Talk About It Tuesday (Make Us Feel Good, Fatty. Not Yourself)

But y'all know this. This lesson is so old. Yet, y'all refuse to learn. *sigh*

And I Don't Look Anything Like Martha Walsh (or Tamela Mann)🙃

As Always Talking to You in Adult Terms!

Juneteenth & the Healthier Side of Freedom (OUTSPOKEN Diva's Favorite Recipes)

Hibiscus-and-Ginger Iced Tea

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• One 3" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 4 hibiscus tea bags (I like TAZO)
• 8 cups water, room temperature
• Ice

Directions

Ginger simple syrup:

1. Combine the sugar and 1⁄2 cup of water in a 2-quart saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil and let syrup cook for 3 minutes, stirring until all of the sugar is dissolved.
3. Remove the pot from heat and add the grated ginger.
4. Let syrup cool completely and strain. Set the syrup aside.

Hibiscus tea:

1. In a 4-quart saucepan, pour 4 cups of water over the tea bags and place the pot over low heat.
2. Bring the water to a slow simmer and let cook for 5 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat and let the tea steep for another 5 minutes.
4. Strain into a pitcher and add in the remaining 4 cups of water.
5. Fill the pitcher with ice.

Baked Catfish Fillets

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 3/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 4 catfish fillets (6 ounces each)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon reduced-fat butter, melted
• 1 garlic clove, minced

Directions

1. Combine the first six ingredients; cover the fillets on both sides with the mixture. Place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Combine the lemon juice, butter, and garlic; drizzle over the fillets.
2. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
   
   
   

Simple Black-Eyed Peas with Collard Greens

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch collard greens, chopped (about 4 cups)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 green or red bell pepper, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans crushed or diced tomatoes, low sodium
• 1 (14 oz) can black-eyed peas
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Wash collards, remove stems, and slice leaves into strips. Cut across strips to cut leaves into bite-size pieces.
2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add bell pepper, onions, and garlic, and cook for 3-4 minutes.
3. Stir in collards to coat with oil and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly. (Add water if collards start to stick to the pot.)
4. Stir in tomatoes, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes.
5. Add the black-eyed peas, cider vinegar, and spices.
6. Stir well, cover, and simmer on low heat until collards are tender.
7. Serve on a bed of rice.

Strawberry Spinach Salad (Because what is the holiday without the fruit)

Ingredients

Dressing:

• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• ¼ teaspoon paprika
• ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Salad:

• 1 quart strawberries - cleaned, hulled, and sliced
• 10 ounces fresh spinach - rinsed, dried, and torn into bite-size pieces
• ¼ cup almonds, blanched and slivered

Directions

1. Make the dressing: Whisk together sugar, oil, vinegar, sesame seeds, onion, paprika, and Worcestershire in a medium bowl. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
2. Make the salad: Combine strawberries, spinach, and almonds in a large bowl.
3. Pour dressing over salad; toss to coat. Refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Happy Juneteenth!!! Healthy Juneteenth!!!✊🏽

As Always Talking to You in Adult Terms!

Talk About It Tuesday (Pause...Be a Man)

What? Was I not supposed to say that? Oh Well!

As Always Talking to You in Adult Terms!

A Praise for Praise This

It's Black Music Month, And the "church girl" in me wants to talk about Gospel Music. The movie god of Sister Act 2 & The Fighting Temptations blessed us with another tale about redemption via choir competitions. The movie is called Praise This. It's a Peacock Original about Sam (played by Chloe Bailey) who was taken to Atlanta, Georgia by her father due to getting in trouble with the law in Los Angeles and is forced to join the Praise Team at church as punishment for getting caught lying to her Aunt and Uncle. And yes, there are some Good, Bad & Diva (shout out to Andre of Black Nerd Comedy) moments in this one. Let's see about them, Ok.

The Good:

The most popular acting names in this movie are Chloe Bailey & Tristan Mack Wilds (PG) So, it was refreshing to see faces that are associated with Gospel & Rap comfortably stand toe to toe with them.

I want to see Quavo (Ty), Jekalyn Carr (KiKi), and Koryn Hawthorne (Fallon) in more roles. They were fun to watch. This movie is a redemption tale but that was not the only lesson taught 

• Being a Truly Nice Person
• Grace & Mercy
• Teamwork
• Loyalty
• Unity

and the main character is the only one learning them. "There could be a room full of baddies, but there is still going to be a weirdo". ~Slim Let's talk about that weirdo aka my favorite character in Praise This, Jess.

In another reality in the Metaverse, my biological name acts like Jess. She is unapologetically herself no matter what the hockey puck others may think or say. She stole the show. The music is great. There is a little love/attraction for the BHM, Big Handsome Man in the movie. The ladies loved Aaron (played by Druski) There are traditional Gospel songs, Rap music, & Rap & R&B music flipped with Gospel lyrics. Can Chloe Bailey do an album flipping music covers? This a story that gives a glance at the lives of the kind of church girls (and boys) that Beyonce sang about. They aren't pretending to be perfect Christians. They are just living a believable Christian lie.

The Bad:

This movie obviously concluded by making the viewers feel there has to be a sequel. I mean there is "wanting more" and there is "unfinished" in cinema finales.

The movie ended unfinished. In the 3rd act, a character makes a dating confession and the movie gave us ellipses when an easy period could've been placed in the end with a wink or peck on the cheek. (Oh if they do make a sequel, can we also get a particular bodyguard to admit his attraction to the non-baddie in the room) Also, Mental Health Therapy is referenced but not seen practiced. 4 characters live in a home of a psychologist. We see some of them sing, paint, party, & pray but no counseling.

The writers could have just been shown as church folks and never referenced to their jobs. I know their behaviors  personalities had to help explain the actions of the singing teams. But the pastors' interactions, "beef", & snark was annoying.

The Diva:

"You're not serving a look?" made me cackle. It had to be said. Because one character's choice of wardrobe was too on the nose for me.

I was over the thot knots but preferred the fun jumpsuit and tucked-in fitted tees. And I want Jess's cat jumper made with books for myself. Now, there was one competing group called The Promise Ringtones whose dresses got 10s across this blog's board every time. They were cute, current, and still showed some skin.

And who let the Prodigal Bros in the competition? I would've had to bind the spirit of lust in Jesus' name from my heart & other parts at every performance they were at. Gosh, they were handsome. *wink*

Praise This is a fun movie. Happy to add it to the list with The Fighting Temptations & the Sister Act series.

Who has seen Praise This? What did you think? What would you like a sequel? And what would like the plot to be? Alrighty, Praise Him!

As Always Talking to You in Adult Terms!

Talk About It Tuesday (That One Death Question)

Well...

As Always Talking to You in Adult Terms!

Since Folks are Outside...

Ladies' Night by Frank Morrison

The world unnerves me a lot, now that I am older. My adult niece hangs out in the world, sometimes. I listen to her tales of going out and chuckle. If I hear something odd, I give her a few warnings. But whenever I hear about young women missing after a night out, I quietly pray for her friends & her. I don't hang out like I used to, but I know the safety rules will Never change. And since every lady (and gentleman) doesn't me as their "older than them" lady in their lives, here is what women like my friends & I do to stay as safe as possible when going out. Yes, Gentlemen, adapt them to your lives also. Safety is Safety!

Dear Ladies,

So, I need to break down the "Friend Code" for some of you because clearly there are too many girls & women going missing or getting killed.

This is how we "Old Schoolers" roll.

•Code 1: "We leave together... We stay together...We come back together. NO, you're not leaving with some RANDOM dude & NO I'm not leaving you at the party by yourself!

•Code 2 "Both of us can't be sh*t face drunk (neither of you should), at least one person needs to be alert & aware of our surroundings!

•Code 3 "If you got to go to the bathroom or outside ." WE'RE ALL GOING TO THE DAMN BATHROOM AND OUTSIDE!!" Period!

•Code 4 "We don't accept drinks from strangers unless we're at the bar and watch the bartender pour".

•Code 5 "If I feel like you're too drunk to function, we're leaving the party early". (We'll fuss about you messing up the night later)

• Code 6 "If you just so happen to go missing. I will give you a maximum of 15-30 mins to show up before I Shut the place down and we ALL are going to be looking for your ass!!! FOR REAL!!! Everybody else can call the police 'cause I ain't going home without you!

•Code 7 "If you're fighting it better be one-on-one, otherwise we're all fighting" (Hopefully this ain't jumpin' off cause we are too classy and ladies)

•Code 8 and The Golden Rule, "The drop off person check-in or everyone who drove checks in when getting home" If we don't hear from you, we're coming to ya house 

Because these generations got the Friend Code messed up!! This is how we were raised... #oldschool #ladiessticktogether #friendsdontleave 

Cause I need ALL ladies to know these rules!!!!

Copied from a friend of a friend of a friend.🙂

Oh and say "Thank You Facebook" because some anonymous soul is posting our wise counsel on there.

As Always Talking to You in Adult Terms!

Ready to Love the Bald Red Updates (Answering Questions)

Everybody has Questions. Everybody has Answers. But It is All About Matching the Q to the correct A.

Q: Saw this and thought of you

A: This is a very hard choice. I wish I could have both abilities. I'm checking Guinness World Book when I finish this to see if anyone has done any of these two things. Both make me universally needed. Both would allow me the charge my own contract rates for my services. Being multi-lingual could put me in so many conversations my mind can even imagine to count. But being able to play every instrument will allow me to make my own music. My choice is Blue. It allows me to give people more smiles than Red. Bad news can still come from me with Red.

This Post's Video

So, be yourself. You can't handle the truth. I'm your host & I'm tired. 

Yes, I just gave three quotes to end this post. 

Don't forget, if you have any questions, email them to C.OUT.SPOKEN.DIVA@gmail.com or leave them in the comment section below or on the social media site where you see this post. I will answer them.

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As Always Talking to You in Adult Terms!