Beka Bread (aka Honey-Wheat-Oatmeal Bread)

This is my beloved sis-in-law's wonderful bread recipe. It is the yummiest bread ever!

Beka Bread (aka Honey-Wheat-Oatmeal Bread) - makes 4 loaves

Combine and cool to lukewarm -
3 c boiling water
2 c old fashioned oatmeal

Combine and test -
1 c warm water
2T yeast

Add to oats once lukewarm -
1 c honey
2 T oil
1 T salt
4 egg whites

~ combine all and add 4 cups flour (half wheat/half white)
~ "sponge" 15 minutes
~ add 1 cup of flour at a time (alternate wheat and white) -- about 5 cups
~ knead (about 5-8 minutes)
~ let rise 1 hr (double); make loaves; rise again
~ bake @ 350' for 25-30 minutes

Chicken Pot Pie

Sorry about not having any pictures in this post. See above for the finished product.

This is probably one of my yummiest concoctions. It's the result of years of playing with various recipes (one of my favorite pastimes) until I've actually settled into a recipe that can actually be passed to others.


Laurel's Chicken Pot Pie - makes two pies, or one large pan, as in the picture above.

Pot Pie Filling
4-6 split chicken breasts, depending on your taste/budget
1/2 c butter
Medium Onion
Milk (optional)
2/3 c flour
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1-2 pounds frozen vegetables (I usually use corn and peas or mixed veggies)

Start by boiling the split chicken breasts in enough water to just cover them. Once they're cooked and have cooled enough to bone, clean those bones and cut or pull the meat into bite-sized pieces. Set aside the chicken meat.

If you want to use some milk in your pot pie (and I strongly suggest you do, unless you have allergies!) take 3 cups or so of broth from boiling the chicken. Add however much milk you need to make 5 cups. The proportions here are very fluid... use all broth if you want, add water if you want, or do it my way. Just be sure you have 5 cups of wet stuff ready to go.

Get a small bowl and measure 2/3 c of flour into it. Add 1 t salt and 1 t pepper. Set aside.
Chop the onion into a small dice. You guessed it! Set it aside also.

Now melt the 1/2 c butter in a medium stock pot. Add the onion and saute until slightly translucent.
Add the flour mixture and stir while cooking for one minute.
Slowly add in the 5 cups of liquid, whisking if needed. Then cook, stirring constantly, until the gravy starts to boil and thicken. Boil for about a minute, still stirring.

Turn off the heat and stir in your vegetables.
Then cover the filling, preheat the oven to 350' and prepare your pastry.

Double Pie Crust - make twice
Mix together:
2 2/3 c All-purpose flour
1 t salt
Cut in with pastry cutter:
1 c butter
Sprinkle in 7-8 T cold water (1T at a time) while fluffing with fork.
(You're looking for the pastry to start clearing the sides of the bowl)
Divide into two balls. Roll out one ball for bottom crust, fill pie, then roll out the other ball of dough for the top.

Finish edges and slit crust as you wish.

Place pies on a cookie sheet and bake for 30-45 minutes, until crust is golden. For a “crust guard,” I cut a nice big piece of tin foil, cover the pie, and cut out the middle. I take off the guard when I think there's about 15 minutes of bake time remaining.

Black Bean Salsa!

This recipe has become a favorite of the extended Byrd and Smith family. It came to us in a wonderful cookbook Beka discovered when she and Eric lived in Kentucky. She loved it so much she bought copies for Mama and I - thank you, Beka Honey!

Here's the darling cookbook:


The Black Bean Salsa is my favorite recipe from this book, and has become even more of a favorite as I am focusing on eating fruits and veggies, particularly raw fruits and veggies. I'm sharing an adapted form of the salsa that we have come to love.


So, here's what you need -

2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained.
1 canful of frozen corn
2 large tomatoes
A purple onion
Cilantro
Lime Juice
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
2-3 avacados (if they're small, go with 3)

If at all possible, chop and combine everything except the avacado the day before you plan to serve the salsa. Amazing things happen in the refridgerator at night.

Open two cans of black beans and dump them in a strainer in the sink, followed by a canful of frozen corn. The corn will thaw nicely while you rinse the beans. If yours doesn't look quite like this, that's okay. I used two canfuls of corn... for some reason. It was still fabulous.

Next, chop the tomatoes. If you can see the recipe, it says "seeded and chopped." What you can't see is where it says in my mind-writing (that's as opposed to handwriting), "Yeah... right... seeded!"


Toss the tomatoes in a large bowl.

Next, take a gorgeous purple onion, chop it up, and toss it in the bowl as well. If you dread chopping onions, refer to Pioneer Woman here.


Then comes one of the stars of our show - the cilantro. Yumm!

Unfortunately, as a fledging food photographer, I could not capture the beauty of my cilantro in a picture. But roughly chop some cilantro. The original recipe calls for 1/8 cup. I used 1/3 of a cup this last time I made salsa, and it was lovely. Go with what works for you, and throw it in the bowl.

Next comes the lime juice, another ingredient that really makes the recipe. Use 1/4 cup.
Then mix in 2 T olive oil, 1 t salt, and 1/2 t black pepper.

If you've planned ahead and it's the day before you're going to eat the salsa, cover it and pop it in the fridge now.

If you haven't planned ahead, or you just can't stand to wait, go ahead and chop up the avacadoes. I find it easiest to cut them from top to bottom, pop out the seed, scoop out the flesh (it should all come out in one piece if you scoop it out with a spoon), and then chop away (big chunks!). Again, my beginner food photography skills leave us without a demonstration.

Mix up the avacado with the rest of the salsa, and enjoy!

Here's a recap of the recipe for your copying and pasting pleasure -

Black Bean Salsa
2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained.
1 canful of frozen corn
2 large tomatoes - chopped
A purple onion - chopped
1/3 cup Cilantro - chopped
1/4 cup Lime Juice
2T Olive Oil
1t Salt
1/2 t Pepper
2-3 avacados (if they're small, go with 3)

Greetings and Salutations

(also known as the introductory post)

So, what is the Love You Can Eat blog about, anyway?

Food!

Home cooked (or not cooked) food whose highest calling is to communicate to its eaters that I love them. There are all sorts of other "callings" for food, but being edible love is the highest and best, in my opinion.

A background story:
One of my family's favorite foods as I grew up was Mama's buttermilk biscuits. The steam of a freshly opened biscuit... the flakey inside... the melted butter... and Mama's fingerprints on each and every biscuit.
I used to roll out my biscuit dough with a rolling pin. But a while back I started thinking more and more about Mama's fingerprints on biscuits, and I put my rolling pin away. Because I realized that every ridge and valley on the tops of the biscuits of my childhood said "I love you." And I realized that food is more than food. Food can be a whisper (or a shout) that communicates love. And I want to use my cooking to tell my husband and children (and whoever joins us at our table) that I love them.

Here begins my food blog -
Tangible, edible, scrumptous, embracing... love you can eat.

I hope you enjoy it, and find some recipes and ideas you can use to tell your family and friends that you love them.