Lately I've had a hard time coming up with new things for supper. (We're in Iowa---IT'S SUPPER!!!) Anyway, I popped into a freezer and saw a chicken breast and some hot Italian sausage. Check. I knew I had a couple fresh poblano peppers so I sat down at the comp and pulled up allrecipes. Definitely my favorite site to look for recipes. I found this one.
I also added a big pinch of chicken granules. I plopped in the sausage too. It's link so I left it in the link shape. Chicken is such a bland meat that I really season it up, can you tell? LOL Then I flipped it, and continued to flip it until completely cooked through.
Once the sausage is done I will slice it into rounds. The chicken will be cut into small bite size dices once it's done.
I will put it the meats back into the skillet and add some chopped green peppers (Pablano will be too hot for Jeff if I add it like green pepper-believe me I want to! But I know better. He doesn't mind them stuffed with meats because he just chooses not to eat the poblano when I do that.), and a can of diced tomatoes with sweet onion.
I have some broccoli that might add too. Don't know yet. Then once the spiral noodles (fusilli) are done they will be added to the skillet. I don't want a thick sauce like spaghetti, just a light tomato base that's well seasoned. Last I will sprinkle on some freshly grated asiago cheese.
I'm off to check to see what other veggies I can add to it.......
I ended up adding the broccoli, some diced carrot and celery. I didn't added the cherry tomatoes because the canned diced tomatoes were enough. It turned out exactly like I'd hoped. It was delicious and I will be making it again. Next time I will also add some garlic grilled shrimp.
It doesn't look very saucy, but that's what I wanted, there was a lot of seasoning in it. I even added red pepper flakes to make it spicy. I surprised Jeff didn't complain about that. He liked it too. I have enough for lunch at work tomorrow.
Oh! Molly's been back! The female duck. She showed up night before last, didn't show last night but she was in the pool at 6:10 this morning. I take her out cracked corn and she lets me get pretty close. She hears the door open and immediately starts heading to the spot in the pool where I put the corn. LOL Jeff says they will be back next year too. I hope so. I really like seeing them.
Had a splinter in my foot for three days. I first noticed it when I'd put my foot on the break in Loo-Cee. Other than that it was fine, until day 3. Now it hurt when I walked. So I got on the couch and couldn't see the bottom of my foot. So I snagged some reading glasses. Nope. So I took out my contacts. (I have GREAT CLOSE UP vision with nothing on) Nope. I've found out that my foot is the PERFECT distance away that I cannot see the bottom with or without glasses. Now that sucks. So I grabbed a needle and just started jabbing into where I felt the splinter. I got it but now I have a hole.
I had bought some feeder goldfish for the pond and 2 tadpoles. Damn raccoons came in the night and ate some of them. Found half a body of one of the tads. So I went and bought more and placed a chain link fence gate over the pond. Looks pathetic but it's working. No more deaths! If I keep telling myself the pond now looks bad-ass maybe I'll believe it.
Maybe I should surround it with old car parts to really make a statement.
I could paint some graffiti on the flagstones......
I wonder if I can find a resin frog smoking a joint......
My dogs track and take down flies. Most of the time Ava pins them against the picture window while they try to fly for their lives. Back and forth the across the window. Until the jaws of a 120lb German Shepherd close around them.
Tis a pity.
She's also good about catching them in mid air. Yeah, I can hide at the bottom of the stairs and make scary noises and she will freak out not knowing who it is.....but if a 2mm fly flies in front of her, she can eat it in mid. air. Anna at work say Ava doesn't like the 'behavior' of me hiding around the corner at the bottom of the basement stairs.
I torment her is by poking my head around the wall and she freaks out, She uses her 'real' growl. The one she would use with an intruder. So I keep poking my head around the stairs to look at her, then I pull my head back. Then I poke out again. She really. really. dislikes this. It brings out 'Crazy Dog".
I love fucking with her.
She knows when she is being played too. She gets all happy and I swear she giggles.
She's a good dawg.
We will miss her when it's time. And that time is coming soon. She is 8 yrs old.
I'm getting melancholy here. Gotta stop.
Do you like this?
I do. I showed it to Jeff last night. Even he was mesmerized. He watched it to the very end. I didn't even do that when I pinned it. I just knew I liked it. A Lot. It's a great tune.
I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do a blind pick now. Same ammo case I used last time.
When I open this ammo box, I am bombarded with florals. It's like putting one of every flower grown and squishing them into a really tight bouquet. Tart, intense, memories. Only an oil lover will appreciate opening a case with perfume oils in it and basking in the one combined smell. This case is Keosaukua Iowa in the summer. During July 4th. Party, grills, picnics, blooming trees. I smell lavender, violets, and gardenias. It's a very tart smell. Absolutely no foodie in this case. Absolutely no musk, no patch, no incense at all. It's all get out floral. I wish you could smell this.
I have free reign here.
OMG I have a bpal oil named Nemesis.
I recently read a book with the same title. Now the REALLY, REALLY ironic thing is that while I was reading Nemesis by Bill Napier he referenced a secret green liquor made by monks. Which is Chartreuse....that I was turned on to by a bartender at Johnnie White's while in New Orleans this year. The book is a story about 6 intelligent people brought together to find an asteroid heading toward the USA. The Soviet deflected the asteroid so it would hit the USA. They can only assume that. So they are chosen to find the asteroid and give recommendations on how to stop it. If they find it in time. They name the asteroid Nemesis. So they find out there is this 400 year old manuscript that might tell them from an astronomer's notes that a star was travelling too fast, night to night. And that star he described might be the asteroid they are seeking. So if they can get their hands on his manuscripts they might be able to find the asteroid. So one man goes to Europe to track down the manuscript and he finds they have all been stolen. So he must go to an Apiary run by monks to track down the manuscripts.
Okay I am getting to the irony.......
Within this book there are references to the monks making Chartreuse, like twice! (they don't mention Chartreuse by name obviously) Now how ironic is that....that I am reading a book....take off for vacation to New Orleans......while there, turned onto Chartreuse, the green secret liquor made by monks (which is somewhat minty), then coming back home, going to work and reading the rest of Nemesis and reading the part about monks and a green liquor. Whaaaaa??
Whaaaaa?
I am speechless. Now for a triple whammy, watch this video!
On to smelling this oil.....
I think I got this about a year and a half ago.
In the vial: Green. But not TOO green. Antiseptic. Chopping down a pine tree. Without the wood smell. Taking the pines and grinding them up. Minty. Frosty too.
On the hand: Mint, lavender, newly cut pine.
It reminds me of the smell of Chartreuse! The bottle I bought in a store in New Orleans cost $75.00.
What's in this? The whip-wielding Goddess of Divine Retribution, Justice and Vengeance, and is the force that balances the scales of Tyche's fortune. She is also called Adrasteia, 'she whom none can escape', and Erinys, 'implacable'. Nemesis is the executrix of Olympian justice, and her primary duty is to punish hubris and mankind's offenses against the natural order with inflexible, remorseless and raging fury. Her symbols are a sword and scourge, a measuring rod and scales. Cypress, ginger, fig, dried rose, red patchouli, tonka bean and cyclamen.
OMG I was going to say rose but bit my tongue because I thought I'd be burned...Evidently not....
The cypress is King in this. All the other components are just little jesters in the crowd. I'll have to see what it dries down to, maybe the fig will give it some sweetness.
I'm torn on whether I like it or not. It definitely unique but smelling like a pine tree that's been pulped really isn't for me. I hope it dries into something with less bite.
I made pho again yesterday. I like freezing it in baggies so I can eat it whenever. I am growing Thai Basil too.
Remember those 4 green pepper plants I babied all winter? They are thriving and producing a crazy amount of peppers. I've already picked three and have three others that need picked now.
I am going to try my hand at making homemade pork tamales. I will be making a red sauce that will have dried chile de arbols, guajillos and California chilis, Mexican oregano, onion, fresh garlic, cumin, and allspice.
The dried chilis will be softened in boiling water, then everything will be blended together, strained then heated for about 2o minutes. I will then mix it with some pork that was boiled with mexican oregano, onion, garlic cloves and bay leaf.
I will also be making the masa. After I mix the corn masa with some of the water the pork was cooked in also some baking soda, shortening and salt will be added.
I hope it turns out. I think getting the masa mixture right will be the key.
2 hours later: The nemesis has turned into a warm, golden scent. The cypress has left and the patchouli has been softened by the fig. What a lovely drydown. I am going to put more on. I also have the pork on the stove bathing in the herbs, garlic and onion. It will be cooked until soft and easily shredded. Yum!
We have spoiled dogs.
We have to cook a package of hot dogs if we grill out.
Otherwise they pout.
They eat 8 bags of dried chicken strips per month.
The big bags.
Cha-ching at $19.99 per bag.
That's conservative.
They also eat $60.00 bag of dog food.
Royal Canin for German Sheperds.
Lasts about 2 months.
Only because we give them hot dogs and chicken strips.
They get a new toy just about every time we go to a store.
I have to purge them about every 6 months.
Out goes the mangled toys.
Out goes the ripped toys.
Out goes the really dirty toys.
Out goes the really hairy toys.
Out goes the ones that no longer squeak.
Probably a good thing for them we buy one just about every shopping trip or they'd have no toys.
They do not treat their toys with respect.
We have probably 50 tennis balls scattered throughout the house and yard.
They also get raw marrow bones every day. I've limited them to 2 each since Da Man seems to like giving them a whole package.
Package cost: $6.00-$15.00 depending on size.
4 bones: $3.00
When I add all that up and include the steak, chicken, pork and other items from our plates, we're looking at roughly $300 per month just for the dogs.
Plus they are loved on just about every second of the day.
I see them lying on the floor and I cuddle with them.
I give them massages.
They get their own large kiddie pool every summer. (Stark eats them come Fall - sigh) Cha-ching $30.00.
They're allowed on the furniture.
We took them on vacation to South Dakota!
No wonder there's that saying, It's a dog's life!!
I wanna be one of mine!
Ava with her head out the moonroof in The Black Hills
Let's do another review of another perfume oil. Hmmm.....
I have so many that's it's challenging if I want to pull one from the minions for a blind pick or choose one that I have already smelled.
I do like blind picks though....okay Let's do It!
Madcap Garden by Haus of Gloi
I have a few HOG oils but am not really familiar with them. This should be interesting to see what their oils smell like.
In the vial: Mint bandaids. Is there such a thing as mint bandaids? They should start making scented bandaids. Remember I am the one that came up with the idea. Someone is going to make millions....bah!
I was totally expecting an all get out floral in this with the name and all. That's basically all I am getting too... is mint bandaids.
On the hand: Lots of mint. Nice mint. I'm probably going to have to wait for it to be on me for some time before I get any other scents . Mint does that. It's a top note scent and takes over. It also never really goes away but it does fade and allows other aspects to emerge.
I'm going to see if I can google what's in this...A lively blend of pure black tea chilled with peppermint and the tiniest spike of sweet honey. Very unisex, stimulating, addictive, and bright.
Hmm, from what I know of tea and honey, this will stay minty.I never would have guessed those two scents anyway. Good thing I looked. I could have been sitting here all night. LOL
Looks like another drink I need to make.
Later: I didn't end up liking Madcap Garden after a while. Once the mint had tempered, the honey came out and I just don't care for that scent. I like tea only slightly better than honey so the combination of the two did me in.
I've had a mad craving for goulash lately that I had to appease. My mom made great goulash but I can't remember her recipe and since she's passed away I can't just call her. Bah! My last attempts were just not very good. So I've been perusing Pinterest, All Recipes, and the Food Network and decided to do my own concoction. It turned out great!
This pic is while it's still cooking and the pasta hadn't absorbed most of the liquid yet. Normally I cook the pasta separately and don't remember if my mom did that or not. The pasta ends up too soft and falls apart. Talk about disasters. So this time I cooked the pasta in the sauce. I do know my mom used tomato JUICE and not sauce, and the one time I did use tomato sauce and it ended up tasting too much like spaghetti so I knew I had to go back to juice, like my mom's. I didn't use straight up Italian seasoning because I also felt that made it taste too much like spaghetti sauce, so I used basil and oregano only. I don't remember my mom using any seasoning like that. I think hers was just salt and pepper and garlic salt, but again, I don't really remember. (The dark thing in the top right of the pan is the bay leaf)
Here's my recipe:
1 1/4 lb ground chuck
3/4 large onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 large can (46 oz) tomato juice
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
2 tsp dried oregano, placed in palm and rubbed into the sauce
2 tsp dried basil, placed in palm and rubbed into the sauce
1 bay leaf
2 tsp soy sauce
salt and black pepper to taste-quite a bit of salt though
1/2 box of beef broth
5 handfuls of elbow macaroni-not cooked (6 would be better)
First I cooked the meat until it was half cooked, then I added the onion and green pepper and cooked until no longer pink. Then I added all the other ingredients except for the beef broth and macaroni. I didn't even strain the grease off because ground chuck isn't that fatty and I also like the flavor that it gives. I let that simmer for about 2 hours while it reduced. You can tell by the picture it reduced quite a bit. Then I added the broth and let that simmer another 10 minutes. Then I added the 5 handfuls of macaroni. I had a bag of macaroni and don't know how many ounces 5 handfuls is! I just eyeballed it. I think 6 would have better but it still wasn't too runny even with the 5. I let it cook for about 20-25 minutes then served. It was really good and didn't taste like spaghetti at all. YAY! Jeff doesn't care for goulash but said it wasn't too bad. He said the green pepper needed cooked longer so I will add the green pepper with the meat at the beginning, then add the onion when halfway cooked. I'm really surprised the 2 hour simmer time didn't make the green pepper softer. I also like the onion to be visible in the dish and chop it slightly larger than a normal chop. Also make sure you salt it enough. I kept thinking it needed something until I got the salt to where it needed to be. Remember the pasta will soak up the salt from the sauce, so you need to add salt for the sauce and also the pasta.
Ava is snoring and every time I mute the TV and turn on the camera to take a video of her she wakes up. BAH!
Now for my 'Kind of Skinny Margarita'!!
Margaritas are the number one most calorific drink you can drink. And I LOVE THEM! That salt! That tang and TEKILLYA--my favorite liquor!! It's my perfect drink.
I figure one of my old margarita's probably had over 1300 calories in one drink. (I use a 1639 shaker glass - aka a 16 oz glass)
Here's how I make it now and it doesn't compromise on taste either.
First I salt the rim. I like a lot of salt, can you tell? heehee
Then I add one inch of tequila. Next I add a splash of Jero's sweetened West India Style Lime Juice (you can find it by the liquors in the store -it's a cocktail mixer), 1/2 cup of Jose Cuervo's Margarita Mix, and 3/4 cup of Diet Sunkist Lemonade pop. Then I top with ice. I leave out the Jero's sometimes, and also sometimes I use 1 cup of Diet Sunkist and 1/4 cup of margarita mix. It's the margarita mix that has all the calories. One shot of tequila has about 100 calories. Jeff says my inch of tequila is bigger than a shot so you could also just add a shot and reduce the calories too....but I LIKE the tequila. My liver doesn't but I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do!
Obviously I had to make some while posting this right? The diet Sunkist has NO calories so I have to be reducing the calories by at least 600. Instead of using 1 1/4 cups of margarita mix I am using 1/4 to 1/2, and replacing the rest with the diet Sunkist.
I've been making them this way for about 2 years and I actually like it better than with all margarita mix. The pop gives the drink some fizz and it just feels lighter in the mouth and on the gut. LOL
This 3 day weekend was so nice. Who decided on a 5 day work week anyway?? Who made that rule? I want to meet them and poke my fingers in their eyes. Boink! Boink!
I have a new bag of oils in vials. I think there's like 85 of them. Going to do a blind pick:
Nightgown by Solstice Scents:
Deep red in color. Cool.
In the vial: definitely a floral. Feminine and light. Smoky. I can't tell what's in this at all.
On the hand: Red velvet and smoke. A mysterious sultry flower. This is some sexy stuff! Makes me think it's something Sofia Vergara would wear. Womanly bold yet soft and tauntingly alluring.
What's in this? NIGHTGOWN
Vanilla, White Chocolate, Tuberose & Tiare Flowers Shake this perfume gently before use. A sensual and very creamy floral fragrance, Nightgown evokes the image of a gorgeous satin nightie with lace trim. It fits like a second skin and is the perfect attire for lounging and snuggling. This perfume is the representation of the fabric itself: beautiful, plush, sweet and delicate with white velvety petals from exotic flowers that entrance you with aphrodisiac qualities. The floral notes are very creamy, well rounded and tame while still being detectable and not too heady, sharp or perfumey. The dominant notes are a vanilla accord blended with a touch of divine white chocolate. The floral notes are present on initial application and for some time on the skin though on the long term dry down they will recede and the vanillas and white chocolate will be predominant. If you like the vanilla accord in Manor and Snowshoe Pass, it makes a striking appearance in this blend! Nightgown is wispy, innocent and mysterious at once - like feathers and a gently strummed harp.
Wow, I didn't do too bad! I think the smoke aspect I got is the chocolate. I did get the florals in the vial, then on the skin it was wispy yet at the same time demanding to be noticed. A perfect blend of both soft and strong. A keeper!!
