Dinnertime!

Well, I finally made it to the store and was able to cook dinner at home this week. I'm hoping to eat out less, even though it's hard while living with college students! I have a basic rule I follow when choosing recipes: no more than 5 ingredients, not including basics like salt, pepper, butter and flour. So for those who, like me, appreciate quick and easy recipes, here you go...

Beef Tenderloin with Peppercorns (only I used pork chops)
-2 beef tenderloin steaks (1 inch thick)
-2 tsp. cracked whole black peppercorns
-2 Tbsp. butter
-1 tsp. all-purpose flour
-salt & pepper
-1/3 cup light cream or milk
-1 Tbsp. horseradish mustard (I used dijon mustard b/c that's what I had)

1. Trim fat from steaks. Sprinkle cracked black pepper evenly over both sides of steaks; rub in with your fingers.
2. Cook steaks for 10-13 minutes in a heavy skillet or on the grill, turning once. Transfer steaks to dinner plates. Cover & keep warm.
3. Meanwhile, for sauce: In small saucepan melt 2 teaspoons butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt, and ground black pepper. Slowly stir in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Stir in mustard.
4. Spoon sauce over steaks.

Squash Casserole
-2 lb. summer squash, sliced, cooked and drained
-1/2 cup onion, chopped and cooked with squash
-8 oz. herb-flavored stuffing mix
-1/3 cup butter, melted
-1 can cream of chicken soup
-1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

1. Melt butter and add to stuffing mix.
2. Mix remaining ingredients with half the stuffing mixture and place in greased casserole dish or 9X13 baking dish.
3. Top with remaining stuffing mix and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. (I sprinkled on some grated cheese during the last 10 minutes of cooking.)

Mashed Potatoes (always a classic!)
-5 small potatoes
-1/2 cup milk
-1/4 cup butter

1. Boil 6 cups of water.
2. Peel and chop potatoes and place in boiling water.
3. Blend potatoes, milk and butter with a mixer.

ENJOY!

Sweet little brown bear

 

Um...thanks?

 

A little gift Sadie brought me last week :)

August Pics

It hit like a storm

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a compulsive vacuumer. I can be watching TV, or cooking dinner, and then all of the sudden I am vacuuming... the whole house. I used to vacuum our house in Dallas at least 3 times a week. (Due mostly to our 2 dogs and the dirt they tracked in through the doggy door.) Well. My new house comes with a maid so we don't even have a vacuum. Only she doesn't come in the summer months. I have a tiny hand one that sucks (or doesn't suck...however you want to put it) and a handheld canister vacuum that I inherited from my grandmother. Which is an ORECK. Wow!

But... On moving day back in May, my mom asked me if I had any bags for the little Oreck, which I did, and I got them out for her. She never ended up changing the bag for some reason and then they got lost in the move, so I was left with an incredibly overstuffed vacuum bag upon arriving in Waco which I promptly threw away expecting to find the fresh bags reasonably soon. Needless to say, I have been unable to vacuum since moving to Waco. (Tragedy, I know.) I have tried to sweep every couple weeks just because Sadie's hair is kind of ALL OVER the floor, but it's just not as rewarding. So, one night after work I finally made my way over to the Oreck store to pick up some new bags. And WALLA! I was back in business. I quickly vacuumed around all the baseboards, the bottom of the pantry, the perimeter of my bedroom, the stairs. Oh it was so much fun. I know, I'm crazy, but hey - what can I say? :)


In other news... I've been picking stickers out of Sadie's paws all summer during walks around our extremely dry and somewhat unkempt neighborhood. But today, I learned that she not only knows how to get them out herself, but is actually quite skilled at it. She never stops surprising me.

On our recent trip to Corpus (more pics to come).

Is she spoiled or what?

Fancy feast (not the cat food)

I recently discovered this recipe in a magazine and decided it looked simple enough to try. (I tend to stick to 5 ingredients or fewer.) Despite the fairly easy recipe, it turned out looking like possibly the fanciest thing I've ever made. And it was quite delicious, I might add.

Schlitterbahnnnn!!!

With our exchange students Jack and Max!