Cornbread And Soup

Today I stayed at home to do a few things around the house. I slept in this morning. I got up, let the dogs out, and decided on breakfast. I went with a leftover pancake, slathered with peanut butter and topped with Lingonberries. I also had half a gala apple. 

This was a nice breakfast. I used a slice of the apple to clean up my butter knife, which had warm gooey peanut butter all over it. 

I had to finish up my post for yesterday this morning. Just as I went to upload photos last night, I noticed my internet was down. I waited a while for it to come back, but it didn't. I finally decided to just go to bed and finish in the morning. Luckily it was back up this morning.

After I finished my post and did a little around the house (the usual, laundry, dishes, vacuuming), I had the other half of my gala apple. 

 I had a late lunch. There was leftover linguine noodles in the frig along with a little of the spaghetti sauce, so I decided of finish them off. 

I topped my linguine with some Parmesan cheese and a shake or two of red pepper flakes. 

I ate the last piece of chocolate cake from the freezer. It was a pretty big slice.  It was too much. I felt sort of sick from all the sugar. I didn't eat all the icing. That is the bad thing about layer cakes, you have icing on top, in the middle and all the way around and the thicker part tends to have more icing than cake. I think a sheet cake has a better icing to cake ratio.

I made cornbread for dinner. I tried a little different recipe, using the one on the bag of cornmeal mix. It called for 1 1/2 c. of mix &  1 cup of  AP flour.  It also called for 1/4 c. of sugar, but I just did 1 Tbsp. and they also used 2 eggs instead of one, of course, I've always used 2 eggs, even in the ones that just call for one. The batter was thicker and I think I prefer my soft cornbread recipe.

I'd thought about having a grilled cheese sandwich with my potato soup, but decided to go with the cornbread. I like yellow cornbread. I did sprinkled some shredded cheese into my soup.

I was really craving the cornbread. I crumbled it into my soup. It was really good, better than I expected. I think maybe I should have been doing this all along.  DH just like his cornbread in milk. He doesn't want is contaminated with soup or chili. He also doesn't want onion, corn, sugar, or any other add-ins. He didn't noticed the tablespoon in this version. I didn't really notice it either. How do you like your cornbread?

I had a few jelly belly beans after my soup. My favorite flavors are juicy pear and buttered popcorn. There's also a bright red one I like. I think it's apple or something. I'm not sure. It sort of sour. What's your favorite flavor? 

Well that's it. I'm sleeping in again tomorrow, but I'll be seeing my girls later in the day. Have a great night/day!!!

Corny Cornbread Muffins

This is a recipe I put together. I halved my cornbread recipe, added corn, onion, green pepper, and a little sugar for a not too sweet corn muffin or cornbread. I made them in my Xpress Redi To Go. BTW I don't use the timer on top because the plastic knob melted and stripped once it got hot. Not a good place to put a plastic knob, right? Luckily the cooking part wasn't effected.

Ingredients

1 cup of corn bread mix

1 tsp. sugar 

1/2 cup of milk

1 egg

1/8 cup of oil

2 Tbsp. chopped onion*

1 Tbsp. chopped green pepper*

1/3 cup of frozen corn

Directions

In a small mixing bowl combine dry ingredients, then wet ingredients, and add veggies. I'm not sure about the baking time for muffins, but these took about 15 minutes in the Redi Set Go. I used 1/4 cup of batter for eat one. They baked for 10 minutes on one side and then I flipped them to brown the other side and let them bake another 5 minutes.

*The measurements for the onion and pepper are approximate. You could use a little more or less if needed.

This made 6 half circles in the Redi Set Go. I will update this recipe when I make them as muffins or corn bread.

Feelin' Fruity

Getting up just a tad bit early this morning seems to have thrown me off my schedule, more time for me to get sidetracked, so I'll be working quickly.

Yesterday I decided to have a fruit & yogurt cereal bowl with vanilla yogurt, ground flax, Special K cinnamon pecan flakes, cheerios, strawberries and pecans.  

 

Scrumdillyicious I tell you.

 

For lunch I had a black bean pineapple quesadilla. I did it a little different this time. I just sprinkled everything onto the tortilla, plus a few extras. This one got a little spinach and tomato as well. I just sprinkled it with the taco seasoning. I don't think it got quite as much, but it was plenty tasty.

 

Just a little messy, but I always say, "The messier it is, the better it tastes."

 

Taco sauce on top is the best. Super yummy.

 

I had good food all day. Dessert was simple and delicious, just a cup of vanilla instant pudding and a nectarine.

 

 

Dinner was no exception. The fruit in this dish was just a little tomato, but whether or not you consider tomato a fruit, it was still good food. I didn't make the chili entirely, but I did make the cornbread.

 

For the chili, I just opened a can of chili beans, no meat of course. I added some tomato, red bell pepper and onion, plus a little water. The canned chili was just a little thicker than I prefer, hence the water. I cooked the tomato, pepper, and onion a little, then added the chili and water to the pot. I let it all simmer while I made the cornbread.

A little cheddar sprinkled on top, a slice of cornbread on the side, and I was good to go.

 

This wasn't my soft cornbread. This was my two egg cornbread, made according to the directions on the cornmeal mix, except using 2 eggs instead of one. I do use the same directions for mixing it up as I do for the soft cornbread though. It makes for a crispy crust which is the best part.

The End

Cornbread And Pinto Beans

I seem to be falling into old habits, staying up too late, only this time, I'm still getting up early, then napping through the day. I don't get a lot done that way.

I had a blueberry muffin and an apple for breakfast yesterday. I thought that might be better than 2 muffins. I mixed up a little honey and butter to spread on this one.

I made a pan of cornbread for lunch. I realized I had cornbread mix that needed to be used. I use mix, but I don't use the mix recipe. I always use 2 eggs instead of 1 plus some chopped onion or about a tsp. of onion powder. I also heat the oil in my iron skillet in the oven and then pour the hot oil into my cornbread batter, stir it quickly and pour it into the hot skillet to return to the oven. The cornbread bakes up quickly in about 20 minutes and has the best crust on the bottom; brown & crispy. It's my favorite part.

 

I also have a designated cornbread skillet, which is only used for cornbread; no cornbread sticking to the pan.

Yummy yellow cornbread. I normally make my soft cornbread recipe, but I needed to use up the cornbread mix. Lucas prefers the soft cornbread, but I will take it either way.

I had my cornbread with a bowl of pinto beans. Since I am the only one who will eat the beans, I just use the canned variety. We ate a lot of pinto beans when the kids wear small and now I am the only one who will still eat them. They also ate a lot of hot dogs, but the kids still eat them, Dale doesn't. The same goes for chicken, of course the chicken was a treat for them back then.

I don't eat beans as often as we use to, but I still get in the mood for them every now and then. I've never grown tired of cornbread.

I ate this for a snack. It's not really what I wanted, but it was in the freezer and nobody else would eat it. I wanted something cold and sweet. This was too sweet, two cookies with ice cream. I should have just eaten half. I was nearly 400 calories for one. I am paying for it today. After stepping on the scales this morning, I see I should have not eaten it at all.

 

On top of having eaten the ice cream. Dale decided we would get something from Dominos. The guys got pizza, a Cali Chicken Bacon Ranch w/ no tomatoes, ick.

I got the Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich.

 

I did only eat half with a salad.

 

The sandwich was delicious with roasted red peppers, banana peppers, diced tomatoes, spinach, onions, feta, provolone and American cheese. The salad made with iceberg lettuce, cucumber, Roma tomato, red onion, sweet banana pepper, & zesty Italian dressing, went well with it. I saved the other half of the sandwich for later.

 I tried to make dinner healthier and less fattening, but that was as good as I could do. I will try to do better today. Happy Saturday! What's on the menu today at your house?

Out In The Garden

I've got another smoothie for ya. This is a fried apple smoothie, a little simpler than the apple crisp smoothie. It's made with canned fried apples or I you could fry your own, but canned is easier. It's also extra cinnamon-y and it's a smoother smoothie than one made with fresh apple.

 

 

What's in the glass

Luck's Canned Fried Apples

Vanilla Yogurt

Milk

Old Fashioned Oats

Ground Flax

Cinnamon

Vanilla Extract

Ice Cubes

It's cool, creamy and cinnamon-y delicious.

For lunch I had the rest of my leftover spinach feta salad. I added iceberg lettuce to make it a meal and a piece of broccoli cornbread. The sweetness of the cornbread goes really well with this salad. You can't see the other goodies, which kind of made it to the bottom, but there's also red onion, croutons, and imitation bacon bits.

 

I had a little of the chocolate delight for dessert. I was in the mood for chocolate today and this really hit the spot. It was nice having a cool meal and a cool dessert. I was a warm day, but better than the day before, not quite as humid and no evening thunderstorms.

I had dinner early. I've found that getting up earlier, I eat earlier and I can get my dinner plate photo with more natural light. I have terrible lighting in the kitchen. Windows are my friend, lol, and there isn't one in my kitchen.

 

I had my leftover pinto beans with Cajun Hickory Grill seasoning and wild rice with carrots & broccoli. There was also a little extra broccoli added to the rice.

 

We went down to the garden after dinner. I found a few veggies nearly ready for picking. I got a couple of white cucumbers that were not very big but ready for picking.

 

It won't be long until this green one will be ready.

 

I left this little sweet banana pepper too. I'm hoping it'll get just a little bigger. The dirt was still damp, but not muddy from the rain, perfect for weeding. The weeds pull right up out of the dirt, roots and all. So we did some weeding while we were there. I should have plenty of strawberries next year. The strawberry plants are spreading and starting to put on a second round of strawberries.

When we came in I finished off a piece of granny smith apple, I'd had in the fridge. I spread on a little peanut butter and drizzled it with honey. It was messy, but good.

I am sort of disappointed this week, because we won't be having Zumba class. The instructor was able to be there and couldn't find a replacement, but I am looking forward to next week. I have still been working with my weights, doing upper body exercises. I've slacked on the yoga before bed the last couple of nights. I've been reading an ebook, called Before I Sleep, by S.J. Watson. It's a mystery and so far it's pretty good. I also have guided meditation on my ipod, but I have a hard time lying still. I feel the need to move my hands or feet, but not as badly as when I first started. I think I would do better doing it during the day. Well, that's it, I guess. Happy Tuesday! 

Leave a comment. Let me know how you relax or do you?

Good Food Sunday

I'm up, not terribly excited about it, but here I am. It would be so nice to have my morning smoothie waiting for me. Yesterday I had something different, not totally different, it was a smoothie, but it was a Mandarin Orange Smoothie.

 

It was very cool and refreshing, a little thinner than most of my smoothies, but it was delicious and not too thin. I used all the usual ingredients, milk, yogurt, oats, vanilla, flax, ice and of course mandarin orange sections.

 

Now that I'm getting up early, my smoothie doesn't last until dinner at Mom's. so, I had a little snack mix to tide me over. It has peanuts, dried cranberries, & white chocolate chips.

For the meat eaters, there was chicken wings, with a few breast pieces thrown in. There was hot wing sauce and BBQ sauce to go with.

 

Also a big ol' beef roast made in the crock pot.

 

Cathy's famous "Stinky Feet Cheese Salad". Well that's our nickname for it. It's made with spinach, red onion, feta cheese, croûtons, imitation bacon bits, & a French type dressing, which is homemade. I don't know the actual name of the salad, which is one reason the nickname has stuck.

 

Broccoli Cornbread

Asparagus, which I found I like better this way than semi raw on the grill. Normally I am not a fan of grilled asparagus. It tastes slightly bitter to me.

 

Macaroni & Cheese

 

Au Gratin Potatoes

 

Peppers & Green Beans which were very good.

Green Beans, Potatoes, & Mushrooms

 

My plate with lots of green going on it. I had asparagus, green beans, salad, a little macaroni, & a small piece of broccoli cornbread.

It looks like a lot, but I wasn't stuffed and miserable afterwards. 

 

We had 2 desserts, but I didn't get a shot but of one. It was the Chocolate Delight. The other was a pineapple poke cake & we also had fresh pineapple, which I didn't get a shot of either.

 

I had some of the chocolate delight & a few pieces of the fresh pineapple later. I also had a cup of decaf which didn't make it into the camera. There seemed to be quite a bit going on, and I am easily distracted.

 

I did get a shot of Miss Mary having her dinner. She enjoyed the macaroni and the chocolate delight. Can you tell?

 

I brought home some of the salad, which I intended for lunch today, but I couldn't wait. I mixed it with some iceberg lettuce so that there'd be enough for both.

Love that feta!!

 

It was a super hot day. I stayed in the cool mostly and enjoyed the food and the babies. It ended with a big storm. It had mostly past when we left and was mainly just rain when we got home. It's nice and sunny again this morning though. It should be another hot steamy day. Have a good one!