Southern Made Simple

Keeping things simple with a smidge of Southern charm

Home Cookin'

Palm “Sundae” Dessert

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Sunday is, without question, my favorite day of the week. I spend a large portion of the day with my church family, and in the morning I have the privilege of teaching a handful of 10-12 year old kids during Sunday School. After learning that using Elmer’s school glue without getting it all over the place is a gift not everyone has, I cut back the amount of craft projects we do together. And by cut back, I mean that we just do not do them, period.

But with Easter quickly approaching, I decided to make an exception. And besides, this isn’t exactly a “craft” as much as it is just an opportunity to put together a fun little ice cream treat while sharing about Jesus! (I don’t expect it to be any less messy than them using glue, though!) 😉

Palm Sundae Ice cream treats - A perfect Sunday School Activity for Palm Sunday!…

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Using Farm Fresh Eggs: Oven Baked Denver Omelette Recipe

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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.

farmfresheggs…

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Cheesy Hash Stuffed Peppers – The Ultimate Brunch Recipe

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During the busy work week, breakfast in our house is often an afterthought. It’s usually rushed, thrown together, and hardly filling. By the time 10 o’clock rolls around, my tummy is rumbling and begging for Saturday to come. What’s so special about Saturday, you ask? On Saturday, we brunch. And we brunch hard!

We put a lot of love into our bellies each Saturday morning. We’ll break out the cookware that gets neglected on weekday mornings and we enjoy a sit down meal at the table. It’s a real treat for our family, because it’s just not something we get to do every day!

This past weekend, some serious deliciousness went down in our kitchen. These Cheesy Hash Stuffed Peppers created the ultimate brunch experience for us, and boy were they delicious!

Cheesy Hash Stuffed Peppers - The Ultimate Brunch Recipe using Corned Beef Hash #HowDoYouHash #ad…

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Grandmama’s Glazed Lemon Cakes – Recipe

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My husband’s great grandmother was truly a wonderful lady. I was fortunate enough to get to know her for 4 years before she passed away. I never got to know her as well as I would have liked, but I knew two things about her for certain: She loved her great grandson, and she could sho’ nuff make some delicious desserts.

She had some cookbooks made for friends and family several years before her passing that had lots of her yummy recipes in them. I haven’t tried all of them yet, but I’m working on it! When my husband and I were dating, I remember her making a batch of these special little lemon cakes. My husband LOVED them so much, and once I tried them for myself, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. I understood why my husband loved them so much!

Grandmama's Lemon Cakes…

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Cheesy Jalapeno Corn Dip Recipe

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Looking for a delicious, cheesy and ooey gooey dip to make and share with your friends and family? You’ve come to the right place, y’all.

Most people make dips as as appetizer or to serve during tailgates or parties. I’m just gonna raise my hand right now and confess that my husband and I are no strangers to eating any kind of dip as our main meal. It pretty much happens nearly every time we make dip, and especially when we make this one. We both have a palate for spicy foods, and this one brings the perfect amount of heat.

This Cheesy Jalapeno Corn Dip Recipe will make you the talk of the party!

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Here’s what you’ll need to make this delicious cheesy jalapeno corn dip recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups frozen corn
  • 1 large onion – diced
  • 2 fresh jalapenos – diced
  • 1 clove garlic – diced
  • 1 large red bell pepper – diced
  • 1/2 cup low fat mayonnaise
  • 1 cup monterey or pepper jack cheese, shredded
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded + plus handful for topping
  • 2 tbs butter – divided
  • Cayenne pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Melt butter in a pan on low heat. Add corn to pan and adjust temperature to medium/high heat. Saute the corn until it lightly browns. Set aside
  3. Melt butter in pan on low. Saute onion and red bell pepper until soft. Add jalapeno and garlic until soft.
  4. In a bowl, mix together corn, jalapeno, onions, red bell pepper, mayonnaise, cayenne pepper and cheeses in a bowl.
  5. Pour mixture into a casserole dish and top with handful of cheese.
  6. Bake 10-15 minutes
  7. Serve with tortilla or pita chips. Enjoy!

Have you ever found yourself eating a hot dip as a meal? What other types of dip do you and your family like to make? I’d love to hear all about it!

Cheesy Bacon & French Onion Spinach Dip Recipe

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If you’re anything like me, you may have a hard time incorporating certain greens into your diet. I like most veggies, but I don’t just love them. It’s something I should really try to change about my tastes and my lifestyle, because vegetables are good for you! I just have a hard time straying from the norm. You know, peas, green beans, corn, and…yeah. That’s about it when it comes to actually making it to a dinner plate in this house. The only time I would ever eat spinach on purpose is on my Subway sandwich when it’s hidden amongst the lettuce and tomatoes. It’s like I said, I don’t dislike veggies, I just don’t really know to incorporate them into foods that I definitely love.

I tried hiding spinach in my smoothies for a little while. It lasted about a week. I could tolerate it in my smoothie, but I soon found out I was pregnant and then quickly found the smoothies to be absolutely repulsive. That’s pregnancy for ya! Now that I’m no longer pregnant, I still just can’t bring myself to drink them. However, I’ve now found a new way to incorporate spinach into my diet. Now, I’m not saying that dish is healthy at all. In a perfect world, it would be fat free...just like every other food would be, but let’s just celebrate one small victory at a time here. I’m eating lots of spinach these days, and it’s in the form of a hot, savory and cheesy bowl of deliciousness. Say hello to your new favorite dip recipe: Cheesy Bacon & French Onion Spinach Dip.

BOOM! You’re welcome. 😉

Cheesy Bacon & French Onion Spinach Dip Recipe - This dip is SO delicious and so simple to make! You can even prepare it ahead of time and bake when you're ready!

Forget what you think you know about spinach dip. Before I first made this dip, I thought of spinach dip as that super bland dip you can buy in the chip aisle next to that less than stellar cheese in a jar stuff. It’s typically served room temp and it’s pretty lackluster next to other dishes in a spread. This dip is anti that, y’all. But what about those regular hot spinach dips that are pretty good and not from a can? Forget ’em. They’re likely missing that special oomph. They’re probably missing that extra somethin’ somethin’ that you really want in a dip. You know, that va va voom! But not this dip, y’all. This one is in a league of it’s own….

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Quinoa Nachos Supreme Recipe

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As much as I love to talk about good ol’ southern cuisine, sometimes I like to get really southern with my cooking.

Southern as in, south-of-the-border southern! I LOVE trying different foods from Hispanic cultures. There are so many delicious herbs and spices that are native to South America that can really flavor a dish in a fabulous way. Plus, if it has “spicy” in the name, my family will love it. Bring on the heat, y’all!

One ingredient that I’ve been gradually incorporating into our diet over the past few years is quinoa.
(Pronounced “keen-wah”).

Quinoa Nachos Supreme Recipe - This is a fun and healthy twist on classic nachos!

If you’re not cooking with quinoa, you really should be! Never heard of this keen-who stuff?  Allow me fill you in a little:…

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The Best Breakfast Casserole

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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!

The BEST breakfast casserole ever! This would make a great dish for brunch, too!

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:…

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Buffalo Pimento Cheese Dip Recipe

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Have you ever seen one of those dishes that you look at the ingredients and think they could never possibly work together? That was me with this dish.

We southerners tend to really love Pimento Cheese, and we like the kick of buffalo sauce every now and then (mostly on our chicken), but we like those things separate. Don’t go messin’ up a good thing of pimento cheese, now!

Well….I’m sorry. Actually, I’m not sorry, cuz this dip is DELICIOUS!

It’s a little more than delicious, y’all. This dip is downright sinful! While there’s nothing in it that’s good for you (try not to indulge TOO hard), every bit of it is good for the soul. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself. It’s comfort food at it’s finest. It’s basically a party in a bowl, and everyone will want an invite.

When I make this dish, it’s best that I make it for an event where several will partake. Otherwise, my husband and I will sit down and eat this thing in 3 servings. Not that that’s happened. It might have happened a few times, though. Just sayin’.

Buffalo Pimento Cheese Dip Recipe - This dip in sinful, y'all!

I love to add shredded or chopped chicken to this dip. Remember how I said us southerners like a touch of buffalo, but mostly on our chicken? Just stickin’ to my roots, here! Here’s what you’ll need to make this devilishly delicious dip:

Ingredients:

  • 1 8oz package of cream cheese (NOT fat free), softened
  • 1/4 cup light ranch dressing
  • 1/4 cup light blue cheese dressing
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese + plus a handful for topping
  • 1/2 cup buffalo sauce
  • 1 4oz jar of pimentos, diced
  • 2 cups cooked/shredded chicken (optional, but DO IT!)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Blend well.
  3. Top with additional cheese if desired.
  4. Pour ingredients into a casserole dish (8×11 or larger) and bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.
  5. Serve with tortilla chips or your favorite crackers. I love Ritz Crackers with this!

If you give this Buffalo Pimento Cheese Dip recipe a try, I’d love to hear how you like it! I also won’t judge if you and your significant other or friends sat down and devour the whole dish. Been there! 😉