A couple of different steak grilling recipes

These are a couple of steak recipes I found at Better Homes and Gardens.  Enjoy!

                       

Garlic Steaks with Nectarine-Onion Relish
Ingredients
4  boneless beef top loin steaks, cut 1 inch thick (about 1-1/2 to 2 pounds total)
6  cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2  medium onions, coarsely chopped
1  teaspoon olive oil
2  tablespoons cider vinegar
1  tablespoon honey
1  medium nectarine, chopped
2  teaspoons snipped fresh applemint, pineapplemint, or spearmint
  Fresh applemint, pineapplemint, or spearmint (optional)

Directions
1. Trim fat from steaks. With the point of a paring knife, make small slits in steaks. Insert half of the garlic into slits. Wrap steaks in plastic wrap; let stand at room temperature up to 20 minutes. (For more intense flavor, refrigerate up to 8 hours.) Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Meanwhile, for relish, in a large nonstick skillet cook onions and remaining garlic in hot oil over medium heat about 10 minutes or until onions are a deep golden color (but not brown), stirring occasionally. Stir in vinegar and honey. Stir in nectarine and the 2 teaspoons mint; heat through.
3. Grill steaks on the rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium heat to desired doneness, turning once. (Allow 8 to 12 minutes for medium-rare and 12 to 15 minutes for medium doneness.) Serve the relish with steaks. If desired, garnish with additional mint. Makes 4 servings.

Make-Ahead Tip: Up to 8 hours ahead insert garlic slices into meat. Wrap and refrigerate.

Peppered Ribeye Steaks with Grilled Sweet Peppers
Ingredients
4  10- to 12-ounce beef ribeye steaks, cut 1 inch thick
1  tablespoon olive oil
1  tablespoon paprika
1  tablespoon garlic powder
2  teaspoons dried thyme, crushed
2  teaspoons dried oregano, crushed
1-1/2  teaspoons lemon-pepper seasoning
1  teaspoon salt
1/2  to 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2  to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1  recipe Grilled Peppers (see recipe below)

Directions
1. Trim fat from meat. Brush steaks with oil. In a small bowl, combine paprika, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, lemon-pepper seasoning, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. sprinkle paprika mixture evenly over meat; rub in with your fingers. Cover steaks and chill for 1 hour.
2. Place steaks on the rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals. Grill until desired doneness, turning once. (Allow 11 to 15 minutes for medium-rare doneness [145 degree F] or 14 to 18 minutes for medium doneness [160 degree F].) Cut steaks into serving-size pieces. Serve with Grilled Peppers. Makes 8 servings.

Grilled Peppers: Seed and quarter 4 yellow, red, and/or orange sweet peppers. Brush peppers with 4 teaspoons olive oil. Place pepper quarters on grill rack directly over medium coals. Grill for 12 to 15 minutes or until peppers are crisp-tender and lightly browned, turning once. Remove peppers from grill; cool slightly. Cut peppers into wide strips. Place peppers in bowl. Add 2 tablespoons snipped fresh basil and 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar; toss well. Serve immediately or cool to room temperature

As soon as I get done with them I'll post some neat little pictures I took recently.

Have a great day & hugs to all my friends!

Tags: grilled steak

A couple of pictures

Here are a few pictures that I took recently.  One is of Rylie at Grandma's birthday party and the other one is Rylie conspiring with her Aunt Cathy.

                    

                 

I know Cathy, your gonna kill me for putting your picture in here.  But you have to admit, that is a good picture.  It pretty much sums everything up.  You whisper in our ears, we listen, get that devilish smile and then we get in trouble for letting you be a bad influence on us.  LMAO!  Well, that's the story I'm sticking with anyway. 

I just found this in my email from the Daily OM.

July 6, 2007
Just Being There
Acting As A Guardian

One of the greatest gifts we can give another human being is to act as their guardian. Whether this gift is related to a specific situation or is representative of an ongoing commitment, we each benefit from the association. To protect someone is to walk with them in challenging times and see them through safely to the other side. In doing this, we grow with them. And those under our guardianship derive confidence from our support and assistance, enabling them to persevere through almost any conditions.

There are many reasons we feel inspired to serve as guardians to those we care for. Sometimes just holding the space for somebody allows them to do what is necessary to grow or heal. We may simply want to see that our friend or loved one is taken care of and equipped to prevail over difficult circumstances. We may also sense that we are in possession of knowledge our loved ones are lacking yet need in their current stage of development. Our offer to serve as a guardian may also be both unsolicited and unrelated to any one situation. Instead of helping someone we care about cope with a specific challenge, we may find ourselves providing them with a more general form of emotional sustenance that prepares and strengthens them for challenges yet to come.

Our ability to empathize with those under our guardianship is our greatest asset because our comprehension of their needs allows us to determine how we can best serve them. Even when this comprehension is limited, however, the loving intentions with which we enter into our role as guardian ensure that our care and protection help others grow as individuals while living their lives with grace.

I would consider Cathy to be one of my guardians.  She is usually one of my strongest support systems and I depend on her for guidance and alliance.  She is also trouble with a capital T, LOL.  Come to think of it, I've gotten myself into quite a few "situations" since we've met.  I wonder if that has anything to do with it.  LOL

Have a great day & hugs to all my friends!

Home Remedy-Diarrhea

Good Morning!  I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. 

Back to the same ol', same ol'.  Holidays in the middle of the week are not nearly as much fun as those on Monday or Friday.

Please remember that these are remedies that have either been mailed onto me, or that I have found on the Internet.  I haven't tried them all and cannot guarantee the effectiveness of them.  Of course, you should always check with your physician before starting any type of medical regimen.

Diarrhea

• Eat boiled sweet potatoes seasoned with salt and pepper before bedtime to cure chronic diarrhea.
• For some people eating blueberries works very well.
• Get BRATTY. BRATTY is an anagram for bananas, rice, applesauce, toast, tea and yogurt. It's recommended that diarrhea sufferers follow a diet that consists solely of these foods until the condition has been alleviated, since these foods have the effect of adding bulk to the intestines--thus relieving runny stools. Additionally, the pectin in applesauce should help firm bowel movements, and the beneficial bacteria present in yogurt can help restore the ecology of an ailing stomach.
• Buttermilk is one of the most effective home remedies in the treatment of diarrhea. Buttermilk is the residual milk which is left oven, after fat has been removed from curd by churning.
• Cardamom-Take about 1/4 teaspoon of powder of cardamom seeds and boil them with tea water. Add a bit of sugar for taste and drink.
• Water, Sugar and Salt Solution-This solution is an essential medicine for diarrhea. It is effective treatment for adults as well as for children and infants. Add lime juice (sour/sweet) or orange juice to taste. For adults, a mixture of 1 liter of water , 1 teaspoon of salt and 8 teaspoons of sugar is good for curing diarrhea. For children, 1 liter of water is added with ¾ teaspoon of salt and 8 level teaspoons of sugar.
  

*If your diarrhea lasts more than 2 days, see a doctor. Also seek medical help if your diarrhea involves tummy cramps, fever, jaundice or rashes, or if your stools contain mucus, blood, pus or abdominal cramps.

*Know that diarrhea in babies or the elderly can be dangerous and should be treated by a doctor.

 

We were going to go downtown for the fireworks last night, but we ended up taking Papa to the hospital.  We had told Rylie that we were going to take her downtown to see the fireworks, so she go a bit annoyed with us.  She just didn't get it and kept saying "I want to go to town".

Poor thing.  She was getting grumpy...which meant mommy was getting grumpy.  It can be hard to deal with when she just starts whining and wants this or that, but not really.  Then she starts in with "I want Papa.  I want to see Papa" and crying a little bit.  It just about broke my heart.  We finally came home around mid-night and she went right to sleep. 

I've got a few calls to make this morning and an excercise machine that is just screaming my name, LOL.  Have a good one!

Have a great day & hugs to all my friends!

Tags: diarrhea, home remedy

Happy Independence Day!

Hello and Happy 4th!  We went to the fireworks in Sylvania last night and are getting ready to leave here in a bit to go to downtown Toledo tonight.  Today we pretty much just hung out aound the house and had a little BBQ.  Just hamburgers, potatoe salad, pasta salad, baked beans, some fresh veggies and cookies.

I forgot to take my camera last night, so I'll need to make sure I take it tonight so I can get some pictures of Rylie Jo.  Have a wonderful and safe night!

                          

Have a great day & hugs to all my friends!

Cleaning tip-Ink Stains

Good morning!  I've used this tip many times...Rylie loves to display her artwork directly on our walls...and it works very well.  Thank goodness.

        

 

Ink Stains: The best way I have found to get out ink stains is to use rubbing alcohol on the stain - it disappears! This must be done before washing. For ink on the wall, try using the alcohol, if it doesn't completely remove the ink go over the mark with bleach and it should disappear.

 

Cathy and I talked again for a little bit yesterday.  We just kept talking about the weekend and giggling about the whole time.  Oh yeah...holler out to JB...Eeeee-Eee-Eeeee-Eee!  ROFLMAO!  <<<Which I pratically did too.  Inside joke...but he and Cath will get it. 

 

Just waiting for the sun to make an appearance here.  I should go outside and get on that contraption to get my 30 minute cardio in, but Rylie is up early this morning and I'm not sure if she will tolerate my attention being elsewhere for that long.  I did an extra 30 minutes last night, so maybe I can skip this morning.

 

Hey Cathy-bear, LOL, maybe you should come over early every morning and we could take turns on my cardio contraption and ab cruncher.  LOL  That would be fun.  Yes, you can bring coffee...oops, no.  I know, I know...you won't come unless I have a pot of the stuff ready for you.  And even then, your just going to sit and watch me and laugh.  You think I don't know you...but maybe I do, at least a little better than you think.  Huh?  LOL

 

I think that sounds like a good idea.  Then while your laughing at me, we could discuss the N&BW Club that we were talking about earlier.  Time to get those tee-shirts ordered, dontcha think?  {{{wink}}}  Here's a tagline I was thinking of..."When second is better than first", or something along that line.

 

Have a great day & hugs to all my friends!

Tags: cleaning tip, ink stain

Good Morning!  I hope y'all had half as good of a weekend as I did.  Welcomd back to reality and another week of the same ol' grind.  Luckily I got the house cleaned up and all the laundry done before we left, so there is very little for me to do to get things back to usual here.

 

I can't remember where I came across this recipe, probably Better Homes and Gardens. I thought it sounded interesting.  We always do the same ol' barbeque chicken, so this might shake it up a bit.

 

                          

 

Sesame-Ginger Barbecued Chicken
6 servings
Prep: 10 minutes
Grill: 12 minutes
Ingredients
1/3  cup plum sauce or sweet-sour sauce
1/4  cup water
3  tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 1/2  teaspoons sesame seed (toasted, if desired)
1  clove garlic, minced
1  teaspoon grated fresh ginger or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4  to 1/2 teaspoon Oriental chili sauce or several dashes bottled hot pepper sauce
6  small skinless, boneless chicken breast halves and/or thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
Directions
1. For sauce, in a small saucepan combine all of the ingredients except the chicken. Bring to boiling over medium heat, stirring frequently; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 3 minutes. Set aside.
2. Rinse chicken; pat dry. Grill chicken on the lightly greased rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes or until tender and no longer pink, turning once and brushing with sauce once or twice during the last 5 minutes of grilling.
3. In a small saucepan heat the remaining sauce until bubbly; pass with chicken. Makes 6 servings.

We had such an awesome weekend!  We haven't gotten away and had that much fun in such a long time.  We had an adult, couples only weekend up at Nettle Lake. 

We stayed with some relatives, Aunt Ronnie and Uncle Steve and NONE of the children came along.  It was one us and JB & Cathy and ...well,one of my children, but he is a grown adult who works full-time and owns his own home.  Both him and his live-in girlfriend came up with us.

 

Miss Rylie Jo spent the weekend with her sister.  Sammi was going to come and pick her up on Friday after Ray got off work.  However, she called Thursday evening and asked if she could come get her then.  She and Matt took Rylie from our house to a restaurant called "Two Toots".  The place has a train theme, your meal is delivered to your table on top of a small train.  The kids said that Rylie really loved it.  When the train brought their meal she put her hands on top of her head and said "Oh mah gosh!"

 

Then they took her to the park, which she didn't want to leave.  Of course when they got home and settled down, Rylie turned to Sam and said "I want my mommy".  Sammi told her that we weren't here and then she said "I want my daddy".  She told her that he wasn't home either.  Then I guess she just settled down with Gater (their dog) and watched a movie.

 

On Friday they spent some time at the pool.  Of course Rylie was upset because she forgot her floaties.  After they got some for her she jumped right in and had a blast.  I believe they made a few more trips to the park and back to the pool over the weekend.  They also took her to visit Matt's Mom, Sandra, who just loves Rylie.  One day they even took her to the river and had a picnic.  They tried to keep her real busy. 

 

Sammi  took her to the store to do some shopping, which is when Rylie got her new doll andnew (toy) high heels.  I think she had a blast but was glad to come back home and see mommy and daddy.  I know we were very happy to see her.  The weekend went so quick, but it was long too.  Especially when we were missing Rylie.

 

I meant everything I said last week Samantha.  I really appreciate you spending time with your sister.  She has so much fun.  And it really gives us that occasional break and some time alone together.  Thanks again hun!

 

We hope to make another trip back up to the lake at least once more this summer.  It's been so long since we got away like that with no kids and it was real relaxing.  I got to spend some time hanging out with Cathy and we both got to know David's girlfriend, Jill (our new nickname for her is Kandy-lol) a lot better.  She is such a sweetheart and we had a blast hanging out with her and Aunt Ronnie. 

 

The guys spent most of their time either fishing or telling tall tales about their fishing.  In the meantime, the women were either sunning, cooking or chatting (in other words...telling tall tales about the men, lol).  We had so much fun, half the time we were just laughing and giggling.  The time flew by way much too quickly. 

 

We (the women) even sat down at the table Saturday night and came up with a name for our weekend.  Well, we were just going to call it the "Couple's Weekend".  Pretty simple right?  But then Aunt Ronnie threw out "Coupling Weekend", LOL.  I think it slipped out accidently, but Cathy and I jumped on that and thought it was perfect. 

 

Then we came up with "award" titles for everyone.  For example, JB was pushed off the dock by "someone" (right goofy?) and he hit his ankle on a big rock.  Ouch!  Poor ol' boy, he was limping around like a 3 legged dog the rest of the weekend.  So his award is "The best dive".  Jill, aka Kandy, got the worse sun burn I've seen in a long time.  So she got "The most improved tan" award.  The fella that didn't catch a single fish on the last night of fishing (and hooked his own hand) is getting the "Champion Fisherman" award.  Just silly things like that. 

 

We are going to try to get some tee shirts and have them made up for the eight of us that were there that weekend.  We'll have the names and awards on the back of the shirts (the same way concert tee's have tour dates) and on the front we are putting the name of the weekend and the date on the left side of the chest.

 

Here is a copy of my Daily OM for today.

 

July 2, 2007
Finding Your Joy
Be Happy Every Single Day

Our lives are rich with potential sources of happiness, but sometimes we become victims of negative thinking because we believe that focusing on all that has gone wrong will provide us with the motivation we need to face the challenges of survival. When we choose to focus on what makes us happy, however, a shift occurs in the fabric of our existence. Finding something to be happy about every single day can help this shift take place. The vantage points from which we view the world are brought into balance, and we can see that being alive truly is a gift to be savored. There is always something we can be happy about—it is simply up to us to identify it.

On one day, we may find happiness in a momentous, life-changing event such as a marriage or the birth of a child. On another day, the happiness we experience may be a product of our appreciation of a particularly well-brewed cup of a tea or the way the sun shines on a leaf. If we discover that we literally cannot call to mind a single joyful element of existence, we should examine the cause of the blockage standing between us and experiencing happiness. Keeping a happiness journal is a wonderful way to catalog the happiness unfolding all around us so that joy has myriad opportunities to manifest itself in ourlives. Writing about the emotions we experience while contemplating joy may give us insight into the factors compelling us to resist it.

Happiness may not always come easily into your life. You have likely been conditioned to believe that the proper response to unmet expectations is one of sadness, anger, guilt, or fear. To make joy a fixture in your existence, you must first accept that it is within your power to choose happiness over unhappiness every single day. Then, each time you discover some new source of happiness, the notion that the world is a happy place will find its way more deeply into your heart. On this day, find one thing to be happy about and let it fill your heart.

I've got everything I need to make me happy.  My beautiful and loving children and the love of my life.  The little things are just the icing on the cake.  I remember how things were at one time and it makes me appreciate the blessings in my life even more.  It's amazing how much more peaceful you can feel when you ignore the road blocks that others try to throw at you.  People sometimes have their own agenda...I've learned that one the hard way...remember that and ignore the things they try to do to mess you up. 

 

Well, as I said before, the vacation (coupling weekend) is over, time to get back to reality.  I need to get moving and get my 30 minutes of morning cardio in.  It is so much easier to do while Rylie is asleep.

 

 

Have a great day & hugs to all my friends!

Tags: Sesame-Ginger, Barbecued, Chicken, Joy

TGIF!

Good Morning and Happy Happy Friday!  I've been listening to this stuff about the car bomb that was found in London.  The car was filled with gas, a detonator and nails to fly out as scrapnel when the car exploded.  How crazy is this?  The story is here> Official: Diffused Bomb in Central London Would Have Caused Significant Damage

Even more crazy is that the people who do these kind of things (usually) use religion as an excuse for killing innocent people.  Huh?!  That is just plain idiotic!  What kind of religion or "God" asks you to maim and kill people?  Excuse me, but I am not interested in any religion that is based on hatred, maiming and killing. 

Personally, I prefer a loving and just God.  I prefer a God that tells us to love one another.  I prefer a God that ask's alot of us, but is also forgiving and understanding of our human flaws. 

For example, in most Christian based countries when a woman is attacked and raped, she is given medical care and plenty of understanding & sympathy for her ordeal and suffering by those who love her.  In some of these other countries and religions the woman is held responsible for a man attacking her.  She is usually killed by her own familyfor being raped!!!  Then the family is not punished for killing her.  It is acceptable behaviour!  How freaking ridiculous is that? 

They think that she brought shame to the family by "allowing" herself to be raped!  No doubt if she fought off her attacker and ended up harming or killing him, she would probably also be killed.  It seems to me to just be an extreme form of control by the male population over females.  Just like the way they believe that female children shouldn't be educated.  Control...that's all it is about.  There is no way that any of that could be justified with so-called religion.

Just my personal opinion.

Here are a few other items in the news that I found interesting.  First, did y'all read about the prosecuting attorney dropping charges against all the pedophiles caught in the Dateline sting in Murphy, Texas?  OhMahGod!  And so many of the neighbors in the area were upset that this sting was even done in their area.  I would be thrilled if the TV show, in coordination with local police, were to expose and arrest pedophiles in our town.  But no these people seem to want to keep their pedophiles free to roam their streets...along side their children. 

Here is the link to the story> NBC Sting Shakes Up Texas Town   

I've never heard of this snack, but apparently a "popular" snack food has caused salmonella poisoning in 17 states.  You might want to check out this story about "Veggie Booty".  I just wanted y'all to know about it, in case it is popular in your area.  If you have some in your cupboard, please be sure to throw it away.

Here is the link to that story> Popular Snack Food Pulled From Shelves

It's interesting, they say it's a "popular" snack food, but when you do the little poll about whether or not you eat Veggie Booty, the results are about 93% said NO and only 7% said YES.  Hmm, I guess it doesn't take much to make ya popular these days.  LOL

             

 

Samantha you are a great daughter and such a wonderful sister to Rylie!  Thank you so much for everything you do for me and Ray and for all the time you spend with your sister. Not many girls your age would make such an effort to spend so much time with their baby sister.

 

I know how much you mean to Rylie and I am so happy that you two areso close.  Even though she is so young, the time that you spend together has been a wonderful foundation for the beautiful relationship that the two of you will always share.  You will always have a very special place in her heart.  I couldn't ask for a better sister for her.  You're perfect! 

 

I know how busy you are with work and everything, so I really appreciate the effort you make to spend so much time with your baby sister.  It's not something that you have to do, but you do, and that is so special.  She loves you so much and talks about you, Matt and the dogs all the time.  I am so lucky to have been blessed with a daughter like you.  I love you with all my heart.

 

Have a great day & hugs to all my friends!

Tags: Religion, hatred, London, Murphy Texas, Dateline, veggie booty, Samantha