Sunday Dinner

This was too good to put in the recipe box.

Erin's Sunday Dinner

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1 lb pork stew meat
2 medium-large carrots
2 medium ears sweet corn
2 large cloves garlic
1/2 tube of cracker of choice
1 egg, any size
2 generous Tbl (tablespoons) Za'atar seasoning
1 box veggie broth
1 box beef or chicken broth (with another box in reserve)
tomato paste
1 cup chopped cabbage (any variety you like)
salt and pepper to taste
ground sage to taste

         

           First cut the chunks of stew meat into smaller chunks, season if you like and set aside.

 
   Meatballs:

              Put the ground beef in a bowl with the crackers (crushed or pulverized in food processor), egg (scramble the egg first), Za'atar, Sage, 1/2 a clove of garlic (grated or chopped), half of 1 onion (chopped finely or grated). Mix it all together well and form into balls about nickel sized.

        Soup:

                In a large soup pot, over medium/high heat, sauté the rest of the chopped onion and grated or chopped garlic in butter while you chop the carrots and set them aside. put in the broth, except the reserved box, and the tomato paste. Stir together well and get it to steam before you gently drop the meatballs in one at a time. Stir gently and let heat a couple minutes then add the stew meat, gently so you don't break the meatballs.
               Cut the corn from the cob and add to soup, stir gently. Chop potatoes to no bigger than a quarter and add to soup. Add chopped cabbage and stir. 

           Bring to a boil then turn down to medium heat or just under medium heat and taste broth before you add salt and pepper.

           Simmer until the veggies and the meat are both done.

    
   I had a broth base from green beans and ham, then from cabbage rolls with the tomato put in, then added some veggie broth to have enough liquid to cook the soup. All the veggies were from our garden or from a friends garden.

    We had fresh home-made bread to eat with this soup.

 

Absurd, Scary and Sad

http://www.campusreform.org/blog/?ID=4872- students sign petition for 4th trimester abortions


         This man is seriously scary. There is no such thing as a "fourth trimester". Tri means 3. Not only does it mean 3 but a pregnancy trimester is one part of 3 measured lengths of time in a pregnancy that each have 3 months in them. The fact that this man told these women (that's right- women) who signed it that it was an abortion in the fourth trimester and deliberately told one it wouldn't hurt the baby because it was an abortion is infuriating! What's worse is that these were college age women who didn't look at him and say that once a baby is born the woman is no longer pregnant so that his petition was for murder of a person. Not just murder of a person, INFANTICIDE!!!!!  This man is petitioning murder of your child!


This man needs brought up on charges of conspiracy to commit murder. That's what he was doing. Misleading women (sadly without a thought in there heads to call their own) to commit murder. A petition doesn't make what he did legal.


http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/07/24/Military-Censors-Christian-Chaplain-Atheists-Call-for-Punishment


        So...these atheists are spouting hate speech against a chaplain (military Christian minister) for doing what he's supposed to do, and they want him to be the one punished? They should be the ones punished for what they have done. Not only did they infringe on his rights they impeded his job in the military. You know, that thing he gets paid for. Maybe they should just disband this MRFF organization for hate speech since they clearly don't know what it actually is.
        Once again the person at the head of the organization is using big buzz words to hide his hatred of something in political rhetoric. Seriously getting tired of this BS. He sounds like a gender feminist ranting about "patriarchy in the home" and "womens oppression under the male hierarchy in family life".  (Jeez i'm tired of hearing that)   So whatever professor brain washed him needs slapped and he needs to spend some time in that foxhole getting shot before he decides that chaplain is wrong. If he does that, he may just decide those "fundamentalist monsters" in the "reign of theocratic terror aren't spouting "spiritual rape" and aren't "enemies of the constitution" and are not commiting an act of "sedition and treason".  Those last quotes are taken from the 10th paragraph of the article in the link above. Don't believe me? Read it yourself.


http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/chris-christie-rand-paul-2016-election-94789.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/07/25/christie-goes-after-libertarians-hard/

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/26/rand-paul-chris-christie-you-need-talk-more-real-a/


        Oh! At a forum in Aspen! How much did that cost the taxpayers? Sad to day my own state governor was there. Guess we paid a pretty penny for him, too.
        Well, I knew our officials were out of touch, but Mr.Christie is really out there. We are not about to forget 9/11. It's my generations Pearl Harbor. So i'd just like to say this about his statements at that forum: Get you head out of your a##!!!!  If it weren't for officials like you over the last 20 years we wouldn't be in the whole we are in. The whole reason the Libertarians are being elected is because they are actual statesmen and patriots for this country and that's what we need. Seriously, the only thing dangerous about them is that one could end up with your job and you don't like that. If you are that worried about it, Do what you were elected to do and stop kissing butts in Washington.


           I'm sorry, I have no more patients for BS right now. Maybe it's hormones, or maybe i'm just fed up with it all. I just couldn't end up talking about the news again today with my husband with out getting some of this off my chest at some point.


           I am a woman after all. What do I know?  :)






 

curiosity killed the cat

Monster High

        So my niece likes Monster High. A whole slew of items that are just there so sell things to little girls. Books, cartoons, costumes, make-up, dolls, accessories (not just for the dolls). Yes, I know toy companies have been doing that since I was a kid (80's and 90's). Barbie is one of the worst.

        However, in curious interest as to what she was into, I read one of her books. It happened to be the first book in a series that she has 2 more of (she told me). It's terrible!  All the girls where big, expensive name brands. It even names big magazines like Seventeen and Cosmogirl  as things any normal teenager reads. Yours truly did read a couple of the teen magazines a teenager. They were terrible. It doesn't even matter what they have in them now, they are still going to be bad for a healthy mind. They will still tell you what to buy, how to wear your make-up, and how to act for people to think you are attractive and cool. They claim to be about against the norm and being yourself but in actuality they playing on catch fraises to lure the consumer in.

     The cartoon is worse. All the girls are tiny, overly made up, bent legged(seriously look it up on youtube they are deformed in the leg) Barbie dolls made to look like monsters. All the girls wear sky high heels and lots of make-up, and go around exacting revenge on each other for trivial matters that they won't even care about in a week.  It's worse than the book.

    The childrens costumes that I saw last Halloween (*sigh* yes my niece had one, her daddy not real happy) were not appropriate for children. It even got into teen costumes. They were even less appropriate. It was scary.

      Now here's the biggest deal about it.  My sister thinks it's better than Barbie because she thinks her daughter won't want to look like the dolls. Too late. She thinks they look great, she eants to dress like them ( 7 inch heels y'all) and when they let her watch the webtoons she would talk like them.

     So let's really think about the effect those toys, books and cartoons are really having on the young mind shall we? Before you get that hot item in the store or online, think about what it's really telling your kids.

Alone with my thoughts... again.


           Well, my brain has done it again. I was left alone with my thoughts while preparing dinner and  they once again turn to the drama that goes on in the family. I don't like drama, but I do think about the things that cause the drama ( usually my problems is my younger sister or my dad..sorry dad). I try to come up with solutions for the drama that doesn't involve me kicking someones behind, especially now that i'm expecting. That's just not healthy.

           The only conclusion that I can come to is to get to the root of the problem. Since that won't happen with dad (he's old and set in his ways) that leaves younger sister. So how to get to the root of that problem.       Really. How?

           What I've determined with the current problem is, regardless of dads feelings on it, that she is of an age where she is wholly responsible for her own actions. So he's off the hook for any latent parental guilt.
           The other is that, after some conversations with her, things I've overheard (not on purpose), and things that have been told to me, it is clear she is not happy with herself. It is also clear she does not value men. From what I can tell she may not even know why (dad don't comment, she did have good examples).
           Now, it's no secret that I don't like or trust her current boyfriend. However, knowing how she treats men and how their relationship started, I don't think he deserves for her to treat him like a tool. regardless of the fact we think he's the type to hit her and her children or worse, it looks like she started out looking for a man to give her somewhere to go. So in the long run of thought processes in my head I have come to this conclusion for all the women like her and the ones too young to have been told this:
         
            If she truly loves him like she says she does then there is no logical reason to treat him like a tool.
            That's right. Even if a man is in fact the kind to be a tool, the woman who says "I love you"  should not treat him like one. A woman should treat her man with respect, even if she refuses to look at why he would deserve it, she should still do it. It is important.
           I also truly feel that if a woman cannot bring herself to respect any man then she should not have one. Not in any capacity.  Ever.
          I say this because I see too much of it. Men are not there to be a baby daddy that you get money from. They aren't there to hold on a pedestal and treat you like a princess. They are there to provide for the family and protect the women and children.
          Men's sole purpose for millennia is for them to provide food (or income once money was invented) , shelter with said monies, and fight off the brigands and evil doers. That is how they are hard wired. Plain and simple. That's why they can't trust you with that guy you slept with once. That's why they don't trust other men around their woman. That's also why they are so protective and watchful of who is around their offspring. That's their child and they won't let anyone hurt them.
           So if you are a woman who can't respect the hard work and dedication and constant stress a  man is under just for you, don't bother even sleeping with one.  Be  celibate. Because it's women like you who make the rest of us look bad and make men suffer for having a Y chromosome instead XX.

           I sincerely hope this wasn't too out there for you dear reader.

Home Schooling

       So, i'm a homeschooling stay at home mom. It's really interesting to do this because you get a very clear look at what your child is weak in, and what they are strong in. My child is strong in phonics and weak in math. science is interesting to her and Art is fun ( unfortunately she has no artistic bone in her body). Language is....challenging because we go to the library for our literature material. She likes to get books, but prefers to play on the computer while I pick out the books she likes and those on the list.

       However, knowing her strengths and weaknesses makes it easier to spend that extra time on where she needs it. Something she wouldn't get in a classroom with 30 other kids. The teacher might not even tell me she needs the help.

         Field trips are easier. So are sick days, mine and hers. If she gets sick I don't have to take her to the doctor unless it's necessary, and I don't have to call the school.

    Books are a cinch. I went to her curriculum website and looked them up. I was able to order them from another site for half of what I would normally pay. The site also provides the lesson plans and enrollment. You pay the enrollment, and for each lesson plan and they mail it to you.

     Homeschooling is easer than I thought. It's also fun and the kids really enjoy that one on one time they get with you, and profit from the one on one teaching. You can change approach for the needs of the child instead of the needs of the group.