Say Something Nice and Have a Great Meal

Welcome to June. On this the first day of my favorite month, there is a lot happening on the National Calendar. Count ‘em – eight different celebrations to choose from. You would think with all that going on, we’d have a few Foodie Days. With the exception of Hazelnut Cake Day, everything else is non-food related. Oh well.

June 1 is National Nail Polish Day. Seems fitting enough, since it is also National Go Barefoot Day. The two seem to go hand in hand or should I say hand and foot. Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. Hubby’s sense of humor is a bad influence.

Today is also National Say Something Nice Day. The founders of Say Something Nice Day sought to create a day when kind words were used. It was their goal to combat bullying and the lack of civility and common courtesy spreading throughout the world. It is done with the hope that the habit of saying something nice today will spill over into tomorrow and all the tomorrows to come.

Mayor Keith Summery of North Charleston, South Carolina proclaimed June 1 as Say Something Nice Day. He did so in recognition of the communication efforts of Dr. Mitch Carnell, the founder of the day. Dr. Carnell authored a book Say Something Nice: Be a Lifter at Work. The Southern Baptist Convention and the Charleston-Atlantic Presbytery joined with Dr. Carnell to help establish the day. Mayor Summery was the first politician to formally proclaim the day.

While I am glad to learn of these positive efforts to show kindness in our words, it saddens me that we even need a day like Say Something Nice. When researching the whole Say Something Nice movement, I was surprised to find internet sites dedicated to teaching us how to give compliments. It saddens me because it means we aren’t taught by example as children. Children learn by what they see both in the home and in the classroom. We were taught to be nice, to say nice things, to extend a hand of friendship to everyone. Were their bullies? Of course, but they were a sad minority. Today name calling and ugly hateful speech seems to have run amuck. Cancel Culture is the greatest organized bully of all. It’s time to stop.

Today is also Tuesday. And we all know what that means – inspiration South of the Border. These baked potatoes were awesome – an entire meal stuffed into a single potato. Yum!

Nacho Taco Baked Potato
4 large Baking Potatoes
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
1/2 lb Ground Beef
1/4 lb Chorizo
1 can Black Beans
2 Green Onions
Nacho Jalapeno Peppers
1 cup Nacho Cheese
4 tablespoons Sour Cream
Salsa, optional if desired

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Scrub potato skins. Cut an X in the middle of each cleaned potato. Rub skin with oil, season with a little salt.

Place potatoes directly on the oven rack. Bake in the heated oven for 45 minutes, until potato is fluffy and cooked through. Remove from oven, let cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, mix ground beef and chorizo together in a cast iron skillet. Brown meat over medium heat until cooked through. Drain well.

Rinse and drain black beans. Add to the meat mixture in the skillet. Heat through.

Snip green onions, set aside. Drain a handful of Nacho Jalapenos, set aside.

Press potatoes open, scoop out some of the flesh to create a well. Press down on remaining flesh to make as much room as possible for the filling. Fill well with meat mixture.

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Drizzle stuffed potatoes with Nacho Cheese. Dollop with sour cream. Scatter green onions and jalapeno peppers over the top of each potato. If desired, garnish with some salsa.

Serve and enjoy.