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A long time coming… Vanity Post #96

Yay! I’m happy to report that I FINALLY had my “I can see clearly now!” moment! Sweet Thing and I went to town yesterday, and we picked up our new prescription eyeglasses: He got a pair with flip-up shades, and I got a regular pair of glasses as well as a pair of prescription sunglasses (The separate “shades” proved to be one too many things for me to keep track of in the past, so I opted to get both.)

Instead of being at a scenic overlook while I was taking a driver’s education class in high school, yesterday’s “I can see clearly!” moment of mine happened in the Vision Center of my local WalMart. Instead of being able to see a bridge in the distance, I was able to clearly see signs on the other side of the store! In addition, everything in the store was sparkly and bright instead of blurry and dull! Such an improvement!!!

Now that I have my prescription glasses, I’ll be able to read the locator signs in the store — from a distance (like the ends of the aisles) without having to be practically underneath them! So much better for shopping! Seeing/reading the locator signs for the first time in quite some time was great, but I discovered while shopping that I had to take my new glasses off in order to better read things like the price tags on the shelves — since I don’t need glasses for reading things up close. So, yeah… No reading glasses for me. Just “driving” glasses — both regular prescription glasses AND prescription sunglasses!

If you wear prescription eyeglasses, I’d love to hear about your “I can see clearly now!” moment after you got your first (or a new) pair of prescription eyeglasses (either regular or sunglasses), so please take a moment to leave a comment below.

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A couple of follow-ups… Vanity Post #95

The first of two follow-ups is that I did, indeed, make a batch (half of a batch, actually) of the Creamy Blueberry Yogurt Popsicles in honor of National Blueberry Popsicle Day, BUT… I didn’t make ’em early enough to enjoy yesterday. Had a couple of what I think are blueberry popsicles still in the freezer, so I was going to have one of ’em for dessert. Sadly, I forgot. Oh, well… I now have two regular blueberry popsicles AND four Creamy Blueberry Yogurt Popsicles in the freezer. Just gotta remember to eat ’em one (or two… or six…) of these days.

Anyway.. The second is a follow-up about something that was mentioned in vanity posts #90 and #91 — about our prescription glasses. In the first post, I mentioned that our prescription glasses were ready to be picked up, and in the second post, I shared the bad news that we weren’t able to pick them up as we had originally planned. The second follow-up of this vanity post is that we WILL be going to town to pick up all of our prescription glasses — one regular pair for each of us AND a pair of prescription sunglasses for me!

So, yeah… Two follow-ups in a single post, and on that note, I’m going to publish this post and then “hit the hay” since Sweet Thing prefers to get things done in town as early as possible.

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National Blueberry Popsicle Day… Vanity Post #94

I meant for the contents of today’s vanity post to be published yesterday — as yet another “Tasty Tuesdays” post, but I forgot. So… I’m publishing it in today’s post — in honor of National Blueberry Popsicle Day, which is, in fact, today. Without further ado, here are a couple recipes for blueberry popsicles:

Simple Blueberry Popsicles

Ingredients

2 pints fresh or frozen blueberries

1/4 cup sugar (or honey)

1/4 cup water.

Directions

Puree the blueberries, sugar, and water in a blender until smooth. Pour into molds and freeze for 3-4 hours.

Creamy Blueberry Yogurt Popsicles

Ingredients

2 cups blueberries

2 Tablespoons honey or agave

2 cups vanilla Greek yogurt

Directions

Blend the blueberries and honey until liquified. Gently swirl the blueberry mixture into the yogurt without fully combining for a tie-dye effect. Pour into molds and freeze for at least 4 hours.

Her are some alternative healthy options:

  • Banana Base: Blend 3 frozen bananas, 1/2 cup blueberries, and 3 Tablespoons sweetener for a dairy-free, naturally sweet treat.
  • Coconut Milk Base: Blend 4 cups blueberries, 1 can full-fat coconut milk, and 1/4 cup maple syrup for a rich, dairy-free option.
  • Veggie Boost: For a toddler-friendly version, blend 1 cup Greek yogurt, 1 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup baby spinach, and t Tablespoons honey.

Since I just purchased some vanilla Greek yogurt (for smoothies), I think I’m going to whip up a small batch of the creamy blueberry yogurt popsicles AND then celebrate National Blueberry Popsicle Day by enjoying one on the front porch. Sounds like an excellent way to beat the heat on what is forecast to be one of the hottest days this summer!

If you decide to join me in making a batch of blueberry popsicles, I’d love to find out what you thought of this sweet treat, so please leave a comment below.

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Nothing worth and/or no time… Vanity Post #14 (#93)

This is my official “I have nothing worth writing about and/or no time to write it” vanity post. From now on, whenever my schedule is so busy that I don’t feel I have time to come up with something interesting in a timely manner, I’ll publish “Vanity Post #14” — my version of Chuck Lorre’s vanity card #111.

NOTE: your “regularly scheduled” posting will resume shortly — barring no more “technical difficulties” OR (busy schedules — even if I have to pre-schedule a darned post!

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“Technical difficulties” and… Vanity Post #92

“Technical difficulties” and MORE “technical difficulties! The past couple of days it seems as though I’ve been dealing with nothing but “technical difficulties”, AND I’m tired of it!!

First, I was trying to add some pictures to my previous vanity post, but Zenny (my laptop computer) ended up crashing — hence the “technical difficulties”! After a not-so-good night’s sleep, I tried to open a browser on Denny (my desktop computer), but it refused to open. Well… More accurately, it would briefly open and then close again — all in the blink of an eye. At that point, Sweet Thing took a look at it, and his verdict was that my camera/mobile phone had corrupted something on Denny when he had transferred the pictures from it to Denny after Zenny crashed — the “and MORE ‘technical difficulties'”!!

So, yeah… I’ve been dealing with “technical difficulties” and MORE “technical difficulties” for the past couple of days — well, probably for much of my life, if I’m being honest.

All right, my rant is over, and your “regularly scheduled” posting will resume shortly — barring no more “technical difficulties”.

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Which one first… Vanity Post #91

I’ve got good news and bad news, so which do you want first — the good news or the bad news? Since I usually prefer to hear the bad news first (to get it out of the way AND to save the best for last), I’l tell ya the bad news first.

In yesterday’s vanity post (#90), I shared the good news that we’d be picking up our new prescription glasses today. Well… Today’s bad news is that we postponed our trip to town for this purpose because we thought that the vision center was closed on the weekends. (Found out later that it was actually open until 6:00 PM, but I didn’t want to make two trips into town.)

So, yeah… My “I can see clearly now!” moment was postponed for a couple more days. That’s too bad ‘cuz I could have used ’em today — when I watched (as best as I could with my uncorrected vision) hummingbirds eating at and fighting over our hummingbird feeder. Once was just after I’d woken up — spotted the little guys (or gals) when I glanced out the window (even took a video of ’em!) — and again later in the afternoon when I was working on the front porch, which…

brings me to the good news: I managed to (almost) completely clear off a section of the porch that’s been collecting junk for years, and this wasn’t even planned! I had gone out to the porch looking for my “Insect Shield” hat that I’d misplaced the last time I worked on the porch. I knew it was missing because I normally put my work glove in it and leave it on the hall tree near the front door. So, yeah… I went outside to look for it, but I got distracted by first this and then that. Between this, that and a lot of other things I managed, as I said earlier, to (almost) completely clear off a section of the porch!

At this point, I’m going to try to include “before” and “after” pics in today’s vanity post. If I’m successful, you should be able to see ’em below:

“Before”

“Technical difficulties”… Stay tuned for pics!

“After”

“Technical difficulties”… Stay tuned for pics!

And this is NOT all of the good news! A while ago, we purchased a ten-pound box of “irregular slices” of bacon, and I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box to “process” (read: vacuum seal) it today! This kind of a purchase is always a gamble because you can’t tell what you’ll be getting. I remember one time when I opened the box and was VERY disappointed because I got ten pound of bacon BITS in a box. NO SLICES whatsoever! This was why I was surprised to find a whole box FULL of slices! Here’s the proof:

SLICES of bacon

“Technical difficulties”… Stay tuned for pics!

BLTs, anyone?

MORE good news! I did NOT lose the draft of this post due to the aforementioned “technical difficulties”! So… Once I resolve said difficulties, I WILL add the pictures.

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Good news… Vanity Post #90

At 9:34 AM yesterday morning, we got some good news: Our new eyeglasses (AND my new sunglasses) are ready to be picked up in town!

They were originally supposed to be ready for pick-up this past Thursday, but I suspect that my “add-on” order for a pair of prescription sunglasses put a wrench into the delivery plans. Oh, well… At least we’re FINALLY getting our new prescription glasses! I’m looking forward to yet another “I can see clearly now!” moment AND Sweet Thing is looking forward to being able to renew his driver’s license.

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Watch it again… (Part 2) — Vanity Post #89

In Vanity Post #75 (published on my nephew’s birthday — 14 August), I started transcribing a list of things (movies and series) that were in my “Watch it again” Netflix category, primarily because I didn’t have anything else to write about that day. Well… I’ve found myself in a similar situation, so I’m going to continue transcribing that list. Here goes…

  • Dream Home Makeover;
  • Country Comfort;
  • Tiny House Nation;
  • North of North;
  • La Brea;
  • Broadchurch;
  • Sullivan’s Crossing;
  • Falling Skies;
  • Leave the World Behind;
  • The Adam Project;
  • The Great British Baking Show — Holidays;
  • American Primeval;
  • The Life List;
  • Sandokan, the Pirate Prince;
  • Happy’s Place;
  • Enola Holmes;
  • Enola Holmes 2;
  • Free Rein;
  • The Mother;
  • Harlan Coben’s Fool Me Once;
  • Queer Eye;
  • Matilda;
  • Is It Cake 3?;
  • Black Doves; and
  • Man on the Inside.

So, there you have it: Part 2 of my “Watch it again” list. As I mentioned in Part 1, I’d love to find out whether you’ve watched any of the shows on this list AND what you though of them. So… Please leave me a comment below!

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So disappointed… Vanity Post #88

I continued working on something that I started on the day I missed this week’s “quilt-along” session:

I did some more figurin’ about how much “slicing and dicing” I still need to do for “Stars”, my current “quilt-along” project. By the time the calculations were complete, I was…

SO DISAPPOINTED!

I figured that I still need anywhere from 6 to 60 pieces in four different fabrics and sizes, AND I discovered that I have to purchase more fabric — for the SECOND time!!

So, yeah… I was so disappointed when I made this discovery. I guess it’s a good thing we’re planning to go to town within the next day or two.

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Best-laid Plans and… Vanity Post #87

As I’m sure you already know (especially if you’ve been following me for a while), Tuesdays are usually my “quilt-along” days as well as my weekly trip to town to check my P.O. Box, and yesterday was no exception. I had planned to attend, but you know what they say about “best-laid plans”: they often go awry. Mine certainly did this week! I ended up not going to the “quilt-along” session (which may have been the last one for our current project), but I did spend some time working on “Stars” (what I’d planned to do at the “quilt-along”), AND I did some figurin’ and found out that I’m not nearly as finished as I thought I was a couple of weeks ago. So, yeah… I’ll have to finish “Stars” on my own — hopefully between September and the end of this calendar year.

Anyway… The “and” in the title of this post refers to something I realized I should’ve included in the last vanity post (#86) since that was published on a Tuesday. Yep, the “and” refers to a “Tasty Tuesdays” recipe, AND the recipe I’m featuring this week is…

Cajun Beef Stew!

Since I had some meat that needed to be used up before going bad, I made a big batch of stew! I used this week’s featured recipe as a base, but I didn’t use the Cajun seasoning (since I don’t like it) or the frozen peas. I thought of adding a bag of frozen mixed veggies, but it was too late to do so. Anyway… Without further ado, here’s this week’s “Tasty Tuesdays” recipe from my Crock Pot cookbook.

Cajun Beef Stew

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon Cajun or blackened seasoning mix
  • 1 1/2 pounds cubed beef stew meat
  • 2 medium red potatoes, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
  • 3 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 medium onion, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 stalk celery, sliced
  • 1 can (about 14 ounces) beef broth
  • 3 Tablespoons water
  • 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
  • salt
  • 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions

  1. Coat inside of Crock-Pot slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle seasoning mix over meat in medium bowl; toss to coat. Place potatoes, carrots, onion and celery in Crock-Pot slow cooker. Place beef on top of vegetables. Add broth. Cover; cook on LOW 7 to 8 hours or on HIGH 4 to 5 hours or until beef and vegetables are tender.
  2. Remove beef and vegetables to bowl with slotted spoon; cover and keep warm. Stir water into cornstarch in small bowl until smooth; whisk into juices. Cover; cook on HIGH 10 to 15 minutes or until thickened. Season with salt.
  3. Return beef and vegetables to Crock-Pot sow cooker. Stir in peas and thyme. Cover; cook on HIGH 15 minutes or until heated through.

Makes 4 servings

NOTES:

  1. As I mentioned earlier, I did NOT use the Cajun seasoning mix nor did I add the peas — and the thyme, for that matter.
  2. Instead of thickening the stew with the cornstarch and water slurry, I dredged the meat in flour and precooked it — like I did when I first learned how to make beef stew.

Anyway… There’s the recipe I modified to make a batch of beef stew. If you give it a try, I’d love to hear what you thought of it. In addition, if you’ve got a favorite recipe for beef stew, I’d love to give it a try, so please leave a comment below. In the meantime… Bon Appétit!!