NSW Fires, Movie, Spelling, Bowling,

I was just reading Elephant's Child's blog Sunday Selections - She lives really close to the dreadful fires raging across New South Wales and today printed the story of a Zoo and a link to how the animal handlers saved the animals. The situation in NSW is dire with thousands of animals having been killed and a number of humans also. As Sue points out, even the surviving animals will have big problems finding food and water and also shelter after all their habitat has been razed to the ground. The air quality for miles around is unbreathable and people are advised to stay inside, but smoke can get through closed doors. Koalas are often shown being rescued, but there are many other less cuddly animals which are affected too. It is a world shattering disaster.

At the moment we have access to various movie channels and tonight, on Starz, we watched Dolphin Tale. I had heard the story of the dolphin who lost her tale and received a prosthetic which is what this movie was based on. It was a lovely movie and Winter, the dolphin, played her part beautifully. It was a pretty well known cast and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Wasn't sure whether Matt would but he definitely enjoyed it too. I thought he might as he has always loved dolphins and whales. Morgan Freeman's character kept calling Winter a fish and nobody corrected him. Annoyed me somewhat as Matt was doing the same thing. Maybe he was annoying me or maybe he had forgotten. It is a wonderful example of what can be done with prosthetics and they are developing new things all the time.

By the way, I keep making typing mistakes tonight. If I don't catch them all, my apologies. Dunno what's the  matter with my fingers or is it my brain (always assuming I have one). That reminds me, I was a tad annoyed with my Spanish lessons tonight. Usually it accepts English spelling and several times it has done so but had the cheek, in one section, to penalise me for a word I had used elsewhere dozens of times. Of course I still use mainly English spelling and Blogger doesn't like that either. Tough cookies.

Bowling Monday but whether Matt can or will, I have no idea. Both his legs are hurting now. He has a physiotherapist coming Tuesday to assess him. Will be interesting to see what she says.

Like Stuffed Peppers? Well Kevin Lynch has come up with an easier version. Although, in fact, stuffed peppers in the Instant Pot is as easy as pie. You know, that's a stupid expression, I find making pies very difficult. Never been much good at pastry. It's pre-made pie shells for me these days.

Italian Sausage Stuffed Pepper Soup

All of the flavours of stuffed peppers in the form of a (much easier to make) hearty, and tasty soup

with Italian sausage for even more flavour!

1 cup uncooked long grain white or brown rice
2 cups water or beef broth
1 lb Italian sausage, casings remove
1 Tbs oil
1 onion, diced
2 bell peppers, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce or tomato puree
2 cups beef broth
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbs parsley, chopped

1. Bring the rice ad water to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the water has been absorbed, about 20 minutes, before removing from the heat and letting sit, covered.

2. Meanwhile, cook the sausage in a large pan over medium-high heat and set aside, about 7-10 minutes.

3. Add the oil and onions to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Add the peppers to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.

5. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, while stirring, about 1 minute.

6. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, basil, oregano, sausage, onions and peppers, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

7. Add the rice, season with salt and pepper, remove from heat, mix in the parsley and enjoy!

Servings: 6

Option: For One-Pot: Make this a one-pot meal by adding the uncooked rice to the soup in step 5 with an extra 2 cups broth and cook until cooked, about 20 minutes.

Option: (Highly recommended) Add 1/2 cup grated parmesan to the soup and let it melt in! Yum!

Option: Replace the rice with quinoa or a blend of whole grains!

Option: Instead of cooking the rice separately, add it and 2 cups up extra broth to the soup at step 6 and simmer unto the rice is cooked, about 20 minutes.

Option: Replace the sausage with ground beef or ground turkey, etc.


Author: Kevin Lynch
Source: Closet Cooking

Have a great day
 

Movie, Lottsa Romances.

I rented the movie Dolphin Tale with Morgan Freeman being the only actor with whom I was familiar, great movie, based on a true story about a Dolphin; they designed a new prosthetic tail for her in order to save her life and incidentally to save the marine animal hospital where she was being treated. The movie tells the story of Winter, the young dolphin, and Sawyer who became her friend. Matt would have been green with envy – he has always wanted to swim with dolphins. So

I was recently lent a whole bag full of books which I have been working my way through. I just finished Tempting Torment by Jo Goodman. Not the kinds of books I usually read, but I especially enjoyed that one. It was a good story as well as being a hot romance. It turns out this author writes quite a few books about the same family, I will have to look out for more.

Short blog today as well as being late, for a number of reasons, health being one.

Apparently today is pasta day!!! That being so, obviously a pasta recipe is called for. I found this one on Cooking.com.

Baked Shells with Pesto, Mozzarella, and Meat Sauce

Source: Quick from Scratch – One Dish Meals

Serves 4

Here's a true crowd pleaser: pasta shells in a simple sauce of ground beef, tomatoes, and pesto, layered with mozzarella and Parmesan and baked until bubbly. Fusilli or orecchiette would work well here, too.
INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 onion, chopped

1 pound ground beef

2 cups chopped canned tomatoes, drained (from one 28-ounce can)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup store-bought or homemade pesto

3/4 pound medium pasta shells

6 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Oil a large baking dish (about 9 by 13 inches).

In a large stainless-steel frying pan, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in the ground beef and cook, breaking it up, until the meat is no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Drain off any excess fat.

Add the tomatoes and salt to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cook until most of the liquid evaporates, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the pesto.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the shells until just done, about 10 minutes. Drain and toss with the sauce. Put half of the pasta into the prepared baking dish and top with half the mozzarella and 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan. Repeat with the remaining pasta, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Bake until bubbling, about 15 minutes.

Variation:

Almost any relatively soft, mild cheese will taste good here. You might try fontina in place of the mozzarella, or even Gouda or Havarti.

Have a great day