. . . . isn't it amazing how a smell can trigger memories

Tonight for dinner my husband and I cooked together. I was slicing red and Yukon Gold potatoes. First in half and then slices that only go about 1/2 through. I place them in real melted butter in the family-sized cast iron skillet that is my favorite.

Ummm! The smell of melted butter in the pan reminds me of Sandy. An amazing person who had a huge impact upon my childhood. There are many years that if I had not had her support I am not sure that I would have done so well. Melted butter with eggs frying in real butter (I came from a home of Oleo).....or....crispy golden cornmeal mush purchased from the local Safeway Food Store fried in butter and topped with Karo Syrup for breakfast!

First tastes that tasted so good. . . memorable.

Sandy was a surrogate mother of sorts to me. She was encouraging and creative. She was a divorced mother of three wonderful children that in my heart have always been closer than my own family to me. She lived only two or three houses from my own childhood home. I would be her babysitter and she would be a model to me.

She loved her children from the depths of her soul and I believe that they knew that. That she would make room in her heart... and later in her home for me...is bound in the fiber of who I have become.

Certainly none of us choose the families that we are born into but the families that we create in our lives can lift us up, nuture us, feed our souls, and heal our broken places.

She made room for me. I was not her child.

I grew up and I have aquired extra children who have taught me lessons and opened my heart in wonderful magical ways!

I lift my dinner glass to Sandy and I absolutely cherish everything that she gave with a loving heart to me!

clearing out the pantry. . .

We are having work done at the house and we really need to clear the pantry as close to "0" as possible

This is what I put together for dinner tonight and it was very good!

Hobo oven chili

1 small can kidney beans (drained)
1 medium can stewed tomatoes
1 small can black beans (drained)
1 medium onion (I used a red onion)
1/4 c chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 pounds ground meat (I used Morningstar Farms)
3 cups frozen hash browns
1 pound mozarella cheese, shredded
3 slices bacon

In a large skillet cut bacon into 1" pieces and begin to brown. As the skillet sizzles and the bacon begins to glisten drop in the onion and stir until the onion begins soften.

In a separate bowl toss together your cheese and hashbrowns and set aside.

To the mixture on the stove add the meat. When it is well browned add the beans and tomatoes. Stir. Add the chili and garlic powder--salt and pepper if you want it.

Cook until it is heated through and bubbly. Remove from heat and spoon this mixture into a backing dish. I used a cake pan. On top of your hobo chili top with the hashbrown and cheese mixture...for extra yum add some french fried onions on top.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes

I served this with cornbread and steamed green beans seasoned with peppered bacon.
I was asked to make it again....

Where did all the fiber go?

Highest Fiber Vegetables
Avocado
Beans
Broccoli*
Brussels sprouts*
Cabbage*
Carrot
Chick Peas/Garbanzo Beans
Eggplant
Greens -- collards, kale, turnip greens*
Lima beans
Mushrooms
Potato with skin
Pumpkin, canned
Peas -- black-eyed peas, green peas
Peppers
Rhubarb
Spinach*
Sweet Potatoes

Highest Fiber Fruits
Apples
Avocado
Bananas
Berries -- Blueberies, Blackberries, Raspberries, etc.
Dried Fruits -- Figs, Raisins, Apricots, Dates, etc.
Guava
Kiwi
Orange
Pears
Prunes

Twenty pages of wonderful nutritional instruction from the United States webpage: www.usa.gov

http://www.womenshealth.gov/pub/the-healthy-woman/nutrition.pdf