sometimes a little intimidating for folks who come from such humble backgrounds in situations like this, but when Jim accepted that bologna sandwich, it spoke volumes to Grandmama about the type of person he was at heart. Even now whenever he is mentioned she always chimes, in,

“That Jim is just a real good boy, he sat out there on the porch and ate a bologna sandwich with me”.

To make the sandwich from my childhood you’ll need: Bread, cheese, mayo…

and potato chips

My brother taught me the wonders of a potato chip sandwich over thirty years ago.

I think it almost made up for him cutting the entire side of my hair off a few years later.

Now we have to fry out bologna. I always cut a slit halfway through to keep it from curling up into a bowl as it fries.

I prefer Zeigler bologna because it is made in Alabama. I try to buy as close to home as I can because last thing we want is to end up relying on a company halfway across the country for our food supplies. I think it’s best to support local suppliers to ensure that you have local suppliers. Zeigler’s has been around for over seventy five years. Their main plant is in Tuscaloosa and our own highly respected Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant was once an owner of the company as well.

Reminder to all: I am not into football but Alabamians take their football very seriously.

So whatever team you are for, GO THEM!

You don’t need to spray your pan or anything, just put your bologna in it and cook it on medium, turning after it browns on one side. Some folks like there is just barely heated but I actually like a wee bit of black on mine

Note to myself: You use the word “actually” too much, stop it. Now. Seriously.

~sighs~

Oh lawd, that’s some good eatin’!

I always smoosh it a bit to crunch the chips down some

Grandmama, I’m a real good girl because I still eat bologna sandwiches!

A few posts back we got into a comment discussion on strange sandwich combinations we grew up on. It was a fascinating comment section and we all really got a hoot out of reading it. I’d like to devote this comment section to those sandwiches. What did you grow up on? What brands do you insist on and why?

Mayonaise sandwich? Mustard sandwich? PB and banana? Tell us all about it! Also, why do you think Southerners eat such strange sandwich combinations-ketchup sandwich, anyone?

I think it is due to lack of food. When food was scarce, you could put something between two slices of bread, call it a sandwich and then it suddenly seemed like a meal. What do you think?

If there is anything else you wanna talk about in the comments section, feel free to do that, too.

See someone else’s comment you wanna reply to? Go right ahead!

I consider this to be my big old porch and we’re all just a standing around visiting with each other.

Y’all keep the conversation going and I’ll keep the tea glasses filled!

We’re all family here anyways.

“The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.”

Submitted by Rebecca Hall. To submit your quote or read more, please click here.

I just love getting new positive quotes so thank you in advance!

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2009/09/fried-bologna-other-southern-sandwiches.html/feed 452 http://www.southernplate.com/2009/07/low-sugar-ice-cream-grahamwiches-and-a-hamilton-beach-mixer-giveaway.html http://www.southernplate.com/2009/07/low-sugar-ice-cream-grahamwiches-and-a-hamilton-beach-mixer-giveaway.html#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:55:29 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=4217 Pin it

If you’re new to Southern Plate, WELCOME! You might want to check out my FAQ page and I’d love for you to subscribe by email if you’d like as well! I send out emails whenever I post a new recipe and occasional subscriber only goodies also. Either way, it’s GREAT to have you here! Gratefully, Christy

In this post, I’m going to show you how to make these delicious Grahamwiches with the only sugar being the scant amount present in the graham crackers. They are not only delicious but another great treat ready from your freezer anytime! They are also great to make with your kids! Before I do that though, I want to take a few moments to tell you why today is so special.

Ten years ago today, I became a mother. July 6, 1999, my little Bradybug came into this world and it will truly never be the same.  I had wanted to be a mother all of my life, for as long as I could remember. I had dreamed of it, having visions of being every ounce the kind of mother that mine was. Motherhood had always seemed to come naturally to her. She knew just how to nurture us, talk to us, care for us, and make every single day special. I just knew that, having always been the spitting image of her in everything else, motherhood would be no different.

I took parenting classes, childbirth classes, infant cpr, and several early childhood education classes in college. I had taught preschool and babysat more hours than I could count. I felt certain that I was ready.

One of the funny things about parenthood is how it seems to take delight in knocking us flat on our rears when we think we’re at the top of our game. If nothing else, Parenthood requires a sense of humor.

Around day two in the hospital, I realized that I had no idea what I was doing. Not just minor insecurities, mind you, but full blown out “If the hospital finds out how unqualified I am for this, they’ll never let me take him home!”.

I remember that day so vividly. Brady needed changing and my first thought was “Well, I’ll wait til Mama gets back from the gift shop so she can help me”. Then I became indignant with myself. “Hmph, I’m his mother, I can do this.” Ten minutes later I had a pile of wipes a mile high. Brady was crying, I was crying, and we had our first ever conversation. “Brady baby, I’m sorry, but I’m the only mother you’ve got so you’ll just have to make do with me”. His response was to scream louder. Can’t say I blamed the little fella.

I watched the door nervously during my entire stay, just waiting on a nurse to come into the room and cluck her tongue before whisking my baby away to someone infinitely more qualified to raise him – one of those mothers who instinctively knew how to care for him, who could change a diaper in two wipes while humming and mentally constructing the perfect college fund.

The next year was a blur of colic, milestones, scrapbook pages, stage three lasagna splattered on the walls, and this incredibly amazing bundle of cuteness and energy who charmed and won everyone over in a single glance.

There was a bit of a learning curve but Brady was patient with me and I had lots of help learning the ropes.

By the time he is twenty, I feel confident I’ll know what I’m doing.

Has it really been ten years? Am I even old enough to have a ten year old child? (Y’all feel free to say “no” to that last question). Matchbox cars and dinosaurs have been replaced with the weather channel and science experiments. This kid is the only one in the house who knows how to set up a wi-fi connection and operate all DVD players, video game systems, and VCRs. He is brilliant, articulate, and an incredibly personable boy but the thing I am proudest of is his heart. My Brady is a very kindhearted person who, despite all of the material things he is blessed with, still places the highest value on people and small moments, sentiment and friends.

Maybe I got lucky or maybe I’m not so bad at this motherhood thing after all. My money is on luck.

Years ago, Brady and I were talking right before he fell asleep. We talked about taking a trip one day when he grew up and where we’d go. Even then, I knew time was slipping away fast and I found myself longing for a little more time just between the two of us. We went over possibilities of things we could do together, what we’d like to see and where we’d like to go. Somewhere amidst all of that we came up with going somewhere in the desert and riding camels along with seeing pyramids (do they even have camels near pyramids? I suppose so.). We made our plans to go and mentally sent Katy on a two week cruise with her Daddy during our time away.

Now as I sit here, my little boy (who eats everything in the house and still manages to have ribs poking out through his skin) is standing in his rapidly growing body that is struggling to keep up with his overly large feet and playing Guitar Hero. I can steal a hug or kiss from time to time and even coax him into my lap if no one is looking but the moments are fleeting. He’s too busy growing and learning and experiencing every moment of his fast forward life.

But when things settle down in the evenings, sometimes he’ll curl up next to me and we’ll both whisper about our dreams of riding camels together in the desert and I know it means as much to him as it does to me, even if we never make it there. Even if we only go there in our minds during these stolen moments on quiet evenings – me and the ever growing spirit whose magical presence in this world turned me into a mother.

Thank you so much, Brady. I sure do love you.

~sighs and looks at the screen as the photos of grahamwiches come back into focus~

~~~~~~~~

Today’s recipe has nothing to do with Birthdays but my tangents seldom do have anything to do with the dish. Y’all are so lenient with me!

I love to have cool treats in the summer and I also love to have things in my freezer handy should unexpected guests drop by. This recipe is the kid’s version of Granny Jordan’s frozen cranberry banana salads on both counts. They are easy to make (of course) and the only sugar involved is the scant amount in the graham crackers and what is on the sprinkles (if you use sprinkles). I use nuts on mine or leave them plain, saving the sprinkle ones for the kidders. If you make these, you’ll end up with at least thirty. I quit after thirty and started passing out spoons for all of us to lick what was left in the bowl. ~smiles~

They taste just like ice cream sandwiches, but with a bit more flavor to them and a lot less guilt.

I don’t split hairs when it comes to calling a recipe low sugar or sugar free. In this recipe, I am using sugar free pudding mix and sugar free whipped topping, the only sugar I count is the small amount added to the graham crackers. I realize there is some natural sugar in the milk but I count sugar in my recipes as sugar added in so milk in its natural form is alright in my book as is fruit which is naturally sweet. If I tried to keep up with the FDA’s labeling practices with regards to sugar, my eyes would cross after day one.

Be sure you check at the end of this post for a listing of other recipes on Southern Plate for those of us watching our sugar. There are several!

You’ll need: Graham Crackers, whipped topping, milk,and a large box of instant pudding mix.

Scary that I have all name brand here, isn’t it? I’m kind of spooked by it myself.

You really need two or three boxes of graham crackers to make sure you have enough since I generally don’t use the broken ones for these. Broken ones are eaten immediately ~grins~. I do tend to get name brand at times when I need to make something like this because the generic ones tend to have a lot more broken crackers whenever I’ve gotten them in the past. I guess the more expensive ones get upgraded to first class during the shipping process.Those little snobs…

Lets get to making goodies!

Add your pudding mix to the milk, using the amounts called for on the package.

Mix that up for about two minutes, until well blended.

When your pudding is all mixed up, add whipped topping and mix again until well blended.

There we go, all whipped up! This will be smooth and creamy, the perfect “faux ice cream” for our grahamwiches!

This really is delicious and I hope you try it.

Make them with your kids or grandkids or save ‘em all for yourself, whatever cranks yer tractor.

I’ve been known to make these and keep them all to myself for a least a month before letting other folks know they exist.

Break graham crackers in half and place on a plate to get ready to make these.

This is just the amount I started out with, I ended up using about double this.

Put a dollop of cream on half of a cracker.

Top with another.

For the kids, I pour out some sprinkles on a plate and just gently press each side into them.

I love the crushed nuts on them for me. You get the whole salty, chocolaty, sweet thing goin’ on!

Plain is also delicious though!

You can smooth the sides with a butter knife or the back of a spoon if you like.

I put each one in a cheap little sandwich baggie and then place all of the baggies in the freezer until we need them.

They will be frozen in an hour or so. This is important to know because Katy kept coming to “check”on them.

With sugar free pudding, sugar free whipped topping, and naturally low in sugar Graham crackers, these are Grahamwiches for everyone!

Don’t sweat the petty stuff and don’t pet the sweaty stuff.

~Southern Plate Reader Lynn from GA. Fill me up!  Click here to leave your quote and make my day!

Happy Birthday Brady!

Brady and his traditional Birthday Biscuit!

Every person in my family gets a biscuit with a candle for breakfast, then phone calls pour in of folks singing to them!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great Recipes Modified For Folks With Sugar Issues:

*Read each post for how I modify them

Fresh Strawberryade

Chocolate Gravy

Homemade Banana Pudding

Southern Style Rice Pudding

Strawberry Punch Bowl Cake

Hot Apple Flautas

Bananaritas

Sweet Tea: Elixir Of The South

Depression Bread Pudding

Marshmallow Sweet Potatoes

THIS ORIGINAL POST INCLUDED A CONTEST THAT IS NOW CLOSED

CONGRATULATIONS TO LESLEY IN ALABAMA FOR WINNING!

This is not a dish you would have seen back in the day in my family. My Great Grandmother Lela never even knew how to make what we all call “loaf bread”. Having a hard life of working in the fields from the time she was old enough to pull a cotton sack, Lela, like so many other Southerners, considered food preparation to be a necessity in order to survive. Few took the time to work with yeast when biscuits were practical, portable, quick and affordable.

Grandmama said they always took biscuits to school for their lunch but she remembers being embarrassed to eat around the other children who had sandwiches made with loaf bread instead of stuffed biscuits. They never dreamed of asking for it from their Mama though, knowing how hard she already worked.

Four generations later, I’m every bit as practical as my Great Grandmother. Although I do enjoy making yeast breads from scratch when I have the time, when it comes to getting dinner on the table for a hungry family, I take an easier approach. That’s why I love this recipe.

Made with surprisingly affordable frozen bread dough, this is a throw together recipe which only requires time in terms of waiting for your dough to thaw and rise. I dreamed this up some years back and it was an instant hit. I encourage you to adapt this recipe to your own family, adding vegetables and spices that you enjoy in order to make it truly your own. My version is very simple (to please little ones who like it that way!) and is a great starting place for you. This sandwich is gorgeous when its baked and impressive when cut but when you taste how wonderful it is, you’ll be shaking your head at the ease of such a filling meal!

For my ingredients, I use three things: Cream of mushroom soup, ground beef, and a thawed loaf of frozen yeast bread.

Before you place your bread out to thaw, spray cooking spray on the plate so that it doesn’t stick to it.

If I were making this sandwich for me and not the picky eaters in my home, I’d cook my meat with some chopped onions and bell peppers . I have a few other suggestions at the bottom, too.

Let your bread thaw but not rise. Spray some waxed paper with cooking spray.

Place thawed loaf on sprayed waxed paper.

This bread dough is purchased in packages of two or three loaves in the freezer section of the grocery store. I often have a difficult (or nigh on impossible) time finding it at my Wal Mart and end up having to go elsewhere. Funny thing is, all of the other Wal Marts I venture into seem to carry it at all times, go figure!

If they do have it at your local Wally World, chances are that it isn’t at eye level. I always have to look way down at the back of the bottom shelf near the frozen biscuits and such. No idea why they make you work so hard for it but I have never once seen it in an easy to spot location.

You can buy any brand, really, but a popular one is Rhode’s. I found the frozen loaves I used for this at Publix and it was an off brand.

Honestly, I’ve never seen a bit of difference in quality from one to the other so just get whatever you can find.

In a bowl, combine cream of mushroom soup and ground beef.

If you like, you can use fat free cream of mushroom soup for this as well.

Really, you can use any type of cream soup also.

I cook large batches of ground beef all at once and package in zipper sealed bags to place in the freezer. This streamlines meal preparation considerably in addition to making the mess only once instead of twelve or more times.

I don’t weigh out my beef, I simply get a one cup measuring cup and measure one cup or two cups into a bag. It is easy to tell which bags hold more and when I am feeding a bit more I get a larger portion. When making many dishes with ground beef, my family doesn’t notice if I put less ground beef than what the recipe actually calls for. I have even put half of what was called for before, if I was running low.

Little money savin’ tip there for ya!

On  your greased surface, roll out your thawed loaf. This is gonna take a rolling pin and a little bit of muscle as the bonds in the bread dough will resist ya a bit. Just lean into it and roll for all you’re worth! There is no required size for this but I make mine about 17 inches by 14 inches.

Seriously though, just roll it til it looks right to you and don’t worry ’bout that!

Spoon ground beef mixture down center of loaf.

Fold sides over and pinch to seal. Do this with ends, too.

Transfer this to a greased baking sheet, seam side down. I lined mine with aluminum foil because I was in the mood for easier clean up. Sometimes we deserve to give ourselves a little breaky-break.

Y’all know I use generic Aluminum foil too, don’t you?

Spray a bit of cling wrap with cooking spray and cover your loaf to allow to rise.

You have to spray the cling wrap to prevent it from sticking to your bread as it rises. This needs to be kept in a warm place and allowed to rise anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours, until it is doubled in size. If your house is warmer, it might rise faster so just pay attention to the size of it.

Someone asked me in a comment a week or so ago if a certain brand of plastic wrap was needed for my recipes. Honestly, plastic wrap annoys me. It seems I can never just pull a sheet off the roll and have it NOT set into wadding up on itself. I haven’t the patience for it. With this in mind, I do tend to buy name brand plastic wrap. Now y’all don’t go thinking I’m getting all snobbish on ya, you know I’m cheap as they come on everything else!

I haven’t had time to post that in response to her comment, either. I tend to stay behind on comments with  my kidders and all but please know that I read and appreciate every blessed one of them!

Once it’s risen, brush a beaten egg over the top so it will come out gorgeous and golden after its baked.

Some bread recipes say to use an egg white but why go to the trouble of separating it?

Life is complicated enough on its own without our putting our two cents in.

Using a sharp knife, Cut several angled slits in the top of your loaf.

Sometimes I part them a bit with my knife, to, if my bread is sticking together a bit where I cut it.

Bake at 350 until golden, about thirty minutes.

Let sit for a few minutes and then cut into slices.

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

More quick & easy ground beef recipes your family will love:

Pizza Rolls

Not Your Average Joe, Sloppy Joes

Deep Dish Pizza

Perfect Man Food: One Skillet Chili Bake

Christy’s Crock Pot Chili

Hobo Packets

Crock Pot Salisbury Steaks

Taco Soup

Meatloaf: Making, Freezing, and Small Batch Options!

This is going to be a busy week for me with my husband out of town (all week), three Valentine’s parties to work on, lots of Southern Plate business and oh…I think my birthday is smack dab in the middle of there somewhere, too! I won’t have much time to respond to comments but please keep them coming! Your comments are the heartbeat of Southern Plate!

Gratefully,

Christy

I have so many things photographed and ready to bring you that my mind is reeling with what to do first! Today I decided to bring you a super quick and easy recipe to give us all a break during the rushed holiday season. Can you believe, after all you do, your family STILL expects supper every night? ~grins~

Even though the world won’t stop for us, we can at least streamline things a bit by serving these gorgeous sandwiches. My nine year old has fits over them and my husband just moans while he eats them, unable to put it down long enough to speak!

This is what I make when I just don’t feel like cooking (can you believe I sometimes don’t feel like cooking? Shocks even me!). You know what? I had these done from start to finish in TEN MINUTES!

You see, my son and husband think they will keel over and die if they ever have to eat a bell pepper. I think they were dropped on their heads as children, but I’m pretty sure I’ve said that before in previous posts .