Cornbread Salad

This is one my favorite easy to make, easy to take salads. The variations are endless and I don't think I've ever had one taste bad. (I was out of sour cream when I took the picture above- it is really pretty with dollops of sour cream)

Here's the recipe I made most recently:

Cornbread Salad

1 pan cornbread (made however your family likes it- sweet, buttermilk, spicy, etc.)

1 head washed romaine lettuce torn into bite size pieces

1 pint grape tomatoes sliced

1 green pepper chopped

1 package green onions chopped

1-2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1-2 cups cooked corn or canned

2-3 cups cooked pinto beans or canned

2 cups cooked diced chicken

1 1/2 cups sour cream mixed with 1/2 cup salsa

extra sour cream for topping

Directions:

In the bottom of a large glass bowl layer the torn romaine lettuce pushing it up the sides of the bowl to form a lettuce bowl. Next add a layer of: crumbled cornbread, chicken, pinto beans, green pepper, green onions, corn, tomatoes, and cheese. Top this with a layer of the sour cream/salsa dressing. This should take up about one third of your bowl. Begin the layers again starting with the romaine lettuce and ending with the dressing. For the last layer start with the romaine lettuce, layer the cornbread, beans, and chicken, then end with the vegetables. Top this with grated cheese. Next, alternate dollops of plain sour cream then salsa around the bowl. You can add slices of cornbread around the edges of the bowl, sliced tomatoes or whatever you have. Fresh cilantro would be wonderful, also (thanks, Jen!) and look what a gorgeous salad you have!

Make this salad fit whatever you need- the larger the bowl it can be an entire meal, or you can make a small salad to accompany your Mexican night.

Variations:

substitute browned ground beef for chicken

cook the chicken or ground beef with taco seasonings and cool

leave out the meat entirely

use another type of cooked bean ex. black, kidney, white or mix the beans

leave off any of the vegetables your family doesn't like

use your imagination!

Hope you enjoy- let me know how yours turns out!

Ladies- Let's Encourage Each Other!

What a refreshing perspective is shared in this post from Down to Earth- she says-

"If I were a young wife now, with children to raise, I would be learning everything I could about how to do the work in my home without modern appliances. I would learn to make bread by hand - good bread not just a get-by loaf; I would work out easy ways to do the family laundry - in case a time came when I didn't want to use electricity - once I worked it out, I'd go back to my washing machine; I would create a stockpile of groceries, and if I had a backyard I would learn to garden and raise chickens. I would teach myself to sew and knit. I would start mending clothes, I'd recycle and reuse everything I could. I'd start cooking from scratch with the intention of learning how to produce the most delicious and nutritious meals for the lowest cost.If I were a young wife and mother now, I would take it upon myself to save every penny I could to pay off our debt. I would encourage my husband and children to economise, make do and learn to go without. My focus would be on the long-term health and prosperity of my family and I would hope to teach myself enough to give us the best chance in this tough economic climate."

And if I might add, the more we would have to share with and help others in need. Good times or not -the more responsible we are with our resources the better it will be for our families and our communities.

The issue of stewardship keeps coming back to me. I know the tendancy is to think and live "frugal" when times are lean, but shouldn't we strive to be better stewards all the time. It all belongs to God to use as He sees fit. He just allows us to particpate.

I don't know how you feel, but after fighting the consume and spend mentality in my life for so many years its kinda fun to see "frugality"and "stewardship" come into vogue.

Let's encourage each other to think and live differently. The strength of our communities lies in our strength of our families and consequently the strength of our nation lies in the strength of our communities. ...a little leaven leavening the whole lump.

What about you - what are you doing differently?

All Purpose Bag Out of......

Yes, a pillow case- what a fun idea. Thanks to the White family- for the idea and pattern.

Wouldn't this be a wonderful bag for- books, gardening, craft supplies? Yes, we will be on the look out for really cute pillow cases.

Here's a link to the directions. Enjoy!

Sleeper of a Bag

~Springtime in the Country~

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The

flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and

the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape, give a good smell. Song of Solomon 2:11

It was one of those March days when the sun shine
s hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. ~Charles Dickens

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!

~Mark Twain



By: Sarah

Clean Clothes On The Line

After being without a clothes line for several years we figured it would be a good idea to put one up again. In addition to trying to save on our power bill the clothes look and smell great

So.......we are hanging clothes on the line and humming the tune to one of our new favorite songs Green Beans In the Garden- thank you dear West family for a terrific song with an even better message.

Here's the chorus:
Green Beans In the Garden
words and music by Cecilia West

Cause there's green beans in the garden
clean clothes on the line
yeah there's little bare foot children playing beneath the grape vine
the sun is shinning bright and the creeks a bubblin too
We've got a lot to be thankful for and Lord I wanna thank you

Homemade Doughnuts.....Yum!!!

O.K. it started like this- we dropped by a friend's house to deliver some honey and her kids were so excited to tell us about making homemade doughnuts. What a fun idea!! Their mom emailed me the recipe they used.

We tried it and they were delicious, but ....since I'm forever looking for short cuts -it got me to thinking. Would our bread dough work as doughnuts? Let's give it a whirl.

We took our regular bread dough, cut them like doughnuts, let them rise for 15-20 minutes, fried them in coconut oil, and tossed them in brown sugar and cinnamon. Boy, am I sorry I tried this!! They were really good. These will definitely be made again:).

Cleaning off the Gunk

We love lemons! We add them to our water, make fresh lemon juice, clean with them, cook with them, etc. So.... we have tons of used lemons just waiting for the compost. But, before we toss them out we try to get all the goodie out of them we can.

Our latest find - gunkie iron meets clean. Try this for the dried starch on the back of your iron. Scrub the back of your cooled iron with the cut side of the lemon sprinkled generously with salt. To add the "smooth" back to your iron simply iron a piece of parchment paper or waxed paper with the iron on a warm setting.

Yeahhhh..... a clean iron again.