Our very first Sassy Stove Contest on Facebook

Hey ya'll! It's the weekend. Hallelujah. Im so burnt out from all this editing and learning new coding. I've been frustrated all week. So I decided to do something fun. I love to give. It makes me happy. So I decided to do a giveaway on Facebook. All you have to do is go to my page. Find the Enter icon badge up by my banner that shows how many likes I have and click on the pic that says enter. Fill out the form and send it to me. The rules are over there. Here's what you could win!​ 12 spices and seasonings I use frequently in my kitchen. Liquid Smoke, Crab boil, Adobo, balsamic vinegar, allegro marinade. Louisiana hot sauce, Mesquite seasoning, sea salt, and peppercorn in cute little grinders, Zatarain's Big & Zesty Spice Blend, and some Amber Agave Nectar. Just cause I like ya'll. Oh, Im keeping my little pumpkins! Sorry I don't like ya'll that much. Besides you can get some just like them at Walmart!

​Just head on over there and check out the contest! You can enter once a day - read the rules well cause it also shows you how to get additional entries! Hugs and good luck. It's looking like a spicy weekend. Now I'm about to go get gussied up for date night! Stay Sassy!

 

Animal print dinnerware

​Today I thought I'd share with you all some of the things I just adore. One of them is animal print. I know .. it's hoochie but I never tire of it. Leopard and zebra just make me happy. While browsing the web today I found these really cool plates and just loved them. They would definitely make that peanut butter and jelly take a walk on the wild side. The price is really reasonable too!

                                                     ZEBRA PLATES FROM TARGET



I love melamine plates. I know..but they are glossy, shiny, light weight and no chipping. This plate, Mosaic by French Bull is fabulous. I love love love it. Gonna keep watching for these to go on sale. Love the color. How could you not enjoy a meal off of these? Especially chick food. Like pasta !​
 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok girls.. time to call it a day. I hope you like the functionality of the site so far. We will be having our first contest on fb soon so if you aren't a fan yet like me at the sassy stove over there. Night ya'll. It's time to make supper

 

Buttermilk Biscuits aka World Famous Boyfriend Biscuits

So those of you who know me have learned by now that Hubs is a huge breakfast man. He and my son in law love a huge brunch just about better than anything in the world. The piece de resistance is always my buttermilk biscuits. I must admit, biscuit baking is an art all its own. You really have to practice to get the hang of it. Several factors come into play when making a great biscuit. 1. The skillet. You gotta have a well seasoned cast iron skillet that is only for making biscuits. The only other thing I use this skillet for is cornbread. I guard it like chunky kid waiting on cake at a birthday party. YOU CAN NOT GET THIS SKILLET WET! Let me repeat myself girls. NEVER EVER EVER WASH YOUR BISCUIT SKILLET. I have other cast iron that I do wash etc but not my biscuit skillet. Afterwards you simply wipe out with a dry clean cloth and put away. Simple! You got it? Ok. If you have a good skillet and follow my recipe the way I prepare them biscuits sticking in your pan shouldn't ever be a problem. 2. Be sure they are wet enough. When you first handle the dough you want it to stick to your hands, then you roll the flour in later to make them firmer. 3. Don't over handle the biscuits. They are kinda fragile. Like a newborn baby. Be gentle. Knead in additional flour gently. The more you turn and pound the shorter they will be. So to have high rising fluffy biscuits, less touching is more. Just get the dough to were you can pinch it off and make a nice round disc without it still being so wet it sticks all over your hand. Easy does it.

Ya'll ready. Im about to give you a secret weapon that renders all mankind weak in the knees and googled eyed. Yes, these are how to catch a man biscuits. I am giving you a southernbelle tool that all women need. This will work even for Yankee Belles. Ok, so here we go. Im baring my soul to you. Take a look at these beauties! ​

 

 

 

By the way that one in the back doesn't have a mole, it's a pat of melting butter. Oh yes mam, if you are gonna do these bad boys you top em with butter ! Thats an order girls.

Ingredients:​

​2 cups SELF RISING FLOUR - be sure it's self rising
​1 stick of butter, not margarine left out over night to soften
​3/4 -1 cup of buttermilk, start with smaller amount then add if needed
​3 tbsps of vegetable oil to add to skillet so biscuits will brown
Additional flour on a sheet to knead biscuits gently​

Directions:

​Preheat oven to 425 F. Add oil to bottom of skillet as shown in pic below. In a large mixing bowl add butter and 2 cups flour. Cut in with pastry blender or a knife and fork. Once butter and flour resemble a coarse meal add in buttermilk. Stir just until ingredients form soft dough and are leaving sides of bowl. You may need to add additional buttermilk if dough is too dry. Just a little at a time. It's better to be too wet than too dry before you roll out so they won't be tough. Once dough is ready, turn out onto a floured surface and knead in additIonal dough. Softly until a nice dough forms. Don't make the dough to stiff. It should feel like soft soft play dough. Pinch into the size biscuits desired, place in pan with sides touching. Bake at 425F for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Don't over bake. Allow to cool then cover skillet with a round plate, flip upside down to turn out of skillet. Enjoy!
 

STEP BY STEP PICTURE TUTORIAL​

 

Here's the humble cast of ingredients. Yes I do use generic items a lot. the butter, the buttermilk and the vegetable oil ( I seldom use vegetable oil​ so cheap works) Just these 4 little ingredients transform you into the most irresistible woman in the South. Try to have makeup on and a cute sassy apron too! Oh Lawd, they won't know what hit em!

 

 

This is the biscuit skillet. I know how it looks. Trust me. Wipe it then leave it alone. You add the oil to the bottom for multi-purposes. 1. Makes the bottom of the biscuits slightly flaky golden.2. Keeps them from sticking. 3. Keeps the pan seasoned. Ta Da!​

 

 

 

Here we go. Cut the butter in the flour. This is a pastry blender. If you don't have one use a fork and knife and cut it up till the butter is consistently smaller than little peas.​

 

 

 

 

 

Pour in your milk and then mix until the dough is looking good, pulling away from the side of the bowl. Like this.​

Thats the way it's supposed to look. It's ok if it's sticky , you are about to turn it out and gently knead it. Soft and slow..​

 

 

Good job, at this point if you are like me you gotta be careful and on the watch cause the Biscuit Bandit shows up and mercilessly begins to bang into my leg hoping I'll drop something.​

 

​She still hasn't understood that the biscuits don't taste good until they come out of the oven. Continue on my fair ladies. Now we pinch and pat our dough into biscuits. I don't know how to explain how i do this. I pinch of a hunk between thumb and index which makes a nice top, then I pat the underside. Whatever you do, don't over pat them. They will deflate. Just gentle little rounds. Put them in the skillet with the sides touching each other

 

At this point you are almost there. Hopefully you did preheat the oven. Time to give these beauties a nice little golden glow. Pop em in the oven for 12-14 mins. Keep an eye on them after about 8. Use your oven light if you can .. try not to open the door. Start cleaning up the mess. I try to clean as I go. When i finish an ingredient I try to put it up immediately if I know Im through with it. I hate the clean up. With practice you'll be able to whip these out in less than 20 mins prep time. I can make them in about 10 but I've been doing this for awhile. Don't hate! Appreciate!​

 

Copycat Olive Garden Salad Recipe

On Sunday I had a crew over and wanted to do something special for lunch but without a big fuss. Several that were eating that day love salad, and who has the best salad? Why Olive Garden of course. I've made this salad for girlfriends when we've had lunch over at the house and everyone raves about it. It's really super simple. Basically the hardest part is remembering what all goes into. Not hard at all! Take a look at this beauty. Now doesn't that make your mouth water? ​

 

 

Now when you make this tons of wow factor comes from being able to eat visually with your eyes first. So be sure you put this recipe in a container that is worthy of such beauty. Here are the ingredients you will need. Check them out. Standing alone they are a homely bunch but put them together and you have pure genius!​

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the pic. You can see my new son in law chilling on the couch. Well ain't he something. He's learned from the best. Let the women handle the food and you watch the ball game.​

Ingredients for Copycat Olive Garden Salad​

​1 bag of veggie lovers salad
1 bag of italian salad​
tomato, chopped​
banana peppers​
purple onion ( which I forgot unfortunately)​
black olives, whole or sliced drained - to taste​
restaurant style croutons​
​Italian dressing- I used 2 kinds, one had Romano cheese in it
​Grated Parmesan cheese, Crumbled Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Chill your salad bowl, open bags of salad, add tomato and onion, Then add black olives and peppers to taste, add cheese liberally . Dress with the Italian dressing, liberally but don't soak it. Just enough to glisten on the veggies without drowning them. Add croutons, one more shake of cheese. Toss and Serve.

 

Cheating Cheesy Grits Recipe the Easy Way

I'm a sucker for cheesy grits. I adore them. My mom always made them for me for breakfast and they were my favorite. Back in those days we didn't have a toaster but she made me cheese toast to go with my cheesy grits. Yes, We love us some cheese in our family. Besides it was not expensive and filling. Give a single mom a break ya'll!. I loved the way she put the american cheese slice on the bread and then used the broiler. That cheese toast was at its perfection when it blew up like a balloon dome and got kinda all brownly toasted. Ummm so good. ​Then you could peel back the top layer and eat the melty inside too.
Well today I've been as busy as a bee in a tar bucket and realized I haven't eaten. The problem was solved easily and quickly by deciding for cheesy grits. Things don't always have to be so complicated, you know? Sometimes the best things are the simplest ones. ​

Ingredients:​

2 packs instant grits, plain that artificial flavored stuff is for the birds​
1 cup water, I use it hot out of my dispenser​
1/4 mexican cheese blend grated
hunk of chipotle smoked gouda cut into little pieces​
1 american cheese single
salt, pepper, tonys​
​Get your bowl, a nice size one cause this is a lunch portion. Open up your grits and pour them in, add your cheeses. If you have those real bacon bits they are great too, or add green onions or jalapenos, the sky is the limit. I wouldn't do black olives tho- that would just be nasty. Pour in the water, pop in the microwave, cover and give it a minute. Stir and season. Presto. You just made yourself some gourmet cheesy grits. You could even fool your guests by doing this in a big casserole dish and adjusting the measurements. Top with cheese and green onions, sprinkle paprika and parsley on top and you are now the southern MIss Martha Stewart. Of course real grits are much better but it's all about thinking out of the box and having a well stocked pantry girls. Seriously. You Can doooo this. Say it out loud, You CAN Dewww this. Have a great weekend. I'm bout to go shop for some pretty little bowls or something like that.

Lots of Love to my SassyBelles! Try this for breakfast! ​And of course as always, I appreciate you helping me get the word out. Share this post often and frequently.

 

Angel's Best Ribeye Marinade

 

Over Labor Day hubs and I had some awesome ribeyes. Of course many of you know this cause I made a great post about it. Then today I accidentally deleted it. So as you can imagine I'm not a happy camper. I've got pins everywhere and links galore that aren't going anywhere now. So quickly here is the worlds best steak rub. Simple Easy and FAB!​

Grab some nice juicy ribeyes, not too fatty but with good marbling​. Wash and pat dry. Lay on something flat. Get out what you are gonna need. Meat Tenderizer, paprika, garlic powder, smokehouse black pepper, mesquite smoke seasoning, hickory salt, olive oil.

 

Ingredients:

2 marbled beautiful ribeyes​
meat tenderizer​
garlic powder​
pinch of sugar​
hickory salt​
mesquite seasoning
paprika​
smokehouse black pepper​
emeril's essence​
Olive oil.

Directions:

Wash ribeyes, pat dry. Sprinkle each steak generously with spices, one at a time. Then rub in. Drizzle with olive oil. Then turn over, repeat. Marinate covered up to 4 hours. I've found that for us the perfect amount of time is 2 hours then take out of fridge to get room temp. Heat grill to 300. Spray nonstick cooking oil on clean grates and place steaks​ on grill. For well done do 7 mins on each side, turning 90 degree angle to get nice sear marks. I like mine medium. I do it 4 on one side, turning at 2 mins then flipping at 4 min mark and cook another 4. Cover with foil to let juices redistribute. Serve with baked potato and roasted asparagus.

Berry Boost Breakfast Smoothie

Sometimes I just can feel my body telling me " hey girl, I need some nutrients now." As bad as I hate to confess it-I'm not a big fruit eater. Just don't like the stuff. Never really have. Don't judge. I try. Really, I do. I can do an apple, some pineapple and maybe a bit of strawberry if it's drowning in whip cream. Guess it's a texture thing. Ya'll pray for me. I know I'm supposed to love the stuff. I know, I know. I take a super food green vitamin for that when I remember. Well, ok anyways. I heard my body telling me that today. So I made me a wonderful Berry Boost Smoothie. Super easy, super good. Chocked full of all those wonderful antioxidant berries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, even cranberries! Woo hoo score one for the healthy girl! Holla! I buy my fruit for smoothies frozen and keep them in the freezer. Easy peasy. I also keep a can of oj juice concentrate just to scoop out and add a tablespoon to my mix. No one around here drinks orange juice so I just keep it frozen in a ziplock and grab when I need it. Here's the cast of sexy slimming gorgeous ingredients in my Berry Boost Your Beauty Smooth. Thats what I should name it. The google bots will like that name better ..don't ya think?

 

 

Ok so here they are in all their shining glory.. Frozen Unsweetened strawberries. Dole Nutritious signature antioxidant blend ​"Mixed Berries with sweetened Cranberries" Yes, get the cranberries they are God's gift for health --besides you can't taste them. My poor pitiful oj concentrate. Sorry girls. I was making this for me, not worrying about what you thought about my concentrate can preservation skills! One 1/2 of a very ripe banana. He was shy, His peel wasn't look so hot so he jumped right in a skinny dippin' up in my blender. In the far back, Mr.Hunk, the muscle man Whey protein powder.. 26 grams per scoop mind you. I can't do fruit unless I balance with protein. We will just call him Wheddd. Ha Wade, do you get it? And my fabulous friend "Agave Nectar" light. Agave nectar is like honey but it's better for your blood sugar. Keeps you stable. Stable is good. I don't always have that right balance between Stable and Unstable. Oh well, thats another story. Then ice and water. You can do this! It's so easy my Yorkie could make it! You do need a blender though. You must get one. No decent SassyBelle can live life without a blender. Even if you don't use it.. You look smarter. ;) Free tip.

 

Okay so put it all in the blender. 1 scoop of Wade ( whey powder) 1/2 a banana 1/2 c berries, a sprinkling of strawberries, 1 tablespoon of Orange juice concentrate. 1/2 cup ice, 1/2 cup water, a nice 5 count drizzle of agave. You got this. Woot you can do it! Said in the voice of Antonio Banderas as Puss in Shrek.​ Say to yourself out loud before you blend Wooot. YOUUUUUUUUUU CAnnn dewwww it.

                                                                            
Just wanted to let ya'll all see what the Agave Nectar looks like. and of course the gorgeous blender beauty action about to go on. Kind of like marriage. You know that 2 becoming 1. They never tell you it's like being caught in a huge ole Vitamix. Seriously. But on to the recipe. After you've got it all in there. Blend baby blend. My blender has an ice crusher. I tend to like my smoothies not so liquidy and a little thick. You can determine this on your own. Btw, you are a big girl- the decision is yours to make. If it's too thick blend more or add water. Too thin throw in ice or ​more fruit. This is what it looks like. Yum!

 

That looks yum. It was yum. Now since you are doing something so good for yourself you must celebrate it. Get out that fancy stemware you never use and pour you up a smoothie. Or 2, cause this makes two. Depends on how hungry you are. I drink it all. Thats the way I roll besides I needed the vitamins and minerals and all! Pour it up into that fancy smancy glass and celebrate the fact God gave you another beautiful day to breathe in and out. Enjoy the moment and have a superb day. That is how you partake of a "Berry Boost YourBeauty Smoothie" Much love my friends. Keep on being Sassy! Have a good day now ya hear?​

​Ingredients

1 scoop whey powder protein vanilla flavor​
​1/2 a banana, peeled
1 tsbp. frozen orange juice concentrate​
1/2 cup frozen Mixed Berry Blend with cranberries​
1/4 cup frozen unsweetened strawberries​
​Agave Nectar to taste - 5 count drizzle
1/2 cup ice​
1/2 cup water​

directions​

​Add all ingredients into blender and blend until your smoothie is the consistency you desire. Pour into a nice glass and drink immediately. Serves 2 unless you are hungry or just selfish and don't like to share.