Keeping things simple with a smidge of Southern charm
I love Valentine’s Day. I typically don’t get too caught up in it, but any day that you get to celebrate love is a great day to me! My husband and I have a mutual understanding that we’re not going to buy each other gifts to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Our love languages aren’t stimulated by receiving plush stuffed animals, overpriced cards or heart shaped boxes of candy. We’d truthfully rather celebrate by digging into a delicious home cooked meal together, and dig in we do!
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Over the past 2 weeks, it seems like my diet has primarily consisted of cookies and things smothered and covered in some sort of cheese. To be clear, I’m not really complaining about that (I love my cheese and sweets,) but I realize that a continued pattern of eating those fatty foods is going to wreck havoc on my waistline and on my health in general.
So in order to get some green back into my diet, I’ve been eating a whole lot of spinach here lately. I love spinach WAY more than lettuce (not to mention it’s way healthier than lettuce,) so I don’t have much of a problem eating it as a salad. My problem is that I’m sort of anti-leftovers and I get burned out on foods very quickly. When I say I’m anti-leftovers, I really mean that I’m not crazy about eating something as a leftover more than once. I can eat something twice, but then my taste buds have to move on!
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I’ve got a little confession to make: I’m a total cereal snob.
Seriously, y’all. I’ve eaten a bowl of cereal nearly every day since I was probably 4 or 5 years old. If you were to draw my blood right now, it’d probably have a 30% cereal milk content with traces of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch or Fruit Loops in it. It’s nuts that I love it that much, but I really do. I definitely get it honestly, too, because every one of my siblings has a bowl of cereal on the regular just like I do. Maybe not as frequently as I do, but they’ve probably got at least 3-4 boxes of cereal goodness stashed away in their pantry right now.
However, sometimes I want a little something else when I wake up in the morning – and not just because I ran out of milk. (Actually, that’s usually how it goes…BUT this morning was different!)
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Happy Fall, y’all!
Okay, okay. I know it isn’t Fall just yet. It’s still 85+ degrees outside here in Alabama, but I can still dream about Fall and the beautiful cool weather, right? As I’ve mentioned before, Fall is my favorite season of all time. The local stores are already putting out Halloween and Fall decor, and I just can’t help but get in the spirit!
Halloween is always such a fun time of year. My family doesn’t actually celebrate Halloween, but we do participate in our church’s annual Trunk or Treat festival where we always dress up in fun costumes. In general, I have no problem whatsoever with the commercialized version of Halloween. I mean, what’s not to love about dressing up, eating candy and getting a little spooked here and there? I’m down! 😉
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One of my favorite things to do on the weekend is fix a hearty breakfast for my family. During the work week, my husband usually grabs something quick and easy (aka Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies), and I almost always eat a bowl of cereal. I have zero complaints about eating my cereal (it’s basically my favorite food group), but it doesn’t satisfy my craving to actually cook something.
Cooking is one of my favorite ways to provide for my family, so this past weekend when my husband woke up early to cut the grass and my daughter was still snoozing, I jumped at the opportunity to cook my heart out! I had 3 plump and juicy peaches sitting on my counter, so I started trying to think of a way to incorporate them into our breakfast.
I broke out my favorite skillet and whipped up some pancake batter. I had a hankering for fluffy brown pancakes, but this time I thought that I’d ditch the syrup and go for something even sweeter using the peaches. This Easy Peasy Peach Compote takes less than 15 minutes to make, so while I was flipping flapjacks I had my peach sauce simmering away in a small sauce pan. In my opinion, I could always ditch the syrup in exchange for the golden sweetness of this succulent peach compote. It’s absolutely delicious!
I took 3 peaches and peeled, pitted and diced them. I put them in a small pot on the stove and added in some brown sugar, water, vanilla and cinnamon. I brought them to a boil and allowed them to simmer for about 12 minutes. The brown sugar blending with the sweet peach juice forms a thicker syrup-like sauce – making it PERFECT for pouring over a tall stack of pancakes!
Making a fruit compote is super easy, and this recipe can be made with nearly any fruit. It’s a great addition to top your muffins, cakes, or yogurt with!
Here’s a free printable version of my recipe. Enjoy!
What do you love to put fruit compote on? Have you ever tried it on top of your pancakes? Do you have another recipe you’d love to share? Leave a comment below and let’s chat!
This recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Summer Squash Bread is a wonderful way to use up fresh summer squash straight from the garden! Shred it, bake it, slice is up and serve with a pad of butter on a hot summer day for a refreshing treat!
During the summer time, there is always an abundance of fresh produce filling people’s gardens and the shelves of local farmer’s markets. It’s one of my very favorite things about summer! My husband and I have a very small garden growing in our back yard. This year we planted yellow squash, zucchini, egg plant, tomatoes, an array of peppers and fresh basil. I enjoy incorporating those fresh elements into my cooking, but by mid-summer I’m always looking for something a tad bit different to do with them.
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May is my favorite month for so many reasons. The weather here in South Alabama is as close to perfect as it can get. It’s cool in the mornings and afternoons, which makes it perfect to be able to enjoy the outdoors. Also, it hasn’t gotten humid or muggy yet, which is a huge plus for me (and my hair!) This is the month where it’s still comfortable to sit out on your front porch, go for a walk and even pick a few wild berries with your family.
There’s a huge patch of wild dewberries right up the road from my house that are always begging to be picked during this time of year, so my husband and I like to grab a giant bowl out of the cupboard and make an adventure out of it!
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Imagine this: You’ve made it to work, half awake and nearly late. You make your way to the break room to pour yourself a cup of much needed coffee. I mean, let’s face it, nothing good will come from this day until you’ve had your coffee.
You fill your cup only to find that some horrible, horrible person has swiped the last of the creamer, sugar, etc. The thought of taking your coffee any other way than exactly how you like it makes you want to curl up in a hole and cry. A parade of cuddly kittens could not even cheer you up at this point.
Sounds AWFUL, right?! But when you think about it, a scenario much like this happens in public places everywhere on a daily basis. (Let’s take a moment of silence for those poor, poor souls that went without their cup of beloved coffee made perfectly to their liking this morning.) Godspeed, my friends!
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There’s something so charming about farm fresh eggs. The unusual hues, the imperfect shapes, the rich yolks inside. They’re locally and responsibly grown, and they’re just simply the best!
A dear friend at our church started raising chickens over a year ago. Because she is so caring and kindhearted, she shares her eggs with families within the church. Each dozen is such a blessing, and my family is always so delighted to receive them.
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I am all about comfort foods. Most breakfast foods (sugary cereals and poptarts aside) are all comfort foods to me. I love warm and flaky biscuits, fluffy scrambled eggs, sweet honey or syrup, and I certainly love my cheese grits! If I’m going to be honest, I think breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. My family even loves to have breakfast for dinner! It’s not that often that I get to stop and actually cook breakfast during the week day, but I always look forward to the weekends when I sometimes get to indulge a little.
If us Southerners love anything besides those delicious breakfast items I just mentioned, it’s a good casserole. Casseroles are staple dishes. I can’t think of very many occasions where making a casserole isn’t appropriate. If I see a casserole in a buffet line, I’m having some of that! So years ago when my mother-in-law made this dish, I fell in love fast. I’ve had a few different versions of “breakfast casseroles”, but this is the best breakfast casserole I’ve ever tasted. It’s simple, hearty, warm and oh so delicious!
This dish is PERFECT to serve as breakfast in bed on birthdays, anniversaries, or during the holidays. It’s also really good reheated!
Here’s what you’ll need to make it:…
