this week's randomness on the island

does anyone use this electrasol finish quantum powerball dish detergent? they look like this:

can i tell you they really irritate me?

why?

i run my dishwasher right after i've have loaded the dishes. my hands are wet. i reach into the box to grab a powerball. i try to open the little plastic package and i can't - because my hands are still kind of wet. i try to dry them off more; however, it doesn't always help. sometimes i resort to the old "tear the plastic with my teeth". if there are not a million things going on in the house, i have the presence of mind to use my kitchen scissors to open the package. most of the time that doesn't happen. in case you were wondering, the powerball doesn't taste too bad.

i made dinner tonight. i heard all those audible gasps! don't be so surprised. i do it occasionally. it wasn't taco salad or spaghetti either. it was steak stir fry. it was pretty good. the officer found the recipe in a taste of home quick cooking cookbook.


we have been trying to find new recipes. we've had a lot of hits and misses. this was a hit. the officer has made it before, but tonight was my turn. it was given a "thumbs up" sign from the officer. here's the recipe if you'd like to try it. oh and no i didn't cut up the steak. the officer did that for me! :) see what a great husband i have?

Steak Stir Fry from Taste of Home Quick Cooking Annual Recipes 1999 (yeah check that - it says 1999)

1 t. beef bouillon granules ( i didn't even know what this was!)
1 c. boiling water (great - something i know i can do.)
2 T. cornstarch
1/3 c. soy sauce (when we used the whole 1/3 cup, the officer thought it was too salty so we cut the soy sauce down to a 1/4 c. and added water to the 1/3 c. line)
1 lb. boneless sirloin steak, cut into thin strips (by the sweet officer)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. pepper
2 T. vegetable oil, divided
1 large green pepper, julienned
1 C. sliced carrots or celery
5 green onions, cut into 1 in. pieces (we just used a regular yellow onion)
Hot cooked rice

Dissolve bouillon in water. Combine the cornstarch and soy sauce until smooth; add to bouillon. Set aside. Toss beef with garlic, ginger, and pepper. In a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat, stir-fry beef in 1 T. oil until cooked as desired; remove and keep warm. Heat remaining oil; stir-fry vegetables until crisp-tender. Stir soy sauce mixture and add to the skillet; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Return meat to pan and heat through. Serve over rice. YIELD: 4 servings. Takes about 45 minutes to prepare.

my daughter loved it. well she's not picky. she eats just about anything. my son does not like all the vegetables, so i give him steak & rice. the officer loves the meat mostly, so his plate is always heavy with meat. mine has a little bit of meat and a lot of veggies. see?? it all works out perfectly!

what else is going on at the island?

i went through both my kid's closet. it was about time. i had clothes in each of their closets that were a size smaller and a size larger from what they wear. many reasons for this. first, i don't want to have to go through their closets that often, so i hang several sizes in their closet. in addition, they have all seasons of clothes in their closet. i just rearrange the clothes when the next season comes around. i was able to get rid of about 2 trash bags of clothes from my daughter's closet and 4 from my son's. not bad. it was one of the project i had on my list of things i would like to complete in july.

the remainder of the week i will have my nieces and nephew visiting. it should be fun. my kids love having them around. my son is getting old enough to play more with my nephew, who is 10. they enjoy some of the same things - star wars.

i guess that's about it. did i really just write a blog about this week and it's only tuesday. i guess it feels like a whole week has gone by already. this will be the first wednesday that i do not go to work. feels weird. i already miss those girls in the office. of course, i will get to spend the day with my kids so that more than makes up for it!

okay that's really about it. have a great rest of the week. if you have an awesome recipe we can try, leave a link for it in the comment section! we'll give it a try - unless it has seafood - no seafood on this island!