Our Boy, Roy...

Our boy, Roy, is the sweetest dog we've ever had.  Always loyal, tolerates the Grand-daughter, and wouldn't hurt anything (unless it was after his people).  Last year, though, he didn't come when called, his food bowl went untouched and quite frankly, I was sure he was dead.  He was gone for three days.  I couldn't take it anymore and I asked my Mister to please go look for him.  Even if he was dead, I wanted to know.  My Mister searched every ditch, culvert, pond, and field.  He finally found him.  Seems, Roy had found himself a little girlfriend and let me tell you, she must have been one hot mama, because Ol' Roy fell madly in love with her.  There's been other girls, around, but this one apparently had cast her spell on him and he moved into the abandoned mobile home,  with her, down the road.  

Well, now, I am getting older and I don't like stress, drama, or heartache, so I made an appointment with the vet and "FIXED" that little problem.  Life was good until Roy figured out how to lick his wounds, even with the cone of shame.  It became infected and literally burst...anyways, that's nasty so I will spare you the details...

During all of this, the disappearance, surgery, and infection, there were folks all over the country praying for Roy.  Folks in Oregon, Ohio, Tennessee, Indiana, Texas...literally in every state, there were people praying for one old, very loved, dog.  I firmly believe, God hears and answers prayer...even if it is for a dog.  I want to thank everybody for those prayers and also let y'all know how our boy, Roy, is doing these days.

Occasionally, Roy hams it up for the camera (most times not)

Sometimes, he plays with his adopted brother, Jake.  (most of the time he just wishes Jake would go away)

He, apparently, likes pretending to be Yoda...

But mostly, our boy, Roy, does this...

And that is alright with his Mommy... 

We love beans!  Pinto beans, red beans, butter beans, baked beans... if it is a bean, we love it.  Well...not those awful green lima beans but most every other bean.  One of my favorite recipes, for beans, is so stinking simple that I am ashamed to post the recipe but I said I would so here is my recipe for Ridiculously Simple Tex-Mex Chili Beans.

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 big ole handful of fresh garlic, chopped (use as much as you like.  We like a lot!)
1 can Rotel
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
2 cans water 
2 packets Williams Tex-Mex Seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
4 cans of  your favorite beans  (yes, I use canned beans occasionally.)

Brown the ground beef and onion, drain and add the garlic.  Cook for a couple of minutes then add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Rotel, and water.  Add in the Tex-Mex seasoning, salt and pepper.  Let simmer for ten minutes.  Add the beans and simmer for another ten minutes.  DONE!  Serve with a big iron skillet full of cornbread, maybe a dab of sour cream, and definitely a little cheese.  Yum!

You can use practically any kind of beans.  My favorite is black beans and pintos but in the picture I used black beans and Canellini beans.  I've used navy beans and kidney beans but really I use whatever is in the pantry.

There you have it.  A big hearty meal in less than 30 minutes.

Wordless Wednesday