Hamburger Steaks

So last night was the first night of many, many nights of home cooked meals here at PanDoxie Place.

We tried Hamburger Steaks with Mushrooms and Onions by Add a Pinch.

It was very easy to make and made the house smell yummy. I cut it in half for two people. The only issue I ran into was thickening the gravy part but it turned out in the end. I was reading on another blog today that these can also be Salisbury Steaks and Zach said that too. Next time I am going to make some mashed potatoes for a side it would compliment it very well. I would have done it last night but I wasn't feeling very good for a while so I snuggle with some pups and a baby.

So we started out with all of this, plus a few more that I forgot to round up.

Then we ended up with this. Not too attractive but YUMMY!

I didn't use all the meat so I am stretching into tonight's meal of homemade chili and cornbread. I have never made cornbread so I am hoping for the best, I am going to try Betty Homes and Garden's version. I wish we had our big iron skillet, however if this works out I will give it a go when we go home.

Hamburger Steak with Onion and Mushroom Gravy by AddaPinch.com

• 2 pounds ground beef (I used about a pound)
• 1 cup bread or saltine cracker crumbs (I used 1/2 cup bread crumbs)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon pepper (1/2 teaspoon)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1 teaspoon beef bouillion granules
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon flour (I ended up adding more to try to thicken the gravy)

Instructions

1. Mix together ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic salt. Form into patties and cook in a skillet over low to medium heat until done throughout. Remove from skillet and set aside.
2. Add onions and mushrooms to skillet. Drizzle with olive oil and allow to cook until tender.
3. Mix together beef bouillion and water. Pour 1/2 over onions and mushrooms and allow to simmer for a few more minutes. Mix together flour into remaining broth and pour over mushrooms and onions. Allow to simmer until gravy has thickened.
4. Serve hamburger steak with the onion and mushroom gravy ladled over the top.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
Cooking time: 20 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 8

Copyright © Add a Pinch. All Rights Reserved.

Menu Planning

So yesterday I woke up more refreshed than I had in a while. I can thank little Xavier for that it was the second day in a row we had a long stretch at night, 6 hours. He is doing better with his tummy problems but he does still have his bad times. If we can get the pups all healthy again that would be great, we are watching Gus he might have an infection. Poor pups, but they do snuggle more when they don't feel well. I always have a full lap and who could complain about that, right?

So after dusting off the cobwebs in the old brain I sat down to do some meal planning for the month. I haven't done it for a while, I did it for a few months back in Kentucky. There are some old favorites planned and there are a large handful of recipes from the different blogs that I have been exploring recently. I have known about blogs a long time but I hadn't really wandered around them very often until now.

So we will be trying out several recipes and we will post the results here and maybe you can find something new to try too! I guess I can't complain that Zach is on-board with trying all these new dishes, I am certainly a very lucky lady.

Here is the board I use. It is a fluid system so if something needs to move or if we feel like having something else than you just move it to that day or switch things around. This is a great way for us to eat at home and try to save some money. So I will keep you all posted on how it goes.

Diapers and Machines

So we have started our journey of cloth diapers with our little one.
Xavier is styling don't you think?
 
We have gone with BumGenius and have an array of colors and patterns. We had them shipped over thanks to our good friend Jennifer and a sale at  Cotton Babies, since you can not get anything like that out here in Qatar.


So far we are enjoying them and I have even roped in Zach with them and he is a pro already. Not that there is too much more to them than a disposal but there are a few more steps. I think we have a system down, just need a few more tweeks and we are in full swing. However we have run into an issue ... the washing.


Washing cloth diapers is really easy, put in washer and then dry (covers - air dry and liners - go in the dryer). Our problem lies in the fact we have a crappy washer/dryer situation. I have made this known several times on Facebook and to anyone who will listen to the story. We have the privilege to use a washer/dryer combo unit. This is a HUGE change from our LG Steam Front Loaders we had just paid off before we moved here, I miss those appliances. I told Zach I may hug them when they come out of storage, he laughed and gave me that look like you are not. I might, if not I will definitely sit there and look at them and probably talk to them for a while especially after every great load it does for us. Yes, folks I am a dork!

Its the LG tucked into the corner.

It will not soften clothes naturally (you have to use a fabric softener of some kind) so you are left with a baby comforter that can stand up on its own. ---->

Let's also not talk about the fact it can take four hours to do one load!

It will also ruin a cute little onesies too since you can't pull something out before it goes to the drying cycle. Also when you live in a place that the water gets ridiculously hot that doesn't help either. Poor Kermit he was all melted together in the middle.



Plus I now have another dilema and that is the diaper shells are gathering lent and I have to bust out the lent roller before putting them on Xavier or he ends up with lent all over, poor guy! You would think just clean out the lint trap, however there isn't one on the combo. ANNOYING, I can't wait to be back home with our pretty shiny washer and dryer.