Some DS goodness, a verse and two recipes (BBQ Slackpots and Spoon Bread)

DS - some people call it Down Syndrome. I call it Deluxe Sweetness! I got to spend some time today with some pretty deluxe sweet kids. Their parents could have adopted any old typical kid, but instead they upgraded to this DS perfection! Today was the first day I got to meet Samuel and Joseph Rhodes, who just came here last month. They are too sweet! Samuel strutted around the playground like the rock star he is. He doesn't just "give you five", he gives you about twenty. And Joseph, what a snuggle buddy! He loves to sit in your lap and just cuddle, which I could do all day!! 

This is Samuel:

 

And here's Joseph (Vaylo)

If that weren't good enough, the Rogers clan were there too! I can't get enough of these kids. Their parents are going soon to get their two newest kids, and could use some encouragement to help them get fully funded.   Here's the perfect example of what our help can do. This is Clare, their Ukrainian princess they brought home last year. She has THRIVED being in this family, just like Joseph and Samuel have in their family. 

These precious innocent children need a voice, and it needs to be ours.  Remember what Jesus told us:

"Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of God". Matt 18:3.

And what about these kids after they grow up? The fear of that is what prevents a lot of families from stepping forward to adopt kids with Down Syndrome. I can give you an example of that too. Darren is a man I know with DS, and he is right around 60 years old. He divides his time between his siblings. They have worked out a great system so that he can spend time with each of them. He spends most of his time out of state, but his sister lives near me, and he's here for several weeks. Tonight he was at church with his niece, great nephew, and great niece. I sat behind them after our bible class, and couldn't help but watch the way he was interacting with his great niece who is 8. You could just see the love he has for her and her brother. He put his arm around her and hugged her, gave her a kiss on the cheek. He's such a sweet friendly man, and has a great sense of humor. He grew up with siblings who loved him then, and love him now. He's not "the brother with DS", he's just their brother. As one friend put it a while back, someone asked her wasn't she putting a burden on her typical kids, knowing they would be the ones to have to take care of their siblings with DS. She said she hoped she wouldn't raise kids who would feel like it would be a burden to take care of their own family. 

And for the recipe:

We love BBQ Jackpots. If you don't know what they are, here's a link to one version. 

I normally make mine this way ^, but tonight I had leftover Spoon Bread batter in the fridge so instead of rolling out the canned biscuits and pressing them into the muffin pan, I mixed up the cooked ground beef and BBQ sauce and put it in my Deep Covered Baker. If you don't have one, they are awesome! (Click on the link to find the Pampered Chef adoption fundraiser for the Marble family.) Ok, so I put that stuff in, put some shredded cheese on top, and dotted the top with the spoon bread batter. It was so much easier. I guess my version would be called BBQ Slackpots, since I did it the slacker way. lol. And no, AGAIN, I didn't get a picture, because by the time I fixed supper, it was 9:30 and the hubby was about to perish with hunger (or so he acted) So, for the actual recipe:

BBQ Slackpots:

1.5 lbs of ground beef, cooked and drained.

1 cup of BBQ sauce (I actually didn't have enough BBQ sauce, so I subbed in some A-1, which was yummy)

1 cup of shredded cheese (adjust according to your preference)

1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)

2 cups of Spoon Rolls batter (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 400. Mix together ground beef, BBQ sauce, and onion in a 2 qt casserole dish. (I don't spray mine, because I like the crunchy bits that stick to the side, but I'm weird that way. Feel free to grease the pan!) Sprinkle the shredded cheese over beef mixture. Dot the spoon bread batter over that. Don't put it too thick or it will take FOREVER to bake. Small dots! Bake for 20 minutes or until topping is brown and done. 

And for the Spoon Rolls, I found the recipe in the Southern Living All-Time Favorites cookbook. I'm intimidated by any recipe calling for yeast. My homemade breads usually turn out like rocks, even when I used a breadmaker. Operator error, every time. But when I found this recipe, I thought maybe it would work, because you don't have to let them rise. I made them night before last, with some cubed steak. The great thing about these is that it makes 14 rolls, but you can put whatever batter you don't want to use in the fridge, and it will keep for up to a week. So the first night I made 7 rolls, and they were good. I did screw up and used pizza crust yeast, which is not recommended for bread baking, but it turned out fine. The remainder of the batter I refrigerated in an airtight plastic container that screwed on. When I went to get it out tonight, it had risen and expanded as much as it could, and the top was bulging up. Very glad it wasn't a pop off lid, because it would have! So make sure you leave room for it to expand. They were actually better tonight!

Spoon Rolls:

1 (1/4 oz) envelope active dry yeast

2 c warm water (100-110 degrees)

4 c self-rising flour

1/4 c sugar

3/4 c butter, melted

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Combine yeast and 2 cups warm water in a large bowl; let mixture stand for 5 minutes. Stir in flour and remaining ingredients until well-blended. Spoon into well greased muffin cups, filling half full. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until rolls are golden brown.

Enjoy!