Baked Potato Wedges with Sweet Potato Option

Preheat oven to 400°F




The really good thing about this recipe is the easy clean up.  However, I need to keep the instructions close at hand so here we are again at the catch all blog I use for this stuff.

Use Yukon Gold Potatoes, these are a good waxy potato, and will hold together for the process. Russets are good also, but are more likely to fall apart.  Cut them into wedges of like sizes but not more than 1/2 bases.

Place in a plastic bag and put one (1) tablespoon of oil in bag, I just eyeball it.  Squish the oil over the potatoes to coat.

Add salt or your favorite seasoning, I've tried Mrs. Dash, as salt is not my friend and Forward from Penzy's.  Both of these were really good for that.  Yummmmy

Place in a  400°F for 20 minute turn on the broiler, and cook for 5 minutes or until golden brown.

Change ups:

-Try Italian seasoning
-Try Sweet Potatoes back at 425°F for 30 minutes, then broil as above.

Savory Beef Tenderloin

Ingredients:

3/4 pound Beef Tenderloin

2 tsp. chopped fresh or 1/2 tsp dry marjoram leaves

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp coarsely ground pepper

1 Tbsp margarine

1 small onion, thinly sliced

3/4 cup beef broth

1/4 cup dry red wine

1 Tbsp cornstarch

Procedure:

Trim fat from beef. Cut beef into four 3/4 inch slices. Mix marjoram, sugar, pepper, and rub on both sides of beef slices.

Melt margarine in 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Cook beef in margarine 4-5 minutes on each side, turning once, until brown and done to your preference (my case medium). Remove beef to platter :keep warm. I throw mine in a microwave, in which I have warmed some water for tea; it's nice and warm.

Cook onions in drippings in 10 inch skillet over medium heat about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions is crisp-tender. Mix broth, wine: pour into skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Pour over beef.

Salt is not needed as the broth has plenty, and the sugar and herbs give it a marvelous flavor.

Tips:

·         Fresh marjoram is the best.

·         Cast iron skillet is the bomb

·         I've heard some friends say they used nonalcoholic wine, but I just can't bring myself to do that.

·         This is such a great taste, that I don't miss the grill for the winter

·         I buy a whole tenderloin and dress it out myself.  I get lots of stew meat, but it is so much nicer.

Nutritional Information: 4 Servings

·         180 calories, of which 80 calories is fat

·         9g fat

·         3g saturated

·         50 mg Cholesterol

·         200mg Sodium

·         7g carbs

·         1g fiber

·         20g Protein

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I needed a storage place for this vital information on nutrient deficiency symptoms in my garden. It has been extremely helpful to me, and I thought it would be helpful to others.

Nutrient	Function	Deficiency symptoms	Sources
Nitrogen (N)	Required for all phases of growth and development	Lower leaves light green or yellowish; stalk short & slender, plant is stunted.	Blood meal, composted poultry manure, feather meal, worm castings.
Phosphorus (P)	Strengthens stems, helps in resistance to pests and diseases, fruiting and flowering	Lower leaves and stem are reddish; upper leaves are dull, pale or dar green, plants stunted; failure to flower or produce fruit, premature dropping of fruit.	Bone meal & rock phosphate (slow release), colloidal (soft) rock phosphate, fish meal, fish hydrolysate - Other sources
Potassium (K)	Required for formation of all sugars, starches and proteins; contributes to cold-hardiness; root development.	Lower leaves spotted with dead tissue (usually at tips and between veins), mottled or curled; underdeveloped roots, stem tissue may appear weak	Composted manure, wood chips, greensand, seaweed (kelp), wood ashes (use with caution). Beware of excess K
Calcium (Ca)	Required for cell growth and division, helps plants use nitrogen	Tip burn on lettuce, blossom-end rot in pepper and tomatoes, development of thick woody stems. Young leaves of terminal bud hooded. Die back at tips and margins of leaf	Bone meal, gypsum, lime, ground oyster shells. Soluble Ca may be helpful during growth. More
Sulfur (S)	Constituent of protein and certain vitamin complexes.	New leaves are yellowish. Veins and tissue between veins are light green.	Composted manure, gypsum, Sul-Po-Mag.
Magnesium (Mg)	Constituent of chlorophyll; required for enzyme action.	Whitish patches appear first on older leaves, between leaf veins due to insufficient chlorophyll (chlorosis). Leaf tips & margins turned or cupped upward	Dolomitic limestone, Sul-Po-Mag, Epsom salts
Boron		Young leave of terminal bud are light green at the base, the bud eventually dies. Hollow stems	Boric acid
Iron (Fe)	Often caused by alkaline soil	Leaf veins green, rest of leave yellow (chlorotic), stalks short & slender, yellow leaves on upper parts of plants, poor growth of new shoots	Acidify soil if too alkaline, Greensand, manure
Copper (Cu)		Slow growth, died-back of shoot tips, spotty or marked chlorosis	Grass clippings, sawdust, wood shavings
Manganese (Mg)		Slow growth, sporodic maturing of plants, yellowing of areas between leaf veins, spots of dead tissue scattered over leaf	Add organic matter to correct pH
Selenium (Se)		deficiency rare	Manure
Zinc (Zn)		Leaves abnormally long and narrow, turning yellow or spotting; thick leaves; stalks with shortened internodes	Manure, rock phosphate

Adapted from Organic Gardening archives at http://www.organicgardening.com/
Pictures of nutrient deficiencies
Deficiencies in tomatoes http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/Garden/02949.html
Deficiencies in tomatoes http://4e.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=3&id=289   X   Y   Z
Color pictures of mineral deficiencies in plants  http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/min-def/list.htm
http://www.ehow.com/info_8203173_symptoms-nutrient-deficiency-bell-peppers.html
Guide to Nutrient Deficiencies in Your Vegetable Garden http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=57

Blossom end rot discussion http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pepper/msg061225038414.html 

Shenpa-Revised

Shenpa is a Tibetan word for hook. It is that rising, clenching feeling I get in my gut when something has risen to my consciousness, and my mind ruminates on that thing, until the situation jerks the hook and I'm caught. My mind rolls it over in my head, and generally my mind is screaming one of these negative phrases.  1) What the hell were/are they thinking, 2) That is just so unfair. This is a major, big hook for me. 3) There is no possible way that this could be true, yet it is.  My knee jerks up, and I'm off to the races. I generally throw a fit on Facebook, which actually gets support and further fuels my angst. HALT!!!

The only REAL thing that I can do that will improve any bad situation is to work on my own negative reactions and actions. To that end I will always deal fairly with everyone. I will recognize the moment of tightening just before the hook is set, and relax into the feeling, and watch it as it passes. 

My negative reactions do more to maintain the tension, than to ease it. My angst at these situations raises the world's negative energy level. What I can most successfully do to change this moment is to relax, let it pass naturally, and then raise my energy level to a more positive vibration. This practice will raise the energy level of the whole world.

If you think that your energy does not matter, as you are only one person, you're wrong. You may be one person, but you have a sphere of other people that you interface with who will be affected by your energy, which will also raise their vibration level. This is an exponential process. One person can do a lot; unfortunately, this goes in both directions. 

One must recognize the shenpa that threatens to dissolve your peace of mind. Relax, and steady ourselves in the moment, and raise your energy vibration when the shenpa passes.

Recognize the Illusion,

Namaste

Pictures Galore

The title says it all.

Gonna Share these with the family.

A Memorial Day Tribute to My Dad

My father served in WWII, and was in the 12th Armored Tank Division. He drove a tank until they figured out that he could cook. This brought him a lot of interesting stories and recipes that he shared with us. He was late going to war, as he was 28 years old which made him too old unless things got really bad. Needless to say they did. He was 32 when he was released from the army, which was at the end of the war.

The pictures are of my father in his uniform, which was taken at Camp Campbell in Kentucky.  My mother got this picture taken to send to him. However, she and a friend of hers would drive down to Camp Campbell to visit her husband and dad, as they were both stationed there.

Mom managed Wilson's Sandwich Shop in Findlay, Ohio so dad would have the job when he came back from overseas. This was a really difficult time for her, and many of the wives that also worked at Wilson's to make ends meet.

I will post more on this area, as I find the time to do so. I can't seem to locate all the pictures that I scanned to make an album for mom, but will find the eventually.

Thank you to all veterans, and current men in uniform.

A Course In Miracles-My Take on It--General

This is my first thoughts on the ACIM. I am still in the process of getting it straight. It is terrible rewarding, and destroys all illusion and fear. I do now know what I am, and that in itself diminishes all fear. Death was my biggest fear, but since this world is only an illusion, and that which I am can never be destroyed what is left to fear. Death is merely the shedding of a useless carcass, but what I am goes on for eternity.

Many more thoughts will be forthcoming as I progress down this path.

Love to all, in the truest sense of the word,
Namaste

I am that I am