Getting creative

Times have been tough on everyone of late, and I think we've all had to find creative ways to make it by. When Ian was still here with me in South Carolina, he was in charge of our day-to-day cooking. [I fully credit Ian with the weight we've lost due to his strict measurement and calorie counting. I subscribe to my Grandmother's school of measure nothing and add stuff in until it tastes good.] With Ian gone and financial hardships still present, I've had to get really creative in the kitchen.

Soon after Ian left, I did a pseudo-inventory of everything in the kitchen just to know what I was working with. One of my more fun finds in the pantry was a bottle of bacon salt that I'd gotten Ian a while back. This was exciting because if left to my own devices I'd probably never eat meat.

I tried a little of it in various dishes, but I have to say that the biggest success came from using it in grits. Here's what I did:

Ashlie's queso bacon grits
Bacon salt, any flavor
Yellow grits
Cheese, queso, or any similar cheesy substitute

For one serving, put one cup water and one teaspoon of bacon salt in a saucepan. Bring to boil. Stir in 1/4 cup of grits. Cover and turn down to low heat. Once cooked, stir in cheese of choice. (I found a half used jar of queso in the back of the fridge. I dipped my spoon in twice, mixed in with the grits, and it added a great flavor!)

If you've tried bacon salt, or have other great creative pantry ideas, let us know! I'm going to post more of my creative cooking adventures soon!

Bunny Biscuit

So here's the picture of one of the biscuits I made this past weekend. Somehow, this one biscuit looks like I made a bunny out of the dough!

Holy Cow, Ian is making another post!

How about one of my family's best kept secrets- Tomato Gravy...

I haven't had this side in at least 5 years.  I felt it was time for my taste buds to see what it tastes like after an extended vacation from this southern gravy.

Here's my recipe:
1/4 cup of flour
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
Water



Start some oil in a pan and get it hot.  Throw in some flour and start browning it.  You want the flour-oil ratio at the point where it makes a wet paste.  If you get it too dry, it will not mix well in the gravy and leave small white balls in the finished product.


After you've got the flour browning, wisk in some water, enough to make it a nice gravy consistency.  Make sure to mix it well.  Add in some salt and pepper and a can of diced tomatoes.  Continue to mix.  Bring to a boil and then remove from hot stove.


Enjoy on a made-from-scratch biscuit or toast!