Mondays

Mondays,
Well trying to take Mondays off as a me day.  All alone me day.  Do what I want me day.  So for me I got up early, had coffee and started the laundry,  went so far on laundry I even washed the bed pillows.
Dusted, then I crocheted a bit.  What to do for dinner.  Have to come up with something that would put Kendalls fabulous meal from last night to shame.
I know exactly what.  Chicken and Yellow Rice.  This is a dinner his mother taught me way back when we first got married and it is a good staple for our family while they were growing up.  So here is the recipe.

4 Chicken thighs
6 cups of water boiling
2 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 medium onion diced
1 TBS vegetable oil
2 cups long grain rice

1/4 tsp Badia Amarillo Yellow Coloring
Worchesteshire Sauce
1-2 cans small sweet peas
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper

Boil chicken in water with bay leaves until cooked through, 20 -30 minutes.  Remove from water to cool.  Reduce water to 4 cups.  Saute onions and garlic till translucent in oil.  Add to boiling water. Add Salt and Pepper to Water.
Add rice to boiling water and stir.  Add Badia coloring.  Boil for 15 minutes.  Cover and remove from heat.
Pick chicken from bones and shred.  Add chicken to cooked rice and stir.
Prepare canned peas with butter and salt and pepper to taste.
Serve Chicken and Yellow Rice with Peas on top and a dash or 2 of Worchesteshire sauce.

Enjoy!

My Beef Stroganoff

I saw stew beef on sale for $5.00 per pound at Winn Dixie and thought Beef Stroganoff.

So here is my version, which is a recipe from my hubby.
 2 lbs stew beef sliced thinly.
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp garlic salt
Fresh ground pepper.
2 tbs. vegetable oil
16 ounces sour cream
2 heaping tbs tomato paste
2 garlic cloves minced
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 8 oz. can undrained sliced mushrooms
salt to taste.
Fresh ground pepper.

Wide Egg Noodles

Heat large pot with vegetable oil, mix flour, garlic salt and pepper to coat meat in, dust beef and then brown the meat, add garlic in toward end of browning. Add Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and sour cream.  Stir and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add mushrooms and juice.  Simmer again 20 minutes.  Taste for salt, add to your preferance. Add pepper if wanted.

Have another large pot with boiling water.  Add noodles and cook according to package instructions. Drain.

Serve over Stroganoff over noodles.

Enjoy!
Connie

New Projects and Passions!

Lots of Yarn!

I have taken on another large project.  I have vowed to finish the last one but

I ran out of the yarn I need for it, so that is on order and awaiting its arrival.

I wish that I could find a full-time job just crocheting, I mean like they have a job

at Lego Land for just sitting and building with Lego's all day!

I even can say I am attempting to write my first pattern with this new project.  I have torn "frogged" is correct terminology it out several times.  It is a frustrating thing.  Spend a few hours working on a project, then lay it down, look at it and think, "God that is UGLY!"  See sample below.

So that big ball is still the same size.

I have been selling my crocheted items. Well that money either fortifies my need for yarn or it gets put into the new Travel Trailer savings fund. 

Yes, we plan on retiring to an RV full time.  Waiting to just have the right amount of money to fund that lifestyle.  So I am attempting extra income.  There is an itch that I have to do this.  I dream it, seek out information on it, look everywhere I can find information on RV retirement.  My hubby is not as anxious as I am it seems.  But I can understand why, he will have to do most of the heavy stuff.
We don't see eye to eye when it comes to his driving but that is where my crocheting comes in.  I have made many beanie hats on trips.  Usually, for the person, we are going to visit or a commissioned hat or scarf. Great way to while away the time, but I do miss a lot of the scenery.

So if any of you have any ideas or are a full-time RV'r please give me any information, insight and thoughts on it.  We will be very new to this but we were new to a lot of things once.

Have a great day and see you soon.

C

Friends

I was just sitting thinking of all the people in my life. Family, family, family, friends.  Sometimes I feel I have not committed enough of myself to my immediate family.  Those being my husband, kids, their spouses and children.  We don't talk much, we call each other on special occasions, Holidays and such. We mostly text.  I find texting to be uncommitted.  But it is less likely that I will offend someone while texting as I have the chance to edit comment. But I long for the sound of my children's voices.  My grandchildren's voices.

 I guess that is how I was brought up.  We don't intrude.  We don't show up unannounced.  We don't presume we are always welcome.  We don't meddle in each others business.  But we always felt loved and could ask for anything.

This all got me thinking after I hung up after calling my Father last night to wish him his Happy 84th birthday.  I wanted to talk to him longer.  But I didn't know what to talk to him about. How sad is that?  I didn't want to waste any of his time with jibberish.

We were brought up to take care of ourselves no matter how bad it got, how much we needed.  You do for yourself.  Since Mom passed I have tried to live by that venue.  It has been a learning curve of what to do to raise a good strong family.

We have endured many hardships.  Our children have not had the luxuries of a monetary life.  But they have been loved. They have been fed, they have always had a roof over their heads.

So my point to everyone that reads this is.  Dial that number.  Be the voice of someones sister, mother, aunt, cousin, niece, Grandmother, someones brother, uncle nephew, Grandfather.  Just be a caring voice that takes the time to call and say hello, I miss you and I hope you are doing well.
Love you all,
Connie

Its been too long!

Ok, it has been awhile, no actually it has been a really long time since I have been on here to blog.
Blogging is not easy, well not to me.
What does one blog about?  Do I sound like the teacher on Charlie Brown? Blog, blog, blog.....
What has been happening in Key Largo.
We have a new addition to the family. Miss Zoey.  She is a pure joy.  Just like her brother and all of her cousins before her.

She is a character and a handful even at 8 months old.  Wait till she is older, Allison and CJ will have their hands full.  Time for payback!!!

Christmas was good, not great as we streamed down.  Didn't get to buy as much as we had in the past, but who needs a lot of "stuff". Amanda and Shawn, Peyton and Tristan were in Key Largo for a week so we got to spend some great down time with them.  LOVE Shawn! what a wonderful man for Amanda.  They are happy.

Kim and Kendall were pregnant but had lost the baby in 2015.  We all were very sad over this, they will try again they said and still Kendall has college to finish.  This year he will be done and getting a great job I am sure!  

Well in October of 2015 I was dismissed from my job for 18 years by Divers Direct that bought Ocean Divers.
What a relief that was.  They are a horrible company, in my opinion, to work for (Divers Direct) that is.  I now am gainfully employed at Silent World Dive Center also in Key Largo.  It is a work in progress.  Will go into more detail as they unfold.
I had planned on taking at least 2 weeks to myself between the 2 jobs, but as soon as word got out that I was unemployed, well the rest is history.
I now have actual time to complete things I have wanted to do since I don't work a 50-60 hr workweek. Lots of crocheting.  There is more coming soon.....