I'm afraid sometimes

I go in phases of having this immense fear of leaving my children motherless and fatherless.  I know it's mostly unrealistic.  I know Steve and I are fairly healthy, but so were my parents also.  They surely didn't see a tractor running over him and killing him in their future.  And my mother couldn't have forseen pneumonia turning out to be really lung cancer.  I'd say it was most difficult when Gage was 6 and Morgan was 8 because those were the ages of when I lost my Dad and Mom.  I looked at them and couldn't imagine what it would be like for them to lose us at that age.  Yet I could and it scared me.   I would never want them to have to go through that.  Then I did manage to feel better and get over it but I guess the fear never goes away.  Just recently I had a nightmare of Steve dying and trying to figure out how I and the kids would ever survive it.  It was so scary because it was so real.  Even after waking up I felt this veil of oppression over me and it was hard to fight off.  Then not more then a week later another dream of him dying and then I was killed.  I just never want them to have to go through that and to know what it's like to grow up without a Mom and Dad.   It's strange how my fear when I was younger was losing other family members who were close to me.  That's why it was so hard to get close to anyone and let them get to know you because of the fear of loss like before.  Now that I have my own children my fear is of them having to deal with what I did growing up.

Italian Sausage and Lentil Stew

Italian Sausage and Lentil Stew

Ingredients:
Italian Pork Sausage                  1 lb (I used Hot this time)
Sliced carrots                             1 1/2 cups
Diced onions                             1 cup
Cloves garlic                             2 each
Chicken or Vegetable broth      3 1/2 cups
Oregano leaves                          2 Tbsp.
Bay leaves                                 1 each
Cubed red potatoes                    2 cups
Uncooked dry green lentils        1 cup
Chopped broccoli florets            2 cups
Gallon zipper bag                       1 each (if freezing)
Quart zipper bag                         1 each (if freezing)
This recipe is great to freeze and reuse later!!

In a large pot, brown the sausage.  Cut into 1/2 inch pieces after browning.  Return to the pot and cook until no longer pink in the middle.

Deglaze the pan with the broth, making sure to scrape up all the yummy bits.
Add the carrots, onion, garlic, oregano, bay leaf, and lentil to the pot.  Bring to a boil.  Cook until the vegetables are tender. 

Add the potatoes, cover and reduce heat to low.  Cook for 40 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

Remove from heat and allow to cool completley.  Place in labeled gallon bag.  Place the broccoli florets in the quart sized zipper bag and staple this bag to the gallon bag.

When ready to serve: defrost completely.  Place in a large pot and bring to a boil.  Stir in the broccoli.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until the broccoli is bright green and tender.  Fish out the bay leaves and discard.

(I didn't add broccoli to this)  Still very yummy!!



No Peek Beef Tips

Since it's a little cooler today I've decided to fire up the oven to have No Peek Beef Tips for dinner.  This is going to be yummy!!

No Peek Beef Tips
Ingredients:
2 lbs: Beef tenderloin tips, stew meat, chuck roast or chucky eye, cubed
1 - 10.5 oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 - packet brown gravy mix
1 - packet lipton dry onion soup mix
1 - 4 oz can mushrooms (I don't add this)
1 - cup water or ginger ale soda

Directions:
Add cubed meat to a 9 x 13 inch pan.  In a big bowl mix the remaining ingredients together and pour over the meat add mushrooms, and stir to coat.

Cover with foil and bake at 300 degrees for 3 hours. Do not remove foil until done. Serve over rice, mashed potatoes, or noodles.

 



 

I just added it over mashed potatoes and noodles. Yummy!!