Sunday Snippets 7/16/23
Yesterday evening I had Lisa and Peg over for taco soup. Easiest recipe in the world. I used lean ground turkey.
Brown your ground turkey or ground beef, whichever you choose. After browning, I use paper towels to soak up what little grease is left over in the pan.
Then I start adding my other ingredients. (Actual recipe here)
First, there’s beans. All kinds of beans. Any kind of beans you want to add.
This time I used pinto beans, kidney beans and black beans. Probably two of each. Then a can of whole kernel corn and mild Rotel. I have to have it mild. You can have it hot and spicy if you like.
Also add a packet of both taco and ranch dressing mix.
The beauty of this recipe is that you don’t drain what’s in the cans. Just dump it all in. Simmer and you’ve got taco soup.
I make enough to freeze in individual baggies so I have extra meals.
Lisa & Peg:
Lisa has lived here longer than I have. But she lives down at the far end upstairs. She’s moving downstairs on the other side of Steve. The actual move is tomorrow.
Lisa has a dog names Kinzi and a cat named Lolly.
Whenever she comes in the patio door after walking Kinzi, Ivy goes over and lays down next to her row of toys. Guess she doesn’t want to share.
However I ordered a big jar of treats for Kinzi, and she expects them as soon as she comes in. Then of course Ivy has to have a cat treat. They are such children!
Peg is moving here from a house a few miles away. She’s paying rent but has not really moved in yet.
Taking it slow, she says. Deciding what to bring over from a 3000+ square foot house to fit in an 1100 square foot apartment.
Peg is widowed and childless, and Lisa is divorced and childless.
This is my first time having neighbors over to eat a meal. It was always just Steve and me before. But I’m trying to branch out now that I’m walking.
I also invited Steve and his girlfriend for the meal via text because I know he likes my taco soup. He was arriving home late yesterday from a trip to San Francisco he and the girlfriend took together. But I haven’t seen him yet.
Peg is across the sidewalk from me and next door to Ron and Pat. Oh, Pat fell and sprained her left wrist. Did I tell you that? I think they’d gone to a restaurant.
As I’ve told you, I read books and then taken them to her to read. So no need for her to make library visits, which she did before. Therefore hopefully no more falls.
Both mine and Lisa’s apartment each has 1150 square feet. Ron and Pat’s and Peg’s is 1100 square feet.
Those are the two sizes for the two bedroom apartments here.
Hot & More Hot:
It’s hot as can be out there. Dangerously hot if you’re out very long.
I go out and water for the neighbors. Otherwise I’m inside. The heat makes you feel weak pretty fast.
One of the maintenance men took my sprayer and hose that is connected to one of their hoses off last week to drain a hot water heater.
He must have thrown the sprayer down to the sidewalk and broke it. Once he was gone and I turned it on, the sprayer quickly soaked me.
So I ordered this stainless steel one and only paid $9.99 for it on that particular day. The regular price right now is $11.99.
Greg put the new garden hose nozzle on my hose yesterday. It’s the only thing I ordered on Amazon Prime day this past week.
I already watered this morning with my new stainless steel sprayer and it was great! Water went a lot farther than my other sprayer could spray it.
Good Books:
I read a really good book that was funny and sweet. It was called “Grown Ups” by Marian Keyes. I’ve never read her books before, but I’ll be checking into more.
Now I’m reading another funny, keeps-you-laughing-out-loud book. It’s called “Three Wishes” by Liane Moriarty.
I had no idea that Liane Moriarty in her earlier days wrote funny books. I’m accustomed to her suspense novels. It was written in 2005, and it was her first novel.
Liane Moriarty lives in Sydney, Australia with her husband and two children, George and Anna. And she is also the older sister of Jaclyn Moriarty, who writes young adult books. Something else I didn’t know.
Synopsis Of Three Wishes:
Lyn, Cat, and Gemma Kettle, beautiful thirty-three-year-old triplets, seem to attract attention everywhere they go. Together, laughter, drama, and mayhem follow them. But apart, each is dealing with her own share of ups and downs.
Lyn has organized her life into one big checklist. Cat has just learned a startling secret about her marriage. And Gemma, who bolts every time a relationship hits the six-month mark, holds out hope for lasting love.
In this wise, witty, and hilarious novel, we follow the Kettle sisters through their tumultuous thirty-third year as they deal with sibling rivalry and secrets. Revelations and relationships, unfaithful husbands and unthinkable decisions, and the fabulous, frustrating life of forever being part of a trio.
This is one of those books that you read paragraphs over and over again because the author was so clever with her words.
Have you read any good books lately?
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Finally had time to sit down and read your last couple of entries. The apartments in your complex are larger than my 3 bedroom Milwaukee ranch style bungalow, geez! We had about 3 days straight of gloriously below 80 degrees weather with around 50 or less dew point. It was like Heaven! But the high dew points are back, I can tell the difference right away because when the air is wet and heavy, I huff and puff a lot and break a sweat easily, looking like I took a shower in my clothes and stepped outside, even if the air temperature is below 80. No rain in sight, I will be watering the lawns this week. Cha-ching! Still better here than in southern Europe, out west and southern US, and even China is suffering a tremendous heat wave, it was 95 in Beijing and they are fairly far north. It may come to the point that Wisconsinites will be xeriscaping and removing our Kentucky blue grass lawns and water hungry hydrangeas.
Good evening Brenda,
I’m so excited for you! How wonderful to have 2 new friends! This new place is so good for you! I’ve never had taco soup, sounds delicious.
It is hot here too. I don’t even like to go outside.
Love Marian Keye’s! All of her books are great!
Have a great week.
Doesn’t the maintenance man/apartment company owe you a new hoze nozzle—or need to reimburse you for the one you had to buy?!
I’m not criticizing you… the issue for me is that I am all about justice and what’s right and fair, and accountability—especially with what I’m going through right now in my personal life.
—Really irks me when those aren’t happening/being honored.
Plus, I consider you a friend…and I want to stand up for you!
I’ve always enjoyed Marian Keye’s books and when you mentioned Grown Ups the other day I went to see if it was available to borrow from the library and download on my Kindle (I use the Libby app which makes it really easy) It wasn’t but another Marian Keye’s I hadn’t read Again, Rachel (one of the “Walsh Family books”) was, so I borrowed that. My daughter who loves Marian Keye’s books decided to reread Rachel’s Holiday first and she mentioned how hard It is to put down. It’s so true but this morning I deliberately stopped reading Again, Rachel because I want it to last a bit longer.
I am glad you shared your soup recipe . It sounds like a good one for leftovers too. Thank you.
Always amazed how good that soup is,I affectionately call it tin can soup since that’s all it takes, opening cans!
Ivy is too cute😻
The book Three Wishes sounds like a good read! I am glad that you have found some very nice neighbors to enjoy a meal and their company.
How nice you had neighbors into eat…and how nice you were able to fix the food too!! Glad to hear of this improvement!! I think you have a delightful place to live, because of the number of nice neighbors you have!!
Lovely snippets, Brenda! I love the photos – so pretty. Your garden is giving you such joy, and us too.
How good to have neighbors in for a meal – your taco soup sounds so delicious. I have GI issues and have to be careful these days – sometimes I can eat anything ok and then sometimes not. It’s unpredictable.
It sounds as if you’ve made a lot of lovely friendships in your new complex, Brenda. That’s great, I love hearing about people getting together. I hope you had a fun lunch and I need to check out that book!
I’ve never had taco soup, but do enjoy taco’s. Thanks for the recipe, sounds very good, and easy to make. Love that kind of recipe.
Stay cool.
It’s 71 and Sunny right now, should get up to 77-78, so not too bad. Might be showers or thunder showers in the late afternoon, really we know nothing,(grin). It’s Wisconsin weather, a guessing game.
What a wonderful and bliss filled post this morning, Brenda! I found myself smiling the entire time I was reading Moving to that apartment complex was such a good decision.
Meeting new people and having some to dinner is wonderful.
I enjoy taco soup, as well. I, too, use petite diced tomatoes and do some of the same things with it that Pam mentioned. I like to put shredded cheese in the bottom of the bowl, soup and then corn chips. Oh so yummy and definitely versatile.
It’s been brutally hot here, as well. Under a heat advisory until the end of the week again.
Stay cool and enjoy every minute of your day!
Glad to see you’re expanding your circle of friends! We love taco bean soup. I add a can of petite diced tomatoes instead of Rotel, because I really don’t like spicy. We take a slotted spoon and get a drained portion, and use it in flour tortillas to make burritos. Or put a drained portion on tortilla chips, top with cheese, and make nachos. Very versatile soup! And very friendly to this weight watcher, as it’s a zero point recipe. Delicious!
I’m so happy for u Brenda that you’re making more friends and now cooking for your friends too! Yay!
Keep out of the heat everyone and have a great week ahead!
I really enjoyed The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore.