Corned beef hash at the Creamery (Nina’s breakfast) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Yes, this is one of my mother’s recipes and it is so perfect for these real downtime days when I’m so extra hungry that I could eat a great big old BEAR! LOL! But do not have the strength to cook at all. I ask you have you ever been that hungry and too tired to cook like me! LOL!
Yes, this is the kind of recipe that’s for those hard days when I can hardly get out of bed. So I am so grateful and appreciate having had a mama who was an old wise woman who had under her belt different kinds of recipes like this one for her family back in the day. I remember how all of us as kids used to love this dish and whenever she made it, there were never any leftovers, believe me never ever! It has only three main ingredients, potatoes, onion and a can of corned beef hash. So I hope you like it as much as we have and still all do.
Mama’s Quick And Easy Potatoes and Corned Beef Hash Recipe
Ingredients:
3-4 white potatoes or sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces)
1 or ½ onion (chopped)
1- 15 oz can corned beef hash (with tiny diced potatoes)
½ cup of olive oil
Cookware:
1- medium-sized skillet
Directions:
1- Fry potatoes and onions in oil with a skillet on medium heat until browned and halfway cooked for about 10-15 minutes.
2- Then stir into skillet corned beef hash.
3- Cook on medium heat for 3-5 minutes more, then turn down to simmer for an additional 5 minutes to let flavors merge…or till potatoes are soft/fully cooked.
4- Serve while hot.
Some people like it with a little bit of tomato sauce added….but I love it without the tomato sauce the best… I love to have this meal alone or sometimes I use it as a side dish. My husband loves this recipe and there are never any leftovers ever. So today we had it with a side serving of delicious cooked green spinach.
HERE’S MY STORY:
Some of you may not be familiar with my situation over the past few years so I’d like to use this space and time to do some sharing.
Since becoming physically challenged for the past few years, life has become one big lesson for me I like to say, due to suffering from painful chronic arthritis in various places in my body and other health issues so I try to do the very best I can. And since I don’t have a silver spoon in my mouth, I cannot afford to eat out every day or pay someone to cook my meals for me (because that would be so nice if I had my own personal cook.) I am learning to make wise choices when it comes to every aspect of my life. So I’ve had to be creative and find the best possible way to take care of myself so that I don’t starve to death and my nutrition is not severely compromised and also try to find simple joys in life.
I’ve been blessed to have a husband who doesn’t mind helping out a great deal. I do not know what I would do or could have done without him. He helps me in getting dressed, putting on my shoes. Does the majority of the grocery shopping. Puts the groceries away, does a lot of house cleaning, does dishes, mops the floors and runs the vacuum. Helps me with the laundry, does the bill paying errands, does the majority of the driving, helps me blog, does my emails, helps me with prepping and cooking meals and loves to take over cooking our food entirely on the outdoor grill in the spring and summertime. I look forward to the entire finger-licking chicken, ribs, steak, franks, sausages, hamburgers and corn on the cob that he will make for us.
So he takes good care of me and I of him and so I am so happy about that. We have been together for a long time learning how to love each other in the best possible way and how to live together and treat each other well.
So I’ve had to come up with ideas and ways so that we can eat as close to healthy as possible so some days we do and some days we are not even close. LOL! I prefer not to eat anything out of a can, but sometimes you just have to add it to a meal or two and live with it. There are so many times I wish things were different but then I will live in regret and I don’t want to do that at all. I tell you if it wasn’t for my husband who for the majority of the time does everything except bathing me, thank goodness; I don’t know where I would be or how I could function at all.
You see the chronic pain in my body makes it almost impossible for me to do the important and vital things for living a normal life. I tell you I think I would have had no other choice but to live in some kind of nursing home or assisted living environment. The truth is that I could not live on my own all alone and handle all that needs to be done for myself. There is no way I could manage this house, shopping, laundry or cooking all on my own. No way in heaven! LOL! So he helps to make my life feel as close to normal as possible. Oh, I try to do some things for myself and I try very hard to help out where ever I can. Sometimes I even rebel against the illnesses and fight to do more, but whenever I do it and whatever I do has to be minimal or I will have to suffer for having done too much later on.
I could tell about the times that I’ve pushed myself to do a little more or do something I know I cannot do just to try to prove to myself that I am still the same person I have always been. So when I wind up falling or wind up suffering for days after trying to do the thing just to prove to myself that I could do it then I am so sorry because my body is crying out in pain. Now isn’t that so crazy? I guess it’s kind of normal for a person who’s in my shoes I guess.
So back to the meals……
With meals, we try to make enough to last for a few days and so I cannot cook every single day for that would be just too hard on me. I am lucky if I cook more than twice a week and even doing that much I still suffer in pain in my body for it. But I still push myself because I really have no choice of the matter.
So a lot of times the extra food we put in storage containers to freeze and save for on days when I have doctors’ appointments or I am just in too much pain to do anything but stay put in bed. And I have a lot of those days believe you me.
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Hi, thanks for linking to my Corned Beef Hash post. I have to tell you my heart went out to you when I read your story; I have had some serious health issues and know the downward spiral, especially where food is concerened. At my lowest, I was lucky to make it to the kitchen to grab a packet of crackers to bring back to bed – the worse I felt, the worse I ate, the worse I ate, the worse my health got, and the worse I felt. But I got through it like you did, making bigger meals when I felt better and serving over a period of days, doubling and freezing, etc.
The biggest thing that helped me to get fresh vegetables in me was “blending.” Horrible concoctions that I could barely get down at first…but taste didn’t matter, getting the good stuff in, did. I know they sound like a fad, but when I think about how many times I bought vegetables, only to have them rot in the fridge because I didn’t have the strength to cook them, my smoothies started to make a lot of sense. I could make up a few days worth, and I could drink a glass and get many more vegetables than I could if I ate a serving. Kale or spinach, with a bit of ginger and cinnamon to help with inflamation (and taste), turmeric, too, sometimes. Lemon or orange, and sometimes tomato or a few mushrooms added in. I call it Pond Scum, but those more positive than me call them Shamrock shakes or Green Smoothies.
Because I’m on a budget, I’ve learned to use the still nutritious parts of vegetables, too, that are normally tossed. When I’m cooking, I put them in a container in the fridge – the leafy parts of radishes, the the stems from greens, the bit of tomato that might be a bit mushy and on and on – it’s amazing how much edible “waste” can be blended up with a bit of spinach the next day.
I still have bad days, but I have better ones, too, and it’s hard to find the balance between how hard and often to push – because I certainly don’t want to do nothing and deteriorate – so I started thinking about what I do in terms of what the pay off was in terms of what made me feel good mentally and physically. Cooking is a big one for me, and blogging, and I started walking, about a half a block at a time – the first few times I got to the drive and had to lean against the car parked there. (I usually walked at night so no one would see me struggle and offer help, and I was embarrassed.)
But excercise that helped became more important than things like messy living rooms, clothes on the floor, etc., even if I was exhausted after. And when I increased it, I didn’t go farther, I just did it twice so I wouldn’t be so far from home if it did not go well. My biggest fear? That I’d have to sit down and not be able to stand back up, but I figured the worst thing that could happen? LOL – if I had to crawl, it would still be exercise, and if I fell, well it would probably be safer there, where there was not any risk of falling into or onto furniture, or against walls or doors, or down stairs, which is how I mostly got hurt when I fell.
Baths instead of showers were much easier, because showers are hot and steamy and that’s not a good combination when you’re feeling like you can’t stand up. I came to love cold weather because a) I feel better when it’s not hot and b) If I go out, no one knows what’s under my coat or jacket, whether my outfit matched, etc., and I can’t believe I’m sharing this, but I’ve left the house in my pj top under my jacket to get to the store, and c) a hat hides all kinds of not styled hair! Of course, I always prayed there wouldn’t be a car accident – I would have been mortified had I been carted off to the hospital and it was discovered I had on pj’s…
Bless your husband – I have a service dog now, because other than my youngest child, who is mostly? kind of? sometimes? gone now, but seems to keep bouncing back, there was no one to help. He helps in ways other than one might think – he’s just amazing and he creates quite a stir wherever we go, he wakes me up in the morning because partial deafness keeps me from hearing alarms, and keeps me on schedule. He’s certainly helped with the depression that so often accompanies serious illness. He’ll get shoes and help me take them off, tug on the ends of my sleeves to help me get things off, pick up things, bring medications, remotes, phones, purse, etc. Pick up anything I drop, open and close doors, gets me water from the fridge if I’m unable to get it myself, picks up dirty clothes, pulls laundry baskets, helps me by pulling the grocery cart, carries my purse when I’m bringing in groceries, etc.
So thanks for sharing your story, it’s truly inspirational to hear, and I’m sure many like me, can relate. And many of us, too, will be in the same position if we live long enough, some sooner, most later, hopefully. Many don’t realize what you’ve shown here: You have the strength and heart of any Olympic athlete – to keep on going and keep on trying every day. Your challenge might not be to run, but to simply get up and do a simple thing is every bit as valid and every bit of a challenge, and to do so under pain and with set backs shows an amazing spirit.
Oh wow! You have brought tears to my eyes. I can so identify with you. Your dog sounds so amazing! I had no idea that they were so helpful like that. Your story inspires me too. Just reading your comment brought tears to my eyes. The struggle we go thru just to keep alive is awesome. You make me feel so proud. Thank you so kindly. God Bless.
Wow, thanks – and yes, dogs are amazing, and you probably qualify for one – although there are always wait lists. Some of the organizations are wonderful and all the good ones I know of are free – some even pay for food and vet bills for the life of the dog. If you’re interested in learning more, I think you can email me from my little calculator, or go to my site and there’s an email option.
They are free and they pay for food and vet bills. That is really amazing. I didn’t know I could qualify for something like this. And I do love pets and I have a dog and half a dozen cats but they live outdoors because of the fact that my husband and I have allergies and I am allergic to pet dander. So when we moved here in the country this is the first time I could have a pet. I can be around them outdoors for a little while before I start sneezing and reacting. I am grateful for the opportunity to be with them for short periods of times. When I do some walking outdoors I have to bring my dog with me for protection and in case I fall while out there, he will bark and protect me from any of the pests. I carry my phone on my person at all times just for falling so I could get help. But thank you so much….you are so wonderful and kind. I just wish I could be so lucky to have a dog like you do and then my husband would not have to do so much for me. I would like to email you some times though. So I am following your blog now and so we will keep in touch from now on. Have a wonderful rest of the day.