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