QUICK Week Night Meal: Pepper Steak

I'm going to see how simple it is to post pics and run through a recipe. I encounter a lot of people who are intimidated by the prospect of cooking. It can be daunting, if you've never really been one to "throw down" in the kitchen. It doesn't have to be overwhelming. You just need some simple go-to recipes and a few handy techniques that can be used over and over and OVER again...until you get comfortable enough to buy a cook book and ACTUALLY USE the recipes found inside. (smile)

I'm starting with this recipe because this is what I actually made for dinner, tonight. I bought the beef on sale and I had left over Bell peppers and I ALWAYS have ONIONS, GARLIC, FLOUR AND BROTHS on hand. <<---Get like me!


Okay, First you need a thin steak---minute steaks work perfectly. Cut these steaks into strips AGAINST THE GRAIN. Season them with Salt, Pepper, Garlic and Onion Powder...to taste. I'd say about 1 tsp each, if you're cutting up a point of steak. Set the steak aside...

Next, cut up about one and a  half Green Bell Peppers, One medium Onion and about 2 cloves of garlic. Whether you chop up the vegetables into medium chunks or cut them lengthwise, is up to you...I cut mine lengthwise.

Okay...Set the vegetables aside. Now,  you need to heat a large skillet or wok up and add about 2 tbsp of vegetable oil to it. Stir in the meat--in batches and sear it quickly, then remove the meat (do NOT place the meat in the same dish it was held in, while it was raw) and place the vegetables in the skillet or wok. Add salt and pepper to the vegetables and let them saute for about 5 minutes. Remove the vegetables --you can place them where ever you were keeping the meat.


I prefer a sauce/gravy for my pepper steak...so let's get to that.



After you've removed the veggies, you will need to put some more oil in your pan. I would use about 3 tbsp. Let the oil heat up a little, then add about 2 tbsp of All Purpose flour.

Cook this mixture (called a Roux) for about a minute or two...it should get thicker and browner...

Season your Roux...salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder work very well. Add some beef stock...

Now, add your meat and vegetables back into your roux and cook them for about another 2 minutes. This will allow the meat to fully cook, without becoming dry and tough and also mix the flavors together well. Yummy...

I happened to have had some rice already on hand from the night before but it's up to you...egg noodles, rice...bread...it's all good. Just eat!

 

ENJOY! 

Age is NOT Just a Number...

I have to give credit to "slogan-creators." They're evil geniuses. People will repeat a slogan or a saying with no thought to its inception or purpose. They just repeat it, over and over again.

I feel that way about the old saying that "Age is nothing but a number."

Here's my thought: If you can't apply the slogan to every situation, you probably should stop saying it. LOL

Age, to me, is more than a number. It's a great indicator of the amount of life experience, brain development and maturity that a person could have accumulated at a particular point in their time on Earth.

I know that people will say, "But Danielle, I'm or this person is VERY MATURE FOR (insert age here)." Yeah, uh huh...I hear ya.

Let's briefly talk about what MATURITY is. According to the dictionary, maturity indicates Full development...that's a little vague...so let's talk about what it is in a social function.

Maturity indicates Wisdom and Self-Control. Wisdom is the application of knowledge from past experiences, in a situation, as to  not repeat the same behavior or thought processes that caused one to FAIL in the past. Self-control, many times is based on the full development of one's frontal lobe, right?? (hey, you're welcome to look it up.) So, very little can be done to speed up BRAIN DEVELOPMENT. C'mon...think about it.


Now, seriously...the average person in the West, especially the United States,  has NOT experienced enough life in their years to make them mature beyond their years. The average person hasn't dealt with loss, hardship or long term responsibility over and above any other person their age. So what catalyst has been introduced in their life to cause them to HAVE to gain wisdom or speed up the development of their frontal lobe, causing them to have such a great level of Self-Control?? <----Exactly. Nothing.

I think people confuse being smart and/or intelligent with being mature. (shrugs) There is a big difference between being really smart and really mature.

Now, let's talk about the OTHER thing I brought up at the beginning of this---the whole "if you can't apply a slogan to all situations..." thing...

You CANNOT apply the "Age is nothing but a number" to all situations. Before I delve into the gross ones, let me just mention some reasonable and logical ones...

When does Age begin to NOT matter? Is there a point when someone isn't too young to get in on this deal? Because my 10 year old would like to sign a contract...

Is there Gap-Insurance on the Age thing? Ya know...as long as the years between two people trying to do something together isn't TOO BIG, can they do what they want? Because this 16 year old boy would love to go to Jamaica with his 49 year old girlfriend.

Naw, never mind, there's NO need to go into the really gross examples. You get the point.

Here's what I'm saying: Age does matter. It is a great way to get an initial gauge on where someone is in their development and in their life experience.

One's age tells you what world events have shaped their life and view of the world, what social and entertainment happenings are relevant to them and what type of responsibility they are generally able to handle. That's a lot.

I just wish that more people would listen to what they're saying before repeating some slogan and painting a situation with such a broad brush...Really that's all I want...

You Can't Hate Men and Raise a Son...

Yeah, I'm fully aware that many women will argue me down on a couple of points. First point that is generally argued: "I don't HATE men." <-----Yes, you do. You're just in denial. I've spoken with you and I've listened to you...You hate men.  Second point that is argued: "My feelings about men have NOTHING to do with my son, I'm a good mother."  <-----Debatable. Your feelings about men in general and your feelings toward past mate will be transferred to your son, whether you believe me or not.

Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk about it...

I've never been married, so my point of view is as a single mom and I'm speaking specifically to other single mothers.

With that being said, let's narrow down the focus and most frequent cause of the Man-hate-----The Failure of your relationship with your son's father.  Whether you hate ALL men or just your "baby-daddy"...your hurt and bitterness is an issue and it's something that has to be dealt with before you can move on and deal with your son(s) on a level as children needing to be reared and nurtured. 

First, you're going to have to mourn the loss of the relationship, accept that you and he couldn't make it work, forgive him for all the stupid and hurtful stuff he did to you AND THEN you're going to have to admit that you, too, had a role to play in your break-up---no matter how much you and your girlfriends SAY you didn't, while ya'll sit around over drinks, watching (insert Man-Bashing themed movie title here). You weren't perfect, either and you did some stupid and hurtful stuff TO that MAN, also. <------Yeah, TOTALLY sucky stage to go through...but OH SO necessary.

Now, if you have no Daddy Issues, then maybe you don't have to go any further but if you're like ME and THOUSANDS of other women then you need to forgive your Dad for all the stupid and hurtful things he did to you, too and recognize that much of what happened with your father, when you were a child is NOT YOUR fault but FORGIVENESS is a blessing NOT a curse.  You also have to realize that Fathers, whether good, bad, indifferent or even ABSENT are the templates for which we draw on every future relationship. 

Phew! That's rough. It's a tear jerky place to be and it hurts like the dickens but we aren't made of stone. If you let your heart become stone, then you'll block out the love of your son, too...(I'm just sayin'...)

So, let's say you've cried, admitted that you're hurt and have done the necessary work on your emotions--now what? Well, it's time to digest some more hard truths: MEN AND WOMEN ARE NOT THE SAME. YOUR SON IS A MAN and YOU ARE A WOMAN. <------seems obvious but booooy, I can't tell you how many mothers treat their sons like their daughters. (SMH)

From birth your son has been a man. Oh yes, the package is small but trust me, there's a man in there! His brain is wired completely different. It's not a value judgment. Different isn't good or bad, it's just DIFFERENT.

Okay, have you absorbed that information into your very being, yet? Good, because the thing is, if you haven't really begun to like men, in general, you're not going to like your son.

The more he turns into the form that you recognize as a man, the less you will be able to deal with him in a loving way. You'll hate dealing with him, you won't relate to him, he'll "get on your nerves"...etc, etc. And you know what?? Your son will FEEL THAT REJECTION, that disapproval and that disappointment--all coming from YOU, his own mother.

As Mother and a Woman, YOU are HIS template for which he will draw on every future relationship. He will expect that all women will reject, disapprove or be disappointed in him. He will expect to have some sort of conflict with EVERY woman. Seriously, do you think that's fair to him?

So, here's my point: Get it together, chick. As mothers we have such a burden on us. We have to be sooo much more than we were before we had our sons. We have to be more self-LESS than we ever thought possible. That's just the way it is.

Let's get passed the man-bashing. Let's get to the inner-healing and emotional wholeness and well-being. Let's raise these sons to be productive and GOOD MEN. We gotta stop the hate.

...then I realized I was addicted...

It's friggin' true, man. One day, I woke up to realize that I had this odd yearning to broadcast myself and all of my thoughts to an abstract "world" of people I either know just a little or not really at all. (SMH) Yeah, Facebook, Youtube, this mess I'm doing now, Myspace---all of it...I'm a victim of our ultra-voyeuristic world. I can't help it.

I tried to deny it...but then I realized that these sites can be used as a very helpful way to disseminate information to many people about many things, very quickly. Seeeee, that's how they get ya!

It draws you in, you want to know when Aunt Sally's gonna have that wedding shower for "what's her face." You have NO intention of attending the shower...you just can't wait to browse through all the pictures! And, you're not even worried that you're up at 3 am, checkin' them out!


I admit, I've been better in the last two years with wishing people "Happy Birthday" than I've ever been IN MY LIFE because Facebook reminds me. That's just sad..LOL...it's true, though.

When I tell my mother that I was speaking to someone about something, she asks, "Did you ACTUALLY speak to them or were you CHATTING online with them?" See, to her there's still a difference. (sighs) She's just sooo old skool. (smile)

Even with the knowledge that ever key stroke I type is monitored and recorded by "Big Brother" and that I HATE being tracked...I still do it...that's called "Cognitive Dissonance", everybody--in case you didn't know. It's when you hold two opposing views in your mind at the same time. With all the pictures of myself and all the information I've voluntarily listed online ...I CAN NEVER go "underground"...(sighs). Oh, well.

I knew it was bad when something funny would happen and I thought to myself.."Oh, I'm totally posting this on my status." <------You know you do it, too!

So, what am I gonna do about this addiction I have? Absolutely nothing. I know the first step is admitting that you have a problem...but ...what's the point of trying to share within the "circle of trust" if everyone's updating their statuses and uploading photos while you're talking??

TESTING: 1, 2, 3... DEE'S New Adventure...

Sooo....I ramble to myself all the time. No one who knows me is surprised by this fact, AT ALL. I figure between my ramblings, my inability to respond to ANYTHING in short answer form and the fact that people like to ask me my opinion on things---I should TOTALLY blog and answer people's questions. Why not? (shrugs)

I'm excited to see what will (if anything) happen with this. It's on my bucket list, so now is as good of a time as any...