Category: South Carolina

Easy Hoppin’ John

Last week I shared the collard greens I prepared for our New Year’s feast and today I am sharing the recipe for the Hoppin’ John that we had to go along with the greens! This recipe is as simple as it is tasty! Hoppin’ John is considered a Low Country food and I have grown up eating it all my life in South Carolina. I am not really a fan of blackeyed peas but the rice and the seasoning that the bacon gives really accompany them so well that I do not mind them at all in this dish! As you make this dish your home will smell delicious as the scent of bacon reminds me of home! Feel free to try your hand at some traditional South Carolinan food!

Hoppin’ John

Ingredients
  • 2 Tablespoons bacon drippings
  • 1 cup cooked white rice
  • 2 cups cooked and drained black eyed peas
  • 3/4 cup diced sweet onion
  • 2 tablespoons chicken stock(reduced sodium)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions
  1. In a large skillet fry 3 slices of center cooked bacon. Remove bacon (crumble to use on a salad or something later or you can just eat it). 
  2. While you’re frying the bacon cook the one cup of rice in a rice cooker or on the stove.
  3. After the bacon is removed, saute the onion in the bacon drippings for about 5 minutes.
  4. Add the peas and cooked rice until heated through and add the chicken stock and stir
  5. Salt and Pepper to taste
  6. Enjoy!

Cheers to 10 Years!

Last weekend Mike and I traveled to South Carolina for my ten year high school reunion. It was a quick 36 hour trip but we had an amazing time hanging out with old friends and seeing some that I had not seen since the day we graduated. Everyone had really changed and some lead some really exciting and intriguing lives! Little ole’ me won the superlative for Most Changed which was pretty awesome! I always love going home as it gives me a feeling inside like no other. Everything is green, there are mountains in the distance and the air just feels cooler and crisper there. 

Pumpkin doing a little ‘front porch sittin’
Me and the bestie!
Newlyweds!

Stay southern,

Catching Up

I am a bad blogger. It has been a while since I have checked in probably because this is a highly stressful time in our household. That does not mean that nothing fun has been happening it just means that I have a lot more things taking up my time that are not as fun 😦 However, I want to do a quick catch up post with mostly pictures to give a little insight into what we have been doing since my last post.

Mike’s 25th Birthday lunch at the Arnold’s! 
My student researcher presented our work at a
student symposium here on campus. I am so proud of her!
Crawfish boil at the Picard’s.
Graduation Day!!! What a special day for Mike and I!
His hard work and dedication finally paid off!
There he is receiving his diploma and shaking hands with the university president!
My Master boyfriend!! So proud of him and we were both so happy that day!

We have some fun things coming up. We are headed to PTC to see Mike’s brother Danny graduate from High school soon and to spend time with the family. I plan to go and visit the HGTV Green Home while I am there as well(this is right up my alley) and I cannot wait! My fingers are still crossed about the future. Waiting is so very hard and straining on your mind though. I have to figure out a good way to de-stress and I may have a solution to my stress in my next post 🙂

Stay southern,

Winter Vacation

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Wow I am behind…here is is almost February and I have yet to blog about my holiday trip. Oh well I have been busy and life is getting crazier by the minute! As you can see on the map above we had quite the journey over the holiday season. It was about 3200 miles and a lot of fun. We spent time with friends and family and it was just good to get out of here for a while. I have been recovering from this journey for a few weeks lol.

On another note, the new year has come and gone and I am back on the healthy train(although I really never got off). I maintained my weight loss over the holidays(YAY). And I am well on my way to making my January fitness goal I set for myself which entails going to the gym 20 times this month. Which I should surpass! The scale has not budged even though I have eaten like a bird for the most part. I have to figure this out soon before I go crazy!! I have started going to Zumba again twice a week and I am so enjoying it. If you know me then you know I love to dance so this is more fun for me than traditional workouts.

Other than that nothing is going on with me. On the other hand Mike is busier than ever. He has worked harder than I have ever seen him. He has been staying up late finishing his thesis and getting ready for his defense which is scheduled for Feb 3! I am so proud of him already and cannot wait for all of this to be over so he can have this off of his chest.
I am going to try to blog more especially because I think this year is going to be important. Hopefully we will move and start a new chapter of our lives together what I believe will be the most important one yet!