Cowboy Caviar

• .5 C olive oil
• .25 C sugar
• .25 C white wine vinegar
• 1 t chili powder
• 1 t salt
• 1 pound roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can black eyed peas
• 1 can sweet corn
• 1 red onion, diced
• .5 C diced green pepper
• .5 C diced red pepper
• parsley

mix dressing, add beans and veggie, toss, and refrigerate

Peach Barbecue Chicken

I won't be winning any awards for my photography. I got this recipe from Six Sisters Stuff. The only thing I am tweaking is the amount of ginger. Their recipe called for a tablespoon, but I am going to cut that in half. It tasted fine on the chicken, but the sauce by itself was too gingery for me. I marinated it for almost 24 hours. They suggested oiling the grill and I forgot, but it didn't stick at all.

These amounts are for the marinade. I made another half of a batch for basting while grilling.

• 1/2 cup peach preserves (3/4)
• 1 Tablespoon vinegar (1.5)
• 1 Tablespoon ground ginger (1.5)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (3/4)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper (3/4)
• 3/4 cup barbecue sauce (+ 1/3)
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Mix marinade ingredients in a microwave proof dish. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and another 30 seconds, stir. Marinade chicken for up to 24 hours (the longer the better).

Grill, turning every four minutes until done, basting with fresh marinade.

Childhood Comforts

I have found that in dealing with hiding from the Covid-19 virus by staying home all.of.the.time that I have relied on some comforts from childhood. In the form of food, of course. Two things that I have indulged in that I hadn't eaten since childhood are:

• cinnamon toast (with lots of butter)
• peaches with milk and sugar

Georgia peaches do not need any sugar, they are so incredibly delicious, but I just wanted to see if it was as good as I remembered. It was, although I had to use almond milk thanks to becoming lactose intolerant.

Monthly Menu June 2020

My how life has changed, especially since I've last posted monthly menus. My husband and I now live in Georgia, our kids are grown and for the most part out of the house (one married, one living in another state and working full time, and the youngest going to school full time and working out of state). We are loving the weather and the good food and produce (especially the peaches!) here in Georgia, but we miss our families. And, we are in the middle of the Coronavirus outbreak, which means a lot of cooking homemade meals. We still get food to go once or twice a week (you will see Chick Fil-A a lot, lol), but that still leaves a lot of meals to prepare for the two of us.

Two new additions to my kitchen are an electric griddle (we had one but got rid of it when we moved because we were not using it, regretted it and bought another) for our new Sunday morning breakfast tradition of blueberry pancakes, and an electric knife sharpener which has CHANGED MY LIFE! New additions since moving to Georgia: a cast iron skillet (got rid of all teflon coated pans) and a gas stove (the best thing ever!). We have natural gas here and I love it!

I may include the detail of our take out meals so that I can see what I'm eating on a weekly basis.

01 Mon Chicken tacos with sauteed peppers and onions, frozen corn, re-fried black beans

02 Tue burgers, baked potatoes, brussels sprouts, salad

03 Wed Grilled chicken basted with ranch dressing, corn on the cob, Farm Stand Potato Salad

04 Thu Chick Fil-A

05 Fri Five Guys

06 Sat Fasting

07 Sun Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings, salad (instead of putting the biscuits in the crock pot, I baked them as usual and then we had the chicken over the biscuits. Hubby and I are not fans of wet dumplings.)
08 Mon leftovers.
09 Tue leftover chicken over egg noodles, peas, cucumber and tomato salad

10 Wed  Pasta with Vegetable Sauce, bread and butter

11 Thu Peach Barbecue Chicken, corn on the cob, baby potatoes, zucchini, corn bread
12 Fri grilled kielbasa, coleslaw, baked beans, carrot sticks, corn bread
13 Sat take out
14 Sun  chicken and beef from freezer, rice, vegetable medley from freezer.

15 Mon Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup, corn bread

16 Tue Grilled chicken with barbecue sauce,baked beans, coleslaw, corn on the cob

17 Wed Burgers, Farm Stand Potato Salad, roasted asparagus, baked beans

18 Thu Hot dogs, macaroni salad,  baked beans

19 Fri American Goulash, salad, garlic bread

20 Sat take-out

21 Sun Grilled marinated chicken, cowboy caviar, leftover macaroni salad, blueberry cobbler

22 Mon Leftover American Goulash, garlic bread

23 Tue London Broil, steak fries, broccoli

24 Wed grilled chicken, German potato salad, green beans

25 Thu grilled salmon & zucchini, rice pilaf, tomato & cucumber salad

26 Fri grilled kielbasa, cowboy beans from freezer, corn on the cob

27 Sat Take out

28 Sun Freezer meal: ham, perogies, veggies

29 Mon  Chicken Salad, brown rice salad, corn bread

30 Tue tacos, rice, refried beans, corn bread

Monthy Menu May 2020

27 Wed Pot roast (from the freezer) with gravy, baby potatoes, brussels sprouts

28 Thu kielbasa and peppers, baked beans, corn on the cob

29 Fri Cracker Barrel to go

30 Sat grilled salmon (from freezer), collard greens, sweet potatoes

31 Sun lentil sauce, whole grain penne, mixed green, arugula, and tomato salad, Italian bread and butter