Beef Stew

Yes, I'm still a vegetarian... but I made this recipe for Dan on Monday

Beef Stew

The Ingredients
--2lbs beef stew meat
--1/2 onion
--handful of baby tomatoes
--celery--carrots
--green beans
--mushrooms
--2 cans beef broth
--1/4 cup red wine
--1 t kosher salt
--1/2 t black pepper
--1 t seasoning blend (whatever you have on hand for bbqing, stir-frying, etc.)
--1 t worcestershire sauce
--1/2 cup flour

The Directions

--wash and chop all of your vegetables.
--plop them into the crockpot.
--put the flour in a bowl, and toss your meat in it to fully coat.
--put the meat into the crock (throw away the rest of the flour. don't add it in.)
--add dry seasoning and worcestershire sauce.
--pour in the wine and beef broth.
--cover and cook on low for 8-12 hours. (took about 8 1/2)

If you would like to prepare everything the night before--go for it---but don't add the liquid until you plug it in.

Dan really enjoyed this. Thought it needed a little salt but preferred to add it when eating, and said not to add it to the ingredients up front. It was not very thick, more like a soup, but when I suggested I'd add more flour next time, he said he'd prefer it this consistency. So it was a hit. Another super easy meal!!

Monday... more snow

I drove around on Monday morning before wedding dress shopping with Mom and Melissa. Couldn't resist using some of my day off to take some pictures of that gorgeously sticky snow.

Starting off in the driveway Have I mentioned that I'm loving living in the woods?!!

a few random treetops as seen from the car window...

Mount Blue Street in Norwell

instead of turning onto School Street like i normally do

i just kept driving
love this winding road shot

random houses...

and more treetops
the sun was peeking out
blue skies


a few random finds at Accord Industrial park
where i turned in to turn around
i love this fence!

ok
now this is
super random
but
after dress shopping
mom and i went to syms
and just thought this dressing room
was hysterical
so here are our heads
and our feet
sticking out
no indecency
i promise
hoping you'll get a giggle out of this
like we did

Sunday Shots & Crockpots

I've been trying to take photos every day.

A new challenge for 2009.

An attempt to improve my photography skills and to hopefully use my point & shoot camera which I rarely use (instead favoring my Canon)


So for all of you blog followers out there, here's another link for you:

http://www.shuttercal.com/calendar/lazyfroggirl/

It's a calendar style format. If you click on each date you'll see the photo uploaded for that day. Just one picture a day (if others come out nice, I'll likely post here).



Sunday we got more snow. A lot more snow. The sticky kind that make the woods around our house look even more enchanting. Here are some of my favorite shots:

Of course besides trudging around in the snow, Sunday morning meant cleaning and doing laundry. Simple stuff, yet seeing all the whites piled up on the top of the hamper just called to me. I grabbed the camera to snap a few shots. I love these two. Can't say exactly why. Something about the colors and the textures (the towels and the hamper)... the every day things (the washer and the toilet, the doorframe)... just looking at it from a different angle perhaps {its not often I sit on the closet floor}

And Sunday was the day I did something I've been saying I was going to do for a long time- use my crockpot!! What a great first experience. I made three things (between 2 crockpots-- Joey left his at our house the last time he visited. thanks Joey)

The first was Jambalaya! Seemed like the perfect football afternoon kind of food. And look how pretty these ingredients are!!

Recipe

[care of this wonderful lady]

The Ingredients:

5 fully cooked sausages (I used some spicy ones)

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup raw brown rice (thought it wouldn't be enough but it was)

1 can (and juice) Itallian stewed tomatoes

1/2 can drained and rinsed black beans

1/2 chopped onion

1/2 head chopped garlic (thought I had some in house but didn't)

3 chopped celery spears

1 green pepper & 1 red pepper (I added 2 small hot peppers too)

1 cup frozen white corn kernals

2 cups cooked frozen shrimp

The Directions

pour the broth, wine and the uncooked brown rice into the bottom of your stoneware

stir the rice in the liquid

cover with chopped vegetables, frozen corn and garlic

put in the black beans

add sausage

I promise it's enough liquid

cook on low for 8-10 hours, high for 6. (i cooked it on high)

an hour before eating, stir in frozen shrimp and turn to high

I also made Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients

-veggies of your choice

--olive oil
--kosher salt
--pepper

Directions
wash and trim veggies
put into the crockpot still moist
drizzle olive oil over the top (1T? 2T? I didn't measure)
healthy pinch of salt and pepper
toss with hands to coat vegetables evenly with oil and spices

cover and cook on low for 4 hours, high for 2-3

stir every hour or so and check vegetable tenderness

super easy and they came out so tasty (i know you love that word mom)

veggies i chose: sweet potatoes, carrots, acorn squash, eggplant and zucchini

p.s. tip for acorn squash which is the toughest vegetable to cut through- but soo yummy once you actually cook it {also got this from the crockpot lady}

microwave the acorn squash for a few minutes before trying to cut it

it works fabulously

and you can eat the skin

i like it. dan doesn't. but its easier to cut off after its cooked.

third and final crockpot recipe for sunday

Creamy Crockpot Risotto

The Ingredients

1 1/4 cup uncooked Arborio rice

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white wine

3 3/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

5 cloves chopped garlic (again, none on hand but usually do add- might add some finely chopped onions next time too)

1 t kosher salt

1/4 t black pepper

2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese (to add at the very end)

The Directions

toss the uncooked Arborio rice with the olive oil in your crockpot stoneware

add the seasonings and garlic

pour in the broth and white wine

stir to mix flavors

cover and cook on high for 2 hours, or until the rice is tender

stir in the shredded cheese and leave uncovered for about 15 minutes

to let a bit of the moisture escape

All three were big hits! And it was so nice not to have to actively cook while we had company!

Happy Birthday Nana!

Saturday we headed up north for my Nana's birthday party (official birthday was Friday). It was great seeing everyone and enjoying a relaxing afternoon together. As usual, Riley was the hit of the day. She was especially enamored with Uncle Ron. Talk about mesmerized. She was constantly staring at him (as you can see here)

And Nana was certainly enjoying her company too!How can you resist this sweet face?! And those EYES!
After a delicious lunch with contributions from all, it was time to sing! Happy birthday Nana!!

Cake compliments of Aunt Wendy! Talk about beautiful!!

And of course no party is complete without some horsing around (which of course usually involves my Dad)

Then we broke out the tripod and the self-timer to get a group shot. Not a bad looking gang ;)

And as the afternoon wore on, we all got a little sleepy (too much food, too comfortable). Aunt Maureen snuggled up with Riley and we thought she was never going to let go, though who could blame her?

2008 favorites: part I

These are a few of my favorite photos from 2008.

Stay tuned for Part II: favorite scrapbook layouts of 2008.

there is no safe place

well perhaps it existed at one point in time but that doesn't matter anymore. a safe place for what, you might ask? my passport. that all important document that proves you are a US citizen. that document the border workers scrutinize to an extent that's downright scary sometimes and yet still you take comfort in it because you know that little blue book proves that you do live here and that they should let you in and out accordingly. that essential collection of pages that will get me on the plane to Jamaica in less than ten days time… that is, unless you put that passport in a place for safe keeping and that place no longer exists. perhaps it got lost in the move… or perhaps it never made it to the 'safe place' at all and disappeared in a pile of unimportant papers… I have literally no idea.

dan and I have been searching since Monday night. Tuesday I didn't look all that hard. no it wasn't in the file box where I keep all the important papers, but it had to be in the house somewhere. so Wednesday we started in earnest. searching through every bin in the cellar. the contents of our lives… rifled through. no passport. panic starts setting in. Wednesday morning I looked up the information about getting a passport and quick. people assure me that their friends, neighbors, co-workers (otherwise known as my fellow unorganized, brainless moron peers) have been able to get a passport in just a few short days… don't worry about it. but Wednesday night the search began again. every paper in the spare room, every bin in the basement. nothing. dan searched again after I went to get new passport photos taken and printed then headed to zumba. when I got home he declared "that passport is not in the basement." I know its not. I have no idea where it is. but I know where its not. and that's in our house. {I did find lots of other goodies in the basement. three handsome sweaters dan hasn't worn all winter. a new bottle of nyquil. a puzzle book for dan to use on the plane. a book I can lend to my friend sheri and a couple others I'd like to read again. my clear scrapbooking ruler. and of course my old passport! but nothing I needed}

so today at noon, I head to the passport office. to show them my plane ticket to Jamaica with a 1/24 date on it. to plead my case and ask that somehow it does not get lost in the mail because I need this vacation and I'm sorry that I'm far more unorganized that I ever realized…

moral of the story- don't put important documents in a super safe place. put them where you have no doubt you'll remember them. pick the only logical place your brain would ever think to look and stash it there, because the likelyhood that it needs to be safe from "others" is slim. the likelihood that you'll need to actually get your hands on it is far more possible. and when that time comes, who has time to remember where that safe place is?

Edited: I am back from the passport office. I can pick up my new passport on Tuesday! Alleluia!! {Originally she told me I'd receive it by mail on the 23rd, or 24th at latest. Apparently she read my ticket wrong and thought I was flying out on the 29th! Nope! The 24th! So thankfully I can pick it up and not worry that the USPS loses it like I did}

My cousin Chris...

Check him out in the Globe! And looking handsome in this picture (second from the left- the TALL one) Love you kiddo!

Abington pumped after initial wake-up call - The Boston Globe

50 ways

50 very simple things you can do. Want to start thinking about going green?
this is a great place to start

stuff i like

a few sites i like to browse...

A Year of Crockpotting
This blog is so cool! I'd be talking all summer about getting a crockpot and kept putting it off. And then Aunt Milly gave Dan and I a gift card for Kohls so I knew it was time to spring for one. Brought it home. All shiny and new.............. fast forward to January. Still haven't used it. What a shame. But finding vegetarian crockpot recipes is not easy. Until now.

This blog has TONS of crockpot recipes (and yes, most of them have meat in them, for you mainsream folks). Apparently you can make almost anything in a crockpot and that idea intrigues me, especially as I try to cook more on Sunday to have on hand for the week. And if I can toss stuff in the crockpot and cook it, it probably means less veggies rotting in the bin which will make Dan a very happy camper.


3191
a great blog if you like photography.
two women. they live 3191 miles apart. they take a photo every evening (it started a few years back with mornings).
they take beautiful photographs and its amazing to see how different and yet how alike they are.

Dr. Bronner's Magic Shaving Soap Gel {green}
the idea of switching off traditional shaving cream scared me but i figured i'd take a shot. this is the first kind i've tried and i love it. it lathers up so well (and smells delicious). plus its all natural, no aerosol involved... and its lasts for months! love it. we also use their soap

Ali Edwards
still my absolute favorite blog

some cute riley christmas pictures

Riley Christmas & 9 months pictures

tell me i don't have the cutest niece in the whole world!!

another monday

a new week
second full week of 2009
and of course it started on an eventful note

yesterday morning dan and i were so lazy
watching The Universe and learning about the different planets
until finally we pulled ourselves off the couch
i did some dishes
then got my clothes on to head out of the house and pretend to be a big girl
i got an oil change ($61 later!!)
and some groceries to make some healthy meals for the week
(going green and saving green by bringing my lunch to work for the second week in a row)

i came back about an hour later
to find dan and the backhoe more than halfway up the driveway
he's outside the backhoe so i got out to ask what was up

it broke down

yep. in the driveway
immovable
he'd been working on it for at hour anyways...
i put the groceries away
and then we spent another hour out there
no dice.
gas not getting to the engine (or at least that's as much as i understand)

so thankfully i had gone out for groceries,
or else both of our cars would be stranded in the driveway
unable to get out to the street
{guess that was some sort of cosmic reward for getting my lazy buns off the couch}

dan and i got up together this morning
i got ready in record time
we trudged up the snowy driveway
(with yet more snow falling-- 32" already this season {{average is 12}})
passed the backhoe, and climbed in my car
dan drove me into work then headed to Gillette
cross your fingers that the "guy" can come repair the backhoe today

10:59am UPDATE:
the backhoe is fixed! the guy came out at 9a this morning and got it running
and he even plowed the rest of the driveway for us
talk about service

more to come later:

• pictures and details of Jeff & Melissa's Jack & Jill shower Friday night (w/ the snow adventures yesterday i didn't get to edit the photos)
• new vegetarian recipes i've experimented with

Date Night with Willy

Saturday night I babysat my favorite little dude

while his parents jaunted off to foxwoods to see a comedy show

we had a great night of course!

this face cracks me up

i think it says "look how cool i am auntie jen"

so, if you know willy, you know he's obsessed with phones

fortunately he's not exactly keen enough to understand precisely what is a phone

and say, what's a beeper

i gave him my work pager

indestructible

no chance of him calling 911!

he put it right up to his ear and said hello

then i clipped it on his pants

and he thought he was the coolest thing ever!

checking for messages not sure what these two were about, but the faces are killer! too cute!

What's really fun now is that Willy's smart enough to know
a) what the camera is
b) that when i take a picture it shows up on the screen on the back
c) if you press the buttons on the back you can see more pictures

so we spent about 10 minutes playing
i'd take a picture
he'd look at the back of the screen and say something i couldn't quite understand
i'd say "Again?"
he'd say "Oh Boy!"
this time I said
"Be Silly"
{he waved his hands and said "ahhhhh!}

"Do fishy face"

and very soon these curls will be gone

so i had to get this shot for posterity

they're bordering on mullet-ville

and krissy knows she has to cut them

which of course is hard, because they're super cute

and finally

a dinner shot

prunes

he was loooving them!!

singing while eating
wait until he gets to try chocolate! ;)

first work week of 2009

and its not easy getting back into the swing of things

especially when my to-do list is still fairly short which makes me highly unmotivated

add in the fact that this is my first 5 day week in what feels like a very long time

and its just not easy

but its already thursday

and with our flight to jamaica on the calendar for 2 weeks from saturday

there is a hot sunny light

at the end of this cold, windy, wintery tunnel

progress report- cultivating for the week

fitness: workouts have been going really well this week

mon: legs tues: zumba & abs wed: zumba & abs thurs: break fri: arms

need to keep on point with eating a little better, more variety of veggies

but i am eating more whole foods, more veggies and less processed stuff this week

so i am on track just want to push a little harder before bikini week

photography: i haven't taken a single photo this week, but i have used my internet skills

to find a photography workshop at the New England Institute for Photography

the classes are full for the winter, but the next sessions starts in March

so Mom and I are going to look into that when the time comes

relationships: krissy and willy are coming over for dinner tonight

our usual thursday night thing so its not like i had to go too far out of my way

but there are always reasons why its just too much or too hard to get together

so i'm especially glad they're coming over

green tip of the day: reuse

today i wanted to package up a little bag of kettlecorn to bring to work for my snack

i was out of ziploc baggies and i seem to have given away all of my small tupperware

type containers which i'd prefer to use since you can wash and reuse

but i found a better alternative that worked for me today

i'd been saving the bags that my english muffins come in

a quick rinse, or if you're lazy like me, just flip them inside out

fill with the snack of your choice

and they're plenty long enough to tie in a knot

one more use for that plastic bag makes me feel better :)

green product review

the winter seems to be particularly harsh on my skin. I'm constantly dry. itchy. its disgusting. by I've been tryiing to keep green and not revert back to my old thick, lavish skin cremes but hadn't found anything that really kept my skin well moisturized.

taking another chance with a company I am growing to love, I bought Yes to Carrot's Deliciously Rich Body Butter at Target on Saturday.

i used it for the first time this morning and i totally love it! i wasn't dry and itchy within a hour, which unfortunately seems to be the case when I use their Hand & Elbow Cream on my legs, although that product does work well for its intended purpose.

here's the Ingredient List:
Water (Aqua), Dead Sea Water (Maris Aqua), Caprylic / Capric Triglyceride, Glyceryl Stearate, Algae Extracts (Rhodella, Dunaliella , Spirulina), Daucus Carota (Carrot) Juice, Daucus Carota (Carrot) Seed Oil, Cucurbita Pepo (Pumpkin) Juice, Silt (Maris Limus), Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Butter, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Cucumis Melo (Melon) Juice, Ipomoera Batatas (Sweet Potato) Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Juice, Fragrance (Parfum), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Niacin, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Extract, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Imidazolidinyl Urea, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Peel Extract.
*the fragrance is a no-no, but it doesn't have any of the other Level 1 and Level 2 ingredients (per Gorgeously Green) that I try to avoid.

two thumbs up from me! I think it cost about $14, but a little went a very long way and with a tube of eucerin for the same price its not exactly outrageous as far as green products go.

2009- cultivating new things

welcome 2009


i don't ever remember being quite so excited at the prospect of a new year and yet three days in and i'm already about to burst at the seams with anticipcation about what could be... so much possibility. a whole year. a chance to start fresh. do what i want to do. set new goals. achieve them. and have a lot of fun along the way.


ali edwards [my favorite scrapbooker aka life artist] has a challenge each year to choose a word and let it guide you through the year. i've never actually done it. i think it scared me. it was a lot to live up to. but not this year. 2009 and i'm not afraid of a measley little word! so here it is:


cul·ti·vate:

to prepare or prepare and use for the raising of crops ; to loosen or break up the soil about (growing plants); to foster the growth of; to improve by labor, care, or study; to seek the society of : make friends with


its a wonderful word don't you think? and don't we all need to cultivate a little more in our lives?


so this year... i plan to cultivate:

• relationships: we all know they take care and attention and time. and i'm not great at paying attention to any of that. but i'm going to try. its worth it.
• a garden: believe me, i know how ridiculous that sounds. i have a black thumb. i won't even deny it. but i'm going to try. i've got some tools and a guide book care of my best friend in the whole world. she thinks i've got a shot at it (and yes, she's as crazy as me- that's why we're friends!) but that's ok :)
• art: not in the classical sense... i want to take more photos and work on the quality of the photos. i want to increase my knowledge of photography. i want to seriously look into classes of some sort and make it a priority to sign up.
• business. i am going to open an etsy store and try my hand at selling creative things online (more and more all the time i think i really just want to find a way to work for myself doing something like that and you have to start somewhere right?)
• health: i will continue my workout efforts and lose another 10 pounds by the end of 2009
• endurance- i want to learn to run... even a few miles. i can't do it now and i want to say that at least at one point in my life that i could run and do it well
• writing: bought a journal and am loving writing on a more regular basis
• blogging:i love looking back at old posts, so that should be good incentive to keep it up :) plus all the great comments i get from my loved ones who enjoy coming here to see what's going on.

so here's to 2009. hoping you all are excited for the coming year. i think its gonna be a good one!

New Year's Day 2009

Some proof of the snowfall from Wednesday’s storm. Thursday brought the sun but was still extremely cold.

Dan stayed cuddled up at home while I ventured over to Mom’s for Christmas with the Fortins and Madigans. It was a fun afternoon. We had some snacks and exchanged presents. Then ordered pizza for dinner.

Had to get some shots of Mom's beautiful Christmas Tree (one of many). How cute is Emelyn?

I think the biggest hit of the day was Emelyn’s new Hannah Montana guitar from Mom. She was rockin’ and Willy had a great time jamming along. He’ll make a good groupie someday!

Really! Does it get any more fun than this?!

Rockin in the new year!