October 10, 2010

Good Afternoon Yall !

I hope everyone is having a great weekend and enjoying this beautiful weather we are having! This entire weekend has been gorgeous, we are so blessed!  Speaking of the weather, we went to Chad and Misty's wedding yesterday and we knew it would be held outside and figured it would be so hot, because the news said it would be about 93 degrees at 5 p.m. which was the time of the wedding.  Well, the Lord blessed us with wonderful cool weather and it was nowhere near the 93 mark, thank goodness.  It was beautiful all evening.  The wedding was so nice and so, so sweet!  They had the wedding ceremony in the pasture at Chad's parents house, then the reception was in a different pasture.  Yep !  A pasture !  Ya gotta love us country redneck folks...LOL.  I think the only one really sweating yesterday was Chad and he was sweating bullets he was so nervous.  The bride was beautiful and looked gorgeous walking over the top of the hill to join her groom for the ceremony.  They had some good BBQ with all the trimmings and the wedding cake was chocolate with chocolate and pecan frosting...YUMMY !  It wasn't long and they cranked up the music and people were dancing in the dirt and grass, dodging the holes in the ground and the kids were having a ball playing.  It was a very casual wedding and everyone had a good time.  But needless to say by the time we got home we were beat !

We went to church this morning and our preacher was getting after it today!  We always enjoy seeing everyone at church, they are all super nice people.  As soon as we got home I started our lunch/supper, whatever you want to call it because we have no set time to eat around here.  While doing my grocery shopping this week, I found out they had Pork Sirloin Pork Chops on sale and they looked so good, I couldn't pass them up.  So today for lunch I made Smothered Pork Chops with brown gravy and onions, Baked Potato Casserole and Seasoned Green Beans.  It really turned out pretty tasty if I say so myself...LOL.  My hubby loves Pork Chops anyway, but he especially likes them when I smother them in gravy and onions.  They were so tender you could cut them with your fork, no need for a knife.  The Baked Potato Casserole is one of our very favorites too.  I made that casserole a lot when my kids were growing up and my oldest son, David always loved it saying he liked it better than regular baked potatoes.  Well...he wasn't fooling me !  He liked it better than regular baked potatoes because he didn't have to fool with putting all the goodies on the potato, it was already there all in one dish!  Besides that, you know how it is when you put everything on a baked potato, by the time you get it all together your potato is usually cold.  And I hate cold food !  If it is supposed to be hot, I want it hot and if it is supposed to be cold I want it cold!  I think I'm that way because subconsciously I thought when my kids were babies and I never got to eat a hot meal, one day I was going to be able to eat a hot meal !  When I make my Baked Potato Casserole, I make it just like I would if I was putting a single baked potato together, butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon and green onions.  I call it a Baked Potato Casserole, but actually the potatoes aren't baked at all.  I cut my potatoes up, skins left on, cover with water and cook until tender.  I drain them, then add all the goodies and pour it all into a casserole dish that I spray with Pam.  Bake it until it is all good and bubbly, then top it with more cheese and return it to the oven long enough to melt the cheese.  It really is good that way.  Now, as far as my green beans, I do believe my daughter Missy could eat her weight in those things !  Of course as thin as she is, it wouldn't take much to be her weight...LOL.  Everyone really seems to like my green beans, so I just continue to fix them the same way all the time.  As they say....."if it ain't broke..don't fix it"!  A lot of people think I use "fresh" green beans, but I don't.  I use regular canned green beans.  But I cook them as if they were "fresh" beans. I first cut up bacon in small pieces and fry it until it is crisp.  I  drain the water off of the canned green beans, I hate that canned flavor they have if you leave it in the water it comes in.  I then cover the beans with fresh water, add the crisp bacon along with the drippings from the bacon.  Cut up an onion in small pieces and add it to the beans and bacon.  I then season it all with salt, pepper and a little sugar.  The sugar really takes away that "canned" flavor.  Just add the salt, pepper and sugar to your taste.  Then I cook the fire outta them ! LOL  When I say that, I mean that I cook the beans and seasonings long enough to make sure all the seasonings are cooked through and through and the onions are tender and transparent.  I've found out through the years if you cook, your canned green beans this way, they will taste much like fresh green beans do and dont' have that "canned" taste.  I know this is a lot of detail about cooking plain green beans, but it makes all the difference in the world in the taste of your beans if you cook them this way.  So, this was our meal for the day.  When I told Missy I had cooked green beans, she didn't care about the rest of the meal, just the beans, she just had to come by and get her beans !  Of course she filled the plate with the other things, but she would have been happy with just the beans ! 

As I have said in my previous posts, it won't be long before the holidays will be here.  So, I would love for all of you to start thinking about what kind of holiday recipes you could share with the rest of us.  We always think of the sweets, candies, cookies, cakes etc. for the holidays, but let's not forget about those great casseroles and side dishes.  So let's all think about what we can share with each other, I'd love to see what yall have up your sleeves !  Also, if we all started making different types of goodies, we can put those goodie gift boxes together.  I always love getting those as gifts and I've never had anyone turn down one of my holiday goodie boxes either !  I'll be looking forward to hearing from Yall and collecting all your good recipes.  Again, I can't begin to tell all of you how much it means to me that you are taking the time to read this blog and all of your sweet comments about it too.  It sure makes it worthwhile for me when I start typing all of this.  Of course as many of you already know, my emails, messages, posts etc. tend to get quite lengthy sometimes...LOL.  But, that's just me, I like to talk ! LOL

I hope you all have a great week and I'm really looking forward to hearing from you !   Happy Eating, my friends !!

Muahhhhhhhhhhhh ♥

Below is :

Smothered Pork Chops, Baked Potato Casserole & Green Beans
Oh !! Don't forget your tall glass of Sweet Iced Tea !!