Working on some exciting new recipes and content!  Until then, here is a super delicious must make meal perfect for cold months!

Here in the South, at least in Mississippi, there is not a place you can go to for a quick lunch that does not offer 'beef tips and gravy'.  Usually served with rice, sometimes it is sided with mashed potatoes. It is one of those dishes that working men love because hey, it's meat and potatoes and it is very filling.

It is a simple meal...no frou-frou ingredients...just meat, gravy and some onions/bell peppers. Season it just right, and this simple, traditional meal is so good.

My family loves it, but then again, we love mostly anything that comes paired with gravy. We are gravy addicts....at least I am and being that mama is, the kids happen to be too.

This meal is perfect after a long day's work or on a cool night.  I served mine with honey roasted carrots with bacon, but any green side will do just fine or a nice simple side salad.



You will need

Beef stew meat ( I used a large family pack for my family of 5)
1/2 large onion (sliced)
1/2 green bell pepper (sliced)
3 tbsp Worchestershire Sauce
1 tbsp pepper
3 tsp salt

(you can add more salt and pepper to taste. I like my food nicely seasoned, so sometimes I use a bit more. Don't be afraid to taste and add more if you need to)

In large pot of water, bring meat to a boil. Add in a tablespoon of salt to the boiling water and meat. reduce to medium heat and cook for about 40 minutes to an hour. This helps tenderize the meat.

Drain water and place meat in a skillet with onions and peppers. Add in your Worchestershire sauce  and seasoning. Stir well. Cook on medium heat until peppers and onions are softened.

Brown Gravy
1/4 cup unsalted butter or vegetable oil
1/4 cup flour
1/2  teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups water
4 teaspoons beef bouillon cubes (crushed)

In skillet, add in your butter or oil, cook on high heat. Once it starts to heat up, immediately add your flour, sprinkling around the entire skillet.  Stir quickly and consistently. The flour will start to brown.  Add in your water (still stirring so it does not burn)  and once it starts to bubble, reduce heat to low.  Add in your crushed bouillon cubes and stir until dissolved. Add in your salt and pepper, stir again until smooth and turn off heat.

Pour your gravy over your beef and stir. Serve hot.

*You can also add in sliced onion before you add the flour...cook them for a minute or so in the hot oil and then follow the rest of the steps. 

When it comes to dinner, I try to make things that are not only tasty but things that use fresh ingredients.  I love making salads for my kids to encourage them to eat healthy and to always try fresh foods. One kid eats his salads with no dressing, he just loves the greens.

This simple, assembly only required salad is perfect for those holiday gatherings. The cranberries, apples, pecans and raisins add the perfect touch of fall.



I like that he enjoys a good salad and I like that my other children, now all in their teens, do not turn their noses up to a bowl full of fresh veggies and leaves. For this dinner, my daughter asked for a rainbow salad. She asked for these ingredients so of course, mama complies. This salad was the perfect introduction to the creamy bacon-y goodness that was our chicken and spinach pasta. Oh lawd, this was good. The sauce is simple and only takes minutes to make.



Pasta
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Salt to taste
1 bag fresh spinach
2 diced garlic cloves
8 strips of bacon (cooked, drained and chopped)
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
Cooked noodles of your choice
Parmesan for garnish

In skillet, heat butter on medium until melted. Add in diced garlic.  Season chicken with salt and pepper to your liking and place in skillet. Cook for about 5 minutes each side, then cover skillet and cook for about five more minute. Flip chicken over and continue to cook until it is not pink in center or rubbery. 

Once chicken is done, remove from heat and place on cutting board. Cut chicken into strips, cubes or leave whole as I did.

Pour in heavy whipping cream, add cheese, black pepper and chopped bacon. Stir well so that it does not stick. Add in chicken and then fresh spinach, stirring to mix well. Reduce heat to medium low and cover.

Cook on low for about five minutes until spinach is wilted and cooked. Stir well and leave on low heat until ready to serve. 

Add in salt to taste after cooking because the bacon adds in a bit of saltiness. 

Serve over pasta or pour over pasta and mix.




Rainbow Salad
Golden raisins
Chopped pecans
Diced sandwich meat of your choice
Shredded sharp cheddar/colby cheese
Cubed Granny Smith apples
Dried Cranberries
Shredded Carrots
Lettuce of your choice

Clean lettuce and place in your serving dish. Arrange your ingredients as I did or toss together!

Nothing says fall quite like hearty soups, stews, chili and of course, chicken and dumplings.

With the orange and golden leaves blanketing the ground, we are slowly welcoming cooler weather here in the South. I can't say that it has been cold, but we have been enjoying a slightly less sticky and warm day with a slightly cooler night.

When the weather starts changing, I live for soups and hearty meals that will warm the kids and fill them up.

Despite it not being as cool as I wanted it to be, last night we enjoyed a great dinner of Chicken and dumplings. Usually I always pair it with cornbread but we switched it up to a nice thick french loaf for dipping into the creamy soup.

You can find the recipe for how I make my chicken and dumplings here. The only thing I did differently was add half a stick of butter into the soup once it was done cooking for a little fatty goodness.  Super easy, super tasty and does not take long at all. The hardest part....cleaning up the flour you got everywhere.

After running around all afternoon paying bills, it can be easy to come home and make something quick. Microwave this, microwave that. It can be easy but easy is not always was I want. I have found that when you take a deep breath after a long day, woosah and slow down, you can pull together a dinner in less than two hours of total prep/make time.

That happened today. I paid bills, came home, cut my potatoes, snipped my green beans, prepped my meatloaf and kneaded dough for biscuits. It was really not that much, although it seems like it can be. But when you cut out canned and microwavable goods in your household, you kind of have no choice.

Dinner tonight consisted of homemade mashed potatoes.

Partially peel and cut into one inch pieces 4 large potatoes. Clean and add to a pot of boiling water (or half water/half chicken broth....or add in one chicken bouillon cube to the pot). Boil until tender. Pour liquid into a heat proof container and begin mashing your potatoes, adding in liquid until you get the consistency you want. Pour in 1/4 milk or sour cream, mix well.



Lemon and Garlic Green Beans

Snip the ends of your cleaned green beans and place in skillet with 1/4 cup of butter and 1 smashed and chopped garlic clove. Add in 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of pepper and squeeze in one whole lemon. Cook on low until tender.



Buttermilk Gravy

In skillet on high, add in 1/4 cup of vegetable oil. Add in 3 tbsp of flour and stir. It will begin to bubble and brown. Quickly add in 1 cup of buttermilk and stir well. Add in one half of a chicken bouillon cube. Stir in 1/2 tsp of black pepper. Turn off heat. Smash down on any lumps and stir until smooth.  If too thick, slowly add water 1/4 cup at a time while stirring.



I will be back with a more detailed recipe of how I make my meatloaf. My 16 year old told me tonight, "Mama you need to stop cooking so much good food! I want more" Mission accomplished.

My children love good food. When they were younger, of course, I did the easy chicken nuggets, fish sticks and all that jazz, but for the most part, I introduced them to foods so that they would not be picky eaters. They have grown up in this Southern household eating southern staples as well as my somewhat exotic kitchen 'must-trys'.

While planning the weekly dinner menu, my daughter asked for squash casserole. I admit that I had never made it before, but I was  not going to disappoint her, so I called up the only woman who has ever gotten me to eat squash and enjoy it--my mom.

Her sqaush casserole is so good. It reminds me a bit of cornbread dressing. She uses cornbread in it and bacon pieces. Add in cheese and oh yeah---golden squash heaven.



My mom moved too fast for me to take step by step photos telling me "I'm cooking for my grandbabies, not for your camera". I had to laugh. In this house, we eat what is cooked and photographed for this blog. Nothing gets posted that we do not eat. That means I usually end up photographing my actual plate and if not my own, I better move pretty darn fast if I want to take a photo, because they simply will not wait and they don't want to eat cold food. Ha! They make me work fast for a photo.

Southern Squash Casserole

You will need:
4 cups cooked and crumbled cornbread
7 Yellow Squash
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 egg
2 tsp melted butter/margarine
1 or 1/2 cup of cooked bacon, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
1-2 tsp salt
1-2 tsp pepper

Rinse your squash and begin cutting into 1/2 inch slices. Discard the ends.  In a pot filled with water, bring to a boil, once boiling, reduce heat to low and cook for ten to fifteen more minutes.  This helps tenderize the squash. Drain the water.

In large bowl, add in all your ingredients except the squash, broth and egg. Add in your salt and pepper 1 tsp at a time, tasting to get it to your liking.  Add in the broth slowly until the mixture is of a creamy consistency. You may not use all of it. You want it creamy, not soupey.  Add in your egg and mix well. Then add in your squash. Pour into two round cake pans or one 11x7 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes until top is slightly crusted and golden brown.

We are preparing for a really cold day tomorrow so that has my mom in the kitchen preparing her homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner tonight. While we all bundle up and share our day over a bowl of soup, I thought it would be nice to share some other warm bowls of goodness that I have pinned on pinterest.

Make dinner a warm and soothing soup or stew night!