A Soulful Pot- Beans and Neckbones

 I visited a community market today. While there I decided to buy ingredients to create a tasty and delicious pot of great northern beans and neck bones for under $10.00.

Ingredients & Plan

1 family pack of neck bones

2 cups great northern dry beans

1 cup peppers and onions

garlic powder

onion powder

black pepper

cayenne pepper

steak seasoning

poultry seasoning

nutmeg

paprika

olive oil

Drizzle olive oil in large pot. Add peppers and onions stirring constantly till translucent. Then add seasoned neck bones turning and browning on both sides. Add enough water to pot that covers neck bones, place lid on pot and boil for an hour.In a separate pot add beans and water to boil. Turn off beans and let sit for one hour. Drain and rinse beans. Add beans two cups of water and additional seasoning as needed to pot of neck bones. Cook for an additional 45 minutes or until beans are tender.

Serve with jasmine rice, corn bread and cabbage on the side.

Spicy Airfryer Fried Chicken Wings

Ingredients & Plan

1 1/2 pounds of chicken wings(divided into drums and flats)

chicken seasoning

black pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

paprika

cayenne

baking powder

olive oil

Cut off tips of chicken and divide into drums and flats. This pack of wings yielded six whole wings, which I turned into twelve piece wingettes.😂 Not bad for a $5.32 pack of wings right?

Soak chicken in lemon and water, drain and pat dry with a paper towel.

Season chicken and place in Airfryer at 400 degrees and cook for 12-14 minutes.Flip over and cook an additional 12-14minutes.

Served yellow rice and seasoned black beans on the side.🥰

Afternoon Tea time With The Sassy Napturalista

With cooler temperatures this time of year, 

there's increase opportunity to engage in  

having tea time at home. Whether your alone 

or entertaining guests, sipping a warm beverage

is just the right fix to beat the cold weather 

blues.

If your looking to buy a glass kettle for your home, www.Amazon.com has some priced reasonably. This is the one I purchased.

I can now heat hot water in seconds for tea, hot chocolate, instant oatmeal and even top ramen.

Kitchen Pantry & Organization Set

 As my interest in becoming a greater cook and baker increases, nothing is better than learning to be more organized in the kitchen. To help facilitate that , I ordered the Fresh keeper pantry and organization set from www.Amazon.com. The cost of a set of these containers is presently $26.99.

This 14 piece set includes durable storage containers of various sizes with matching lids. Also reusable labels, a marker and a three piece set for measuring recipes ingredients.  

I've already labeled my set for the kitchen and loaded the containers with dry goods such as flour, sugar, rice , cornmeal, bread crumbs, etc.

Get yours today while supplies last.

Cauliflower Alfredo With Angel Hair Pasta and Smoked Kielbasa

I have developed such a knack for cooking in 

recent years. Actually, I see cooking meals thirty 

minutes or under during a busy week as ideal

for anyone trying to  balance, work, family and 

home life. Some of my best dish creations were 

birthed through very delicious 😋 one pot 

wonders.

  So as you can see from the title, this is indeed

  another bad creation🔥🔥🔥🔥. See recipe 

  below.

Ingredients/Plan-

One beef kielbasa

1 cup sliced peppers and onions

*Alfredo sauce or homemade recipe

1/2 box Angel hair pasta

1 10 oz bag. frozen cauliflower

Grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp Garlic powder

1 tsp Black pepper

1/2 to tsp Cayenne 

1/2 tsp Parsley

First I fried the sliced beef sausage, peppers and onions in olive oil. Drained and put aside.

Next I put Angel hair pasta to boil as directed. I added the cauliflower with it to cook until tender. I drained both in a colander not shown.

To save time I used a store bought Alfredo sauce and doctored it 😂 with the garlic powder and other ingredients. Then returned the noodles and pasta back to the pot together.

I then added the sausage, onion and peppers.

Mixed everything together well in the pot( see picture at the very top) and enjoyed a nice plate of food and refreshing ice tea.I had enough left over to eat again the next day.🥰

Dollar Tree Branded Baking Items Under Twenty Dollars

🍁🍁🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍁🍂🍂🍁🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍁

 With the Thanksgiving holiday just a week or.   so away, I have begun making some necessary.   store purchases to create delicious baked goods. 

There will be a Harvest theme this year at thanksgiving dinner.  I was tasked with doing.    a few special desserts among other things. Mom will be making her yummy sweet potato pies of course, but I will be creating a festive surprise. The only thing that I can say for now is the baking project  will involve using fruit and or vegetables.

     Baking items I found at Dollar Tree. Fourteen       branded items costing a total of $17.50. 

Pics, details, recipe info will be shared as usual.

Seven Ingredient Pound Cake With Swans Cake Flour

I decided to make and bake a pound cake in a 

loaf pan this morning. I'm super excited because

this will be my first time using Swans cake flour. 

I use all purpose flour more often when cooking 

so it's always on hand for baking as well.

Ingredients & Plan(Makes one loaf)

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar(not pictured)

4 brown eggs

2 sticks butter

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add wet and dry ingredients to separate bowls. Mix together and pour in a loaf pan that has been sprayed with a nonstick cooking spray and lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 50- 55 minutes. Let cool, slice and enjoy.

Why Are Modern Black Women Labeled "Masculine" For Leading In Their Relationships?

 Responsibility is defined as................................

With so much talk of "responsibility" and what it entails, I decided to pull one of the definitions from google. In regards to romantic relationship and how they fair, why do black men have issues taking on the leadership (responsibility) role when they are clearly given the place to, but want to label black women "masculine" for being able to move independently with ease, style and grace. Does it have anything to do with how each group is socialized?Or is it just that black women are naturally better at decision making, planning, working and achieving great things independent of their male counterparts?

Sound off in the comments and share your thoughts.

How To Make Banana Pancakes?

🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌

 After making a couple of tubs of banana 

pudding, I had a couple of leftover bananas

 in the kitchen. Rather than throw them out, 

I decided to use them to make some banana 

walnut pancakes for breakfast. Also it gave me 

a chance to try out my new stovetop grill pan.

The grill pan was bought at www.wayfair.com 

for under $40.00.

Ingredients & Plan

1 cup organic white flour

1 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla 

1 cup almond milk

2 tbsp canola oil

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 brown egg

Add dry and wet ingredients to separate bowls. Bring together and mix well. Makes 8 pancakes.

These pancakes were super delicious😋. The walnuts, whip cream and syrup on top made them even more scrumptious.

My Thoughts On Home Cooking With The Sassy Napturalista

There is nothing in this world like a home cooked meal. The smell, taste and enjoyment     of eating a dish created with love is something wonderful. I, personally, have been able to sit.   at the table of many excellent cooks within my family and extended family, tasting a variety of dishes from Central America, the Caribbean and even delectable black southern American cuisine. Many of the foods I prepare at home reflect those I've been  privileged to partake of.

The experiences that I've had with my health    in recent years, striving to stay well during a pandemic, rising inflation, including shelter  costs and other basic necessities, are a few key factors in deciding to significantly scale back.   on eating takeout altogether. My thoughts were it makes sense for me to use the take out money to buy groceries I can create multiple meals with as opposed to spending $35 and up on a single meal through a food app. At www.Amazon.com. will deliver groceries to prime members,such as myself, for free with a $50 minimum order.

Also being able to become more knowledgeable about cooking, meal preparation, food culture and spending quality time with family around the dinner table are perks as well. So these days your girl stay in the kitchen and she really loves it there.🥰 I hope many of you will join me too.

Surviving And Healing Under The Hand Of Mercy

Life is what you make it

That's if you can take it

And make it yours

- The Sassy Napturalista 22'

 There are many things that come natural to me. 

Sharing a kind word with others, wishing and 

hoping for the best for everyone , moving 

through life with a sense of appreciation and 

certain level of accomplishment and being of

good character. Every day I think of different 

ways I can improve my life, my well being and 

that of the people I love and even those in need.

I used to be so emotional about everything. Also 

a very serious empath. Both have tapered down 

quite a bit. To my surprise I feel a sense of peace

and enjoy healthy balance these days. I've 

learned going through trauma of any kind can 

and will change you.

When I was granted mercy by the death angel 

eight years ago, there was no doubt the road to 

recovery was gonna be tough. Countless dr 

appointments, physical therapy, bunch of 

prescription medications, being wheel chair 

bound and wearing diapers was life for me 

about six months. Pushing through all that

 pain I got the hell up and got busy. 🥰

So I have changed a lot. The way I feel, I talk, 

I think, approach personal life situations, 

problem solve,resolve conflicts, etc. is all 

different now. Many thanks to having good 

family, friends, love from God and the angels 

that took care of me when I needed it the most.

 

Countertop Ice Maker, Good Buy?

 So I bought a countertop ice maker this week 

for several reasons.  1) For those that are 

wondering why, my freezer is packed with

food, leaving no room for ice trays or to keep 

store bought ice. 2) I thought about how vital 

having ice in the house is in case of a accident

or emergency. 3) Lastly, Visitors and family can

enjoy even cooler drinks/beverages with ice 

straight from the ice maker.

Removed contents from shipping box.

Took ice basket and scoop out to wash. Also cleaned the inside and outside of ice maker.

Attaching handle to ice maker.Ice maker is portable.

Poured bottle water just below the maximum fill line inside ice maker. I chose to use bottle water vs. tap because of the taste to be honest. There were two 16 oz bottles of water used to fill the reservoir.

Returned basket to ice maker, closed lid and pressed on/off button.

Wow 😱. It really works.Look at my ice cubies.

This was definitely a great buy at a little over @$94.00. Go to www.wayfair.com to get yours today. I liked mine so much my mom has one on the way to her .Lol.

 

Carrot Cake w/Creamy Vanilla Frosting

I made my family a really tasty dinner(not pictured)  of lemon pepper wings, candy yams cob corn and seasoned , steamed carrots with green beans.

 After dinner dessert. Moist, delicious😋 carrot cake with creamy vanilla frosting. I topped it off with chopped walnut and sweet shredded coconut.