It is 6 pm and I wanted to have the HG Creamy Italian Casserole for dinner tonight.  I know it will be 6:30 before I get home and hungry kids aren’t going to want to wait an hour for that casserole.  So…I phoned in my order!  I just called my 14 year old at home and walked him through the label instructions.  I had him pull the casserole dish from the shelf, asked him to read me the ingredient list and then asked him if there was anything on that list he did not understand.  After a couple of clarifying questions, like what is Mozzarella cheese, he was ready to get it done.  I love that all I had to do was ask him to gather the ingredients as listed, stir them all up in the casserole dish, cover it with foil and put it in the oven.  When I get home, dinner will be over 1/2 way done, which gives me time to change clothes, catch up on their issues of the day and sit down to dinner. 

In case you are wondering…no, I did not ask him to cut up raw chicken.  I had actually cooked some Italian Sausage another time and I told him to take that from the fridge instead of using the chicken as instructed.  So…a little planning ahead did help! 

Do you have a story to tell about HG and kids helping on hectic days?  I’d love to hear it…so leave a comment for us all to enjoy! 

God Bless and Keep You

Tami

I had a great question posed to me recently and I thought you might find the answer interesting as well. They wanted to know why we call our bean soup “Lucky Bean Soup”.  So here is the story…

I grew up in the south where it is a tradition to eat blackeyed peas on New Year’s Day for ‘good luck’.  Now, I don’t believe in good luck ~ just providential guidance ~ however I do love traditions!  So when I married a Yankee who proclaimed he didn’t like blackeyed peas…I had to find a way to overcome his objection to this tradition!  I had this recipe for bean soup and he LOVED that soup.  I am sure you can connect the dots! I added blackeyed peas to the bean mix and the southern tradition continued.

The story goes on…When I started Homemade Gourmet with my home cooked  recipes, I knew I wanted to have this bean soup mix on the product line.  We had affectionately called it Lucky Bean Soup as a family, but I knew that those who did not grow up with the southern tradition of blackeyed peas would not get the connection.  So, I adjusted the formula to have a blend of 7 different kinds of beans…’lucky #7″.  Now you have the story of  Lucky Bean Soup! 

Our favorite way to eat Lucky Bean Soup?  We cook it all day in the slow cooker with slices of smoked sausage and then serve it with warm Texas Cornbread.  Definitely a family favorite!

God Bless and Keep You,

Tami

I have to say I have had fun trying some of the meal suggestions during the recent Texas cold snap.  My 11 year old, Micah, became the chef of the week.  He made HG Beef and Barley stew last night, and with the help of his oldest brother, added some HG beer bread muffins to the menu.  Before that he made HG Bonnie’s Blue Ribbon Chili with veggie crumbles instead of meat ~ no one could tell! Of course, cornbread was a must with that meal.  Reading some comments today, I am thinking we need to have HG burgundy beef tips real soon!  It has been a while and my family loves that as much as you all have shared that yours do!

I am looking forward to getting into the gift giving mode in the coming weeks!! I love making homemade gifts from the kitchen!  HG Pralines are a must these days, and strawberry bread has been a family tradition since my mother started it when I was a child.  And of course, my kids won’t let me miss the traditional fudge making either.  But I was thinking today that I could use some new ideas!  So…what do you make with HG mixes to give as gifts this time of year?  IN fact…that is this month’s contest!  Post your comments with your recipe ideas for gifts from the kitchen using HG products and we will select 3 winners at the end of the month.  We will send those three winners a Lucky Bean Soup Mix to welcome in the New Year! 

Check back in the next day or so to see who won the November contest…and send in your December contest ideas soon!  I need to get my gifts made early this year!

God Bless and Keep You,

Tami