Healthy Slow Cooker Meal

Still the weekend of being stuck at home sick......so all that I could do was cook away being stuck indoors. Last week I was thinking about blessings and I remembered that I have a crock pot/slow cooker since it's not actually the crock pot brand name that I had gotten brand new for free a few years ago. I had never used it, and honestly didn't have the slightest idea how to cook in it, but I've been taught that slow cooking food is the healthiest way to cook food b/c all of the nutrients stay in, so I decided as of last week that I will slow cook a lot more from now on. I made a beef stew which came out tasty...I basically just dumped things in the slow cooker that I had available at the house that I HOPED would go good together which was actually really fun, and it came out quite nice; kind of southwestern flavor mixed with another flavor I can't peg.

Slow Cooker Throw it in the Cooker Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb super lean beef stew meat, chopped
1 lb all natural grass fed ground beef

6 fresh large cloves garlic, minced
1/4 of an onion, chopped
5 medium sized tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup brown rice pasta
1 lb of green onions; chopped

1 handful fresh chopped cilantro

Directions:
In a large skillet, brown ground beef with garlic and onion; drain and transfer to the slow cooker/Crock Pot. Add tomatoes, cumin, salt and pepper, brown rice pasta, cilantro, and uncooked stew meat into slow cooker. Cook on low 6.5 hours or on high for 3.5 hours.

My Food Flop of The Week

Still the weekend of being sick and being stuck inside all day....here's my flop of this week....verde salsa dip. Since I'm recovering from being sick, of course I was thinking I would make something just crazy over the top healthy and spicy and that is what I did, only it was sooooo HOT and SPICY it left my mouth burning and I thought my socks were knoced off, but I looked down, and they were still on. :) Green colored veggies are suppose to be VERY healthy, and am I sure this was....if you have a cold, take a spoonful of this and it will knock it right out. Just joking, though it might actually help. I won't post the "recipe" to this since it was a BIG flop in my book but I put cilantro, jalepeno peppers, green onions, fresh garlic, and other things in this...just the peppers and the green onion alone probably were enough to flop this. I suppose some people might like it...that is if you like things so hot you feel like your mouth and throat are literally on fire. I like food very spicy, so the fact that this is a flop can kind of gauge how hot and spicy it was. The good news is that I got to use my cool blender though.

Hot Drink Cabinet Organization

Since I was stuck at home sick all weekend I made the best of it and organized my tea and coffee cabinet. Yes, I have a top coffee shelf even though I don't drink the stuff b/c it's loaded with caffeine, but sometimes guests want some, so that's why I have the coffee, but the bottom tea shelf, that's a different story. I probably have tea flowing though my veins; esp after this weekend. :) This will be a help having this all organized, though I will reclean this cabinet, it gives me the needed push to start thinking about my deep spring cleaning that I intend to start VERY soon staying ahead of schedule.

Sick, Absolutely No Cooking or Sewing Done This Week!

This weekend will be used to recuperate as I've been not feeling well all week. Last weekend in Texas I overextended myself by eating things that threw my body into "shock" ha, ha such as sugar, wheat flour, and some processed foods. Since I've been Miss Healthy lately, my body immediately went into sick mode this week. Wow, was I sick. Anyway, recouping and feeling better now, and back to my all healthy diet that plan never to stray from again....wow being sick makes you think twice before eating unhealthy foods......maybe this weekend I can get a few things done. My appetite is finally returning today, so that's a good sign I'm on the mend!

Photos From Texas Trip

Here's a photo of me and Ansley (daughter of a friend from where I live now) posing at the Pine car Derby in Fort Worth, Texas. This pic makes me feel old....b/c Ansley is 13 years old now and I remember when she was two! The derby went great. Last I heard everyone raised over $3000.00 for the B. F which is fantastic!

For those that have access, I have posted all photos and videos on my royaltruecolours site. Enjoy!

Katherine and Gladys strike a pose at the derby.

"My gal" Ashlynn won the prize for most creative pine car at the derby in Texas, so I made her pose for me. Ashlynn, I think she's 11 or 12 now, makes me feel old too as I remember her "before she was born even." :-) So happy that she won the prize!

Photo of a group of us eating at the Cracker Barrel headed back home right before we left Texas. Douglas Culpepper took the photo so.....

we had to include him in a photo since he was there too.

Dece Todd, a friend of mine who recently just relocated to Texas....she's privileged now. :-) and Misty from Texas, and Ramona from OK!

A long time friend, Paul Salinas (known him since we were like 14 back from my Texas days) and Liz Blondeau from OK enjoy Dinner Saturday Night.

I forgot, EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas including the food portions! I ordered what I thought was a small breakfast and look what I got....I large container of yogurt filled with berries and granola and as you see even extra granola on the side.

I also got a plate of eggs, turkey sausage, and a HUGE MUFFIN. This photo does NOT do the size of the muffin justice...on the photo it looks average size, but no...it was HUGE! I have witnesses. :-)....about the size of two average size muffins put together.

Then, at a DIFFERENT MEAL, I ordered an alcoholic drink since I was "on vacation."....I ordered what I thought would be a small drink since I usually don't drink much at all. Well, I forgot I was in Texas again b/c see the tall glass that looks like lemonade....well that's vodka mixed with lemon....and the drink you see in front was suppose to be my main drink, but they gave me an extra tall glass of "liquor" if I wanted to refill myself. ha, ha! Ummm...I split my drink three ways with friends b/c there was NO WAY I was drinking that. Again, everything is bigger in Texas.

At another meal, I ordered a SMALL Cranberry juice...ha, ha....this is Texas' idea of small....looks like a large to me! I do miss Texas since it's where I grew up, but guess I've forgotten a lot about it! Was a very fun quick trip!

FUNNY MOMENTS....So I told Liz Blondeau that I would post this and she said fine. :-) She's never been to Texas before...so when we first got to our destination, the Dallas, Fort Worth(DFW) area....I told her how Texas is the second largest state in the US, how everything is big in Texas, and how the heart of Texas is really San Antonio which was 8 hours away from where we both live now. It was about then that I pointed to the DFW skyline, and Liz said something like, "oh wow, is that San Antonio, you can see it all the way from here in Dallas, and it's 8 hours away...wow everything really is big in Texas." I cracked up and informed her she was looking at the DFW skyline. (Thanks for letting me post this funny Liz! :-) )

A Little Taste of Winter

We FINALLY got our first real taste of winter last night that we woke up to this morning. This picture was shot from my desk at the Hall of Administration this morning at work looking out the doors. The snow was beginning to melt and as I type this up is pretty much gone

This is what I was greeted with when I opened my back door to head out to work. Wasn't a friendly greeting to my liking. :-) The tree by my door had so much snow on it that it was hanging down by my steps.

A view out my back door into my neighbors yard and house....aka my brother is my neighbor.

Viewing into my back yard.

My footprints!

The hanging down droopy tree filled with snow that got into my hair as I walked under it!

Royal Crushed Panne Shawl

Here is a new shawl design of mine using Royal Red Crushed Panne fabric. Crushed Panne fabric is soft and stretchy, a type of "velvet" fabric used by royalty. Crushed Panne and Satin are my two fabric "royal fabrics." The shawl can be worn with the tie in the front, or the tie in the back.

How the back looks with the tie in the front

Front view with tie in front

front view with tie IN BACK

Close up with tie in back

Back view with tie in back