I know, I still need to work on the lingo, but I do need to give my motorcycle a name, right?  I’m not sure what the rules are, but I think it has to be a girls name.  How about princess?  No, too feminine.  How about mama cat?  No, that just sounds like a harley dude’s lady (who’s gonna whoop your ass if you look at her funny).  How about shadow dancer (my motorcycle’s model is a shadow).  No, that sounds like a stripper name.  Obviously I have to give it some more thought.

You have to give this guy credit for creativity. We have been going back and forth on what to do about a tree this year. I drink caffeine free diet coke, those gold cans might actually look pretty cool.

My mom used to make a great beef stew.  The weather has been cold, so no better time to recreate it.  It didn’t hurt that stew meat was on sale buy 1 get one free (extra big pot!).  I usually walk in to the grocery store with no idea what I am going to cook (helps me come up with new ideas), and thought it would be fun in the future to walk in to the store, find the sales, and cook a great meal on the cheap, and post the recipe and how much it cost.  I am going to have a new area of the website called Grocery Savings Center, where there will be a bunch of articles to help you save money on your groceries (#1 tip- learn how to cook).  Enough rambling- here’s the stew.

Brown the meat in vegetable oil and add spices if you like.  I added some paprika, oregano, black pepper,  and pinch of pepper flakes (for a little heat).

I like to add some flour, though it’s optional, I think it gives a nice body to the broth, but like I said, it’s up to you.

Add carrots, onion, celery, and  beef broth to cover by a few inches and bring to a boil.

That’s the hard part.  Turn the heat down, cover it, and let it simmer for a few hours.  Add some cut red potatoes, frozen peas, and green beans, and simmer for another 1/2 hour .  It’s not rocket science, the stew is done when the meat is tender (keep testing the meat, it’s fun).

I have to say my mom would be proud, it was pretty darn good, and tastes even better the next day!