Beef Stew!

We are having beef stew tonight. An Instant Pot favorite. Some day I'll write a blog enumerating on the wonders of my Instant Pot but today we'll just talk about beef stew. The first time I tried I just used this recipe but half as much beef plus 5 mushrooms. It cooked for 6 hours plus an extra 30 for the rue. It came out perfect. The meat and vegetable fell apart in your mouth and the flavors were spot on. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/286823069991629243/

Tonight I'm mixing it with this recipe because I have two pounds of beef the recipe originally called for and I missed the barley last time. We'll see how it goes. Wish I had a bottle of wine. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/286823069991662827/

Updates to come ...

Forever

I'm not going to be a stay at home mom (SAHM) forever. It's been quite a transition. Somedays it's awesome and some days it's not. A few things I love about it...

Not waking up to an alarm at 5:00am

Making the bed almost everyday

3-5 or as Eli calls it "nap time"

These things are nice. I hear I love you a lot and I say it a lot too. 

I won't be a stay at home mom forever, but I'm going to enjoy it if I can :)

Licking the bowl.

Awesome!

Fun so fun.

Except not. The first time he pulled all the tubes off the window and loaded them into the dump truck. This is Take Two.

Hearty Lentil Vegetable Carne

Easy dinner:

Wolfgang Puck Hearty Lentil Vegetable + 1/2 cup ground turkey + 1/4 cup parm reg. Manghi's white bread toast with avocado (forgot the tomato).

Delish.


Love that smile :D

Before the storm

Admiring albedo.

15 minutes a day

An old friend stopped by yesterday and wowed me with a beautiful and haunting song she wrote.  I knew girlfriend could sing, but was even more impressed with her comfort and prowess on the guitar.  It's been years since I played regularly. "15 minutes a day" is what she said, passed down from another musician.  I have a long list of 15 minutes a day activities - 15 minutes of exercise, 15 minutes of cleaning, 15 minutes of uninterrupted playing with the trains or trucks, etc. It seems so easy...

Starting tomorrow, 15 minutes a day, everyday.

PS if you live in Central Vermont, you may want to check out The Break Maids. Class act all the way.

Feeling negative

The Aftermath

Our dough was fairly successful. I followed the recipe but forgot to sift the cream of tartar with the flour.  Is this why we needed an extra 1/2 of water and then an extra dash of flour to sop it up?

Not sure Pantone ever named this color.

Eventually we got over the yukky hands factor.

And fun was had by all.

Soundtrack: Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static: Remixed

  If you like Jack Johnson then you've heard it all before. And if you like Jack Johnson you won't mind because it all sounds good. Love the If I Had Eyes Remix although it reminds me of The Cure (happy Cure as opposed to sad Cure). Check it.

In the beginning...

So I have a day off from work and I'm up before the family. Pick up the dried rice and beans scattered on the living room floor?  Get a head start on the never ending pile of laundry?  Grade papers?  No, let's start a blog instead. Eli's got his own blog which we never add to (something else to do today?) but perhaps this can be for both of us.

Today we shall make play-doh. Off to Pinterest for a recipe.