Saturday, January 25, 2014

Some New Ideas

Four new ideas, two related to food, one to housekeeping, have made an impact recently.

I received my degree in journalism and I love reading the newspaper, especially on Sunday.  I don't get to do that very often anymore, since we don't live in the same place for long.  The exception is our time here in Mesa, where I subscribe to the Arizona Republic Sunday and Wednesday.  Those are the days of the grocery ads and the grocery coupons.  That is where I learn about new products available at the store.

A couple of years ago, we tried Philadelphia Cooking Cream and loved it.  Unfortunately, we can't find it on the shelves anymore.  But last week I used a coupon for Saute Express saute starter.  It is a winner!



You just melt it in the skillet, then saute pork, chicken or fish in it. I used pork tenderloin and we both loved it. Since it is a refrigerated product and one package has six cubes for 2 servings, each, we will be eating this a lot in the next few weeks. Which is fine with me. It's an easy and tasty meal.

We rarely go out to eat and we have both been thinking about eating prime rib. That is not something easy to cook for just two people. Prime rib roasts tend to be too big. I have a book of recipes for just two people and found a way to try to approximate prime rib. It calls for rib eye steaks, 1 1/2 inches thick. Look at these.



You sear them in a hot skillet till very brown, then roast in the oven till they reach 125 degrees for rare. Then slice them diagonally. The meat really does have the taste and texture of prime rib. And, would you believe, those two steaks were too much for us to eat in one meal? We have left-overs for another day.

The third new idea is for the shower. For years, we have kept a squeegee in the shower to clean the glass. In our new RV, the round shower has glass panels too narrow for a squeegee. Now what? It is clear glass and every dry water spot shows. The solution was very simple--a micro fiber cloth. We wipe down the glass after each shower and it works so well, I may never have to give the shower doors a separate cleaning. Yea!

Idea number 4:  borrow Kindle books from your library.  We have library cards with the Mesa Public Library and that allows us to borrow books from the Greater Phoenix Digital Library.  I have only tried it with one book--something I wanted to look at but surely didn't want to buy.  I borrowed it, read a couple of pages and it will be returned after 14 days.  I can check out up to 10 books at a time.  I'll never get that many.  But since all of it is done over the internet, I can check out these books even when we aren't in Mesa.  Good deal.

4 comments:

  1. Love my Kindle, though at times I miss the feel of a book in my hands. I've been using the VT library's ebooks for awhile now, though they only allow 3 at a time which is plenty. Thanks for the cooking ideas, love our rib eye steaks we get here.

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  2. Well, since you have library access now, I have another recommendation - Jan Karon's Mitford series (first one is At Home in Mitford.) They revolve around a small town pastor and his adventures. The stories are funny, touching - you'll laugh, you'll cry (well, not much crying,) Now you're going to tell me you already read them.

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  3. Yes, we both read them years ago--like before we retired.

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  4. Have been wanting to try that saute starter, sounds good. Have been using the micro fiber on the shower for a long time. That's great you can borrow books for the kindle from the library. We buy books from the library when we catch them having their sale ( a bag for five bucks) then leave them behind for others when our time is up at the refuges.

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