Monday, May 16, 2016

A Rainy Day in the Ozarks

Finally a forecast came true.  It was raining lightly when I got up at 3:30 AM and has steadily increased until I can see it coming off the porch roof.  I  have barely stuck my head out...except for a  dash to the  meat freezer in the garage to get meat for lunch.

We had smothered round steak with mashed potatoes, steamed  broccoli and peach cobbler for dessert. I flour and brown the steak pieces in butter and olive  oil until they are nicely browned on both sides and then spread a can of cream of mushroom soup and cover and  cook slowly for an hour.  Very tasty.

I thawed two packages of peaches in the maslin pan.  I took out enough for a small cobbler with a frozen pie crust just over the top.  The leftover peaches were to be  cooked down into preserves.............I set right in the kitchen and let  them burn.....should have put that pan on the simmer burner and didn't.  I won't make that mistake again.  What a waste.  Shame on me and I wasn't even on the computer which is how I usually burn things.

I found another large bag of frozen  cheese peppers in the outside (garage) freezer which made me happy.  I just had a couple of tiny ones left in the kitchen freezer.

Our son came down this weekend and got his share of meat so that helped some with the space issue.  He couldn't take it  all because his freezer was too full to handle it.  He may have inherited my hoarding  instincts.

The  neighbor came  down to get his share of a small  fencing project we shared.....I hope that is the last.  Max says it is!  He always stays and has coffee and visits so that took care of a couple of afternoon hours.

The day is over for me.....no cooking evening meals....we each just get something on our own.  I figure two meals a day is enough cooking.

I will use some of the leftover steak for gravy to go with biscuits in the morning, a favorite of ours.

Note:  I give credit to a guest photographer for the new header picture.  It struck my fancy and I used it.

17 comments:

  1. Boy, do I like your idea of cooking only two meals a day! And having your "bigger" meal at noon time is very wise. We just finished a dinner of homemade tomato soup and a cottage cheese and veggie salad. Apparently, it wasn't quite substantial enough for the hard-working man I live with because he got up and got himself a slice of bread with butter to go with the rest. No dessert as we're both trying to get rid of some of our winter fat!

    I really like your new header photo. A true farm scene. I have to ask -- is that something green growing out of the top of the silo?

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    1. That is Virginia Creeper. I gets a glorious hot pink in the fall. I have it in places I don't want and have to continually chop it out several times during the growing season.

      I still haven't tried your tomato soup but intend to. Max probably won't eat tomato soup of any kind but he can just have peanut butter sandwiches.

      I can do the no dessert just so long and then give in to do something....at least it was very small and was gone very quickly.

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    2. Tell your hubby that mine never like tomato soup either, before this particular recipe. (I think he remembered Campbell's soup from the can at his mom's house.) Every now and then he asks me to put some cooked rice in it as he likes it that way, too. That might entice your Max to try it. :o]

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    3. I have some leftover rice in the fridge. I hate to use canned tomatoes buy may have to. I haven't raised a good crop of tomatoes in two years!

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  2. I do like your new photo! I was very familiar with your rain today, I drove in it from Fremont Missouri to Springfield, Missouri to eastern Kansas. It was rather nerve-wracking!

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  3. We have our main meal in the evening which is probably not the best time of day but with hubby still working he's really hungry then. I like your idea of only cooking 2 meals a day! I love smothered round steak, too.
    It was a chilly, rainy day here and I think it's supposed to rain again tomorrow. I wish it would dry out so I can get my sunflowers and zinnias planted in the garden. I started to do that job earlier in the month but the rains came and they would have washed them out so it's just as well I didn't.
    Have a nice week!

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    1. I did that too when Max worked. Now we do like farmers do....my poor grandmother had to bake biscuits three times a day. Grandpa wouldn't touch 'store' bread.

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  4. I, too, have my main meal in the middle of the day and then something lighter in the evening. I'm asking with Mama Pea, what is growing on top of the silo? Vines from the ground? Overcast, gray, light rain here. Only in the 40s. I cannot believe you burned those peaches. Yet we all do stuff like that. Sorry you lost them. I like that new header pic, too. Looks like sunset.

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    1. That is Virginia Creeper. I will try to remember to take a fall picture when it gets fluorescent hot pink.

      I have done things like that before but never in the kitchen with them. Well, the cobbler was good. I have lots more peaches in the freezer.

      I just realized it must have been sunset because the sun is on the west side of the silo. The grands and my crazy son have climbed to the top of that thing on steel loop steps that are way too far apart. I would have stopped them if I knew!

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  5. We got 2.5" of rain, no tornadoes, not much lightning and thunder. It got so I couldn't make good smothered steak, seemed like the beef I was able to get was inoculated with water or something, because as soon as I covered the pan, the meat would ooze liquid and water down the mushroom soup. Strangest thing I ever saw. I haven't tried since. Mom used to make it all the time. It was my dad's favorite meal. Hubs loves it, too.

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  6. We ended up with 3 inches and just a momentary power outage.

    Strange about the meat. We had steak gravy and biscuits this morning....good!

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  7. Yum, yum, that lunch sounds so good. I have never done round steak that way. I have got to try it. I try to do lunch about 2:00 some days so we can just eat some cereal or something later if we get hungry. Wish I could make myself cook at that time every day.

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    1. My Sis does that with their noon-day meal at 2 ish. It works for them.

      What I like about cooking this way is that if you use a simmer burner, you don't have to watch it very often. You can also do it in the crock pot but I like to brown it first. Then you can go outside or even shop and just let it cook.

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  8. Glenda,

    Beautiful header picture!!!

    I have to agree with you regarding meals. I cook usually all the meals in the house, and they're days you just don't feel like cooking....or need a break.

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    1. My husband is good to just say I will eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk....sometimes that is all I have for evenings.

      I say whatever works!

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  9. I did the same thing last week..got sidetracked and the water boiled out of my beans. Made me so mad! Distracted does seem to be my new middle name.

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  10. My husband has warned me not to use the internet and cook.... I won't tell you how many things I have burned doing that. No excuse for this one.

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