Winter Gardening, Bathroom Is Done, Pot Roast and Thrift Shop Finds

Winter temps have set in now in Wisconsin, We have been down in the 20's some of the nights, so the outdoor plants are totally kerput. I love my coleus because they are my favorite colors of fuschia, magenta and green.  They add color immediately to the flower beds in the spring, because the leaves are the full riot of colors. The flowers are an added plus in the later summer of pale lilac blooms on thin stems.

My coleus cuttings that I talked about in recent posts have been safely ensconced in quart canning jars to grow some roots. It only takes a few weeks and they are ready to plant.  I have been doing this since the early 1990's since my friend Connie gave them to me.  I have shared them with other friends over the years as well.

The roots were filling up the jars, 

 so it was time to plant them in the dirt! 

I used three long plastic window boxes with no weep holes in the bottoms (don't want water on my hardwood floors!) I use moisture control potting soil over a layer of pea gravel for drainage.  With careful watering all winter long, they will be ready again for next spring.  I put the trays in the south facing guest bedroom window for the best exposure.   

I smile when I put down the layers of tin foil on the old wooden tv tray tables.  Fond memories of my Grandma Kafehl putting tin foil down on her end tables before she sat down her pots of african violets and cactus plants.  Ahhh I miss her.


Steve was done with driving today around noon. He started at 5 am ...ack!  He wanted to finish up the floor in the bathroom this afternoon.  A few days ago, he spread floor leveler over the patched in area of the floor where the old tub piping had originally been.

Now that it was dry, we could cut back the old flooring, carefully tuck a new piece under the edge back under the shower pan, and lay it out to do a "double cut" for an almost imperceptible seam. Once the seam was cut, we could use some vinyl flooring tape slid underneath and press it down firmly.  The third side got tucked under the tub and the last side along the wall will be held down by the baseboard and quarter round trim.  You almost can't see on the flooring seam where the patch job took place!

Here is Steve's corner with his shower.... and my little table and antique lamp set between the shower and the tub. Don't worry, the lamp is not even plugged in, nor is there an outlet nearby.  I like it for the flavor and decor...

We mounted the lip edge of the tub now firmly to the bead board walls (now that the flooring is tucked underneath the tub)  The tub is settled securely into place anyhow with the circle shaped feet and support brace on the bottom, plus the plumbing held into place.  All we needed to do now was to attach the lip edge that is held by six little screws. Steve attached the lip edge with the screws and used these handy little screw cap covers that snap into place. Looks much nicer than an ugly screw or having to put a trim strip over it.  See the screw to the left of the corner that the cap hides the screw nicely.

I don't like big towel bars, nor do we have a lot of wall space anyhow.  We have some moveable plexi hooks that we hang towels from the shower stall when they need to dry.  But when I am in the tub, I wanted a big hook, like a robe hook, to hang my two towels on to be within easy reach as I get out of the tub.  (I need one for my hair, and one for my body).

We stopped at Hobby Lobby and found two big wrought iron hooks that would work for my idea. There was an online coupon to bring up on the phone at the checkout to get 40% off for ONE item.  The nice lady at the checkout let Steve use the coupon on my phone for his hook, and then let me use the same phone coupon for my hook.  Deal!

We hung them on each side of the window frame and they will only be used when I am actually in the tub and want my towels within reach.  The other one on Steve's side is for his towel or washcloth he uses near the sink while shaving.   Like I said, they won't be hanging there all of the time, just when in use.  Don't think we have some weird decor theme of towels used as side curtains on the windows... LOL.

Sooo there we have it done!  My birthday isn't until next week, but the tub is finished and we are happy to say it looks more balanced and fits the space well.  We had wanted to do this tub 6 years ago and didn't at that time. I am glad we did it now....   Complete with the tray, pillow and towel hooks, we are finished!

This afternoon was cool and crisp,

but sunny....   we took a walk to the post office

and stopped at the little city center park.

Yesterday I had plopped a big ol pot roast in the electric pressure cooker.  We LOVE LOVE LOVE our electric pressure cookers!  We have an 8 quart Go Wise USA cooker in the motorhome and an 11 Quart Nesco one in the house.  You can do food so fast and so flavorful in a short time.

I add an envelope of onion soup mix and a few dollops of Andria's steak sauce.  40 minutes later it is fall apart tender.  Then I add a pile of peeled potato chunks, a bag of baby carrots, and a sliced up vidalia onion.  15 more minutes on high pressure and the meal is finished!   It was sooooo good that we re-heated leftovers tonight for supper. Yummmmmmmm!

Oh, yesterday I was also on an errand, and stopped at one of my favorite thrift shops in Plymouth WI.  I saw this interesting little juice pitcher.  I picked it up two times and set it back down.  I didn't really need it.  But passed it by. Then the third time I saw it as I passed that section, I put it in my cart. It was only 79 cents, and I could not resist.  Hmmmm  Maybe for a pitcher of ice water, lemonade or iced tea while I am sitting in my tub?

The other big "bargain" I stumbled on was a huge 9 yard hunk of quilting fabric for only $7 (worth about $90) and a bunch of fat quarter bundles for only $1.29 - 1.49 a bundle.  Each one is worth about $10-12. Score!

I am working on something that I will post about in my next blog... when the time is right. But I am glad to say that family is going to be fine, and healing takes time. Thank you for your prayers and kind thoughts.

PEE NEW MOAN YA and Pressure Cooker Rice in 8 minutes -

Dang... still struggling with this flu/cold/whatever ...  been going on now for two weeks and it just don't LEAVE!   First it was like a flu, then it went into lungs and congestion, now it's in the head and sinuses.  

Okay, enough complaining.   So I called the doc and went in, sure nuff, I gots PEE NEW MOAN YA ....arggghhh.   I happen to catch almost anything bronchial since I damaged my lungs in a chemical spill in 2002.  I end up with pneumonia about once a year, sometimes twice.   So home again home again jiggety jigg with a shot, some strong antibiotics and some codeine cough syrup.  I am sure within 24-48 hours I will be feeling a lot better.    

Gotta get myself whipped into shape, Erin and Mark are leaving tomorrow night for 8 days to Cancun, so we will have the beedle bug Chelsea granddaughter here 24/7 till they come home.  Not to mention, the two rat dog chihuahuas too! 

Anyhowwwww  === Last week I whipped up some rice in the pressure cooker and decided to take some pics of how I do it and the chicken stir fry I had to go along with it.   So I will fill up the rest of the blog with that. 

First I put the bottom rack thingie in the pressure cooker, along with an inch of water.

Then I set a small metal bowl in the center of the pot, and measure in one cup of white rice

Then I pour in 2 cups of water into the rice

Put the lid and the rocker on top, turn on the burner and heat it up. 

Once the rocker starts rocking, let it simmer for 8 minutes....

In the meantime, in another frypan I am putting in a dollop of extra virgin olive oil, some garlic, some parsley and some Lawrey's seasonings.  I start heating this up while the rice is starting

Now I chop up onions, and boneless skinless chicken breasts into thin slices.  

If the breasts are still partially frozen, they cut easier.  I add a couple tablespoons of water too.

I stir fry the meat and onions and garlic, and keep stirring it and flipping it around. 

Once that is almost fully cooked through, 

now I add fresh mushrooms, and chunks of broccoli and cauliflower.  (sometimes a little more water) 

and toss the lid on the pan to steam them through.  

About now the rice is done, so I turn off the burner and carry the pressure cooker over to the sink.

I run it under cold water to release the pressure,

and the rice is done to perfection!  

One cup of  raw rice makes 2 cups of cooked rice, just enough for Steve and I.  

We scoop up rice into a bowl, and dump a ladle of the chicken and veggies on top YUUMMMMM

And this is a good quick meal to make when in the motorhome too, 

in case of a rainy icky day when we can't cook outside. 

Now I am gonna get in my flannel jammies, curl up in bed with that good book "A Cowman's Wife"  that I mentioned yesterday... and gonna take it easy and let these antibiotics take hold!  

Got too much to do to be sick, ya know?

One Month Vacation Countdown - and cooking stew in a pressure cooker

Yes... one month ... one month!   The countdown has begun!  As I look out our windows at the dreary snow, and feel the subzero temps blasting us, we know how much we will appreciate hopping in the rig and heading south and west to where it's WARM!  I think we just want to open up our lawn chairs in the desert, sit in the sunshine, turn our faces to the sun and relax!!!

Yesterday we drove to frozen Green Bay for some errands, and bought some New Balance hiking/walking shoes for our trip.  We plan to get in a lot of walking and the dogs will be enjoying it too.  We found some nice ones on sale from $70 down to $21 clearance!   They didn't have them in woman's size on the clearance, just men's.  But Steve found a pair for himself, and I thought what the heck, let me see if there was a men's pair that were small enough for me?  Sure Nuff!  So now we are sporting matching shoes!

We skipped going to the big Green Bay RV and Camper show this weekend.  It was held indoors and they charge $8 a person to enter the building. We know of the two local dealers, only one carries motorhomes, and he only had 2 on the lot all winter. Our friends Sharon and Fred went, and said there wasn't much to see anyhow.  Just lots of booths of private parks that we never go to anyhow. So we saved our money.



Last week I posted about using my pressure cookers in the house and in the motorhome.  I have a larger one in the house and a smaller one in the motorhome.   Note-- this is not the big canning pressure cookers with the dials and levers.   This is a smaller stove top version for cooking foods faster and seals in the flavor better than conventional cooking in a kettle.

The one in the pics below came from a tenant of mine. He was an older man who was moving to Nevada, and I helped him sell off a lot of his antique furniture and things before he left.  One of the items he gave to me was this pressure cooker, complete with the old original recipe book that was printed by the company, Presto.  I know new ones in the stores run upwards of $70-80 ... so keep an eye out at thrift shops or rummages for a more reasonable priced one.  You can get replacement gaskets and rocker weights in many hardware stores or online.   The smaller one in the rig came from a rummage sale for $2.

We use them a lot, and it makes cooking easier and faster, in my opinion.  So while I was making beef stew this week, I snapped a few pics for my blog.   I timed myself ... it took 28 minutes from beginning to end!

First, I browned up some tenderloin chunks of meat 

in the bottom of the pan with a bit of water and spices. 

While that was browning, Steveio peeled the taters and carrots. 

I gathered garlic, mushrooms (I was outta fresh so used canned) 

and 2 packets of gravy mix. You could use jars of gravy too.

That purple thing is a plastic onion holder that I just LOVE.. 

keeps half cut up onions in the fridge without them stinking up the other foods. 

Once the meat was browned, I tossed in the carrots, 

onions and shrooms and about 2 cups of water

Stick on the lid, turn the burner on Med-Hi and set the rocker weight in place

12 minutes of psssh psssh psssh rocking on top.

While that was cooking, I chunked up the potatoes 

and mixed up the gravy mixes with 2 cups of cold water

(see that small wire whisk?  World's Best Invention as far as I am concerned) 

gathered the spices and a dollop of steak sauce too.....

When the 12 minutes were up, I set the pressure cooker under cold running water in the sink....

the pressure lets out and then I can open the lid

I dumped in the gravy, the spices and the potatoes, and the dollop of steak sauce.  

Stir it up and I set it to cooking for 8 more minutes. 

(if you add the potatoes at the beginning, they get too soft and mushy)

Take it off again, cool under the water in the sink... and open up for 

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

The house smells soooooooooooooo good after making stew!   And sometimes I add to that a loaf of home baked bread from the bread machine.  Now that is a double whammy on making the house smell extra special!


Last night I made up rice in the pressure cooker, (7 minutes to fluffy perfection) and took pics but they are still in the camera... will save them for a future blog post when I have nothing else to write about.