2021 ~ COOKATHON #1

I was up early this morning, so I decided to get busy making a few more freezer meals. These recipes are tasty, health conscious, and low in calories; and relatively thrifty … so, they work for me 😉

I still have a few freezer meals left (fish, pork, chicken, vegetarian), so I didn’t make a full week worth of meals this morning: I only made three beef themed meals … to add balance to the menu, and my diet. The meals I made today are an Indian (India) Stew with Indian (India) fried Bread; Greek Meatball dish with a creamy sauce, with a cheesy Orzo side dish; and one of my American standby meals – Steak Supper in Foil – just because I like it 😊

My homemade meals do not look like pictures posted in my cook books – I am not a fancy chef with high flautin ideals … I’m just a solo lobo widow, living in the PNW, that likes good food and tasty recipes.

I am posting the three recipes in their original writ … but, I make my meals quite a bit differently; I use my crockpot every chance I get, I half the ingredients since there is only 1 of me now, and I freeze the bulk of the meals for future weekly meals – so there is no beautiful table setting in my recipe pictures. I enjoy a variety of meals, tastes, and textures, so I do not always stick to original instructions (I do substitutions quite a bit): I use recipes as a guideline, but I cook for me 😊

If I change the way I cook meals – or if I make a substitution for an ingredient, I note that in my posts.

This recipe is a hardy Spiced Indian Beef Stew; paired with Basmati Rice, and flaky Indian triangular bread, known as Paratha (recipe follows).

I have posted the stew recipe as it was originally printed, but I made mine differently since I freeze my meals in portions for future meals. I made my stew in a crockpot, without the yogurt – I will add that later, when I eat my meal: this works for my needs.

==SPICED INDIAN BEEF STEW w-YOGURT ~ 6 servings

Seeds from 7 Cardamom pods * 1 whole Cove * 1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg * 1½ cups (about) plain low-fat Yogurt * 2¼ pounds boneless Chuck, fat trimmed, and cut into 1-inch cubes * 1 tablespoon Butter * 2 cups finely chopped white Onion * 1 tablespoon peeled & grated Ginger * 2 large cloves Garlic, pressed * ¾ teaspoon Coriander seeds * ½ teaspoon Cumin seeds * ¼ teaspoon ground Turmeric * ¾ teaspoon Salt * ground Black Pepper to taste * 1 cup plain low-fat Yogurt, stirred until smooth * minced fresh Cilantro

Finely grind first three ingredients in mortar with pestle, or spice grinder. Mix with 1 cup yogurt in a large bowl. Pat meat cubes dry and add to spiced yogurt; toss well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Melt butter in heavy deep nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion, ginger and garlic; cook until onion is translucent, stirring frequently – 10 to 12 minutes. Set aside.

Grind coriander, cumin, and turmeric to powder in mortar with pestle, or spice grinder. Sprinkle powder over meat mixture; toss to coat. Mix meat mixture into onion mixture. Add salt and season with pepper. Cover and cook 2 hours over low heat; stirring frequently. Uncover and cook until meat is tender; stirring frequently and adding up to ½ cup additional yogurt if mixture seems to dry – about 30 minutes more.

Spiced Indian Beef Stew ingredients. Cooked without yogurt - will add later.

Rub 2 ice cubes over surface of sauce to solidify fat: remove fat. Rewarm meat if necessary. Divide meat among heated plates. Drizzle 1 cup stirred yogurt over. Sprinkle with minced cilantro. Serve with rice, and paratha triangles (recipe follows).

Basmati Rice; I like the way it cooks up, smells, & tastes.

Spiced Indian Beef Stew & Basmati Rice portioned out into individual meals.

My Spiced Indian Beef Stew Supper w-note to add Yogurt.

Paratha Recipe: https://ministryofcurry.com/plain-parathas/

Paratha Dough. Indian fried flatbread. I used fine ground whole wheat flour, and cut the recipe in half; I do not need the full recipe.

Paratha dough divided into 6 balls.

Paratha fried. Indian flatbread.

Spiced Indian Beef Stew Meal & Paratha flatbread being prepped for freezer.

The sunny taste of Greece chases the gray from the PNW’s heavy cloud overhang, with Aunt Demetra’s garlicky meatballs with a light sauce. Serve these saucy meatballs with orzo (recipe follows), and a side of broccoli.

==AUNT DEMETRA’S MEATBALLS w-AVGOLEMONO SAUCE ~ 8 servings

Meatballs: 8 cups fresh Spinach leaves (about 2 bunches) * 1 teaspoon butter, melted * 3 slices White Bread * cold Water * 2½ pounds lean Hamburger * 2/3 cup dry Red Wine * 6 Garlic cloves, pressed * 1¼ teaspoon Salt * 1 teaspoon dried Oregano, crumbled * ground Black Pepper

Sauce: 1 Tablespoon Potato Starch or Cornstarch * 1½ cups Chicken Stock * ¼ cup strained fresh Lemon juice * 1 Egg yolk * Salt * Lemon peel julienne * minced fresh Parsley

For Meatballs: Steam spinach until just wilted. Drain well; chop. Toss spinach Toss spinach with butter in small bowl.

Spinach & butter mixture for meatball stuffing.

Soak bread in water until softened – about 30 seconds. Squeeze out liquid. Mix bread, hamburger, wine, garlic, salt, and oregano in a large bowl. Season with pepper. Shape mixture into sixteen 4½-inch-long, 1½-inch-wide ovals.

Shaping meatballs the regular way works best for me; mixture blended & divided into 8 meatballs = 4 meals.

Press finger into center of each, forming pockets. Divide spinach among pockets; press meat up and over spinach, enclosing completely. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover, and refrigerate).

Spinach mixture divided among the meatball portions.

Bring water to a boil in base of a vegetable steamer. Arrange meatballs, rounded side up, on steamer rack, spacing 1-inch apart. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook until meat is no longer pink inside – about 15 minutes.

Spinach enclosed; meatballs stuffed & ready for steaming.

Steaming meatballs; I found the steamer basket at a Summer Garage Sale 😊

Stuffed meatballs cooling: earlier steamed meatballs darken as they cool.

Multicolored Greek Orzo pasta; most orzo is plain, but I bought this, because I like the colorful pasta grains ;-)

Meanwhile, prepare sauce: Dissolve potato starch in ¼ cup stock in a heavy medium saucepan. Add remaining 1¼ cup stock, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Mix in lemon juice. Whisk in stock mixture. Return to saucepan and stir over low heat until thickened – about 10 minutes. Season with salt.

Chicken Stock & Cornstarch being whisked.

Egg added and sauce whisked to thicken.

Orzo cooking while sauce thickens.

Arrange meatballs on a heated platter. Spoon sauce over. Garnish with lemon peel and parsley – serve.

I dipped meatballs into sauce to coat before putting the meals together.

Greek meatballs in sauce, Orzo pasta & Broccoli meals for the freezer.

Orzo Pilaf ~makes 4 servings

This microwaved risotto-inspired pilaf, dotted with scallion and peas, is a perfect side dish for beef or poultry – and is easy to prepare. Orzo is a good source of thiamin and niacin. There are also trace minerals and vitamins, such as B6, folate, iron and zinc.

*I omitted the peas because I rounded out my meal with broccoli. I also cooked my pasta instead of nuking it. I cooked the Orzo in 1 cup Water, for about 10 minutes. Then, I added the rest of the ingredients as directed in the original recipe below.*

1 cup reduced-sodium Chicken broth * 3 ounces Orzo pasta * 1 cup frozen Peas * 2 Tablespoons minced Scallion * 2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese * 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon reduced calorie margarine * 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper

In a 2½-quart casserole, combine broth, orzo and 1 cup water. Microwave, covered, on High for 6-7 minutes (mixture will come to a boil). Reduce power to Medium-High; stir – cook 2 minutes, and stir again. Cook 3-4 minutes longer, until orzo is almost tender; stir.

Add peas, scallion, Parmesan, margarine, and pepper. Let stand covered – 5-6 minutes – until liquid is absorbed and orzo is tender.

==STEAK SUPPER IN FOIL already posted to my Blog, last year: (https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2020/05/2020-cookathon-2.html)

The Steak Supper in Foil I baked today is the same recipe; different type of steak – and not packed for the freezer the same as I did it in May of last year 😉

Steak Supper in Foil. Meat & Veggies.

Steak Supper in Foil. Cooked.

Steak Supper in Foil. Portioned out for freezer w-Fruit Cocktail in a little foil cup.

And that’s it for now.

Time to get these meals in the freezer … and go fill the bird feeder 😉

LEARNING MY WAY AROUND

Under certain conditions, in certain situations, I can get lost turning around.

No joke; Bob used to lovingly tease me – and laughingly tell his buddies, “she can get lost driving in Longview.” Those quips never upset me, because there is an element of truth in that. I don’t always get lost in Longview: but, if I need to drive to an unfamiliar location, it can become a frustrating ordeal.

Anyway …

I got a message last night letting me know where to meet Egg Lady #1, for my fresh, organic dozen of eggs – it would be a meetup in a place I was not familiar with; I googled it, and was relieved to see it wouldn’t be too difficult to find. I agreed to meet her there.

This morning, while waiting for 10 AM to roll around, she sent me another message saying she couldn’t get into town until later, will I meet her later? I texted her back, saying, “A drive would be nice, can I meet you at your home address?” She agreed.

I got in my car, entered her address into the GPS … and set off.

It should have been a simple thing.

But, with faulty GPS (created and owned by the government), and vocal directions that do not give out physical landmark identification (my egg supplier); things get complicated.

I have mentioned in previous Blog posts how much I avoid freeway driving.

I was happily driving along the back road flanking the freeway, when I came to the end of Powell Drive … and the GPS said, “you have reached your destination” – and ended any further instruction!

I am literally sitting in the middle of the backroad, looking at my surroundings (road before men, and trees all around me); thinking, “this can’t be right! There is nothing here! WTHeck?”

Thinking I am supposed to go forward: I do.

And find myself looking down the hill into downtown Castle Rock.

Definitely not where I am supposed to be.

So, I nip into the catholic church parking lot, and give egg lady a jingle: “I’ve followed the GPS instructions, and am sitting in st. mary’s catholic church parking lot; where exactly are you located?”

She asks me if I passed the McDonald’s, and the ‘T’ junction … I tell her I did not see either a McDonald’s, or a road ‘T’ junction. When did Castle Rock get a McDonald’s? How could I have missed a road junction? I’m an observant driver. I am not a stupid woman: I know what the golden arches look like – I know what a ‘T’ road junction looks like. I am mystified.

So, I pull out of the parking lot and do what she told me to do: turn left at the first road I see.

Following the road out, I still do not see a McDonald’s.

There was no ‘T’ junction, either.

So, when I come to the overhead traffic lights, I think, “Well, maybe I haven’t gone far enough, yet” … and I cross onto the next road. By the time I reach Steelhead Drive, by the green steel bridge, I am pretty confident this is another wild goose chase. I give her another call, laughingly asking her again where exactly she lives, and how do I get there.

She was mystified. 

I was mystified by the directions she was giving me.

She was sorry I am lost (I was not truly lost – I knew those roads: I did not know what she is talking about with her directions). She says, “Well, at least your laughing; you don’t seem to be upset.” I assured her that I was not upset, and that one has to laugh through life because life can’t be taken seriously all the time; I just didn’t understand what she is describing to me, because there is nothing at all like that on that road.

I backtrack – with phone in hand, and covo open on both ends: keeping my eyes peeled for the elusive McDonald’s she keeps telling me about. I see the gas stations … I see the restaurants … I see Burger King … BINGO! I see the little golden arches sign hidden in the tall weeds – my eyes start panning the area; and driving back across the main highway, I SEE McDonalds: very small, and very blended into the Shell gas station mini mart it is attached to. EASY TO MISS.

We both laughed, and ended the convo.

I drive on, and I still manage to miss her driveway – there is simply no road … on this road, with the name she gave me.

The convo is re-engaged. But she keeps giving me directions that have no bearing on the surroundings. Mentally racking my brain to envision what I need to understand, I say, “Okay: you are giving me directions coming off the freeway, right? So, that means your lefts would be my rights … so, let me turn this car around and try to find you that way. From what I understand, I need to drive back to Powell Road – that’s the only road that even remotely resembles a ‘T’ junction. Let’s give that a try, shall we?”

I’m still laughing at the silliness of the moment.

As I reach the end of the road and turn towards the tail end of Powell – I SEE THE SIGN I missed earlier (hidden in low lying evergreen tree limbs). I was looking for a green road sign, and it was a small white private road sign (something she failed to mention!).

And it is exactly kitty-corner off the tail end of Powell.

I tell her I finally see the sign. 

We both laughed.

GPS was kinda-sorta right: I had “arrived” as it stated earlier, but because the white sign was not clearly visible, and the driveway is uphill … I drove right past it, in mystified confusion.

Anyway …

So, uphill I drive, turning left onto the first driveway I see – and I say to her, “I don’t know what is going on: I am now at the entrance to a junk yard.” She excitedly says, “Yes! You came to the right place … just follow the road to the end.”

Connection is severed.

I stare at the muddy driveway, the jumbled junk cars, the seriously crowded goat-trail-roadway, and pray to God I do not scratch my car – or puncture tires. There is a set of two skinny, sharp looking speed bump guard rails across the muddy drive; spaced about 6 feet apart along the junk yard roadway.

I’d been in junk yards before; I’d often gone with Bob when he was looking for a specific truck part. But I, personally, have never navigated one in a vehicle.

I managed to make it unscathed, to the house at the end of the muddy goat trail; that ran between rows of jumbled abandoned vehicles of every shape, size, and make.

I gave her the $$; she gave me the eggs.

I backed out and was on my way … when her husband came barreling down the muddy strip, forcing me to quickly squeeze my car into place behind one of the haphazardly placed junk cars. He breezed by, looking peeved that he had to inch his way past me. Tough cookies! He could have waited for me to exit the muddy obstacle course – it wouldn’t have been more than a few seconds: he was the eager beaver, speeding through the mud.

I felt like saluting him in universal language (I was no longer laughing).

And when I could finally exit the messy driveway, I decided to check my tires when I parked under the carport at home (so far, they seem fine).

And I also decided I wouldn’t be going back: I do like Americana eggs, but I do not like that muddy, treacherous driveway … or her jerk husband.

Egg Lady #2 gets my business next time.

Even though I do enjoy adventurous drives, and I am needing to learn my way around the local roadways; I hope I do not have to drive through a muddy obstacle course to retrieve them 😉

I am thankful tonight is Shabbat: a goblet of wine is most welcome!

L’Chiam!

FULL MOON FLIRTATIONS

The full moon is beautiful tonight!

I wish I could capture its beauty with my camera; but I can only get a reflection that does not truly do it justice ;-)

I could look at the full moon all night long ...

I was passing through the kitchen when I caught a glimpse of the full moon overhead :-)

The moon was surrounded by gauzy clouds swirling around it; but I could clearly see the craters, pits, and grayish areas of the moon surface ... so far away - yet so close. And so mesmerizing.

It keeps calling me back under the skylight, to be bathed in more moonshine :-)

Always - always connected.

The moon pulls my heart strings, in a way the sun never can.

I can sit and watch the moon all night long: there were nights when Bob was working full moon nights, I'd drive to the top of KM mountain, park the car on the shoulder ... roll the moon roof back, and just sit there drinking coffee and watching the night sky with the full moon as main attraction.

I'd pull in the driveway about a half hour before Bob did ... and he never even knew I'd been gone. My night time flirtations with the moon, was the only secret I ever kept from Bob ;-)

I do love the moon in all its magnificent brilliance.

BACK ALLEY BUSINESS

This morning, just before lunch time, I received a phone call telling me my taxes had been duly tallied, recorded, and sent off to Uncle Sam; refund coming sometime this Spring.

I said I’d get dressed (I was lazing around in my pj’s 😉), and be downtown in about 45 minutes.

When I got downtown, I couldn’t find a parking spot … I drove around the same block 4 times before finally finding an open spot a block up the street; I called mz. taxperson, and told her I’d have to hoof it backtracking a block, and meet her out front of her building – she said, “meet me in the alley.” The elevator to her building is situated by the building’s back door, hence the alley meetup.

So, that’s what I did.

Mind you, a backstreet alley is dicey, even in broad daylight: but, I had no choice.

No mask – no chance of being admitted inside.

Never mind that I’d be handing her a check with my “infected” hands … the mask is a political thing; it doesn’t have to make sense to get people to buckle under the pressure: it just has to be sold to them by as much fear-mongering as possible, until they have been sufficiently brainwashed into obeying, and making sure you obey also.

I don’t obey the mandates.

I enjoy my God-given, and my Citizen’s RIGHTS.

So, no inside admittance: meet her in the alley.

Thank the Lord it was not raining this afternoon.

So, I backtrack a block, zig-zag to the alley access, and walk the entire length of that block to the arranged ‘pick up point’.

As soon as I reached the back door to her building; the door pops open, she steps out, I hand her the money fee agreed upon … and she hands me a large manila envelope.

All totally innocent … the whole thing looking like a shakedown.

And as I was walking back up the alley, towards my car another block away, a man, doing his business (who knows what!) in the opposite alley across from me, bounces off the alley dumpster and staggers in my direction.

Like I said; alleys are dicey, even in broad daylight.

I wrapped my hand into a fist around my backpack purse straps (a make-do-weapon, if need be), and kept walking until I reached the safety of my car.

Longview is not what it was before the mayor turned it into a prison release/welfare magnet. Things have changed in this neck of the woods. The streets … any time of the day, are not anywhere you want to be walking alone.

Especially in alleys.

But what can you do when you have to do business with the world; a world that cover’s it’s face with a worthless strip of fabric – and closes its eyes to the political games that truly do endanger lives?

I will be driving back into town tomorrow for another cloak & dagger meetup – hopefully it will not include another edgy alley hook up 😉

AND … SO IT STARTS

Already the fb team trolls are on the prowl. 

So, it starts.

Again.

The next 1,402 days are gonna be “fun” (not!)

I went through this the 8 years of the first obama coup, with zuckerberg sucking up … and being at the White House … under obama’s sooty wings every chance he got.

Why should obama’s 3^rd coup not be run the same way?

Their play book always reads the same, with the same scenario – same shifty characters; same whining script, same outcome.

I’ve been expecting it – and as usual, the obamanites never disappoint: they are always right on cue. 

Delusional. 

Tyrannical.

Maniacal.

Expected. 

Zuckerberg, obama’s personal lapdog, has political ambitions (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/03/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-2017-resolution-visit-us-states)

Social Medias Coordinated Bully Tactics (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpN2XbprknQ)

Of course, they will fail, but they will drag us all through Hell before they are reined in and spanked soundly.

And, like all brats, globally: they will start screaming about the abuse of spanking, and how they hate the spankers.

Cry me a fricking river!

They are about to get a divine spanking – and their god, Lucifer, will not be able to stop it: HE will get getting the spanking of his life, also.

I, personally, believe humanity has tipped the balance with the wickedness that demon, obama, put in motion.

I don’t think there will be a recoup of scorched earth … the vast majority do not want to repent, or turn this sinking ship around; America will go down with the rats that sunk her.

Is America Beyond Repair? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctLsqa2m17w)

I believe Elohim has spoken. 

And far too few listened.

Judgment Day is arriving … and who will be able to stand?

MOVING ON & MOVING FORWARD

Today was a day happenings and changes.

Last night I was contacted by 2 local ladies selling their eggs – I will buy from both of them.

One sells chicken eggs … the other sells chicken and duck eggs; I will buy chicken eggs from the first one, and cuck eggs from the second one. I prefer country eggs rather than store bought eggs. Both ladies’ eggs are truly organic (I quizzed them both), as opposed to the store’s interpretation of ‘organic’. Free range chickens are not organic if they have been vaccinated, and are eating feed with hormones/chemicals in it.

I had chickens, myself, for several years: I made my own feed to keep it purely organic – and I never vaccinated my chicks. After we went urban, Bob would help me scout for farm fresh eggs, and 2 or 3 cartons to get us from paycheck to paycheck.

After Bob passed, our egg suppliers seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth: maybe they moved. Or maybe they just stopped raising chickens. At any rate; they were g.o.n.e. S, I made due with store bought ‘organic’ eggs, but I prayed for farm fresh eggs 😉

These contacts are direct answer to prayer 😊

Also, the duck eggs will be rich in iron (which, with my severe anemia, I need), and they are also anti-inflammatory food: BIG PLUS!

They are not on the chart shown, but I am happy to include them in my diet – I have been hankering to try duck eggs, and Yeshua provided.

And the first thing I did this morning, was drive into town to drop off my tax refund information. This will be the last year I will ever have to file: what I dropped off to be dealt with is leftover from last year’s tax withholding on my Social Security check (nothing is being withheld anymore). I believe the stimulus checks are also being included in the taxing; if the demonrats did not totally destroy the economy with their bogus need to shut everything down to push their political agendas forward, there will be no more of those.

So, for now, the taxes have been taken care of. Of course, I will not see a return until March or April sometime due to the mess in DC; but Uncle Sam has been squared away 😉

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djPRz4rnm8I)

And Uncle Sam is not the only money grubber … supermarkets and grocers are getting in on the action too. Supermarkets & Grocers will sell plastic bags at five cents per bag. Customers will also be encouraged to use Walmart-branded reusable bags, made from recycled material and sold at a discounted rate of 25 cents. Walmart currently charges 97 cents for reusable bags and will sell its new reusable bags at a loss. Walmart will continue to offer customers single-use plastic bags for free.

Last Year Washington State Legislation passed the ban on single use plastic bags. This was supposed to take effect Jan. 1 2020 but inslee put a temporary hold thru January on it due to the pandemic and the struggle for stores to procure others types of bags. This includes the little plastic bags that you put your produce in.

Also, I decided to get out of every FB Widow Group & Social Group – every widowing groups has promoted covid-related-widows(ers) to “special status” … and every social group is so afraid of being labeled {racist} and {conspirator} by the FB {team}, that there is literally no talk in most groups – just silly memes and aimless chatter. And trolls reporting people. I don’t need that in my life … I don’t want that in my life.

People have lost their minds in the obamanite world. 

So, I left them to stew in their paranoid juices. 

And the widow groups are stuck on mourning.

I don’t want to be dragged backwards.

I intend to move forward.

I may not know where I am headed, but I know I’m not going backward.

I’M BACK ~ And Not A Minute Too Soon

As those of you who have been reading my Blog every day know … the window shade in the back room came down, Sunday morning – practically on my head (but for quick thinking); and yesterday I bought this cute little red drill to help me in getting it back up.

A few minutes ago, I stopped procrastinating ... and got to work :-)  

I took my step-stool-ladder into the back room; then gathered my charged drill (inserted drill bit required; practiced insert-withdraw feature: no pun intended), yellow plastic screw anchors (to stabilize screws in the compromised drywall), hammer (to tap anchors in place; prayed I would not tap too hard causing plaster damage) … and my compromised confidence (that seemed to have flown when Bob’s spirit left Earth) … and walked all this back to the back room, too.

Armed with my little red cutie, I took a deep breath and stepped up …

This is the bracket Bob put up in the summer of 2017.

It snapped the other day.

Broken bracket that needed replaced.

I handled my little drill like a pro; and the screws came out without causing wall damage  ;-) 

And I whooped with joy when I saw that Bob had had foresight.

THANK YOU, BABE!

I had thought I'd need to slip these things into place once I retrieved the screws from the broken bracket ...

I did not have to replace the screw anchors; and I didn’t cry when I saw Bob’s mark on the wall. My nose did burn – but the tears did not flow.

The newer bracket did not match up 'exactly' – so, I just switched screws and "got 'er done".

Brackets switched out. 

I did it! (((I))) D.I.D.I.T.

Blind back in place.

Thank YOU, Yeshua! The quick-fix-sheet curtain will come down; and the valance will go back up.

I was practically dancing on the top tier of my little step-stool-ladder. 

I felt like my old self.

Actually ... I DID feel like my old self.

I had been locked in a brain fog for 24 months, missing Bob – but, I’m back on track now.

I can feel ((((all)))) of ME returning. I gave myself a few mental high-5's ... not too prideful, but a little but prideful ;-)

I am glad the old me is returning - I've missed Me.