Monday, May 14, 2018

Mealplan Monday #193

Monday - Cobb Salads with grilled chicken and gouda
Tuesday - Taco Night!
Wednesday - Stuffed Shells* (freezer) with broccoli/cauliflower
Thursday - Crockpot of beans with pork ribs, corn muffins*
Friday - Skillet Chicken and Rice with peas
Saturday - YOYO
Sunday - Chloe's Turkey Chili, Fritos and queso
*seems like full-blown summer here already, so oven cooking will take a backseat to the stove and crockpot after this week!
******
Recently, I bought a large package of boneless ribs, just so I could have extra pork for a pot of beans!
 I cut the ribs in half (I had about 4 of them), seasoned 'em up...
 ...heated some olive oil in my skillet...
...and seared them on both sides. Then I put them into a big ziploc and into the freezer.  I will rinse pinto beans, then add the frozen pork chunks to the beans in the crockpot, cover it all by about 2 inches of water, and cook on low 8 hours!



Friday, May 11, 2018

Pork and Peppers Crockpot

This is a good crockpot dish, well-suited for cool weather months, since it makes a sort of stew.  {But that didn't stop me from fixing it this week!}  You can put this together the night or day before, like I did, then just dump it into the crockpot the next day.
Pork and Peppers
4-6 boneless pork ribs, cut in half
1 onion, chopped chunky
2-4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
2 bell peppers, cut into big strips (I used several small ones)
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
3 T. Worchestershire sauce
1/2 t. thyme OR Italian and parsley seasoning
Place the ribs in a container, and salt and pepper them liberally.
On top of that place the onion, garlic and bell peppers.  Then mix the can of tomatoes with the Worchestershire and seasoning, pour it over the ribs and cover it with the lid, give it all a good shake and put it into the fridge.  Meal prep for tomorrow done!
The next morning,  put it all into the crockpot and set it for 8 hours on low.  I also made a pot of rice, then merrily skipped out of the door to work.  (sort of)
There were exactly two servings left when I got home!  This makes a lot of juicy stock type sauce - if you wanted it thicker, you could coat the ribs with flour and brown them a little, first.  Or, drain the tomatoes.
But we like ours juicy, spooned over some rice in bowls.  The house smelled so good, our tummies were very happy, and I had another serving of it for a lunch this week!


Gina

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Weekend re-cap - San Marcos and memories, Highlands

On Saturday, Hubby and I were craving Mexican food for lunch so we headed to an old favorite in San Marcos - Herbert's Taco Hut.  The last time I was there was when The Girl was starting her first (and only) year at Texas State,  We thought we would trip down memory lane.
We are both graduates of Southwest Texas State {known as Texas State now} and Herbert's was a favorite place to eat both back then, and now.  And the place was jam packed on a hot Saturday afternoon.
This place is nothing fancy, but the food is good, prices are reasonable, and portions are huge.  I miss the little old men waiters in their white shirts and black bow ties, but the service is still good.  
We walked around the square downtown and admired the courthouse - small Texas towns tend to have the same layout - a large and ornate courthouse, surrounded by a beautiful lawn and big trees in the middle of a square with old buildings and all around.
San Marcos has gotten bigger and the university area certainly has exploded in growth, but downtown is still pretty charming. 
I was only a student here for two of my college years, but I drove all over this town as an Ad Rep for a weekly newspaper.  We also visited our old apartment complex and looked for some other old haunts - the Phi Delt house and Reed Hall (both razed), The Green Parrot (still there on the square), and Gil'sPalmer's, is still there, Grin's, too, but Aquarena Springs is not the same - things change.
It also looked like they tore down the old shopping mall in San Marcos when the outlet mall came to town, and a favorite restaurant at the falls has closed.  A lot of very quaint businesses and bars have sprung up all over the square. 
 A short drive drive down a very scenic RR12 brought us to Middleton Brewing.
This was a fun place to get a beer on Cinco de Mayo afternoon - they had big dogs roaming all around, free popcorn, and Mexican tunes playing. 
Too bad we live so far away, but we will definitely visit here again when we are in the neighborhood.  We drove through Wimberley on the way home, and I really wish we could have stopped and shopped.  But we told the boys we would grill and we still had to go buy the food for that. 
 We grilled chicken thighs, made dutch oven potatoes, and fried okra. 
The next day we headed out to Highlands, visiting our favorite donut place in Bertram for a breakfast of  kolaches and fritters.  Hubby mowed for a couple of hours and I did some odd jobs.  I hung a small mirror,  my blowdryer and a shower caddy in the pump house.  Then I swept it out and sprayed some stuff to repel scorpions.  The rest of the time, I just putseyed.
 and did a walkabout to take pics of pretty cacti
When we packed up and went home to finish up our Sunday, we were a little sunburned, a little tired, and ready for the week.


Gina

Monday, May 7, 2018

Mealplan Monday #192


Monday
- Marmalade Chicken Salad, Texas Toast, chips

Tuesday - Crockpot Pork and Peppers*, rice
Wednesday - Pizza or leftovers
Thursday - (freezer) Lasagna, sauteed squash
Friday - Chicken and Broccoli*, Sweet Potato Casserole
Saturday - YOYO
Sunday - Sloppy Joes, tater tots, chopped salad


Gina
*Will post recipes soon!

Friday, May 4, 2018

5 Thing Friday - trailer, landscape spiffing, rain, muffins, weekend

The trailer we bought to help clear Highlands is going to come in handy - among our spring projects are removing the backyard BBQ area pavers from Rustown and taking them out to the barn to make a patio, dismantling the deck and taking the wood elsewhere, taking the smoker out to Highlands, and moving things out of the barn in advance of finishing it out.  A truck's work bed can only hold so much.
 So I'm glad Hubby bought this and I think he got a good deal on it.
Last week I finally got around to working on the yards a bit at Rustown.  I went through the front landscape beds with a rake and pulled out dead leaves and such.  Aerated the existing mulch and added new mulch.  Trimmed out some stuff, etc.  I plan on moving Sugar's stone to the front beds.  I don't want to leave it behind some day...
 
Thank goodness for rain.  Hubby has still not turned the sprinkler system on and some of those front shrubs were suffering!  I'm sure the lantana will be full of blooms by next week, and I have plans to replace some sod in the front and back (maybe this weekend?), and though I am not fond of driving through it, having a bit of heavy rain is so great.
Everyone here has greatly slowed down on eating fresh fruit and I HATE tossing bananas most of all.  So I mashed a couple of over-ripe ones and mixed them into chocolate chip muffins for a breakfast option that makes the house smell so cozy while its raining.  For the apples that are getting wrinkly, I will make an apple pie, maybe tomorrow.. 
 
At some point this weekend I fully intend to lay in my lawn chair on my hill with a glass of wine.  Its been a week of feelings - tired, annoyed, stressed...Hubby and I both need an attitude adjustment. TGIF!



Gina

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Weekend re-cap: Brenham, work, nothing much

Last Friday I took a day off to visit my mother in Brenham.  

I signed up to work 11-7 on Saturday since Hubby was going to be at a Scout event, doing dutch oven cooking.  It was steady busy all day and it was 7 p.m. before I knew it.  I met Hubby at home, changed out of my scrubs quick!, and we stopped at a seafood restaurant on the way to Highlands.  We've passed this place for years and never really noticed it, but it got mostly good reviews on-line.
We got to Highlands pretty late - sat in the moonlight for a while, drank a little wine, played some cards. Very relaxing.

 Our bluebonnets made such a pitiful showing this year - I hope we get more rain next year.  The lake levels are down, too.  But it is supposed to rain a bunch this week.

 We putseyed around until one or so, then took a snack tray over to one of the many small meadows to sit in our camp chairs.



 
We took a lazy Sunday nap, then showered in our pumphouse shower, and I felt so much better afterwards!  At home, Scout and Dutch came for Chili Mac, which was delish, and we all ate and visited together.  And as usual, the weekend ended too soon with Hubby and I crashing before 9:30.  But here we are at Hump Day, and the next weekend is coming on fast.


Gina

Monday, April 30, 2018

Mealplan Monday #191


Monday
- Omelettes with bacon skillet potatoes (eggs from Brenham chickies)

Tuesday - Hearty Beef Soup, garlic toast
Wednesday - Freezer pizza, chopped salad
Thursday - Jamaican Rice and Beans with pork roast, sauteed cabbage
Friday - Creamed Chicken with peas on Biscuits
Saturday - Mom and Dad to Highlands where we will grill
Sunday - Honey Pork Chops, Sunshine Corn*, carrots


This is a recipe given to me by a lady I used to work with at Laura Ashley.  Basically it is frozen corn, diced green chilies, butter, and cream cheese, simmered until bubbly and melted.  


Gina