Saturday Beef Stew

Johannah2 Comments

Today I started with one pound of beef cubes out of which I wanted to make a stew.  This beef stew was supposed to be “scaled” down somewhat for just the two of us.  However, we wound up with enough for second meal.  I feel good about that for two reasons, one is that I don’t have to cook tomorrow, and I used up a lot of things waiting to be used in my refrigerator.  I also didn’t use a recipe.  I looked into my closet (at spices and such) and into the refrigerator for what we had on hand, and away I went to create dinner.  I want to call this stew “whatever you have in your refrigerator to use up beef stew” but the name is just way too long.  Fridge Leftovers Beef Stew?  Use it Up Now Beef Stew… well, you get the idea.  This stew isn’t going to be hurt by a little less peppers and maybe some broccoli, or green beans etc.  If you have leftover cooked vegetables, add them to stew about 10 minutes before it’s done.  Stir them in, put the lid back on and they should heat up fine. 

And if you haven’t already guessed, we are again using the cast iron dutch oven on the stovetop.  I use this pot because it’s just plain easy, the dinner is cooked super fast and it cleans up easily. I just can’t see a downside right now.

stew ingredients

First, I cut all my ingredients (onions, peppers, garlic, celery) which I specifically chose simply by what I had in my refrigerator and wanted to use in this stew. However these are all things that are going to give that great flavor you want in your stew

Then, I mixed the flour, minced garlic, minced union, black pepper and thyme. 

I dissolved the bouillon cubes in the cup of water, as well as having the second cup of water and the other ingredients ready to go.

I sautéd the onions, garlic and celery in olive oil in the dutch oven, on the stove top. Once they are done, remove them from the pot and set them aside.  I turned up the heat on the pot, put in additional oil and waited till I thought it was hot enough to sear the meat.  I dredged the meat in the flour mixture (made earlier) and then put it into the hot pan. You have to watch this and stir as your goal is just to brown the meat.

stew ingredients

 Once your meat is browned, the rest comes very fast.  I put in the dissolved bouillon and water and stirred. The potatoes on top of the meat, then the cooked onions, peppers and celery, the red pepper flakes and the bay leaves.

remainder of the stew ingredients

 

finished stewLastly I added the worcestershire sauce on top of it all and closed the lid and moved the heat down to low. 

You need to move the heat down to low!

I cooked mine for 45 minutes, took off the top and stirred the contents. 

It was perfectly done. Please remember to remove the bay leaves before you serve the stew!

It was a nice hearty, thick stew, and again it was delicious.   I served biscuits with this for a hearty Saturday meal. 

It’s Annoying to Have Wonky Eyes

Johannah1 Comment

Although I had heard the word wonky used before, I didn’t really think it was an actual word… till I looked it up.  And yes, it is a word.  Sadly, it means crooked, off-center, askew, unsteady, and shaky.  It’s probably the last word you want to hear from your eye doctor. 

As background, I could never see well.  My parents didn’t believe any of the eye screenings from school saying that I needed glasses.  So I did the best I could without really seeing anything clearly.  I sat in the front of the class and I listened intently because there was no way I could see anything that was going on.  When you know nothing more, having never seen clearly – you never have the experience of knowing how bad your sight really is.  You just go with the flow, accept the inevitable, and live with it.  As a child, I adapted the best I could.  Lucky for me at 7 years of age, my uncle took me to an eye doctor and I got my first pair of light blue, cat eye shaped glasses.  My world suddenly turned so much clearer.  I  was amazed — there is just other adequate description. 

Fast forward to 2002, I am wearing both contacts and glasses to see.  I have low vision.  My contacts are expensive and special order and if I tear one, it can take up to 6 weeks to get a new one.  It’s a long process to get a pair that works – because of the high Rx and the 3 astigmatisms in my right eye.  Yet I am so thankful they can make them.  Without them I wear coke bottle type glasses and see, but not nearly 20/20.  My eyes are -12.00 each and to put that in perspective, -7.50 without correction is legally blind.  So yes, when I have my contacts and glasses off – I am more than legally blind.  All I see without correction is foggy bunches of colors.  I cannot see the big “E” on the eye chart,  and I can’t even see enough to find my glasses.  And without seeing, I cannot do many of the things regular people take for granted, like drive a car, read a book, watch tv, or even dial the phone. 

So….  I had lasik surgery.  I was a good candidate for the treatment.  My eyes would not be guaranteed, and the risks were higher for me because of the high Rx.  It was still a  miracle.  I cried on the way home because I could see.  I could NEVER see without correction before in my life and now after a fairly painless and quick surgery, I could.  It was definately worth the cost.

But now it’s 2012 and 10 years have passed.  I have been wearing reading glasses for the last few, but recently found that my eyes don’t want to see far or near clearly.  I cannot read the signs at the fast food restaurant and I cannot read the computer or any paperwork without my reading glasses and even then it’s hard.  And the reason ~  my eyes went wonky! 

For me specifically,  it means that the eye that could see far after the lasix surgery – now can’t and it cannot help the reading eye.  The reading eye has gotten farsighted but not enough to help the eye that sees far.  If that’s a bit confusing, it was to me too…. but basically my eyes have reversed roles and taken ones they cannot succeed in performing.  Both of them have decided to be farsighted – which my brain cannot deal with after 47 previous years of nearsightedness.  And it’s crazy that they did that…. and scary.  I am going to try some progressive lens glasses (which I will  be wearing all the time) that should help – or I can get contacts and glasses again, or 2 pairs of glasses that I would keep needing to change.  There is no easy solution. 

For most people, the lasik surgery comes with a guarantee  to fix your vision for life.  That means you can have the surgery again, if necessary, to fix any issues you have as the years go by for free  ~~ but my eyes were over the maximum when I had my surgery and were never guaranteed.  But honestly, I don’t think there is anything that can fix wonky. 

Thank You ~ A $25.00 Amazon.com Gift Card Giveaway

Johannah28 Comments

 MY SECOND MILESTONE ACCOMPLISHED !  facebook 2500 fans and likes badge for its-annoying

 

What my readers might not realize is that each and every step of having a blog and progressing into the blogger community has its up and downs, triumphs and failures.  But, behind all of that is (or should be) a plan.   I am happy to report I have made it to the second step in my personal plan.  I now have over 2500 Facebook likes – and I am seriously excited by that!  So to celebrate this second milestone and to thank those who have liked my blog….  

 

I have decided to give away another $25.00 Amazon.com Gift Card.

Amazon.com seems to be the most diverse shopping venue and it has just about anything your heart desires, from books, tapes and DVD’s to clothing, kitchen goodies and even tools. If you can’t find it there… it might not exist (smile). 

If someone asked me what I would want – I would chose to reserve a copy of this book in the audio version unabridged. It’s titled Delusion In Death and the latest in the “In Death” series.  My husband and I both love this series.  The characters come alive for us – and while we know it’s a stretch sometimes when you are writing about the future, we enjoy the authors’  (JD Robb  ~ aka Nora Roberts) portrayal of the characters personalities, interactions and even their altercations!

So here’s a way for you to get anything you want (up to $25.00) regular or sale priced  … from school supplies to clothing, and if you spend it all at one time, you might also qualify for free Amazon.com shipping.

The giveaway will start on September 7, 2012 and run through September 17, 2012. 
US and Canada, 18+ as long as you can use the card, you are welcome to enter.

*Actual gift card and not a code. I will be mailing the gift card to the winner once the giveaway is over. 
  This is not a sponsored post, and I am personally suppyling the gift card.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

You Can’t Recycle That!

Johannah10 Comments

I’ve written a couple of articles on recycling (floppy disks and CD’s)  but how much do I really know about it?  Less that you might think.  Recently, I have been challenging myself – trash or recycling?  And I have been doing some things totally and utterly wrong.

Our trash hauler sorts the recycling trash … and that means we don’t have to  ~  but we do sort into the two main categories, recyclable or not.  In our house, it’s still difficult to keep different buckets, or bags in the kitchen to place these items into and it’s not going to happen at all if we have to walk around the house to the appropriate bin each time we use something.

recycling containers for glass,paper and plasticBut do you realize (I didn’t) how much you hurt the entire process when you throw something into the recycling bin, that should go in the regular trash?   The key word here – contaminate.  Just one item can contaminate your entire recycling bin contents – to the point it just goes into the regular trash and landfill and you’ve wasted your efforts? 

I am guilty of making the following mistakes,  so I’d like to “recycle” the things I have learned and use those experiences to educate someone else on what you should or should not recycle.

First, my biggest mistake, and on my priority list to fix, is using plastic grocery bags to both hold and then throw away my recycling.  These bags aren’t the type of plastic they want in the plastic mix at recycling plants, and worse they get stuck and gum up the works on the belts.  Since I make it worse by tying them closed – I am potentially making all my recycling efforts null and void. These bags need to be recycled at the grocery stores where they have specially marked containers for them.  Those containers keeps all that “type” plastic to one location and yes, although it’s not a “great” recyclable plastic, it will get recycled.

Next, I really didn’t know that some places cannot recycle/do not accept packaging from frozen foods – because the cardboard is wax coated.  This type of cardboard packaging is made to withstand moisture in order to protect the food that is inside.  Cardboard and paper are usually recycled using water to create a pulp, but paper sprayed with wax will not break down into a pulp for recycling.  Sometimes these can be sorted out of the recycling mix, and sometimes the recycler just “trashes” the entire can/truck/load containing them because most buyers of the paper don’t want the “contaminated” waxed cartons in the loads they are purchasing.   In fact any packaging made with foil, glossy, glazed or lacquer coatings need to go into regular trash.  This includes candy wrappers, pretzel bags, juice boxes and ice cream cartons!

And it really is all about selling these items in bulk to those who can and will reuse and remake them into more consumable products.  In fact, without those buyers, there wouldn’t be programs to keep these items out of the landfills.

I really thought by now we’d be able to recycle just about anything and so most of my trash is going into the recycling bin – but as you can see I was wrong about the plastic grocery bags and frozen food containers.  As I read advice on several sites about recycling I came across some other things you should not put into your regular recycling.  I am still hopeful someday we’ll find a way to recycle everything.

The list you still can’t recycle include wire hangers, paper towels, napkins or tissues, ceramic mugs, pottery, styrofoam,  photographs, molded plastic parts, pizza boxes, Chinese food containers, heavily dyed paper, plastic bags and wraps, household glass (think windows and mirrors) or cosmetics.   All these things still need to go into your regular trash.

One last thought, although you can’t recycle everything on trash day, there are many things you can recycle in non-conventional ways.  It pays to keep thinking outside the box and finding new ways to reuse those items.

Could it be a Coincidence?

Johannah11 Comments

COINCIDENCE, FATE,COLLECTIVE MIND,DIVINE INTERVENTION OR JUST CHANCE?I have heard so much talk recently on TV shows and in books I read regarding coincidences.  Usually their view is that there aren’t any ~ and then the characters of these shows or novels use that information in a positive way to solve the crime, issue or problem that is part of the story.

But, I still don’t understand why they keep saying there are no coincidences.  I actually experienced an unexplainable coincidence yesterday. 

Background – I have a cell phone for emergencies, and I don’t even give out my number.  I never know where the phone is (usually) and so I never answer it if someone calls me. When I do have it and need to use it, I am lucky if it’s charged.  You get the idea, this phone is not the center of my life and I prefer to go about my day without the interruptions it can cause.

Yesterday at exactly the same time – 1:00 PM both my husband and I happened to text my son about his computer.  Not only hadn’t we spoken about doing it, or even about the computer, we were in totally different places unaware what the other was doing.  For me, it was an amazing coincidence because I had to think about doing it, find my phone, check the battery power, lookup my son’s number and then text.  That takes time for me and some effort.  Yet both phones show each text gone out at exactly 1:00 PM.  Next and maybe a bit stranger, was the fact that my son happened to be on break at work at the exact time of the texts, and was surprised to get texts from both of his parents about his computer at the same time.

And if you are to believe the “no coincidences” theory, what does that mean? Are the events of our lives really objective or subjective?  Is there a collective mind, or consciousness that we can tap into?  Did we somehow know he’d be on break; did we know he needed to know about his computer; did we both sense the same thing and react at the exact same time?

In the last few years things like this been happening to both my own family and others that I know.  More and more it seems to point to the fact that there is a collective consciousness where we can tap into others thought patterns, emotions and actions.   Sometimes, I do really just know something is going to happen, in advance.  So, I started telling others what I felt before it happened.  I’d tell them what was going to happen and when (like within the next 10, 20 or 30 minutes this will happen).  I am sure they were skeptical at first but when it just kept coming true I knew I had validated those feelings as being accurate (since I now had credible witnesses to back it up).  

Once I even predicted a house was going to blow up — and I didn’t do it by saying that house is going to blow up — that’s not how I “felt” it.  We were driving through an old neighborhood and I said if I had that house next to mine (think salmon color, like pink flamingo’s) I think I might have to blow it up.  I was joking of course.  That very night a house blew up!  It wasn’t the ugly house, but the nicer house I was referring to when I said “if I lived there”…. right next door to the ugly house … but it blew totally and completely.   Luckily the family that actually lived there was not home!   I didn’t even know about this incident till about a week later in the local newspaper, and I seriously had a hard time believing it.  I made my husband drive by there again to check it out, and sure enough it was the exact house.

Another time, when we were looking to buy a house, we found one my eldest son and husband loved.  But as we stood outside the front of the house, I said — we cannot buy this house as it is covered in blood, don’t you see it? (Of course they didn’t)  It turned out the home inspection showed at least 3 different issues that would/could kill someone who lived there and he urged us to take immediate action and notify the homesellers as they were in actual and current danger from electrical fire, gas leak explosion and carbon-monoxide poisoning.  We gave them our $450.00 home inspection report at no charge to try and save them from any one of those things actually happening to them…and we didn’t buy the house!

Many scientists have reported that coincidence “incidents” are more pronounced and more visible in people who have a strong emotional bond such as identical twins.  That bond allows them to build an increased capacity to deeply understand each other’s thinking and be able to predict and react to the other without the other being present.  But what is it that makes two people do the same thing at exactly the same time, or gives someone the knowledge in advance of an event that hasn’t yet happened?  Why did we drive down that street that day, or look at that particular house to buy? Just a coincidence or more?

It still amazes me to hear of these types of coincidences.  But, because I have experienced so many unexplained things myself and because I react to things based on strong immediate feelings that seem to be accurate, I am thinking there might be something to the collective mind theory ~ where information flows freely to those that have access to it.

By the way, my husband of 40 years now takes no chances.  You may think it’s hilarious, but if I even say “Why are we going down this street?”, he will immediately take another route.  I always ask him why, and he always says, I have lived with you for 40 years, if you are asking you know something and we aren’t taking any chances.

What do you think?  Want to hear more about my personal experiences with this?  Have any experiences you want to share?