Not the Most Productive Tuesday

Neither John nor I are feeling particularly well today. I felt tired and buzzy-headed enough to decide what I needed to do was stretch out on the couch and watch "Anne of Green Gables." That definitely improved my outlook on life. John is having some stomach troubles.

Actually the morning was quite nice, before the "yuckies" hit. We had our final installment of our Beth Moore Bible study at church, followed by a lasagna luncheon. I brought my Creamy Pea Salad, of course.

Phillip did some amazing things today. While John was at work, Phillip took it on himself to finish a job that John had started. John has been moving his "office" from our bedroom to the basement, and he ended last night with his upstairs desk only partially moved and re-assembled downstairs. Phillip decided on his own to go get the remaining parts from upstairs, bring them to the basement, and assemble them (including putting in the screws with an electric screwdriver). He even hooked up some electronics. We were very impressed and pleased.

The kids are all still happy with their new sleeping arrangements. For those who don't know, since Nathanael has a broken foot, we of course don't want him to have to climb up and down the ladder to his top bunk. So he has moved out of his bedroom into Andrew's room, and Andrew has moved into the other room with Phillip and has taken over the top bunk. It may turn out to be a permanent arrangement, which makes sense to me.

No further attempts have been made to rescue the monkey. Stay tuned.

I just got a rather remarkable narrative from Andrew. Because of the dangers of nuclear power, Andrew has come up with a unique new method of powering his own aircraft carrier. Nathanael says that it works in the same way as nuclear power except...it runs off of Werther's Caramel candies. Andrew explains: "The Werther's are contained in a canister. They are evaporated, turn into steam, heat up pressurized water that goes through a heat exchanger; that heated water makes the Werther's float to a giant spinning blade, chopping them up into triangular pieces. Enough pieces are put into one thing that it turns into a turbine that spins around and gives the ship the power. Now, the extra steam runs the catapults on the ship. And whenever there's extra steam, a plane on either side of the carrier's flight deck takes off." Oh, to have such an imagination!

Tonight's dinner was Garlic Beef Stroganoff. I'll post the recipe. But wait, there's more! I'll throw in the Creamy Pea Salad recipe as an added bonus if you call right now!

Garlic Beef Stroganoff

2 teaspoon beef bouillon granules
1 cup Water; boiling
1 can cream of mushroom soup; undiluted
2 jar mushroom; drained
1 large onion; chopped
3 clove garlic; minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 lb round steak (boneless); cut into thin strips
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 oz Cream Cheese; cubed
1 to taste noodles; cooked

In a slow cooker, dissolve bouillon in water. Add soup, mushrooms, onion,
garlic, and Worcestershire. In a skillet, brown beef in oil. Transfer to
the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until the meat is
tender. Stir in cream cheese until smooth. Serve over noodles.

Creamy Pea Salad

Note: Use triple this amount for potlucks and the like.

16 oz frozen peas; thawed, uncooked
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1 tablespoon instant minced onion; reconstituted
1/2 cup miracle whip (The original recipe called for Mayonnaise)
1 to taste salt
1 to taste pepper
2 strips bacon; cooked and crumbled (actually, I use Bacon Bits, and I mix them in right along with everything else.)

In a bowl, combine the peas, cheeses, onion, miracle whip, salt and pepper;
mix well. Refrigerate until serving. Sprinkle with bacon.