Bored and decided to blog: )

Wow!  What a beautiful day here in Virginia (I'm in Virginia right now visiting my husband who is here for 14 weeks to take a class for his job).  Its 80 degrees and gorgeous!  So what did we decide to do?  Grill!  Lucky for us, the hotel Mike is staying at has two gas grills, two tables and some chairs on a lovely little covered patio behind the hotel.  The property even backs up to a pretty little forest: )  Perfect!

So what did we make for our alfresco meal?  Turkey smoked sausage sandwiches with green peppers and onions! Here's how. . .

Cut one package turkey smoked sausage (or your personal favorite similar product) and cut into four pieces.  Then cut each piece in half lengthwise for easier grilling.  Cut 1 green pepper (large dice or medium size strips, whatever you want) and one half small white or yellow onion (again large dice or strips) and place on a large piece of aluminum foil.  I cut 1 tablespoon salted butter into four pieces and placed them among the green peppers an onions.  Also, I sprinkled some seasoned salt, pepper, oregano and garlic powder on the veggies to give them a little kick.  For an even bigger kick, add some cayenne pepper, chili powder or your favorite spice: ).  Fold up the foil to create a veggie packet you can stick on the grill.

Now time to heat up your grill and get cooking!  The veggies will take a little longer to cook than the sausage because the sausage is already cooked and really just needs to heat up and get those gorgeous grill lines: ).  About 5 minutes after you put your veggies on, put your cut up sausage on the grill.  Cook both until desired doneness is reached.  Remember to check on the veggies periodically and give them a little stir to mix up butter and seasonings.  Shortly before sausage is done cooking, place buns (hamburger, hot dog or sub buns all work) on grill to toast them a little.  Then assemble sandwiches (we put some ketchup on ours) and enjoy!  Makes 4 sandwiches.  Simple and delicious...just the way we like food: ).

Hope anyone that tries this recipe on a nice spring day enjoys it as much as we did!  I really need to start remembering to take pictures of what I'm making...process and final product.

One final note...well question really....would anyone benefit from a how to blog about cutting up veggies?  For me, the hardest veggies to learn how to cut efficiently were onions (dicing them specifically) and green peppers.  I would definitely post pictures with this blog....let me know!

Ham and Beans!

Hello!  Sorry it's been a while since I last posted.  I wish I had a good excuse.  Alas, no.  I have just been lazy.  Anyway, I made ham and beans with cornbread a couple weeks ago and meant to post the recipe.  Better late than never I guess: ).  This recipe makes about 5 or 6 servings.

Ingredients
- 20-25 oz hickory smoked ham (I buy a 40 oz pkg hickory smoked boneless ham and use 1/2 to 2/3 of the package)
- 2 cans pinto beans (drained)
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 1.5 tsp chili garlic sauce (can be found in the Asian section of a supermarket)
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1-2 tsp honey
salt and pepper to taste
- cornbread


Method
    Place ham in a large sauce pot or a stock pot.  Cover with water then add an additional cup of water.  Add all other ingredients except for beans.  Place pot over medium to medium-high heat and cook until water reduces down and no longer covers the ham.  Add beans and another cup or so of water.  Cook down again until ham and bean mixture is desired consistency, similar to canned ham and bean consistency.  The overall cooking time is probably around 1.5-2 hrs. Serve over cornbread and enjoy!


I hope this recipe makes sense.  If not, you can always leave a question in the comment area. Also, if you have any recipe requests or general cooking questions, feel free to leave a comment!