Mexican dinner: Quick Seared Pablano Beef Tips

Here it is!  Full of potatoes, deer meat (had to substitute), onions, chile, bok choy, and cilantro.  It was great!  My husband loved it.  It was fresh and wonderful, and filling.  We had just a bit left.

I took the left overs this morning and added 2 eggs, cheese, salsa, and cilantro for breakfast.  Here it is.

Tonight I am making Roadside Chicken with Zucchini, rice and beans.  Chips and Gaucamole.

Mexican Week for dinner

I am bored!  Nothing sounds great to eat, I just want something fresh and taste!  I am tired of my bulk comfort food.  I am not saying comfort food has to be boring, I just have managed to make it that way.  I just have gotten a little lazy in my cooking from scratch.  So I needed inspiration and I got it.  I have been watching Rick Bayless, Mexico: One plate at a Time on the Create Chanel. (Alright, my frugal friends, this is not a cable channel, it is a free PBS channel; thanks to the wonders of the digital converter box.)

You can find him here:
Rick Bayless

So I went to the library, yes, I am too impatient and cheap to buy the book.  I am a want it now, kinds of gal.  I grabbed the only book they had on the shelf (did I tell you I have been druelling when I watch his show?) and went home to make THE LIST.  I am very excited about have the simple pleasure of allowing fresh food to intoxicate my taste buds once again.  It seems this whole motherhood bit has caused me to get a bit lazy in my preparation and menu planing for food.  So here is the cookbook I got.

I sat down with it and went over each recipes and the ingredients that it requires.  I did omit the fishes, mostly because it is not in my budget to buy and I am unsure what the cost would be to take on this taste adventure.  I omited the salad dressings, mostly because I have a fridge full of them.   I looked for easy to prepare food that could be appealing for my family.  So I made my menu out for the week.  Yes!  I am making a week of mexican food, but why not, I got the book, lets put it to some use.  Besides, like a typical 12 year old would say, I ammmmm sooooo bored! with my food.  Atleast this week it is about to be different.

So a shopping I will go, hi ho the grocery store a shopping I will go.

Here is my loot, notice all those fresh produce.  The advantage in living in Southern Florida, and I am not talking about Miami, south of Tampa, is that i got all of this from either my produce man or Wal-mart.  I was concerned about what this would cost me and I was happily surprised.  I spent $45 at walmart and also purchased the typical white bread america, cookies, pudding, pop tarts, orange juice concentrate, etc.; of course all store brand.

Now my produce man is amazing!  I hope everyone has the oppurtunity to get to a produce man like this.  His name is Pablo and he is set up in Fort Ogden, I purchased the following produce from him today for a total of $14.  This is the Tamotallios, cilantro, tomatoes, zuchinni.  I did get a bit excited about all this freshness and the exotic adventure we were going to have at dinner this week, I had to add some plantains, mango, limes, and a small assortment of chiles.

So my first adventure is tonight.  I am making the Quick Seared Poblano Beef Tips, kinda.   The beef tips is a beef and chiles with onions and potatoes in a hearty sauce.  I would consider this a full meal that geninely does not need side dishes. 

The kinda is the fact that I have made some alterations to the ingredients because of availability.  I am subbing the beef tips for Venison, because that is what I have.  I am Subing the Pablano for another mild large pepper, since I was a week late at the produce stand.  I am also adding bok choy to the meal to give it a full meal feeling, mostly to my husband.  (He needs to see a green vegetable with a starch)

I will let you know how this goes!

The Remnants of My Garden

Oh, they look so pretty!  I picked all of these tomatoes just before that last of the big freezes came through at the beginning of this month.  I had read, if you know that the freeze is coming and you can not protect against it, to pick all the tomatoes and set them on the counter to ripen.  We were skeptics, but it worked.

See, being in South Florida, we grow all year round.  I know my Northern junkies, EAT YOUR HEART OUT!  One thing about it, is we typically do not get hard freezes.  Well, this year we did and it was a long one!  I just supplement my groceries with my garden.  I am not the best producer, but I figure I have years to get there.  I do mostly, well that is what Southern women do, wear funny hats and grow tomatoes!  I am a Ouiser at heart, (just watch Steel Magnolias).

So here is the ugly!  This is what the frost did to me!

This is what is left of my tomato plants.  Toast!  The first row is my younger flock, there is some hope.  I have some new growth from the bottom, so they might still produce before my new plantings can.  My producing flock, yuk.  Nothin' but cooked greens is what they look like.  I should have taken pics when I had a chance.  They were full of green tomatoes, full of life. These were the best tomatoes I have ever grown and poof, gone in a week.

I also lost my blooming spaghetti squash and bell peppers.  They were decimated in the freeze with out even a nub to photograph.

I do have life still!  These are my mustard greens!  Yum, yum!  I think they got greener in the freeze.

This is Bok Choy.  I actually took about a month to remember what it was when it came up.  I forgot all about planting it.  Vietnamese noodles it will go!

Broccoli is still progressing, along with the cauliflower and onions.

I have the onions all over in the ground.  I love it in the next few months when they get huge.

I am combing my seed inventory for my next planting round.  I need to first get the weather forecast together to figure out if it will freeze again in February, I am hoping for just a chill. 

I am in a rush for time.  I am slowly becoming in pain in my back from this pregnancy.  From other friends, I am learning that at 4 pregnancies your body no longer can keep the baby in the belly.  So my belly is falling more forward, causing a lot of strain on my back.  It is like my belly is 50 lbs itself.  So picking things up and bending over is increasingly uncomfortable and painful.  The scary part is I am the only one doing a 4th pregnancy within 6 years, so I think I am less in shape than the others.  But after this one, whoa, I am done.  I am up for adoption before being pregnant again.

Well love from the dirt!

Falling in love with my house!

Alright, the absolute love affair that made me have to have a 2 bedroom home without central air was this stove!

I started using this stove in 2003 for my family.  It met its ill fate this past August 2009, when one of the heating elements stopped working.  I did find a replacement, but it required a 1200 mile road trip one way to collect one for parts, so a  no go.

Well, this week after a long 6 months of trying to figure out what I was going to do, a group of volunteers collected it to put it in a local history museum. I am sad to see it go, but as it sat in a corner, it was quickly becoming clutter. 

The stove is actually a pre-1950s Westinghouse range.  Our house was built in 1952, the range was brought down from up north by the last owner in 1954.  She had used it exclusively until she sold us the house.  Talk about money well spent.  Now that it is in the museum, the original owner is trying to find out everything she can to determine when and where it came from.

Now to replace my range, my husband did get me a used glass top from craigslist for about a $100.  It feels so temporary.  After having a range that was in use for about 60 years, it seems like anything less is just not good enough.  I guess I am I feeling nostalgic!  So what do you think, I might get 5 to 10 years out of the new one?

Atleast I a can go visit it. Sniffle, sniffle.

Do I need to organize or unclutter?

After my last posting, a friend came over and helped me with 4 rooms to declutter. WOW! I am not sure if I need to organize or declutter to organize. So at the end of 2 hours, I had the entry way filled with stuff to go. Another 2 hours later and the house seemed as if it had a new life. This is when the realization kicked in that, it is not organizing I need, I need to get rid of STUFF!

How in the world do I have so much stuff? So in the past 2 weeks, we did make some more progress, but now I am down and out with a sinus infection AGAIN! But I did get an entire room emptied and put carpet in! So now the house it turned upside down.

I am realizing, instead of being worked up about organizing it all, I need to get a handle on what it is I need to keep in my house and what should go. AND MOST OF ALL GET IT THERE. I have a bad habit of throwing it to the side to get rid and never getting it out of the house. So my solute to organizing. I do want to show a few pics.

This my bathroom, uncluttered and organized to its first degree. The counters were cluttered. Background information, I am not a pink and white kinda gal, my house is mostly original to the previous owner who lived here since 1954. It will stay that way, room by room until I can make it otherwise. So I am working with what I got.

Yes, I do use the vanity as my changing table. I am sad and disappointed to say that I only discovered this marvelous use for it about 10 months ago. Until then I was doing the changing in the bedrooms and piling diapers up there, yuk!

So Here are my drawers, except my cocked eyed make up one. I used the top one for the my husband and I stuff only! I did use 2 shoe boxes and another container on hand to prevent it from looking like an out of control junk drawer.

Then I think another brillant idea came to me!

Put the diaper stuff in a drawer! Tadaa! The blue lid is actually my home made baby wipes container. I have the diapers to the side, I did put #4's diapers in as a place holder. (well left over from another kid, it was just to get me a bit excited to lug through the next 4 months). I have a divider in for the butt balm and such, in the back is my measuring cup and baby oil to make the wipes. Now I know you are seeing the duct tape, well we were having issues with a midnight streaker in the diaper department. We reduced the laundry amount by covering the tabs with duct tape. Otherwise, she would pull it off to hear the velcro noise.

Last drawer, is the hair stuff basket! ahhh! I

needed this for months. Every time it was time to do hair, it was a mad search for brushes and ties, now it is all together with the detangler and gel. I will side note, I am thankful I can put the detangler and hair gel here, in previous years, #2 would have coated his body in the hair gel. The remaining basket is the what nots.

To end the love of toothpaste eating by my youngest and to keep control of tooth brush clutter, I picked up these little holders from the Dollar General for $1 each. They are working very nicely.

So until next time, I am off with my garbage bag to get rid of, the organizing my be put on hold until a clean sweep is preformed. My rational is: clean sweep to easter, spring clean to July, and then organize to October, and finish the year by vasting in my glory with a beautiful holiday house.

Organizing Day 2 - Still laundry?

Really? Is it the fact that it is 5 of us? Or I am the only one in this effort, but yes, I am still sorting laundry! Yes, I think having 31 days in for organizing is a realistic goal to reach by the end of March.

I did have a new years revolation! The house is crazy because I can not stay home. I am running a kid to pre-school to turn around in 3 hours to pick her up, while toting 2 tots and exhaustedly prego. So in that 3 hour time, I might try and get groceries or really, I have no idea what happpens in those three hours, but in the end I am exhusted. Get home, lunch, man I got to take a rest, start dinner, where did my day go! No wonder the house is a constant wreck.

So my best effort is to minimize, so that the wrecking crew has less to wreck and the clean up crew (i.e., me) has less to fix. Sounds like a plan. Alright my official list of Organizing Day 2 is:

1. Sort the remaining laundry, me and my husband's clothes.

2. Put the rest of it away.

3. Drop off donations.

What is a hopeful gesture of getting things done! I also would love to get

4. Thin our collection of books and donate those also.

Might happen the day of organizing.

Good luck to the rest of you. I hope to start creating soon enough, once things are cleaned out!

Organizing Day 1.5 - LAUNDRY!

Ahh, I hate laundry. Alright, I am not done yet! I ended my crusade at 12:30 am after that wonderful Sugar bowl game! I had one load in the washer and 1 still to start. And it still left at that. I made not attempt at it today. And it will be okay!

Now I did accomplish! TWO!!!!! Yard bags full of clothes to be gone from my house forever. Kids drawers organized and clothes put away. All things sorted. I have mine and my hubbies to take care of. I hope tomorrow will be DAY 2.

My hopes of Day 2 will be:
1. Convert/Organize a small closet in the kids room into a diaper space and a spot for the linens. A full explanation of why it has no clothes in it, will follow later.

2. Have all laundry put in its designated place.

3. Have give away bags out of my house.

I have to keep in stride not to overwhelm myself with the task at hand and to keep my task accomplishable in the time limit I set, THAT DAY!

Organizing Day 1 - the laundry

friday, January 1st, 2010

This is my attempt to start the organization crusade!

Let me clarify a few terms. Sort is the the general term to what in the world is it and group those insane like items together, i.e., oh, #1's clothes, #2, #3. or dolls together etc. Sift is my term for trash, donate, keep or resuse in another way. Before I sift, I want to sort to see what the entire contents of my daughters clothes before I get rid of it.

Day 1 is laundry. I know this is a common complaint. Being in my tiny house, it is something that easily gets out of control. Here is todays method.

1. clean and sort all laundry. of course this is taking place in the middle of the living room. something i would not dare to do, if all of my family was here.

2. gather each childs clothes and sift. when i say gather, i am pulling from the drawers and the corners of the room, you name it. I am finding every stitch so i can adequately make the decision on what stays and what goes. i am only doing one child at a time. could you imagine?

3. get all of the community stuff put away today before the eyes shut. no brainer right? but well i am already exhausted. in most cases i would have it all put away, but lets set some reasonable goals.

4. always sifting during the process, like those pairs of shoes that are no longer being worn.

Now here ismy delima. how much is enough. Especially for a 5, 3 1/2, and almost 2? My girlfriend always tries to instill in me less is better. But how much is enough. 3 pairs of everything? play clothes from good clothes. now of course, the preschooer needs more good clothes than the stay at homers. ahh, I will find out.

Will hopefully post highights.

31 days of organizing!

I am taking Molly's challenge at Econobusters! I am going to get things straight with 31 days worth of work. Alright, I do not have any plans of doing it 31 days straight! I got thing to do! You can check her out at: http://www.econobusters.com/

Day 1

I am sorting clothes! Ahh, this is my most hated task for so many reasons. Even having clothing of every size for my ever shrinking and growing body, I only make up a tenth of the clothes in the house. Now having 3 kids and another on the way, there is so much I hold on. BUT the culprit is my husband! He has not changed a size since middle school and he still has those clothes. He blows my mind! He refuses to get rid of anything.

I have the weekend with out him and 2 of the kids. I hope to have clothes sorted, and donated. I want the toys contained and sifted through. But it is only ever growing me at 5 months prego and can hardly breathe when I bend down with the tornado 2 year old. Wish me the best!

I did get 2 containers from Ikea yesterday! Since speaking with you last, I got a new corner kitchen bench table that has opened my kitchen and given me room to breath again. I have storage compartments in the seats, so I wanted to take advantage of them. I decide not to put any dishes and towels there, since a drink spilling would flow down to it, so I thought some of the toys would do good.

Here are my 3 compartment containers for 3.99 from ikea. I have playdough and benderoos in them. I will eventually make homemade playdough, but the container will hold the tools.

I like that it fits in the chair. This now gives it a home and hopefully stops it from ending up all over the house. One can only hope.

I do want to say, I am so sorry for being so distant. I had the misery of a tooth ache for 2 months that has just now ended. I am much better, but between being prego and 3 kids, holy-days, and life I just did not have a chance to check in with you. I have a lot of goals this year. I hope to have a few resolutions on paper to carry with me through the rest of my life. I have worked on a few things and have found a few new passions for my what spare time.

I have falling in love with refashioning. I will send some links soon. I have converted a husband shirt into a maternity. I am debating on taking a pledge to stop buying new and learning to wear refashioned clothing from the thrift our my closet. I wonder if I took the time to make an item, just as I really want it and made it fit just right, will it stop me from overwhelming me with things I do not wear. And will it keep everyone else's clothes to a minimum.

On to other news, we found out we are having our 3rd girl! What a house full! I hope by the fall to have a master bedroom, that is my luxurious name for a 3rd bedroom. Grins! I will report back with my success and failure today and let you know of tomorrow's goal.