Don’t judge me too harshly, but I have a comfy loveseat in the kitchen next to a glass door that leads to a patio. I like to stick an easy one-pot dinner into the oven and then sit and look out the door at the beautiful canna lillies my late-ex-husband planted in the backyard. Today is the sixth anniversary of his death, so he’s on my mind more than usual this morning.
Anyway, back to the recipe.
Salisbury Steak with Carrots and Potatoes
Serving Size:
4
Time:
Prep time 5 minutes Cook time 2 hours
Difficulty:
Easy
Ingredients
4 Hamburger patties
Beef gravy mix packet – I use Pioneer or McCormick
Frozen pearl onions
Frozen carrots, 1 bag
Frozen Ore-Ida Homestyle Steam ‘n Mash potatoes, one bag
Directions
Place hamburger patties into Dutch oven.
Top with gravy mixed with water according to package.
Add pearl onions – however many you want.
Add bag of frozen potatoes.
Add bag of frozen carrots.
Put lid on Dutch oven and cook in 350 degree oven for 2 hours.
This is my latest painting. It is my fifth from acrylic painting class. Someday it might be fun for me to look at each of my paintings in order to see if I’m making progress. So far, my favorites are the Irises and the Little Girl in Flower Garden, with the latter being my most favorite.
We will start the next painting on Thursday (two days from today). It’s going to be a pumpkin framing a fall scene. It will be a good painting for decorating for Halloween and Thanksgiving.
We’re going to do a gorgeous Christmas painting after that. I wanted to use it to make our Christmas cards for this year, but unfortunately it won’t be complete until December 11th. That’s too late to get the cards printed and in the mail, so we’ll have to wait until next year.
This class is so good for me. Painting with others is fun. Everybody is at a different skill level, and we all learn from each other in addition to what the teacher shows us. I wish the class were two days per week. Since it’s not, I’ll just have to paint at home on my own, but that’s always a crap shoot.
As you’ve seen with my other recipes, I like to eat good food but I don’t want to spend much time cooking. This is an amazing recipe that I thought would just be “a meal,” but I was surprised to find it’s an “amazing meal.”
Slow Cooker Chicken & Salsa
Serving Size:
Time:
Difficulty:
Ingredients
Chicken thighs or breasts – I use frozen
Salsa, 1 jar of your favorite – I use Mrs. Renfro’s Peach Salsa
Directions
Put frozen chicken pieces into the crockpot.
Add entire jar of salsa.
Cook on high four hours.
Shred chicken.
Pile it onto a hot tortilla and add cheese, cilantro, and anything else you like.
Notes: I’ve also cooked pork like this.
This dish is delicious with a side of rice and beans.
The Little Girl in the Garden Painting was my fourth painting. So far, this is my favorite. I was a bit intimated by this one in the beginning. I didn’t thinik the trees would come out right or the little girl, but it was much easier than I anticipated. My paintings are still hit and miss. I never know which ones will look right. I hung this one in the dining room.
These parrots were my third painting. I like the painting, but I’m not fond of the shade of blue on the background. I like everything else about it.
The acrylic painting class I take is at our city’s parks and recreation center. It’s a class that is offered to people over 50 as part of their seniors program. It has been really good for me. It forces me to leave home and do something fun with others with similar interests. I enjoy it immensely. I wish I could go more than once a week. The teacher is wonderful. Most of the people in the class live in my neighborhood or within a couple of miles. That makes it even more fun because we have similar lifestyle experiences. I’m really looking forward to the holiday paintings we’ll be doing.
These flamingos were my second painting in my acrylic painting class. I really like flamingos and am slowly adding touches of pink to my gray and purple bedroom. I also had a Giclee printing made of this painting and put it in a matted frame to set on my nightstand. My son and daughter-in-law gave me several organizing containers that are pink with white polka dots. They add a cute whimsy feel to the room.
I love flamingos because they are awkward and goofy, and perhaps I identify with that. When they walk in a group, they look a little like paranoid private investigators, peaking around corners and pattering around. They’re so weird and cute and wonderful!
In May, I began taking Acrylic Painting classes. I was nervous because I’m at a very beginner level. The first painting was Irises. The colors match my bedroom colors perfectly – purple and gray.
I had promised my mom last year that I would send her a painting of flowers. She had seen some flower paintings at her doctor’s office and wanted some for her house. I sent her the Iris painting. Using a digital copy, I had a Giclee printing made of the painting that came out pretty good, so I put it in a matted frame and hung it on the wall in our living room. Both of us have the painting now and everybody is happy.
Turmeric chicken is something I had no idea I needed in my life until this week. I heard turmeric was good for inflammation. It’s not something I’ve ever included in my diet other than the occasional restaurant meal. I wasn’t even sure I would like it. I’ve been working on a Daily Om course that teaches how to decrease inflammation with foods. They suggested three daily drinks, two of them with turmeric. Oh my goodness…the drinks were nasty. This pure nastiness made me decide to eat the turmeric instead of drinking it.
I came up with this recipe, and let me tell you it’s one of the best meals I’ve ever had…and I had it again the next day.
I must warn you that everything I cook is fast, easy, and generally has as few ingredients as possible. I do a lot of oven meals using frozen ingredients that I don’t thaw ahead of time. I like meals that I can put in a low-heat oven and cook a couple of hours. Of course, you can use foods that are not frozen and drastically reduce the oven time.
I was gifted a beautiful Le Creuset Dutch oven by my employer, but they are super expensive and any Dutch oven will work fine.
Turmeric Chicken with Potatoes and Green Beans
Serving Size:
6 servings
Time:
5 minutes prep time, 2 hours in the oven
Difficulty:
Super Easy
Ingredients
1-1/2 lbs chicken thighs or breasts, frozen
4 tsp cumin
2 tsp sea salt
2-1/2 tsp turmeric
1-1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 T olive oil or avocado oil
1 pkg Ore-Ida Steam and Mash potatoes, frozen
1 pkg of green beans, frozen
Fresh lemon juice to taste
Directions
Mix all the pieces together in a small bowl.
Add olive oil to a Dutch oven pan and add frozen chicken pieces.
Sprinkle spices over the chicken. Even though it looks like a lot, use all of it.
Top with the whole bag of frozen potatoes.
Top with the whole bag of frozen green beans.
Put the lid on the pan and bake for 2 hours at 350 degrees. You don’t need to add liquid because the moisture from the frozen foods is enough.
Yesterday, I was browsing Facebook when an ad from Jim Kwik popped up. He was advertising the various programs he has available for purchase on his website. I watched the video in the ad and was amazed at what I was hearing. Jim is a dynamic speaker who grabs your attention right away. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to commit to a full program at this time, so I headed over to Amazon and looked up his books. Sure enough, Limitless Expanded Edition came up, and I bought the Kindle version.
I started flipping through the pages, looking for a summary or list of things I could do to increase my memory and brain power. Jim’s own story is quite powerful from what I saw in the video, but I wanted to get right to the points that might help me.
There was an exercise for taking a list of 10 words, looking at the list for no more than 30 seconds, and then—without looking at the list—repeating the words in order. The first time I did the exercise, I remembered six words, which didn’t seem too bad.
Then, Jim explained his method for remembering a list, so I did the exercise again. This time, I remembered nine words.
Next, he demonstrated how to recall the words in reverse order. I didn’t have much faith yet, but surprisingly, I remembered all 10 words in reverse order. I was fascinated and decided to finish skimming the book and then re-read it slowly, noting the main points.
I’m a recent retiree. Everything is still in working order, but there’s always room for improvement. My aunt has Alzheimer’s, and that is a heartbreaking condition. I feel optimistic that Jim’s book can help anyone who wants to improve their brain and memory. It may or may not keep me from getting Alzheimer’s, but it might help me in learning a new language. He also has tips for remembering more to deliver better presentations and speaking engagements. He also has workbooks available to go along with this book. I intend to read more of Jim’s books and maybe even take one of his courses.
