Simply Home by Beth

Simply Home by Beth

Five Bean Bake

By

Five Bean Bake

Beth Wood
This meat and mixed beans recipe, a one pot dish, can be served as a side dish or as the main course
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 12

Equipment

  • Stock pot
  • knife
  • ½C measuring cup
  • 1 tsp .measuring spoon
  • ¾C measuring cup
  • skillet
  • can opener
  • oven

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb. hamburger or ground chuck, fried
  • 1 lb. bacon fried or baked to crisp
  • 1 lb. Kielbasa Sausage sliced into 1/2" pieces
  • 1 15.8oz can of Great Northern Beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 15.8oz can of Red Kidney Beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 15.8oz can of Lima Beans keep liquid
  • 1 15.8oz can of Butter Beans keep liquid
  • 1 large can of Pork and Beans I use Bush's brand
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. yellow mustard
  • 2 tsp. Apple Cider vinegar
  • ½ C. ketchup
  • ¾ C. light brown sugar packed and leveled

Five Bean Bake Ingredients

Instructions
 

  • Brown hamburger or ground chuck until brown. Set aside to cool.
  • Fry or bake bacon till crisp. Cool then crumble into bite size pieces. Set aside.
  • Slice sausage ring into ½" slices. Set aside.
  • When cool, add all meat to pot.
  • Add beans to pot, and stir to mix.
  • Add salt, mustard, vinegar, ketchup and brown sugar to beans and meat, stir to blend well.
  • Stir on stove top till bubbly, let simmer on low for 20 minutes.
  • When simmering, preheat oven to 350*
  • When beans and meat have simmered for 20 minutes, remove from stovetop and insert into oven, covered with a lid. Bake at 350* for 1 hour.

Five Bean Bake Instructions

    Keyword Beef, Bacon, Sausage, Northern Beans, Kidney Beans, Lima Beans, Butter Beans, Pork and Beans

    October’s Here!

    By

    Welcome October…!

    Time for October’s News:

    How do I describe my favorite month of the year?

    Do I put all of my “favorites” into categories?

    Well, let’s see……

    1. If you haven’t found your perfect pumpkin to carve for Halloween, or to cut out the center, and use it for a vase on your table, and/or to add a candle ,for it’s soft glow..(.totally necessary if you’re lighting your steps for tiny trick-or-treaters!),…GET IT NOW!!
    2. Head to the nearest farm stand or farmer’s market, or a pumpkin patch near you, enjoy the ambiance while you still can!. Do NOT come home empty-handed!
    3. As noted in step 1., a pumpkin is not your average gourd, it has multiple purposes, enjoy them ALL
    4. Corn stalks, mums, apples and all apple products, are really Miss Runner Up’s to the Pumpkin (in my opinion),
    5. Octoberfest: Life beyond the pumpkin?…..yes, but a good Polka band, beer and brats, celebrating your German heritage, ( even if you’re not German, but a great beer drinker), can almost guarantee a good time…every time!
    6. Now, let’s talk Weather:
    7. Cooler temperatures call for bonfires, apple cider and smores , snuggly sweatshirts and cozy blankets, sitting in the dark, star gazing….all WITHOUT mosquitoes!
    8. Autumn’s Glory is painted across our landscapes: Leaves formerly green and yellow, have turned golden amber, reds and oranges, hues rich and warm. Our green fields of Summer have turned golden, anticipating the harvest to come.
    9. Raking fallen leaves is not a favorite past-time of mine, but I do like to “clean things up”, or exposing my “still green” grass beneath the leaves.
    10. Antique auctions and fairs, everywhere and anywhere, in the Fall, are the BEST ever!
    11. Barn sales are even BETTER!
    12. I collect vintage rakes, garden art, bushel baskets and cement statuary for my landscaping, aged clay pots (any size) are also a favorite find!
    13. Oops! I cannot forget this….my wedding anniversary, and 3 family birthdays are in October!
    14. Celebrations all month long!
    15. Finally, we end with Halloween, and I’ll end this post with a photo of our little Hoosier,…mad that we put a costume on him. He hated this. An 8 legged spider outfit with a hood with 2 eyeballs on it…….he ATE one eye off! At 16 years old, he refused to stand for his photo, you can see him pouting on his face……he was so mad, and so miserable, I HAD to take his picture! Please don’t report me….he understood me.
    October's Fun
    Hoosier’s Halloween

    Sweet friends, I hope you enjoy this beautiful month of October as much as I do!

    If you have favorite activities, crafts, or recipes that remind you of October, please share them with me in the Comments section below! I would so love to hear from you!

    Blessings, Beth

    Rag Ball Pumpkins

    By

    Easy 3 step craft, Rag Ball Pumpkins!

    Nothing heralds in the Autumn Season like a Pumpkin!!!

    Pumpkins are naturally dressed to impress, wearing multiple colors, stripes, warts, bumps and blemishes of all sorts, and yet, we find them “lovely” and “perfect”!

    Personally, I feel that the search for the “perfect” pumpkin takes so long, because it’s often the stem that determines the Winner. Again, the stems are as varied as their round companions! Together, the “ball and stick” combo cannot be beat! Joy was born in the Pumpkin Patch!

    This is how I made the pumpkin you see in the above photo:

    1. This little pumpkin started as a cardboard holder for a roll of Christmas ribbon for gift wrapping. I used the cardboard “roll” as support for the fabric. It’s a small roll, which I thought would be easy to handle. Note: a larger roll would give you a larger pumpkin, increasing the amount of material needed to cover the form.
    2. I cut 1.5″ slits into the edge of a cotton fabric flour sack, or seed sack, pulling each strip evenly to make the “rag” strips. I used about 1/4 yard of fabric, or less.
    3. I tied 2 strips together with a knot, pulled tightly, and put the knot in the hole of the roll. I pulled each strip tightly around and through the hole, until the entire cardboard roll was covered. When a strip was close to being used, about 3″ left, I would tie on another strip…and kept repeating until I was finished. Tuck in all knots, loose ends or frays that you don’t want exposed. Keep tugging to make sure everything is tight.
    4. Finally, anything loose can be glued down with a small bit of hot glue. Lastly, find your perfect “stem”, either a stick or an actual dried pumpkin stem. Insert tightly.

    That’s it! Enjoy!

    xx,

    Do not be dismayed, Do not be discouraged…

    By

    “So do not fear, for I am with you: do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you: I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

    ” For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear: I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13

    God is near to the broken hearted…

    Yesterday, Monday morning, I woke with the above verses going through my mind.. “Do not be dismayed, do not be discouraged.”

    I wasn’t sure why those verses decided to pop up and visit, I hadn’t been “dismayed” for awhile, and if I would assess myself more often, I probably would be discouraged!

    The reality of it is that Monday morning, at 9:30 A.M., a sweet family friend of ours, 37 years old, was having her funeral….just the way she had planned it, in a large, beautiful Cathedral in the suburbs of Chicago. She, was and still is, my daughter’s best friend. And I couldn’t be there, for my daughter…who was devastated, though you wouldn’t see it.

    Last week, I went to see my daughter, Courtney, for a few days, to help her out. Watching/playing with the little ones, so Courtney could sit by her friend’s bedside., while she was still alert. I was there for a night and 2 days, there had been little change with her friend, so I felt like I could go home, and I knew I’d be back soon. But, not when.

    Arriving home, I sat about preparing for guests at our cottage, Labor Day weekend was just a day away! We enjoyed their stay with us, and together we attended a large party on Labor Day, with my husband’s family.

    Her friend “made it” through the weekend, though slipped away soon after.

    After she passed, we went back to my daughters’ for another night and 2 days, helping out with the kids, attending a “first” flag football game, and attending the “wake” on Sunday afternoon.

    Again, I felt the same way. If I could just stay one more day….attend the funeral…then I would know that I had done everything I could, with the time that I had to give. But again, I had to be home.

    Frustrated, dismayed even, over the feeling that I can never do enough….or was it?

    This “death” was so tragic, and too soon. At the wake, my words of comfort choked in my throat…I can only hope and pray that they felt , or understood, the message I was relaying. Not long ago, I stood at the podium at my Father’s funeral, and I began with, “We know that God is near to the broken hearted, so He is very close right now…” This is what I wanted them to know, to hang on to, to count on, to rely on. The God of all Creation, tells us to “not fear”, “I will be with you.” Can you imagine meaning that much to anyone that important???? Obviously, He has other things to do, needs to be met, prayers to be heard and answered. And yet? He stops everything to reassure us, comfort us, encourage us to keep going, and He’ll go with us!

    God’s amazing Love…for Us…always present, never failing.

    God will give us the strength, His strength, to carry out all that we are called to do, and the wisdom to know that our abilities are feeble, without the Lord himself beside us.

    Friends, I feel like I’ve been all over on this post, but the emotions are a bit “all over” as well! In your prayers, please remember the family of Jessica, her parents, her husband, her “little” brother, and her daughter, only 4 years old….wondering where her Mother is.

    Just pray. Thank you,

    Blessings, Beth

    German Pickles

    By

    German Sweet and Sour Dill Pickles

    Beth Wood
    Carrie's Christmas Pickles
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 minutes
    Cook Time 15 minutes
    5 minutes to cool 14 days
    Total Time 14 days 30 minutes
    Course Snack
    Cuisine German
    Servings 8

    Equipment

    • quart size glass canning jar with self-sealing rim and jar ring
    • canner

    Ingredients
      

    • 1.2 lb. pickling cucumbers cut in large pieces to fit jar
    • 1 onion diced, thinly
    • 1 tbs. coarsely chopped dill no stems
    • 10 mustard seeds
    • 5 black peppercorns
    • 1/3 C. white wine vinegar
    • 4 tbs. sugar
    • 2 tbs. salt

    German Pickles, makes 1 Quart

    Instructions
     

    • Use small fresh pickling cucumbers. Thoroughly wash, then cut into large pieces to fit into your jar.
    • Peel and thinly dice the onion.
    • Place the diced onion , dill, mustard seed, peppercorns and cucumbers into a sterilized glass quart size canning jar.
    • Combine the white wine vinegar, 1 3/4 C. water, sugar, and salt in a pot and heat until sugar is dissolved. Fill the canning jar with the hot liquid leaving 1/2" headspace. Cover the jar with a self-sealing lid and jar ring.
    • Fill a boiling water canner 1/2 full with water and heat until hot but not boiling.
    • Place the jar in the canner, add boiling water if needed to cover jar by 1". Bring water to a boil for 15 minutes, then let jar cool for 5 minutes before taking jar out of the canner.
    • Store the jar in a cool, dark place for 14 days before opening. After open, store in the refrigerator.

    Notes

    Tip: To make more jars, multiply the quantities needed. Cooking/water bath time does not change.
    A “gentler” method of canning cucumbers is to place the jars in a canner half-filled with warm water. Add enough hot water so that the jars are submerged 1″ below the water line. Heat water to boiling, and boil for 30 minutes. Again, cool for 5 minutes. Store the same way as above.
     
    Keyword pickles, cucumbers, onions, salt, sugar, white wine vinegar, dill

    September’s News

    By

    For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven……Ecclesiastes 3:1

    There is a time to plant, and to reap what you sow, ….this is the sweetness of September…technically, not yet Autumn, but the Summer’s work is done and it is ready to harvest.

    If we are wise, we will store up and put away the fruits of our efforts…..in other words, we will preserve the freshness of Summer, and there are several ways to do that.

    My daughter makes German pickles…a recipe given to her by her German neighbors, while she was stationed in Germany a few years ago. They are so crisp, with a spice unlike the pickles you’ll find here at home. I’d like to can a few quarts of my own, with her recipe.

    This will be the first time I’ve attempted to make these pickles, but I’m excited to learn how to make my own. My husband actually requests a quart or two every Christmas! (and I think that’s why she gave me the recipe..!!!!)

    In the past few months, here on the blog, I’ve had a monthly “news” post, outlining all of the crafts, recipes, and activities for each month. Sadly, at the end of one or more of these months, not every item was checked off of my list,..leaving me frustrated, and more than a bit embarrassed! There are no “excuses,” but an awareness gained. Summer goes by so quickly, and I’ve been over-booked and over-extended, really stretching the limits of how much I can do, and do well, and still enjoy the outcome.

    The month of August, has been harsh for our family. A childhood friend, extremely ill, fighting to hang on, and several unexpected tragic deaths, too soon, without any warnings or explanations. It’s been a lot to process, or atleast try to process.

    What I’m saying is this, September wraps up Summer as it also heralds in Autumn.

    I will post events , projects, new recipes, and “news” as it happens. My Instagram and Face Book posts will direct you to the blog, so you don’t miss a thing.

    October is my all time favorite month of the year, and by then, Lord willing (as my Grandma would say), I’ll be back on track.

    Find me on Instagram, and I’ll post here as well, you’ll find me, I’ll make sure of it.

    Blessings, Beth