Steph's Simple Life

My Amaryllis that my sister Stacy got me for Christmas bloomed this week!  Isn't it beautiful?  And speaking of beautiful, I took my daughter to have her Senior pictures taken this past week, we will be going to look at them tomorrow. This week should prove to be creative this week since my husband is out of town.  I'll post what I end up making/working on....since it's been a couple of weeks.

I woke up this morning about 2 am and all I could think about was making an owl.  I know it sounds silly to wake up in the middle of the night thinking about that, but I had been looking at them on Pinterest and thought I'd make one.  I didn't get up right away, because I had promised myself the next project that I was going to try from that dang Pinterest was fusing plastic shopping bags.  (I had already watched the DIY video and everything.) Finally around 2:15 a quietly went downstairs, got my stash of plastic shopping bags, sat on the kitchen floor and began cutting. First let me say, fusing bags is a huge pain in the rear, and I really wished I hadn't promised myself that was my next project.  It did give me time to clear my mind though and start thinking about my owl.   After coffee with my husband, he left for work and I went straight to work too....on making my owl. I got out the freezer p...

Mongolian Beef (at my house.) 2 tsp canola oil 1/2 tsp fresh grated  ginger 2 cloves of garlic 3/4 Cup low sodium soy sauce 3/4 Cup water 3/4 Cup brown sugar 1/4 Cup Rice Vinegar 1 tsp hot pepper flakes oil for frying (I used Canola) 1 lb thinly sliced sirloin steak 1/4 Cup cornstarch  green onions Heat the 2 tsp oil and add the garlic and ginger, then add the water and soy sauce and brown sugar.  Stir until sugar is completely dissolved.  Once dissolved, add in the Vinegar and pepper flakes...keep stirring until mixture starts to caramelize.  Remove from heat and set aside. Slice the meat and place in a plastic bag, add the cornstarch and coat. Slicing the Meat Heat Wok or frying pan and add the meat.  Cook until brown.  Remove from pan, throw out frying oil.  Put meat back into the skillet over medium heat, pour sauce over the top and add green onions.  Let simmer for about 3-5 minutes and i...

  So, a couple of months ago I was wanting to make a beef tenderloin so I started looking for recipes.  I love beef, and my husband loves beef with onions.  I finally found a recipe that I decided to try.  Please understand that when you're getting ready to spend  $70.00 on a tenderloin, you better cook it right...there are no redos!  The recipe that I tried/modified can be found at: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/446/Beef-Tenderloin-With-Five-Onio78637.shtml   I did make some changes, as with any recipe, you have to do your thing.  I use only red and white onions.  I have made this with and without Cognac, it is better with, I can't tell you why, but it is.  I also use rosemary on the tenderloin before I put it into my dutch oven (smells so good cooking).  A couple of other recommendations, use a little Kitchen Bouquet in your onions, it gives them a rich dark color. (I always use this in french onion soup too for t...

So, after a lifetime of working, I recently became a stay at home mom, however, my kids are gone or no longer require my motherly micro-management so I needed to find something to keep me busy....so I told my husband that I was going to start blogging! I was raised in a small rural area, and in a couple of years, when my other half retires, we'll be getting back to our roots.  Not that I've ever really gotten away from them, I love the simple things, a sunset, a horseback ride, a good homecooked meal, all things that I can make at my sewing machine and more than anything I love a bargain!  That's what I intend to focus on here.....we'll see how it works out!  Our future homeplace in Missouri