Munch For Lunch Pinto Beans and Cornbread

My Munch for lunch today is:
If your a southern girl like me then a simple bowl of pinto beans and cornbread is just perfect for a rainy day. Add a glass of cold  milk,  a shot or two of hot sauce, a wedge of salted down onion and you have a true meal to satisfy any southern girls belly.

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It rained all night long last night and the rain is set in to rain all day long today. Once I knew the raindrops were going to pore off the roof of the house in buckets and make ting-tang sounds on the old fashion metal rain covers above my windows, I knew I had to pull out the big simmer pot and bag of dry beans. 

Today I made my pinto beans like this:

You know the way to do it. Pick the bad beans out then wash your beans. Follow the directions on the bag for boiling. Today I added 1 can of beef stock, 1 large diced onion and 1 can of corned beef hash. (yes it's true- I love a can of corned beef hash in my pinto beans.) Try it I think you will like it. If you don't you can substitute with ham hock or sausage. Then add salt and pepper to taste. But all I did was cook on medium heat for 1 hour then simmer for 2 hours or until done. I enjoy thick gravy so I let it simmer a bit longer to start the beans to break down and make a medium thick sauce. If I'm in the mood for a thin sauce.... so  I can crumble cornbread up into it....  and stir it all together, then I make a thinner sauce.

Today I made my cornbread like this:

Well this is going to be hard to tell you how much of what I use because you see I make my cornbread by sight. That's how my Mother taught me to do it. I'm going to guess it's about a cup of cornmeal and I'm going to guess it's around 2 or 3 tablespoons of flour. 1 egg is nice if I want it soft. But if I want it crumbly I don't use a egg and I use water for my liquid instead of buttermilk. But for today I used buttermilk. I just pored it in so it was a bit thinner than what pancake batter looks like. Add salt, pepper and a bit of dry onions. Stir, pore in a pre-heated cast iron skillet and bake at 400 for 30 minutes, depending on your oven.

It's seemed so damp in the house so while my beans and cornbread were cooking I built a fire in the fireplace and sit myself down in a old southern rocker with my laptop in hand and typed you this very "Much for Lunch" your reading now. Once I finished I could smell the beans and I knew they were ready to eat. I bowled myself up the very bowl of beans you see in the photo and I carried my creation for one to the fireplace where I ate it on the hearth while watching the flames of the fire.

Today I am truly thankful for a rainy day.
by: Pamela Svoboda
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Holidays to remember:

• National Bean Day celebrated every January 6 in the United States
• Eat Beans Day celebrated every July 3rd

You may also be interested in:

• Types of cornbread
• Hillbilly cornbread

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Laugh when you can..✿. Apologize when you should..✿. And let go of what you can't change..✿. Love deeply & forgive quickly..✿ . Take chances & give your everything ..✿. Love what you have...and "Live Everyday like a Holiday"