Turkey Yumbo ( I mean gumbo)

I'm trying this gumbo Saturday. I'm going to not use the corn and will probably use ground up cauliflower in lieu of the rice. Sounds delish.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 (16-ounce) package frozen bell pepper strips
1 (6-ounce) package frozen cut okra
1 cup frozen corn
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with their liquid
1 turkey leg (about 1 pound), skin removed
1 cup cooked brown rice
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste

Method

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add peppers, okra, corn and tomatoes and stir well. Nestle turkey leg in pot and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until turkey falls easily off of the bone, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove turkey leg, discard bone and then shred meat and return to pot. Stir in rice, salt, pepper and hot sauce and cook about 10 minutes more.

Sign of our times

My friend Lisa emailed this to me this morning, I couldn't agree more! The ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER This one is a little different.... Two Different Versions ... Two Different Morals OLD VERSION The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold. MORAL OF THE OLD STORY: Be responsible for yourself! -------------------------------------------------------------- MODERN VERSION The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving. CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green...' Occupy the Anthill stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the SEIU group singing, We shall overcome. Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray for the grasshopper's sake,

while he damns the ants.

President Obama condemns the ant
and blames
President Bush 43, President Bush 41, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the
Pope
for the grasshopper's
plight.

Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid
exclaim in an interview with Larry
King that the ant has
gotten rich off the back of the
grasshopper,
and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts
the Economic Equity &
Anti-Grasshopper Act
retroactive to the beginning of
the summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number
of green bugs and,
having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar
and given to the grasshopper.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper
and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall,

just happens to be the ant's old house,
crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken
over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and peaceful, neighborhood.

The entire Nation collapses
bringing the rest
of the free world with it.


MORAL OF THE STORY:


Be careful how you vote in 2012.

Happy Anniversary Danny Mac

Danny and Amy....22 years ago

I feel so lucky to have married such an awesome husband.  He's so handsome inside and out and by far the most generous person I've ever met.  He's totally supportive of me in all aspects of my life, but he will be the first to tell me when  I  need to slow down.  And the  most important thing  is he gets me and my silly sense of humor.  He is almost as funny as me, and has a way of making  me laugh at the weirdest things.

We have a rare unconditional sort of love, that I adore.  We fight over the couch and frustrate one another on occasion, but I honestly can't think of the last time we went to bed angry.  I'm so glad we have each other to share wonderful children and life's great experiences.

I love you, Danny.

Maybe I *AM* a sailor

Well, it's barely 1 PM and I've already deposited 5 dollars in the cursing jar. This is going to be a very long 40 days of lent. It's just so subconscious at this point, It has to get better .....I hope. That or I'm going to be able to pay for our entire vacation with my contents of my cursing jar.  :)

Paleo Beef Stew

Beef stew was what was for supper last night.  I cooked it in a crock pot on low for 6 hours and served it on a bed of steamed broccoli.  Huge hit at the McEver house.

2 pounds of cubed stew meat
3 diced carrots
2 celery stalks
1/2 sliced onion ( I used spring onions)
2 TBSP tapioca
1 can beef broth
Salt
Pepper

 Use any deep, oven-safe dish with a lid (dutch oven, casserole, etc.). Put 1 pound of cubed stew meat, 3 diced carrots, 2 sliced celery stalks, 1/2 sliced onion, 2 TBSP tapioca and 1 can of beef broth and salt/pepper in the dish together and mix well. Cover. Put in a 250 degree oven for five hours.  ENJOY!

Fat Tuesday

 

It's Fat Tuesday already?  Where does time go?  I've always loved this day, I generally treat it as my day of excess.  Yummy food, maybe a drink or two and some revelry!  In the past, I've given up chocolate, cheese, bread, and other of my favorite foods.

This year however, since we have already changed our food habit so dramatically there is really nothing "naughty" to give up.  I am going to try to give up the only thing I find to be a luxury these days....Peanut butter.  I'll stick with almond butter throughout the Lent season, it isn't quite as good and a little more $$ but I think it will take care of the craving.

The other bad habit I have in my life is cursing. Driving to and from Atlanta has given me quite a sailor's vocabulary.  I'm not proud of it, and if I don't watch it, Coops is going to be cursing up a storm by the time he's 8.  So Danny and I are both giving up our foul language for Lent and hopefully forever.  We are doing a dollar jar for incentive.  I told Danny to curse like mad today, I may join in with him!

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Shrimp and Bacon Slaw Recipe

Made this last night supper. Danny and I both enjoyed it, though I might go a little easier on the garlic next go around. Perfect to take to a get together or paired with some yummy veggies.


Ingredients for Shrimp:

• 1-2 Pounds of wild caught uncooked peeled shrimp
• 4 pieces of uncooked bacon
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1-2 tsp smoked paprika, add according to taste
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Slaw Ingredients:

• 1/2 head green cabbage shredded
• 1/4 cup shredded carrots
• 2/3 cup of chopped celery
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
• 1 lime

Place all the slaw ingredients except the lime in a large bowl (if you are taking this somewhere, be sure to put your slaw ingredients in the bowl you plan to use) and mix ingredients well. Set aside. Then in another bowl, toss the shrimp in the olive oil, paprika, garlic, and salt & pepper. Preheat a large nonstick pan on medium heat. Saute shrimp till they are cooked (pink) and place on top of slaw along with the remaining olive oil mixture that is left in the pan. Then cook the bacon in the same pan (add a little more olive oil if necessary) until crispy. Once bacon is cooked, remove from pan and chop up. Place the bacon with the shrimp on the slaw and mix well. Squeeze lime on top, mix, squeeze, and mix well. Enjoy!