Traditional Beef Stew

There’s not a whole lot tradition in most of what I cook, but when it’s cold outside, and I’m in the mood for a hearty winter meal, nothing beats an old fashion beef stew. My mother and grandmothers used to make beef stew too, but they put in it stuff I didn’t like – or at least I didn’t think belonged in there. It was years before I realized that I could put whatever vegetables I wanted in a stew – which is basically what “stew” means.

Ingredients:

1 package of pre-trim stew meat, seasoned liberally with tenderizer.

2 cubes of beef bullion or 1 can of beef broth

1 large can of tomato sauce and 1 can of diced tomatoes

3-4 cans of vegetables (drained). I typically use corn, potatoes, peas, carrots and onions. I don't put green beans in my stew, though some people do.

2-3 tablespoons of corn starch to thicken the broth.

Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker. Simmer until the meat flakes apart. The longer and slower the stew simmers the more tender the meat will be, usually 8-9 hours.

Black Bean Salsa Soup

When I have a little more time to cook, Black Bean Salsa Soup a great little side dish for fajitas or tacos.

Ingredients:

1 bag of dry black beans 

1 large jar of salsa (I use Sam's Choice Southwest Salsa)

2 cans of corn (drained)

1 20 oz can of diced tomatoes (I use either regular or chili from Aldi’s)

1 20 oz can of tomato sauce (also from Aldi’s)

1 small bag of frozen onions

2 packages of taco mix

1 tub sour cream (optional)

Shredded cheese (optional)

1-2 avocados (optional)

Combine everything in a crock pot and cook until the beans are done, about 8 hours on low.

Top each bowl with sour cream, cheese and avocado for a more hearty dish.

Easy Chicken and Rice

Chicken and rice is one of my favorite comfort foods. Whenever I was sick, my mother would bring out the Campbell’s soup, the gold standard in “sick food.” But even when I was sick, canned soup just didn’t taste right. When I got into slow cooker cooking, I wondered if I could do any better. Turns out I can – and you can too with this really easy recipe.

Ingredients:

2-3 cans of chicken broth

2 cans cut carrots, drained

4 cups of instant rice

1 medium onion coarsely chopped (or two cups frozen chopped onions)

3 large boneless chicken breasts. I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I cube or rather chunk the raw chicken,

Combine everything in your slow cooker. (Make sure you have a good, reliable appliance. I like personally like the Rival brand.) Top off the crock with water. Salt & pepper to taste. Simmer until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Let it simmer for about eight hours.

How I discovered slow cooker cooking and Chicken Corn Chowder Slow Cooker Style

When my husband and I first got together 20 something years ago, our busy life with three kids left very little time to cook. I really didn’t like to cook much back then, but we had to eat. Since I worked full time, everything had to be quick and easy, and ideally, ready when I got home.

It was during those years in a cramped house Garland that I mastered the art of the casserole – or at least I thought I had. On Sundays, while John and the kids were watching football, I’d dutifully trot off the local grocery store to buy enough for the next week’s meals. When I got home, I’d make five casseroles and freeze them for the next week.

For the 1990s, I was being pretty creative: a meat, either chicken or ground piece; a starch, either some sort of noodles or rice; a can of some sort of vegetable, and a sauce, cheese, tomato and if I really got crazy, alfredo. After school, one of the kids would dutifully put the casserole in the even so it’d be ready when I got home from work. A quick salad and voila – dinner. I thought I had it down! After two or three years of this, my family began to revolt and would sneak down to the fast food places a few blocks away for dinner. To this day, none of my kids will eat a casserole of any sort – even as a side dish.

But still, I had to cook and I like having dinner ready when I got home. One year, in my mother’s longstanding quest to outfit my kitchen with useless appliances, she happened to give me a slow cooker. And I immediately put it to use. At first meals were the traditional roast and vegetables or dried beans, but eventually, my creative side took hold and I discovered there were soup meals beyond pinto beans and ham.

The following is one of my favorites - Chicken Corn Chowder.

Chicken Corn Chowder Crockpot Style

What you’ll need:

·         1 lb Velveeta cheese

·         4 boneless chicken breasts

·         1 can of chicken broth

·         1 can of cream corn

·         1 can of corn

·         1 cup chopped sweet bell peppers (red, yellow, orange and/or green)

·         ½ cup chopped onions

Directions:

Set the slow cooker on high. Melt the Velveeta in the slow cooker.

Brown the chicken breasts just enough so that there’s no more pink. Chop after it’s done.

Once the cheese is beginning to soften, add the can of chicken broth and the cream corn. Stir occasionally to help break up the cheese.

Add the chicken, the onions, peppers and corn.

Cook for 2-3 hours.

Excellent with corn bread!

I love how the Christmas lights, candles and crystal bounce light round the house. It’s hard to let go of that magic after Christmas. I want to keep the house warm and inviting and retain a little bit of the magic. Candles are a great way to achieve that feeling.

When packing the Christmas stuff away, I realized that I had a bunch of mismatched candlesticks. Ready for something simple after the elaborate centerpiece in the dining room, I grouped all of these candlesticks together and filled with candles to match the room. For this arrangement, I used vanilla –scented cream colored rounds and unscented green tapers. From late afternoon and into the evening, they add a welcoming, relaxing glow to the dining room.

2012 resolutions

I saw a funny this weekend about New Year’s resolutions. Someone penned their resolutions in 2009, and each year since updated them with a line drawn through the resolution they couldn’t keep and scribbled the revised resolution above it. This is what my 2012 resolutions feel like, except I’ve learned that change – or resolutions – doesn’t happen over night – or even in a year.

Last year, I kept tabs on where I stood with my resolutions, which is better than I did in 2010, not looking at them again until time to make the new ones. I did do much better than in 2011, even crossing off a couple. So here goes, 2011 in review:

1. Take better care of myself:

Exercise more. I found my weights, and I have new leg-strengthening exercise shoes thanks to my daughter. The new neighborhood also has a swimming pool. When I had a backyard pool, I swam all the time. That’s something I’ve missed these last four years, and I’m looking forward to getting back in the water.

Once again, that didn’t happen. I hit the pool once, hit the treadmill once and walked around the block maybe twice. Oh and walked all over Philadelphia.

Continue to eat better. Crock pots rock! I love coming home and not having to cook dinner, and it’s easy to eat well when I’m not grabbing for junk when I walk in the door. Just have to watch out for weekends when the band plays.

Yes and no… I cooked more at home, but we ate out more too. I held on to the good eating habits through the spring, but it didn’t last through the summer. John convinced me to go on that Atkin’s Diet with him… bad setback.

Take vitamins and engage in more holistic health practices

Again, yes and no… I took fists full of vitamins, until one morning sometime during the summer, I got nauseous from something. I suspected the vitamins and never took anymore. I did discover the neti pot, and that considerably reduced my cold and allergies.

Get eyes checked / new glasses, maybe even contacts again. That’s gotta happen – and soon!

Yes I did! Twice in fact. Turns out that because of my farsightedness, I’m at high risk for something called narrow angle glaucoma. It’s easily fixed with laser surgery, but I’m not at that point. I do have to keep close tabs on it though.

2. Be more of a girlie girl … sitting here with bright blue fingernails! I might have to give up on the idea of going to the salon every week, but I can keep my hair and nails done. I would like to find a decent spa here in McKinney for messages, body wraps and such.

Again, yes and no. I did find a great little mom and pop salon here in McKinney and visited it regularly through the summer. I even managed to keep my nails pointed throughout most of summer. And I’ve even got them painted now. But I also kept them chewed down to the quick when they weren’t painted.

3. Craft Craft Craft. The craft room is organized and ready to go! I’m going to clear out some unfinished projects and then start on some things I’ve been meaning to do for years.

Yes, I did a little more sew more and do some other crafts, but not as frequently as I wanted to.

4. Write for myself. I’m going to launch my Martha Stewart-esk blog, very soon, though it probably won’t be under my own name. And I’m going to monetize it as well. I'm going to write and publish that cook book too! And I just might take up a blog I abandoned last year.

I did manage to reserve a blog name, email and twitter handle. And keep a list of topics and story ideas. But that’s as far as I got.

5. Build the village. I have the space and the resources. I just need to make the time to do it. Next Christmas Maddox will be old enough to enjoy it, so I have a meaningful incentive this year.

Almost! I started Labor Day weekend and worked diligently until right before Thanksgiving. I managed to get it about 30-40 percent complete. I realized that my village is no longer a week-long project; it’s a major undertaking!

6. Decorate the house. We’ve been a long time getting to this point, and I enjoy making a nice home to come back to at the end of the day. Target projects for 2011 include a spa bathroom, an entertaining backyard and a media room. I’m going to tackle one project every week, even if it’s a small thing like buying a new door mat or sewing a new hand towel.

This one is about 80 percent complete. I did make major headway on the spa bath and the entertaining backyard. The media room has since become the Village room – and I’m OK with that. Actually, I’m about 80 percent complete on getting everything done. And I decorated for Summer, Fall and Christmas.

7. Make 2011 StoneAge’s year. In April, when I took up booking the band again, I promised John, Mike and Dave that StoneAge would be on its feet and be a dominate project in the North Texas music scene in 18 months. Within a few weeks, I proved that I can make things happen. Time to shake off the distractions and negative energy to make good on that promise.

That one I made good on. We played nearly every weekend from the middle of January through October. In fact, we played so much that I got burned out and didn’t focus on it at all after Labor Day – and I’m OK with that.

8. Become more entrepreneurial. It’s becoming clearer and clearer that there will be no such thing as retirement. Now is the time to prepare for the “rest of my life.”

I though about this a lot last year, but realized I don’t really know what I want to do. I have a ballpark goal, but never spent time to sharpen any one idea.

9. Focus on “the plan.” Everything I do at work must be tied to the plan. No distractions. Think the plan, work the plan, be the plan.

It was a nice idea, but like the entrepreneurial resolution, I never really clarified what “the plan” was.

10. Spend more time with my family.

Yes, I did do a little better here. Since the summer, I made an effort to spend an evening with Maddox most weeks. And I was able to spend more time with Robert, on the phone and visiting him.

I feel like I laid much of the groundwork toward accomplishing my goals, so 2012 will look a lot like 2011. So here goes:

1. Take better care of myself:

·         Exercise. Somehow, somewhere, someway. I’ve got to walk.

·         Eat better. No more fad diets. Stick to something that works.

·         Take vitamins. I always feel better when I do, so I’m just going to have to line them up on the counter and do it.

·         Get a physical. Haven’t had one since 2009. It’s time.

2. Be more of a girlie girl…

3. Craft Craft Craft. The craft room is organized and ready to go - again! I’ve made a list of projects I want to finish. I’m making a crafting calendar and I’m blogging about my projects, so hopefully that will keep my motivated.

4. Write for myself. I acquired a blog site for my Martha Stewart-esk blog and I documented many of my crafting projects from this year so I’ve got material to work with. I also discovered that my Xoom takes dictation so I can write my pieces as I travel to and from work.

I also set up a home office for me with my own computer and loaded it with all kinds of writing software. I’ve been keeping notes for a couple of novel projects, so hopefully, I can get those organized and that project off the ground – though I don’t expect to finish it next year.

5. Finish the village. Lots of lessons learned from last year, mostly that it’s no longer a 14-day project. It’s a long-term commitment. Fortunately, I don’t have to take down what I accomplished last fall. And knowing what I know now, I realize that I’m no longer constrained by the calendar. I can work on it anytime the mood strikes.

6. Finish decorating the house. There’s not a lot left to do. I need to focus on the master bedroom. If I get that finished, I think I might just take this one off next year’s list.

7. Better define my entrepreneurial goals. I’ve got lots of ideas, but couldn’t congeal any of them into a workable plan. I bought market planning software recently, so I’m hoping it will help me bring together some of my projects, perhaps my writing, and guide me in developing a cohesive plan.

8. Spend more time with my family.

How one comes to live by the seasons

There's two things on this planet I like. I like to decorate and I like to write. And I like to drive my family crazy doing it. Ok, that's three.

I've been a professional writer for more than 30 years. I've been an amateur interior decorator for nearly 20. Since I bought my first home in the early 90s, I felt compelled to turn my entire house upside down every time the seasons change. It started with Christmas, then Halloween, and then autumn décor crept into the mix. Now, I decorate and redecorate every time the calendar page turns.

I blame this on my mother. My mother worked full time and kept a tidy, stylish home despite a husband that traveled most of the years and two rambunctious kids that couldn't pick up after themselves. The secret to her success was being unmovable. Not her, but her stuff. Once pictures went on the walls or a flower arrangement was placed on the table, it never moved. Nope, never. And putting up the Christmas tree was always a fight. Deep down in my soul, I knew that the Christmas tree should go up the day after Thanksgiving. My mother would be happy if it went up Christmas Eve and it had better be down by Dec. 26. The sameness drove me nuts. For real, apparently.

Somewhere along the way, I discovered sewing. That discovery came courtesy of my husband. He loves sports. I hate sports. I learned that I hated sports less if I had something to do besides sit there and stare at the TV. So I took up sewing… and then a little painting and then, well suddenly I had a sewing room, which evolved into a crafting room, which is now a studio outfitted with four sewing machines and all the high-tech gadgetry Michaels, Joann's and Hobby Lobby have to offer. And I haven't even touched on the village, but I will. Oh, I will.

So, please join my on an adventure, as I live by the seasons.