So I was in search of a new Beef Stew Recipe using a crockpot. I wanted something easy and yummy that could be made while I was working. The one below rocked my world. It made a ton of beef stew. I made a few simple modifications suck as chopping the stew meat into cubes and using 2 bouillon instead of condensed beef broth. I also used salt free tomato canned tomato sauce and only one tsp of salt. Very good and easy recipe and I enjoyed it greatly.
2 lbs. stew beef
1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. paprika
4 lg. carrots
3 lg. potatoes
1 c. condensed beef broth
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/3 c. soy sauce
1 lg. onion
1 can tomato sauce (8 oz.)
Layer potatoes, then carrots. Top with meat; sprinkle meat with soy sauce, salt, paprika, pepper & flour.
Spread with chopped onions. Combine beef broth & tomato sauce & pour overall. Cover & cook on low 7 - 8 hrs. or high 4 - 5 hrs.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Manic Monday
Let me just preface to say that I have never not liked living in the apartments. It was a great experience and I spent 3 years there. But today I feel totally screwed over. When Sandro and I moved in there we had two cats. So we had to put two (yes two) deposits which equaled somewhere in the amount of $550 dollars which they told us that $150 would be refundable. Well like most cats do and like most dogs they destroyed the carpet. Having lived there for 3 years your carpet generally gets wear and tear. So I figured I had this huge deposit so whatever it covers it right...
Well I was DEAD wrong. They tell us now that that deposit doesn't pay for anything and it's a pet fee for them living there. WTF seriously? So they just ripped us off for $400 dollars. We are now stuck with paying $382 for a carpet that would have had to been replaced anyways. What a bunch of crap. I honestly feel cheated and beat up. Well Sandro and I are writing it off as a lesson learned. We will hopefully never have to get another apartment for the rest of our life so it's our last blow from the apartment industry. Which by the way I did some quick calculations ... I wasted close to $80,000 dollars being I lived in apartments on my own for 10 years. I digress...
Anyways...on top of that whole apartment issue I seriously wanted to kill someone from Sears yesterday. (not literally) but man they make it completely impossible to pay your bill. So I get my bill from Sears and Sandro and I have 0% financing on our remaining portion of the fridge. I am extremely good about making sure I pay things off before a promotion ends so I had my bill pay set up to pay $80 dollars a month. Well for some reason sears do not use a fixed day to pay your bill. I was explained that base it off a 28 day calender or some crap like that. Which means that my online bill pay will have to be adjusted every single month. If you ever miss a payment they charge you interest on the late fee...(I have been down this road) Well for some reason it took over a month for them to get me my bill. They didn't update our address because it was sent to my old apartment. I guess my mail forwarding wasn't working properly. So I get the bill 2 days before it's due. All fine and dandy...but I can't change my online bill pay because it was too late to reschedule for the earlier date.
So I call sears and I ask them why they changed my due date. He won't even talk to me. He says I am not the card owner and I would have to get the card owner on the line. HELLO! it's my freaking husband and I am not trying to scam him or anything...just pay a bill on time to prevent late charges. Still nothing from the Sears guy so I ask for a supervisor. Well the supervisor tells me again that I am not authorized on the account and he can't help me. I explain to him that I am his wife and I have all his information and we can conference him in. Well he was a jack ass and completely unhelpful. At this point I was getting irate all I wanted to do was get my questions about my bill answered. I wasn't asking for his credit card info to purchase anything (even though I had his card in my hand) just wanted to know why the date moved. They kept telling me they couldn't access the account without him on the phone. The thing that doesn't make sense and I finding the most frustrating is when he got his sears card I was with him. We bought our first purchase together. (washer and dryer) My name is on the account, I paid the bills for that and I pay the bill for the fridge. How hard would it had been to answer my questions?
Well I got nowhere on the phone. So Sandro calls in and he gets some of his questions answered. He couldn't change his address or add me because he didn't have his new card. His just expired in September. We don't usually activate cards because we don't use them often. They told him we could go to the store to pay the bill. So we did this, after the 100 other errands we had, including Vet visits for the pups. So I go into the store and look far in wide for the customer service desk. Well they don't have one you just go to the register. Well I go to the register and pull out the bill...(well the envelope) the bill wasn't in there. I don't carry the card. So I had to run back outside to get the card. Sigh...so I do this...I get the card from Sandro and run back in and try again...Well alas, I think I am about to finally pay this bill and guess what happens...they tell me they only accept checks and cash. No debit cards or credit cards. So I was just pissed...That makes no logical sense. So I just throw my debit card and sears card on the table and leave the store and told Sandro to deal with it. Well he does...by the time I get back to the car I am having a panic/asthma attack because life shouldn't be this frustrating. Sandro gets back and I get in the car and the tears just start coming. I ball all the way home.
Overall I know these things are not a big deal now and I was just having my typical emotional breakdown of the month. I know this is the type of stuff that runs in the family and I just have to learn to deal with it. Luckily I have an amazing husband that is very laid back and lets me have my emotional outbursts and supports me regardless. Gosh I hope today is better.
Well I was DEAD wrong. They tell us now that that deposit doesn't pay for anything and it's a pet fee for them living there. WTF seriously? So they just ripped us off for $400 dollars. We are now stuck with paying $382 for a carpet that would have had to been replaced anyways. What a bunch of crap. I honestly feel cheated and beat up. Well Sandro and I are writing it off as a lesson learned. We will hopefully never have to get another apartment for the rest of our life so it's our last blow from the apartment industry. Which by the way I did some quick calculations ... I wasted close to $80,000 dollars being I lived in apartments on my own for 10 years. I digress...
Anyways...on top of that whole apartment issue I seriously wanted to kill someone from Sears yesterday. (not literally) but man they make it completely impossible to pay your bill. So I get my bill from Sears and Sandro and I have 0% financing on our remaining portion of the fridge. I am extremely good about making sure I pay things off before a promotion ends so I had my bill pay set up to pay $80 dollars a month. Well for some reason sears do not use a fixed day to pay your bill. I was explained that base it off a 28 day calender or some crap like that. Which means that my online bill pay will have to be adjusted every single month. If you ever miss a payment they charge you interest on the late fee...(I have been down this road) Well for some reason it took over a month for them to get me my bill. They didn't update our address because it was sent to my old apartment. I guess my mail forwarding wasn't working properly. So I get the bill 2 days before it's due. All fine and dandy...but I can't change my online bill pay because it was too late to reschedule for the earlier date.
So I call sears and I ask them why they changed my due date. He won't even talk to me. He says I am not the card owner and I would have to get the card owner on the line. HELLO! it's my freaking husband and I am not trying to scam him or anything...just pay a bill on time to prevent late charges. Still nothing from the Sears guy so I ask for a supervisor. Well the supervisor tells me again that I am not authorized on the account and he can't help me. I explain to him that I am his wife and I have all his information and we can conference him in. Well he was a jack ass and completely unhelpful. At this point I was getting irate all I wanted to do was get my questions about my bill answered. I wasn't asking for his credit card info to purchase anything (even though I had his card in my hand) just wanted to know why the date moved. They kept telling me they couldn't access the account without him on the phone. The thing that doesn't make sense and I finding the most frustrating is when he got his sears card I was with him. We bought our first purchase together. (washer and dryer) My name is on the account, I paid the bills for that and I pay the bill for the fridge. How hard would it had been to answer my questions?
Well I got nowhere on the phone. So Sandro calls in and he gets some of his questions answered. He couldn't change his address or add me because he didn't have his new card. His just expired in September. We don't usually activate cards because we don't use them often. They told him we could go to the store to pay the bill. So we did this, after the 100 other errands we had, including Vet visits for the pups. So I go into the store and look far in wide for the customer service desk. Well they don't have one you just go to the register. Well I go to the register and pull out the bill...(well the envelope) the bill wasn't in there. I don't carry the card. So I had to run back outside to get the card. Sigh...so I do this...I get the card from Sandro and run back in and try again...Well alas, I think I am about to finally pay this bill and guess what happens...they tell me they only accept checks and cash. No debit cards or credit cards. So I was just pissed...That makes no logical sense. So I just throw my debit card and sears card on the table and leave the store and told Sandro to deal with it. Well he does...by the time I get back to the car I am having a panic/asthma attack because life shouldn't be this frustrating. Sandro gets back and I get in the car and the tears just start coming. I ball all the way home.
Overall I know these things are not a big deal now and I was just having my typical emotional breakdown of the month. I know this is the type of stuff that runs in the family and I just have to learn to deal with it. Luckily I have an amazing husband that is very laid back and lets me have my emotional outbursts and supports me regardless. Gosh I hope today is better.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Friday, November 9, 2007
Apollo & Helix
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I love my two pups. The first...that you all may already know is Mr. Helix and the second is Apollo. They look like they could be brothers....but guess what...they are not. Helix I got at a shelter and he is a mix between a chow, shepherd and a rottie. Apollo is pure breed Shepherd his mama is AKC registered however they aren't sure who the father is, but it was a Shepherd cause she got knocked up at a Police Training Academy (which she was booted out for being too petite) The mama had 9 puppies.
So far having two dogs has it's challenges. Helix is a mama's boy while Apollo is a little devil. Apollo is going on three months and is growing at about 2 pounds per week. He is always hungry and has about 6 cups of food a day. So far so good on the potty training.
One reason we decided to get a second pup was that when we bought the house we got this massive new yard. At least it feels likes it's massive. We got Apollo the same day we bought the house. It may have not been the best idea, but it's wasn't too terrible. Helix accepted him well. They are about one year apart. I think Helix loves having someone around to play with and he seems very happy with his brother. Time will only tell how Helix will handle it when Apollo gets bigger than him.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Simple Changes
I am happy to report that DH and I are working really hard to maintain and establish a excellent budget that we can meet our goals with. This month we are paying off one of two credit cards and paying down a significant amount off the other one. We also have stopped cold turkey using the one with a balance and we are hoping that with income tax we will be able to pay the balance and pay off one of interest baring furniture cards. This is a huge deal because that means we won't be carrying nearly as much consumer debt and we can start buying more for our beautiful new home.
One of the most simple changes we made was not eating out at all for dinner. This one is difficult but I am slowly developing my skills and learning to cook fun yummy meals. We were averaging roughly $75 dollars a week on eating out. So over a 4 week period that was coming to $300 on top of our bi weekly groceries. In addition, Sandro decided in order to save money that he would limit his lunches to twice a week (or $20 dollars or so) Before he was spending $50 dollars a week. Of course our grocery bill went up, since we have to shop every weekend, our over all spending went down quite a bit.
On top of that this year for Christmas we decided not to spend money on each other. We used to spend about 500-1000 bucks a year on each other. In order to meet our goals we decided not buy each other a gift and save for our next big purchase which we hope will be a 65 inch LCD TV. We also decided to pull names on Sandro's side of the family and not over spend like we usually do. The Juric family last year spent way to much money at Christmas and I think pulling names will help each of not to overspend. Sandro and I goal this year is not to use the credit card at all. Which I know we can do.
Overall all things are looking great on our new home. I am loving my kitchen and I love the way that my house looks. I can't wait to decorate it more and make it feel more like home. However, I have plenty of time for this. I am so excited I am hosting Christmas this year.
One of the most simple changes we made was not eating out at all for dinner. This one is difficult but I am slowly developing my skills and learning to cook fun yummy meals. We were averaging roughly $75 dollars a week on eating out. So over a 4 week period that was coming to $300 on top of our bi weekly groceries. In addition, Sandro decided in order to save money that he would limit his lunches to twice a week (or $20 dollars or so) Before he was spending $50 dollars a week. Of course our grocery bill went up, since we have to shop every weekend, our over all spending went down quite a bit.
On top of that this year for Christmas we decided not to spend money on each other. We used to spend about 500-1000 bucks a year on each other. In order to meet our goals we decided not buy each other a gift and save for our next big purchase which we hope will be a 65 inch LCD TV. We also decided to pull names on Sandro's side of the family and not over spend like we usually do. The Juric family last year spent way to much money at Christmas and I think pulling names will help each of not to overspend. Sandro and I goal this year is not to use the credit card at all. Which I know we can do.
Overall all things are looking great on our new home. I am loving my kitchen and I love the way that my house looks. I can't wait to decorate it more and make it feel more like home. However, I have plenty of time for this. I am so excited I am hosting Christmas this year.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
My New Blog
Since I have been noticing the abundance of new blogs out there and how people are communicating I thought well why not. I used to blog on my space, but our company blocks myspace. My life isn't that interesting really other than I feel like I definitely going through a lot of life changes. New job, New House, New Puppies and I am finding myself a big overwhelmed lately. Maybe having a blog and venting to the outside world I could organize my thoughts and share with family that I normally don't talk to much. Also, I can keep track of recipes that I love. I am starting to love to cook and managing our new home. It feels like an accomplishment that I am actually enjoying.
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