Learning to Adapt

It is Thursday morning, 10:05.  Zumba starts in 5 minutes....I don't think I am going to make it.  That was a quick New Years Resolution!  Ok, there is always next Tuesday and if you guys stay on my butt I might just force myself to get back into it.  I know, once I go, I will feel better, have more energy and love the class as much as I always have...It is just that first step that is so hard.

So instead of getting ready for Zumba, I lounged around in bed until 9 and then I decided to throw dinner together for tonight.  It is a crockpot meal that I had planned so that it could cook while I went to Zumba and ran my errands today.  It would be ready to eat when Frank and I got home and before we had to head to choir.

Ok, so adapt already Wendy!!  Just because you missed Zumba doesn't mean the rest of your day is shot!!

Thanks, I needed that.....

My recipe for tonight's dinner comes from Fix it and Forget it Recipes for Entertaining, copy right 2002.  I use this cookbook frequently but not as often as the original Fix it and Forget it Cookbook,

And, of course, I adapt the heck out of the recipes depending on what I have available and our own personal tastes.  The adaptations made to this recipe are very minor. I don't use oil to brown my burger, it just seems like added fat to me. I did not have any peas in the house but I had some frozen green beans I had put up this past summer.  Instead of all cheddar cheese I threw a bunch of cubed cheddar, jack, mozzarella and colby cheeses left from my Christmas cheese tray into the food processor and crumbled them. I also did not have cream of chicken soup so I used a can of cream of mushroom.

Hamburger Potato Casserole

adapted from a recipe originally submitted by Sue Pennington

1 lb. ground beef

6 russet potatoes, peeled and sliced

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 large onion, sliced

2 c. frozen green beans, defrosted

1 c. cheese crumbles of your choice

salt and pepper to taste

1 (10 oz) can Cream of Mushroom soup

Brown the ground beef.  Layer half of the vegetables in the bottom of your crockpot. Top with half of the burger and half of the cheese.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Repeat these layers, seasoning again with the salt and pepper at the end.  Pour a can of Cream of Mushroom Soup over the top. Cook on low for 8-10 hrs. Print Recipe

Now I am heading out to the Library, stopping to see Mom, going shopping for a new quilt for my bed and maybe, if I'm lucky, having lunch with Frank.  See you all when I get back.......

I'm home.  Did you miss me??

I got all my errands done, spent an hour visiting with Mom.  I am concerned because she keeps pushing her tongue through the hole where her tooth was and I think she is loosening other teeth by doing so.  You can't really explain to her that she shouldn't do it so I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens.  The dentist said that losing teeth is just part of the aging process and unless we want to replace them with dentures there is really nothing to be done. Heck, we can't even get Mom to brush her teeth and keep her glasses on I don't know how we would manage dentures!!

Frank got home shortly after I and then we got a message that choir practice was cancelled so we started taking down all the Christmas stuff and putting our house back in order until dinner time.

It was not the most lovely dinner I ever served.

But it was tasty and hearty.

I will be making this recipe again in the future.

We are leaving the rest of the decorations until tomorrow.  We have a glass of wine and our Food n Flix movie is going into the player.  See you all tomorrow.