Beans and Cornbread-Come Home to the South

Beans are high in fiber and low in fat. Also a good source of protein. I made a big pot of northern beans for dinner tonight. Lots of onion and garlic and pepper and bacon (you don't have to use the bacon, it's for flavor). They were delicious! Leftovers tomorrow. I made a 13 x 9 pan with baked cornbread and then I also made some fried. Both kinds are wonderful. I just buy the cornmeal mix and follow the directions for country cornbread. When I fry it I just fry it like pancakes. In fact, we tried it with syrup the last time I made it and it is actually really good. I even made a spice bundt cake for dessert. No frosting though. We haven't had a slice of that yet but I'm sure it's fantastic. I can remember going to Kentucky when I was a kid. The food was unbelievable. Breakfast would be waiting for you when you got up. I'm talking food, food and more food. There would be biscuits, gravy, sausage, bacon, ham, potatoes, eggs, and even dessert! And that's just breakfast. No wonder I always put on a little weight while visiting there, lol. Back then they would eat their biggest meal around 1pm. They called this dinner. Toward evening was supper. This is when they ate what we might eat for lunch. There would be just as much food, if not more, for dinner as there was for breakfast. Cornbread was always a part of this meal. Good old fashioned in the cast iron skillet cornbread. The best! Southern fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, gravy and always dessert. Memories are delicious! Happy eating and stay healthy!

What a good dinner we had!

Hello, Tonight we had BBQ ribs, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and biscuits. Everything turned out delicious. I used the country style ribs. Half with bone and half without. Parboil ribs for twenty minutes. Cover bottom of baking pan with bbq sauce. Place boiled ribs in pan and cover with sauce. Amount of sauce depends on how you like your ribs, so, by taste. Bake at 350 degrees for twenty minutes. My roommate had a can of Campbell's beef gravy and I must say that it was fantastic! The first time that I have had that. There was a time in my life when I cooked every day. I had a husband and a son and I was a housewife. Now I am divorced, my son is 32 with a son of his own, and my boyfriend and I live together. I love it! I cook when I want to, not because I have to. It makes cooking so much more fun. I have plans on beans and cornbread tomorrow. I have the beans (northern) soaking for the night. I have to run out in the morning to get cornmeal mix and milk. I'm going to fry up some cornbread. The way my gramma taught me. yummy! I have a problem with wanting something sweet in the evening. I try not to be too bad so what I am going to do is mix some peanut butter with some honey and spread it on pumpernickel bread. It kills the sweet tooth and it isn't too unhealthy. Just don't eat a whole loaf of bread and you will be fine, LOL. I love food!! I just want to say that I am a person that doesn't like salt much. Only on certain things. So, when you eat my cooking you usually need to add salt. Although, no one complains about my cooking:)

Time For Ice Cream

I just love when the weather starts getting warmer and it's ice cream season again. There is nothing like a bowl of ice cream at the end of a hot day. I see nothing wrong with eating ice cream on occassion. I love ice cream and I try to be careful about how often I eat it. I can eat it all year long but, my significant other can not. That makes me like summer even more because I have someone to enjoy it with. What I do is I keep track of when I am buying, let's say, a gallon of ice cream. If I purchase it within the first week of the month, it will last me to very near the end of that month. I try not to eat it every day, I spread it out so it is more of a treat. Then when that gallon is gone I wait at least two weeks before I buy more. Believe me, I could eat it every day of the week. Moderation is the key. I didn't eat much ice cream at all this past winter. I started buying the big tub of vanilla yogurt (personally, I like Dannon), frozen sliced strawberries (no sugar added) by Dole, and frozen blueberries also by Dole. Thaw out the fruit and add it to the yogurt. (not all at once, one bowl at a time) This is absolutely delicious and can take the place of ice cream (especially in the winter). I encourage you to try other varieties too. I get stuck with one thing that I love and have a hard time changing, LOL. I welcome any other cool desserts for summer. Thank you

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow, I can't believe it is May 21st already. So much to do and too little time. This is how I feel sometimes. I have been working on a few things so that I can get some income flowing. I'm sure quite a few of you know the feeling. I haven't forgotten about the photos, I just haven't had the time yet. On top of everything else, I had to have four teeth pulled yesterday, two of them surgically. I can not believe how expensive a dentist is. It is highway robbery! If you are looking for a way to earn an income online the following link should help. They have many jobs and business opportunities that you can look through. You can rate them and they also have a forum. It's quite a nice site. Here is the link: http://www.wahcheck.com/ The jobs and business opportunities are listed in categories which makes it easier to search for what you are looking for. I want to share this poem with you:

And God Said "No" I asked God to take away my pride.And God said "No".He said it was not for him to take away,but for me to give it up. I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.And God said "No".He said his spirit was whole, his body was only temporary. I asked God to grant me patience.And God said "No".He said patience is a by-product of tribulations.It isn't granted, it is earned. I asked God to give me happiness.And God said "No".He said he gives me blessings, happiness is up to me. I asked God to spare me pain.And God said "No".He said suffering draws you apartfrom worldly cares and brings you closer to me. I asked God to make my spirit grow.And God said "No".He said I must grow on my own.But he will prune me to make me fruitful.I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.And God said "No".He said I will give you life, that you may enjoy all things. I asked God to help me LOVE others,as much as he loves me.And God said, Ah, finally you have the idea. ~ Claudia Weisz ~

I thought it was a beautiful poem. I hope that you enjoyed it.

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

All My Life I Struggled With My Weight

When I was growing up my parents didn’t have money for “extras”. I have three brothers and two sisters, so, I imagine that it wasn’t easy for them. I can remember that if we did go out to eat somewhere, it was a small vanilla cone (DQ) or a hamburger and fry (White Castle). We may have gotten two burgers I can’t recall that detail. The point that I am trying to make is that I always ate the same as my siblings, but around the age of six I started getting chubby. Out of six of us I was the only one. There are people out there in this world that are overweight that cannot help it. I believe that it is in our genes. I like to call them “fat genes”. I definitely have them. I have accepted the fact that I will always be a little on the chunky side. I got married at the age of 18 and weighed around 150 pounds. Seventeen years later my bliss came to an end and I weighed approximately 340 pounds. All those years in a bad marriage food had become my best friend. I don’t think that I realized how bad I had let myself get. It was like my eyes were opened after the split up. I knew that I had to do something. I knew that I had to change my life style. Not only had I let myself get huge, but I had absolutely no self esteem. All my life I had struggled with my weight. I tried many different diet plans without success. I wasn’t going to pay for someone to tell me what I already knew like I had done in the past. So, what I did was take all the information that I had required over the years and started applying it my way. I started watching my fat and cholesterol first. I wouldn’t go back for seconds any more and I didn’t eat fast food for the first six months. Monday through Friday was my work week at that time, so, on my days off I would cheat a little. I might have that candy bar that I was craving or that pizza. And I would eat 2-4 slices instead of 6-8. This was the first time I tried doing this. I had always denied myself when dieting. I learned that I cannot deny myself completely. I would be setting myself up for a total splurge and probably blow the whole thing. We all know that you have to get some kind of exercise. If you see an ad that says lose weight without exercise, look the other way. There is just no way around it. What I did was go out dancing on the weekends and just moved around as much as I could. Then I quit going out to clubs and so I started walking. I tried to walk an hour a day, five days a week. I didn’t say it was easy now. This is one of the hardest parts for me. After about six years I was down to 180 pounds. I felt better than I had in years and I could actually walk! One day I was walking into the grocery store and it hit me that when I was really big I wasn’t actually walking. I would more like waddle I guess. Present Time I lost my job almost a year ago and, because of how the job market is at the present time, I decided to make money on the internet just like so many others. Anyone who works on the internet, especially newbies like I was, knows all the time that it takes. I am still quite knew and learning new things every day. I spend almost every waking moment on my PC. I went through a pretty bad time of depression through the winter. We had a lot of snow this year and not much sunshine. I haven’t went out much and I have gained about 20 pounds. Now that the weather is getting warm I am starting my walking again. I did go one day all ready. I realize that I have to get with it again now that spring is here. I know that I can do it. Plus I have my first grandchild who will be one on the 23rd and lives down the street. I will be taking him for walks most definitely. Have a blessed day!