Monday, November 21, 2016

Solar Power, Jigsaw, Tough Meat, Snow

I was talking about power and energy on Friday and reminded myself of the asparagus farm where I spend so much time every year. He uses solar panels on the farm buildings, and has a large field which will be lying fallow for 20 years. He applied to the local township for permission to put in solar panels which, being a biggish field, would have supplied a lot of power. He never did get that permission. How very short sighted of them. I remember being in Greece more than 50 years ago and they were installing solar panels in several places and yet today in Canada they wouldn't permit it.

Every so often I do Shockwave daily jigsaw puzzles. I am so slow that I never rank but I just enjoy
doing them. Heck you don't have to turn all the pieces the right side up for a start LOL. Saturday I did one as usual and apparently did it quick enough to rank 439th. How about that, I didn't think I would ever make a ranking of any kind. I was quite chuffed. Obviously it wasn't the hardest puzzle in the world. Can't have been can it? By the way, I did Sunday's puzzle, no ranking!

I am kind of at my wit's end lately as Matt has decided practically all the meat we get is too tough. I agree it is tough, but I can eat it, he won't. It's OK if I stew it or something similar but if we have a steak, which we eat rare, he doesn't enjoy it. Saturday night we had a rib eye steak and Matt ended up throwing most of his away. I have kind of decided what I should do, is always give him stewed meat but make myself steaks. Be a pain in the butt mind you. I have some instructions for aging beef which I have never tried, but I guess I need to. It is a fact that beef was hung a lot longer in England, and was therefore much more tender, but we have been here a long time and it's only recently Matt has decided he can't eat this or that.

By the way, we got snow on Saturday night so when we got up it was whitish. Not very much but it lasted all day long.

Talking of beef.....here is a recipe for beef. However, as it says you can swap it for chicken or shrimp. We don't have prawns round here.

Tangy Beef and Mushroom Noodles

Tangy beef and mushroom noodles is one of the speediest (and tastiest!) dishes you could make for dinner. Dish it up in only 20 mins and we guarantee the whole family will be happy. A couple of sirloin steaks go a long way in this recipe. You can get creative with this recipe too - you can happily
use any other veg you've got at home that you want, or swap out the beef for chicken breast or prawns to make a change. This simple recipe is going to one of your new favourites

2 X 220 g sirloin steaks, sliced
100 g tamarind paste
Juice 2 limes
3 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sunflower oil
300 g mixed mushrooms, sliced
6 spring onions, sliced, plus extra to serve
200 g sugar snaps
300 g noodles
pinch chilli flakes
4 Tbs toasted cashews, chopped

1. Toss the steaks in the tamarind paste, lime juice, soy sauce and sugar, and put in the fridge.

2. Heat the oil in a wok and fry the mushrooms, spring onions and sugar snaps for 3-4 mins, until just cooked; remove and set aside.

3. Remove any excess sauce from the steaks and add them to the wok. Cook for 2-3 mins, then remove and set aside with the vegetables.

4. Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to pack instructions, then drain once cooked.

5. Turn the heat down, pour in the marinade and bring to a simmer for 2-3 mins. Add the noodles and toss to coat well, then tip in the beef and vegetables. Stir until everything is warmed through, adding a little hot water to loosen if necessary. Sprinkle over the remaining spring onion, chilli flakes and cashews to serve.

Servings: 4

Source: GoodtoKnow

Author Notes
You can also enjoy it the next day if you have any leftovers; simply make sure to reheat thoroughly

Have a great day
  

16 comments:

  1. Hi Jo - maybe Matt's teeth hurt and he's getting older and thus not interested so much in chewing ... but there's some choices to tenderise meat - see if he'll give one/some of those a choice for a while ... good luck though .. cheers Hilary

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    1. No, it's not that Hilary. The meat really is a lot tougher here, they don't hang it as long. I will be doing some tenderising in future.

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  2. I've been watching old episodes of Murdoch Mysteries and there was one about an electric car. Got me wishing that when I had my generator installed I had gone with solar panels on the roof - then the generator would have been free. With all the sun we had this past summer, I would have stored a bundle of energy. I used to have solar attic fans until I had my roof redone and had the roof venting changed. Too bad about Matt and the meat. Does he have difficulty chewing other foods?

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    1. Yes, solar panels aren't cheap I understand Denise, but worth it in the end. No he doesn't have difficulty chewing normally but he basically can't be bothered I think.

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  3. Sometimes Canucks can be so daft. This man should be allowed to use this land in this manner. Men! My hubby is picky, picky and it can drive me nuts. I guess Matt will have to find a way to deal with it and he is lucky you will make his a different way...more work for you.

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    1. You're right Birgit. They really should have allowed it. Would have provided power for the area. I guess I am going to have to start aging some of the meat I buy. Nuisance but there you are.

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  4. Solar panels are quite popular here. Don't get why someone would oppose their use, especially on privately owned land.

    Betty

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    1. I don't know why they did Betty. As I said, it would have provided inexpensive power for the area.

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    2. They opposed someone in my area. They said it wasn't aesthetically pleasing for the neighborhood. Don't even let me get started.

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    3. Well I guess they aren't all that pretty but......

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  5. That's bs that he didn't get permission and even more bs that he needed permission in the first place.

    Sorry Matt's not finding meat he likes. Would he switch to chicken or fish, something a little softer?

    We were snowed-in for two days and it was WONDERFUL. Got so much done and really enjoyed our quiet weekend in.

    Cheers, Jo!

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    1. You're right Ivy, it is bs.

      Oh he eats chicken and fish it's just that now and again when we have a steak he finds the meat tough. So do I but I don't mind working at it.

      Snow, we have hardy had any so far.

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  6. I can only eat steak-type meat if it's been done in the crockpot.

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    1. In that case I wouldn't pay the money for the steaks JoJo. Not worth it.

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  7. Does meat tenderizer work? I've seen it on the grocer store shelf, but never tried it. One year, we had a tough cow (my husband's father would butcher one of his...he is a beef farmer) and I would tenderize it by "chopping" it with a cutting knife before cooking. I'd not do it hard enough to cut the meat, but enough to make it look like it was a cube steak. It made a big difference.

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    1. No idea Liz, but one can dry age meat which one buys. I have never bothered but I will start doing so from now on. I used a mallet the other day for some flank steak and that did work well.

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