Monday, April 12, 2010
Hearty Bean Soup
I wanted to share a recipe that is near and dear to my heart. It is a very old recipe that is known as "bean dish" in my family. My mother got this recipe many years ago from one of her dearest friends. I have grown up eating this and I think it is simply delicious. It is very hearty and has a tart and sweet flavor. It is so easy to make and it makes a ton. This soup is definitely a meal by itself. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
5 Pieces of uncooked bacon
1 pound of extra lean ground beef
half an onion - chopped
1 can of pork-n-beans
1 can of green lima beans
1 can of butter beans
1 can of chili beans
1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup of corn syrup
1/4 cup of ketchup
1/4 cup of mustard
Directions:
Brown the beef and onion then drain and set aside. Cut the bacon into pieces and cook it in the same pot that you are going to cook the soup in. Drain most of the grease from the bacon, but leave about a tablespoon of it for flavor. Add the beef/onion mixture to the pot along with the remaining ingredients (don't drain the cans of beans). Let this simmer for 20 minutes. I usually add a little bit more mustard and vinegar to make it even more tart. Serves 6-8 large portions.
Hearty Bean Soup
Ingredients:
5 Pieces of uncooked bacon
1 pound of extra lean ground beef
half an onion - chopped
1 can of pork-n-beans
1 can of green lima beans
1 can of butter beans
1 can of chili beans
1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup of corn syrup
1/4 cup of ketchup
1/4 cup of mustard
Directions:
Brown the beef and onion then drain and set aside. Cut the bacon into pieces and cook it in the same pot that you are going to cook the soup in. Drain most of the grease from the bacon, but leave about a tablespoon of it for flavor. Add the beef/onion mixture to the pot along with the remaining ingredients (don't drain the cans of beans). Let this simmer for 20 minutes. I usually add a little bit more mustard and vinegar to make it even more tart. Serves 6-8 large portions.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Post Secret Monday
Here are my new Post Secret favorites this week. Sadly, I can relate to both of these...lol.
And a few oldies...
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Hey, Maki...You're so fine, you're so fine, you blow my mind!!!
My father loved sushi way before it was trendy. When he told me what it was, I was less than enthusiastic about trying it as a child. It took him years of endless begging before I finally agreed to take the leap into the unappetizing unknown. I think I was in high school when I tried it for the first time. I'm not sure what it actually consisted of, but I AM sure that I immidiately let my napkin have it. It was so horrible that I vowed to never try it again...ever. My father loves odd foods, so I don't doubt that he chose to give me the sketchiest (is that a word?) sushi out there. You know what I am talking about?! It is the sushi that even the most fanatical sushi lovers try once and claim they like but never order it again.
For years, it was easy for me to avoid the sushi-craze because my friends liked it, but they didn't LOVE it. All of that changed when I had Caleb. Suddenly, I was spending less time with my friends who didn't have kids and developing closer friendships with other moms. For some reason, that I have yet to figure out, moms are the biggest lovers of sushi. Thru these developing mommie friendships, I was catapulted into the scary world of sushi. Lets face it...sushi is terrifying for newbies. You have all these crazy foreign terms that are NEVER explained on a sushi menu. Sashimi, maki, nori, hamachi....it is enough to send any uneducated sushi patron running to the nearest TGIFridays. Even if I wanted to venture out of my comfort zone and try it again, how would I know what to order?! Doesn't anyone offer SUSHI-101 for those select few who somehow dodged the sushi-wave when it swept the nation in the 90's?! The only thing I really knew about sushi, I heard in an episode of Friends. Thanks to Ross, I learned that Unagi is NOT a state of mind, it is freshwater eel. That is where I was two years ago until Katy, Yak, and J-Kro entered my life. These girls LOVE them some sushi. It was sink or swim time. If I was going to be a part of their highly exclusive group, I had to develop a love for sushi and I needed to develop it yesterday. I downloaded the sushipedia app for my phone, I started doing some research, and I asked a TON of questions. They were so patient with me and I will always be eternally grateful for that. If I had been denied entry into this selective group due to my sushi-ignorance, I would have never forgiven myself. Katy started me off slowly with fully cooked sushi and I, just recently, graduated to the raw catagory. I actually like the raw better than the cooked. To my surprise, the raw sushi did not have a fishy taste which I originally thought. I now understand what the big fuss is about. Sushi is not an acquired taste...it is a little piece of heaven, naturally. I am upset that I wasted so many sushiless years. Now, I crave it all the time. To say that I love it, is an understatement on the grandest scale. I still have no idea what some of the words mean on the menu, but I haven't found a type of sushi yet that I don't like (save the trainwreck that my father made me try). I've come a long way, baby and I am not finished yet. So, bring on the Tako, the Maguro, the Fugu (ok, maybe not the Fugu...I'm not that adventurous yet) and plenty of Sake to wash it down. This mom is officially a Sushiholic.
Next step: Convincing my husband to try sushi...just once.
(image from Zhong Qiao)
For years, it was easy for me to avoid the sushi-craze because my friends liked it, but they didn't LOVE it. All of that changed when I had Caleb. Suddenly, I was spending less time with my friends who didn't have kids and developing closer friendships with other moms. For some reason, that I have yet to figure out, moms are the biggest lovers of sushi. Thru these developing mommie friendships, I was catapulted into the scary world of sushi. Lets face it...sushi is terrifying for newbies. You have all these crazy foreign terms that are NEVER explained on a sushi menu. Sashimi, maki, nori, hamachi....it is enough to send any uneducated sushi patron running to the nearest TGIFridays. Even if I wanted to venture out of my comfort zone and try it again, how would I know what to order?! Doesn't anyone offer SUSHI-101 for those select few who somehow dodged the sushi-wave when it swept the nation in the 90's?! The only thing I really knew about sushi, I heard in an episode of Friends. Thanks to Ross, I learned that Unagi is NOT a state of mind, it is freshwater eel. That is where I was two years ago until Katy, Yak, and J-Kro entered my life. These girls LOVE them some sushi. It was sink or swim time. If I was going to be a part of their highly exclusive group, I had to develop a love for sushi and I needed to develop it yesterday. I downloaded the sushipedia app for my phone, I started doing some research, and I asked a TON of questions. They were so patient with me and I will always be eternally grateful for that. If I had been denied entry into this selective group due to my sushi-ignorance, I would have never forgiven myself. Katy started me off slowly with fully cooked sushi and I, just recently, graduated to the raw catagory. I actually like the raw better than the cooked. To my surprise, the raw sushi did not have a fishy taste which I originally thought. I now understand what the big fuss is about. Sushi is not an acquired taste...it is a little piece of heaven, naturally. I am upset that I wasted so many sushiless years. Now, I crave it all the time. To say that I love it, is an understatement on the grandest scale. I still have no idea what some of the words mean on the menu, but I haven't found a type of sushi yet that I don't like (save the trainwreck that my father made me try). I've come a long way, baby and I am not finished yet. So, bring on the Tako, the Maguro, the Fugu (ok, maybe not the Fugu...I'm not that adventurous yet) and plenty of Sake to wash it down. This mom is officially a Sushiholic.
Next step: Convincing my husband to try sushi...just once.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
