Ahhh...long weekends do a body good

Well, it's back to work for me. I thoroughly enjoyed my day off yesterday and got some errands done. I went and ordered new eyeglasses...I can't wait to get them. They're a cool funky frame. :-) I also picked up the decorative shelves from Target that I've been wanting to get for a while...I still have decorative tiles Shooter got me for Christmas that need to be hung, I was waiting on the shelves to do it...Shooter's waiting on us to get a new TV. I'm hoping that regardless, I'll have it all up by the end of the year. ;-)

I did some grocery shopping and made dinner. I was so industrious. :-)

I made beef strogonoff last night for dinner. It was heavenly and absolutely called for with the cold weather that has come in. Well, okay....it's cold for us!!! Here's the recipe, I don't have any pictures unfortunately.

Beef Strogonoff

1.5 lbs stew meat
4-5 tbs flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 can beef consomme
3/4 can water
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 oz sour cream
2 small cans sliced mushrooms
egg noodles, cooked

I usually take my stew meat and go through it, discarding the tougher looking pieces. I'll also cut the big chunks into smaller pieces so all the cubes are about the same size. Toss the meat with the flour, salt and pepper and coat the meat well. In a heavy bottom pot, I use a cast iron dutch oven, add a couple of tablespoons of oil to the very hot pot. Add one layer of meat, be careful not to crowd it too much - you want the meat to get good and brown. Turn the meat over to brown on the other side, should take about two min per side. Repeat in batches until you have all the meat browned (not cooked through, just browned). Return all meat to the pot and then add the beef consomme and then 3/4 of the soup can of water. That should just about cover the meat. Cover and simmer for 1.5-2 hours. After you've let it simmer, add in the cream of mushroom soup, sour cream and mushrooms. Watch this carefully, you do not want it to boil - simmer is okay. Mine was a little runnier than I wanted so if this happens to you, take some of the sauce and add in a couple tablespoons of flour, stir it well and then add to the pot. Stir everything up nicely and let it come to a simmer. That should make a good thick gravy for your egg noddles.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Oh...and Morey's doing much better. We fed them last night and both pups did okay. They're do for their annual checkups here soon, so I guess we'll have the vet give him a good once over.