Veg-eh-tableeeh Beef Soup & Kitchen Sink Convo

Today we are having a snow day and it has been all you can hope for one to be. School was cancelled, I took a day from work, made soup and spent the day with my sweetest & only offspring. She really hits me in the heart, that one. Such a pesky tween at times..such a pookie sweetie pie at others. It's like a fun game of " Who In This House Is In What Mood." It's a pretty fun game.

Mostly.

I wanted to share my Veggie Beef soup recipe wit ya because it's not like you can't just Google it yourself. Plus..  I took a picture of my hand holding carrots and I though it was semi - artistic.

See:

Veggie Beef Soup:

1 lb. Diced steak pieces or stew meat

1/2 lb. Lean ground beef

1 28oz. Can of crushed tomatoes

1 16oz can of petite (oh, we fancy..huh?) tomatoes

2 cans kitchen cut green beans

2 zuccinini, sliced

1 sweet onion, diced finely

2 stalks of celery

4 carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal (still bein' fancy)

3 yellow potatoes, diced in cubes all the same size

1 carton or a few cans of beef stock, any brand!

2 cups of aqua

salt n pepp or your favorite seasoning to taste!

The rules of this soup:

Brown the steak or stew meat & ground beef with the diced onion. Once it's allll good, add beef stock, crushed tomatoes, petite (fancy) diced tomatoes, and season. Bring to a slow simmer and add allllll veggies and the rest of the ingredients! Let them chill together until all are tender & totes BFFs. 

This is the GOOD stuff. Serve with crusty bread or if carbs are the devil for ya, just watch others eat crusty bread with their portion! Jus' kiddin'!!

As I was telling you before, we had a snow day today. Like everyone else! We spent ours defrosting a tiny pipe to the water well with a blow dryer, braving the grocery store and catching up on laundry and chores. I find as much as I stand at the kitchen sink to do dishes, this is turning out to be where some of the most fruitful discussions in this family come out. Today, this pookie tween helped me dry and we waxed over Meghan Trainor, mascara and dried on egg. It blessed my heart to talk about things that are important to her in this season and to talk about the importance of rinsing dishes so mommy doesn't have to scrub dried egg off plates because it gets her real cranky. She talked about wanting to grow up and move to Hawaii which isn't going to work. She'll be to far away and I don't know about her, but I'll always always need her kitchen sink conversation. 

Stay Warm! 

Loretty

The other night I checked one off the ol' bucket list and saw The Queen of Country, Loretta Lynn! She came to visit in our town and I was beside myself with excitement! I really love classic country and just the era in general! Time is slipping by, we've lost so many greats! There is nothing on Earth quite like live country music. Guitars, banjos, fiddles, steel guitars..it's a twang that long long ago set up shop in my psyche. Can't get enough.

We arrived after a run by Rosa's-ing (we was hangry) I ate grilled chicken, it was good... and settled into our seats! Soon enough, Miss Loretta emerged like an angel in one of her billowing trademark gowns, sparkling like the sun! I've never seen a dress glitter so much! OF course, it was everything and I wanted to borrow it. Borrow it to work in my oilfield office and run my tween around.

Practical.

She was her sweetest, fiestiest Loretta self and charming! Her voice is still beautiful and strong! She sang all the faves and a few Gospel hymns. She even sang a Patsy Cline which had us swooning, like woah. It was a beautiful evening with the cutest husband I know of. He even put on his cowboy hat for the occasion aaannnddd hiney tingles. I only had two mishaps which need to be documented to keep me humble. I wore the prettiest flowy bouffant skirt thing with cowboy boots and well...it kept getting stuck in the crease of my Spanx panty band. I wanted to go to the merch table real bad but thought I better stay put as to avoid any indecency. The need to get to the merch table got real pesky so I went. I scored two screen print tees and a pink Loretta Koozie. Of course. When one is at a concert, any concert, you must purchase a Koozie emblazoned with the star's name & likeness. I don't have a reason why (since I don't drink much at all), just...go ahead and do it. I scooped up my stash and made my way back to the auditorium. It was an interesting set up as it were, the ushers were guiding people by blinding flash lights and red lights on their wrists. It was a little dizzying which spells trouble for some of us. I found my row (W) and started down the aisle of people who were plenty done with people "starting down the aisle". Sorry aisle mates. Sorry forever. I got mid ways and there was a lady with pointy boots that stuck into the aisle even with attempts to tuck her feet under her seat while I passed.

Well.

I was wearing pointy boots to.

 Our boots met, tangled and I basically crashed into her like a defensive tackle. After the chaos of the landing in her lap, we summed it up that we were both at fault and smiled politely at each other. I'm so thankful for people who will let you tackle them and then smile politely. It is all that is right with the world. So..like I said, two instances that remind me that much like Loretta's Legacy in country music, it's important to be YOU because there is truly only one and you never know where it'll get you to! Loretta started out picking a guitar and singing her babies to sleep. She has never changed for anyone, honed her talent, stayed polite and worked her tail off. What an incredible influence she's been in my life. A beautiful example of loving when it's hard to love and staying humble. And pretty dresses <3