Prayer for hope

 

Recipe of the week - Hamburger Gravy

 I watch a lot of YouTube videos during down time at work and mostly it is going to be about cooking.  As you know, I love to cook and am always looking for new recipes to try.  I watched a video about budget meals from the 1970s and this was one of the ones that they mentioned.  I had never had hamburger gravy before.  Some people refer to it as SOS but that's a little vulgar for me LOL  Especially since I would be more than happy to serve this to people.  I found a recipe online that I liked and I tried it. Absolutely delicious and easy! I am definitely adding this one to my meal canon.  If you haven't ever made it before, it's tasty and easy.  It will not be the prettiest thing you ever cook, but I highly recommend it!

Hamburger Gravy

1 lb ground beef

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp Worcestershire

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

3 Tbsp flour

1.5 cups beef broth

1 tsp better than bouillon

1/2 cup half & half

Brown beef on med-high heat.  Add onions and garlic halfway through.  Once browned, add Worcestershire, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and flour.  Stir to combine and cook 1-2 minutes until you no longer smell the flour.  Add broth a little at a time.  Repeat with half & half.  Stir in bouillon.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer.

Serve over potatoes or rice

Insurance

 

It feels like every time I turn around, I am needing insurance for something.  Car, renter's, home, life, travel, flood, dental, eyes, medical, pet.  There seems to be insurance for everything. While I do have some of these insurances, I do not have them all.  I do not need them all, at least at this point in my life.  I have car and renter's insurance.  I have all of the health insurances covered through my job as well as a small life insurance policy.  But I need to change some things up and look for more bang for my buck.

I want to change up my car insurance.  I know that there are better deals out there I just need to do the research.  And I want to find an insurance company that has both car and renter's insurance.  That would make things very convenient.  The last time I actually looked, the company I was interested in did not offer renter's insurance in North Carolina.  I believe that has now changed so I need to take another look at them.  But this is one area where social media and the internet completely suck.  If I inquire to these companies about plans and prices, everything in my feeds will be about that insurance company, whether or not I use them.  And my email will become inundated with emails from them as well. I once went to the Mayo Clinic website to get some ideas about health and diet and now I get about 7 emails a day from them.  I don't want that from an insurance company that I am not using!

Also, the older that I get, I am realizing that I need to invest in more life insurance.  This is for several reasons.  I can borrow against a life insurance policy if needed later in life.  I want to have some security for my estate.  I have debts that I am working on the repay and if I die before they're repaid, I want my life insurance to take care of that and not something that my family would need to worry about. I would also like to be able to leave my family a little something financially and chances are my career will not provide that, so life insurance is definitely in my future.  I just need to shop around.

The older I get, the more I think about things like this.  I do not consider it morbid, but someone may.  It's just a part of becoming a responsible adult. 

Quote of the week

 Words to live by:

Exercise and Diet....again

 

Well, I have not lost the weight I had hoped to by now but, on the other hand, I have not gained any weight.  I enjoy my morning walks but it's time to add to my workout routine.  This coming week and I am hoping to get in extra 20-minute workouts every day.  I am not sure if I will do this in the morning along with my walking or wait until after work.  I will probably start out doing them after work.  I just need to be disciplined about it!  I have been putting 20-minute workout videos on a YouTube playlist that I will use.  They are all quite different kinds of workouts.  I am hoping that the variety of exercises will keep me motivated.

I have also been struggling with my diet.  I know that I eat too many carbs.  I will be the first person to admit that. I love them and I cannot help it.  And they are inexpensive. I tried cutting them out of my diet but that has obviously not worked.  I tried to do intermittent fasting.  I was doing the 10/14 version.  It was ok but I feel like I was definitely eating more throughout those 10 hours than I would if I weren't doing the fasting program.  And I have learned that if I eat a good, filling breakfast, I do not eat much at all for the rest of the day. Something to think about.

So, this week I will be adding some exercise in my afternoons.  I will also be focusing on portion control with my diet.  I think that is going to be key.  I just have to listen to my body and not my mind telling me it's time to eat when I'm not hungry.  Ah, well.  First world problems.  I will see how this goes and keep you all updated.  I know you're dying to hear the results LOL

Recipe of the Week - Pineapple Cucumber Salad

 

One night I tried out a Thai shrimp recipe, and I wanted to make a side to go with it.  After doing some searching on the internet, I found this recipe. I do not usually cook with pineapple outside of desserts, so I was not sure what to make of this and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It's a very fresh, summery tasting salad and I look forward to making it again.  I hope you enjoy it!

Pineapple Cucumber Salad

1/4 cup thin sliced red onion rings

1 fresh pineapple*

1 cucumber

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp lime juice

1/4 tsp kosher salt

Submerge red onions in ice water for 10 minutes.  Cut pineapple into bit size pieces.  Slice cucumber thinly and cut in half (crescent moons).  Drain onions, pat dry and dice.  Add oil, lime and salt to a bowl and whisk to combine.  Add pineapple, cucumber and red onion.  Toss to coat.

*I had canned pineapple chunks on hand and they worked out just fine!

Thai shrimp pasta with naan and pineapple cucumber salad

Moon River - Mantovani

 I love the music of Mantovani, and I do not believe that I have ever shared any of their recordings here.  I have many of their albums on both vinyl and cd.  Their music connects me to Mom and to Grandmother.  And I do love a good orchestral sound.  Mancini's Moon River is one of my favorites of theirs. I hope you enjoy it as well.