Bell Haiku

Dinner Bell by Darla Vaughan

Call me what you like
Don't call me late for supper
You can ring my bell

Grandma Karen's Baked Oatmeal

Mmmm.. there is nothing better than hot oatmeal on a snowy morning. For something different, baked oatmeal is a great alternative to the same ol' bowl.



Grandma Karen's Baked Oatmeal



Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease an 8x8 pan and set aside.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole oats


• 1/2 cup sugar


• 1/2 cup milk


• 1/3 cup vegetable oil


• 1 tsp baking powder


• 3/4 tsp salt


• 1 tsp vanilla extract


• 1 egg

For topping 1/2 cup chopped nuts and raisins

combine all ingredients except nuts and fruit; spread in prepared pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Serve warm, it is good with warm milk poured over it, or alone; The possibilities are endless.

True to my Suffolk nature, I added chopped peanuts to the top of this one. Delicious.

Love - It's What's For Dinner...Heart-shaped Meatloaf

Nothing brings my crew to the table faster than homestyle cooking. When G-Man asked what was for dinner and I replied, "meatloaf", I had a request I get from time to time. He wanted to know if I would make it into a heart shape like I did for Valentine's Day (or birthday or anniversary, sometimes). I didn't see why not, so that's what we did. This is comfort food, pure and simple with no frills or experimentation.

Moms Meatloaf

2 - 2 1/2 lbs of ground beef

1 small - medium onion, chopped fine

1 small - medium green bell pepper chopped fine

1 slightly beaten egg

2 Tbsp each of your favorite worchestershire sauce, steak sauce, and ketchup.

Salt and Pepper to taste - I use about 1 tsp each

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350º F and spray a large casserole dish with a non-stick cooking spray. Now for the down and dirty - By hand, mix all ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly blended. Gather the mass up into a ball and place in the middle of the casserole dish. Shape into a heart, or whatever your heart's desire.

Bake for about 45 minutes, and then take out to drizzle ketchup on the top right from the squeeze bottle. I made a crosshatch pattern this time. Put it back in the oven under a low broil for about 10 minutes or until the ketchup is thickening or carmelizing a bit. There's no shame in using ketchup in a recipe, and don't let anyone tell you there is.

Take out of oven and let rest for 2-3 minutes, and then cut into slices about an inch thick. Tonight I served ours with mashed potatoes and peas.

Look for my killer mashed potato recipe soon!

Simple Goodness: Oatmeal

G-man went playing with the Queen's son yesterday and as they were running through the tall grass, they got ate up by some type of insect or another. Be it chiggers or skeeters, G's poor legs are covered with bites this morning, so I ordered up a dose of antihistamine and an oatmeal bath.

Oatmeal bath: put a cup of uncooked whole oats in a nylon sack (like the footies you use in the shoe store) and tie a knot at the top to close it. Run a tub of warm water and get in with the oatmeal. Relax. As the oatmeal gets wet it will leach out a milky starch into the water. It will help with itchy skin. Good for insect bites, poison ivy/oak/sumac, and other skin conditions such as chicken pox. Bonus, your skin will be so soft.

As I was making G-man's bath sachet, I had a hankering for some real oatmeal, not the instant stuff. So this was breakfast.


Maple Cinnamon Oatmeal for Two

1 3/4 cups of water or milk (or a combo of both)
1 cup of whole 'old fashioned' oats
optional dash or two of salt
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Maple syrup

Preparation:

Bring water/milk to a boil, add oats, cook five minutes. Remove from heat and let stand a minute.

Add cinnamon and brown sugar to taste with a tablespoon or two of maple syrup and stir it together in the pot.

Put into two bowls and, for easy clean up, immediately run water into the pot and let set.

Sprinkle on a touch more cinnamon and sugar, add a small dollop of fresh butter and a drizzle of maple syrup. Share with a beloved.

Trying to keep up with a fast paced life makes it easy to forget the simple things. Taking five minutes to whip up whole oats is better for your health and keeps packaging waste down when you stop yourself from reaching for the instant individually packaged stuff. I'll bet whoever gets the second bowl will sure appreciate it!

Keep Virginia Green, slow down, and get some sweet simple goodness.

Fresh Spinach and Tomato Omelet

Very easy, full of summer flavor, and oh so good for you.

One of my 'things' is to have a summer garden. Not a big one, mind you, for I am a bit lazy in the Tidewater heat. Spinach and tomatoes are as prevalent as cucumber and peppers, and they are coming out of our ears right about now. Using our fresh produce up needs a dash of daily inspiration. Here's breakfast this morning.

Enough eggs for 2 apiece

1-2 ripe red tomatoes

1-2 green onions chopped (use the green part, too)

a handful of fresh spinach leaves, no stems

a bit of shredded cheddar cheese (I get a bit less than a handful)

sprinkling of dried basil, salt and pepper to taste

a couple of spoons of fresh ricotta cheese

for Dad, a few dashes of Texas Pete hot sauce on the finished plate.

Preparation

Blanche and peel a couple of tomatoes, then dice. Add some olive oil (or around here, a spoon of bacon grease) to a skillet and bring it up to a medium-high heat.

Add the chopped green onions and fresh spinach to the skillet and sweat them down for about 2-3 minutes. Space them out with a spatula so there is spinach all through the omelet.

Add 2 slightly beaten eggs and rotate the skillet a little so that the egg goes all around the bottom. Sprinkle basil , salt and pepper to taste.

I like my eggs done, so I flip the whole thing like a pancake when the bottom is set (after about 1-2 minutes) and allow the other side to cook. If you like yours unflipped, just don't flip it and continue...

Put some diced tomatoes and cheddar cheese down the center and fold over. Take the skillet off of the heat.

Let it continue to melt the cheese for another minute, and slide it on a plate.

Add a dollop of cool ricotta cheese on the side with some toast and coffee.

Make a fresh one for everyone, or maybe share one with a beloved.

I shared mine with a beloved. Meet Ginger.

Of course, I didn't let her get any of the onions, since they are bad for dogs to eat.

I'm off to Courtland to visit with the Queen of Greenthumbria, my Master Gardner friend and dear to my heart.

AAroooooOOOO

See you later!