Happy Friday!

Happy Friday everyone are you ready for the weekend?  I know we are.  We’re also waiting for the mini snow disturbance, 1-3” our local weather channels are calling for.  You can’t really call it a snowstorm, 1-3” is an annoying disturbance, it’s not 6” which really gets in the way.  I thought the snow was supposed to start early so when I woke up this morning and opened the curtains I was surprised to find that no snow had fallen, I did a little happy dance.  I turned on Good Morning America and just happened to catch our local news and weather break the snow is on its way, it’s just a little delayed.  Bring it on I did all of my running yesterday!

Today is going to be a quiet day I’m going to bake some M&M cookies then attempt to hook up the printer I purchased a week ago.  Yes, I am procrastinating setting up the printer, if the truth be told I am afraid of this project, afraid of screwing it up because it’s wireless.  I know I need to just jump right in and get it done, I wish I would have just arranged for Best Buys Geek Squad to do it.  I can’t procrastinate any longer, it has to be done.  Wish me luck.

I am going to attempt to make homemade tartar sauce again today.  I guess attempt isn’t really the right word, I actually did make a great homemade tartar sauce about a month ago we just didn’t get to eat it because when I opened the refrigerator door the bowl of tartar sauce came flying out and crashed onto the floor, what a mess that was.  It was my fault, on several levels; first I put it in a glass bowl instead of in a covered container.  Two, I set the uncovered bowl on top of two small Tupperware bowls that, at the time, I didn’t know weren’t staked evenly so when I set the bowl on top of them it moved the top Tupperware making it even more unsecure.  When I opened the refrigerator door, the jolt of the door opening made the Tupperware slip even more causing the bowl to slip right out of the refrigerator and crash on the floor.  Lesson learned, tartar sauces stored in covered Tupperware bowl and not stacked onto anything else!

Speaking of Tupperware I was invited to a Tupperware party tonight, I haven’t been to a Tupperware party in probably 30 years but I’ll pop in tonight for a quick visit and see what they have.  My corner cabinet, a lazy Susan style, has been driving me crazy lately; maybe I’ll be able to find a few containers to help me get it a little better organized.

My new thing is Pampered Chef, I don’t like to host the shows, I don’t generally like to attend them either but I do love to order from Pampered Chef.  At one time I was into Longaberger Basket parties, I hosted them a couple times a year and I went to any and all of them that I was invited to.  I own so many baskets I’ve lost count, they are all over the house and many are still in boxes in the storage room, never unpacked when I moved into this house.  I still find it hard to believe that the first basket I bought for $26.00 now, 30 years later sells for almost double.  I hope when I’m gone Nikki and John don’t sell them in some garage sale for .25/each, but hey I wouldn’t know anyway right?  To Nikki and John…..I will know and I will haunt you, don’t sell my baskets for a quarter.

Time to get this day started so I’ll leave you today with Paula Deen’s recipe for Slow Cooker Swiss Steak.  As with most slow cooker recipes this one assembles pretty easy.  It’s tasty, the meat is very tender.  We served it with mashed potatoes and corn; it made a very hearty tasty meal.  Give it a try

SWISS STEAK

What You’ll Need:

1 1/2 pounds round steak, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms

1 Cup sliced onion

1 Cup sliced celery

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 (14.5 ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

½ cup water

1 (0.87-ounce) package brown gravy mix

½ teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions:

• In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine steak, mushrooms, onion, celery, and garlic.
• In a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, tomato sauce, 1/2 cup water, gravy mix, salt, and pepper.
• Pour over steak mixture.
• Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

Source:  http://www.cookingwithpauladeen.com/recipe_results.php?id=3192

Manic Monday……

Hello family and friends, getting a late start on the blogging today.  Monday’s are always kind of busy for me, mostly because it’s my house cleaning day.  I know, most people do their deep clean on Friday or Saturday but I do mine on Monday morning, after the weekend, after all my little visitors are off to their own houses for the week.  Monday through Friday I have no Playmobil action figures or board games lying around, the Bugles and Cheetos area vacuumed and swept up, everything is put away.  Dusting gets done too.

It was a pretty easy clean this week, I didn’t have any of my little grandbabies with me this weekend.  Kaylee was sick, Josh was at boy scout camp and Walt and I drove downriver to spend Saturday with Nikki and Lil E for Nikki’s birthday.  We had a nice, but quiet weekend.

Lots of running to do this afternoon, even got a phone call about a potential job.  Unfortunately the lady called me while I was in a meeting and I had to tell her that I would call her back tomorrow.  The up side of that is it gave me the opportunity to look up  her organization and do some research.  Not excited that it’s in the city but I am definitely intrigued by what her organization does.  I can absolutely see me in that role.

My family is going to read this and wonder what it is.  Sorry guys, not ready to talk about it, need to get more information.  It’s funny how life throws you a few curve balls, all I will say is that if offered, I will accept and interview to learn more and if offered the position I would have to do some soul-searching, this position would give me the opportunity to use my years of experience to help people rebuild their lives.  All I will say is “God works in mysterious ways.”

But we are ahead of our selves, I haven’t even gotten an interview.  I just know that the lady on the phone was excited about the fact I was not back to work yet and that she feels my background is exactly what she is looking for.  LOL, she has no idea how much it really does in more ways than one.

But…let’s move on to today’s recipe!!  Today I made a new Swiss Steak recipe, I found it on Pillsbury.com.  It always amazes me that I find some really great recipes on that site that have nothing to do with biscuits, or rolls, or pizza crust!   AND…..I did not change a thing!!  At least not the first time, I have some ideas for next time!!!

Oven BBQ Swiss Steak (Pillsbury.com)

 

OVEN BBQ SWISS STEAK

INGREDIENTS

1  (14.5-oz.)           can diced tomatoes, undrained

1  (12-oz.)               jar beef gravy

1/2 cup                   barbecue sauce

1 cup                       Green Giant® Niblets® Frozen Corn

1 medium              onion, cut into thin wedges

1 1/2 lb.                  boneless beef round steak, cut into serving-sized pieces

2 tbsp                     chopped fresh parsley

6 cups                    hot mashed potatoes

DIRECTIONS

• Heat oven to 325°F.
• In ungreased 13×9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish, combine tomatoes, gravy and barbecue sauce; blend well.
• Add corn and onion; mix well.
• Place beef pieces in mixture; spoon mixture over beef.
• Cover with foil.
• Bake covered at 325°F. for 1 hour 30 minutes or until beef is fork-tender.
• Sprinkle with parsley.
• To serve, spoon mashed potatoes into individual shallow bowls.
• Top each with beef and vegetable mixture.

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/oven-barbecue-swiss-steak/41baf720-a439-415d-a7a6-3c9af0f504b2/