Homemade Burgers!

I love burgers. I could eat them every day. 

Maybe.

Burgers are a pretty close tie with pizza (seriously, any type of pizza, it could even be on a tortilla, but no matter what, I'd still eat it!).

I haven't made burgers at home in YEARS because we've discovered the already-seasoned ready-to-be-grilled burgers at Byerly's. If you have not tried their Pub burgers, or their Asiago Garlic burgers, or their pizza burgers then you are seriously missing out on delicious beef. 

And those are the reasons why I haven't made burgers at home in years. 

But then I decided that I could probably make my own and they may not taste as great but they will definitely be great. And great they were, trust me. 

Super easy to make. Delicious. 

And even easier to freeze for burgers later next week. WOO HOO!!!

I doubled the recipe for myself and froze three patties for the next week. Freeze them flat and then you can stack them for easier storage in the freezer. 

Homemade Burgers

1 lb ground beef (I use organic beef - the highest fat content will give you a better burger but use what you want)

1 tbsp McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 tbsp of minced garlic (I use the preminced garlic, I hate the smell of garlicky hands!)

At least 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, more if you really like it

Mix everything together with your hands in a big bowl. Divide it into 4 chunks. Shape the patties into discs and then press your thumb into the center. This makes for even cooking and the edges won't be burnt to a crisp before the center is done to your liking.

Grill about 5-7 minutes on each side. I grill a little longer for burgers for the Monkey since I like her meat to be a little more well done than my own.

Top with cheese - I like aged cheddar. 

Serve on toasted buns with your favorite toppings.

Return to Line Drying - Tips And Tricks

Bimmer Man set up my new clothesline outside. I"M SO EXCITED.

I honestly don't know any other nerdy hippie that would be SO EXCITED about a clothesline.

It's 40 feet long, so it stretches from our back sun porch to the garage. I can hang approximately a half load of clothes on it (well, we have a super capacity washing machine which does 2-4 loads of clothes at once compared to a regular washing machine. I generally do 4-5 loads of laundry per week).

So with line drying clothes the question becomes, do I really want crunchy clothes or not?

I don't line dry underwear or undergarments. Too embarrassing (but what did people do before dryers?).

I don't do towels either after I used a crunchy towel after a shower one day. I read somewhere that dermatologists suggest using line dried towels for exfoliating and what not but I really think it depends on the towel. Our nice Ralph Lauren towels are too crunchy but the ginormous Ikea towels aren't all that bad after line drying.

After a few weeks of line drying (and drying about 10 loads now...) I have a few line drying tips.

• Dry clothes inside out - brightly colored clothes won't fade and the pit stains in shirts will be sun bleached
• Dry them hanging upside down (so pants should be hung from the legs, not the waistband)
• T-shirts need to be dried inside out and upside down
• Napkins fold neater and much more nicely after being line dried (aka no ironing necessary)
• Socks take the LONGEST TIME
• White clothes are most definitely whiter after being in the sun (no more pit stains, yay!!)
• Vinegar in the rinse cycle (put it in the softener part of your washing machine) gets out excess laundry detergent which means less crunchiness since there's no leftover soap
• It's ok to fluff clothes in the dryer - but I just fold clothes straight from the line and put everything away (I bring out 3-4 blue Ikea bags to sort and fold depending on what's in the load - 1 for me, 1 for Bimmer, 1 for the Monkey, 1 for household crap). I feel like returning the clothes to right side out and shaking them a bit helps to get out the crunchiness

So there's my tips for line drying clothes. I'm really happy with my clothesline but I sure do feel like the neighborhood hippie with our clothes hanging outside!

Becoming A Minimalist

Simplifying life isn't easy.

I woke from a nap today thinking the following - the most important people that care about ME when I die are in the same house as I was in that moment. Anything else doesn't matter. 

Really, things are just things. Stuff is just stuff. 

I don't need 6 beer coozies, I don't need 4 different coffee mugs. Or 37 drink glasses. 

All I need are my loved ones.

And so I've started simplifying my life. Shelf by shelf I've been going through our stuff and either tossing or donating. It feels great. 

And so I started doing the same with my friends on Facebook. I've gone from 437 friends down to 3??. I'm not sure, I just ask myself "does this person really care about the crap that I post?" If my answer is no, then they get deleted. 

It feels wonderful. 

I don't really need Facebook. I don't need the digital world to "like" me to justify my life, to make me feel "liked" or needed. I don't care all that much anymore. I'm over 30, I have other things to do than care about what people think about my life (I wish I knew this in my 20's!). I post photos for my family members and for my favorite people to see what I eat, do, make, etc... 

However, it's now time for me to start on a new journey in my life. I'm simplifying everything. 

And it feels fabulous.

I'm going back to where I need to be. 

I 'm starting to cut out technology, cutting out all the extras. Letting my days be free and fluid with the Monkey. No tv, just music or quiet time. Living life, I guess is what you would say. 

I just need the peace and quiet of simplicity.

Someone Peed On My New Rug Already

It's now "broken in."

Bimmer Man came home from work last week and this was our conversation. 

Me: Someone in this house peed on my new rug.

Bimmer Man says nothing and looks at me. 

Me: No! Not me! I didn't pee on the rug!

(It was The Monkey, I swear!)

August Meal Planning

I still have quite a few freezer meals from last time so I don't have too much to plan out - woo hoo!!

BUT I bulk ordered sides - so in the cupboards I have Near East Mediterranean Curry Cous Cous and Near East Roast Garlic and Olive Oil Pasta. Both are delicious and the Monkey eats both so no worries on finding a starch.

Meal planning is so weird. I look at other blogs for meal planning ideas and while recipes LOOK FANTASTIC, I realize that when I put it down on my calendar that A) I don't have time; B) I am missing 2+ ingredients that I probably won't ever buy again; or C) I just don't want to make it because it's too involved.

Another thing about meal planning - there are things that I don't like that I see quite a bit -

• I hate quinoa, 
• I'm not much for elaborate breading of meat (I don't have room for all of that), 
• I don't deep fry things, 
• I don't have time to make a sauce or make a mix and then make dinner

And also there are only certain vegetables that I like and that the Monkey will actually eat:

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Green beans
• Corn
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Water Chestnuts (I know, weird)
• Broccolini stalk thingys

Please notice what is missing - potatoes, asparagus, carrots, eggplant (which I don't like either), peppers and a few other veggies. I make french fries, tater tots, and homemade french fries but the Monkey refuses to eat plain baked potatoes or roasted potatoes. I don't know why (because she'll eat curried rice, LOL!). 

So in general when looking at other blogger's meal plans I have to switch up sides and make changes to recipes to suit our meal needs (like omitting hot sauce and switching from potatoes for a side to jasmine rice). 

I also have to work within our budget, so if that means that I only buy some lettuce, milk, butter, and eggs at the co-op, then so be it. My grocery budget sometimes has to be eating out of cupboards only (which is fine because they're usually stocked in general because every few weeks/months I buy certain items in bulk).

And the other thing with meal planning - I buy organic. We're up to eating 75-85% organic except for some frozen pizzas, cheese, and some pantry items. Organic can be expensive so I need to choose meals that fit within our budget. There are meats that we can't afford (like $17.99/lb for some meats at Whole Foods, seriously....) so I switch up marinades to cheaper organic beef and chicken cuts. Whole chickens are cheap but boneless, skinless breasts are the easiest for me to work with (Costco has organic chicken and beef for bulk purchases or else I order from my organic meat lady at the farmer's market).

So, as you can tell, I'm a super picky freezer meal planner and regular meal planner.

Onto what I have in stock...

Below I'm going to list my freezer inventory and my cupboard inventory so you can see what we usually have in stock. Then I just pick and choose what's for dinner from both lists. I choose a protein, starch, and veggie (sometimes I do two veggies and no starch).

I think this is the easiest way to meal plan for myself - that way I'm not tied down to a certain menu item because who in the heck knows what we'll actually be hungry for on Friday!!

Freezer Inventory

• Greek Chicken (Italian seasoning, olive oil, salt & pepper, sliced lemons), just marinated chicken in a freezer bag
• Plain "Just Bare" chicken breasts
• Sweet Glazed Chicken (ketchup, apricot preserves, worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, olive oil) in a freezer bag
• Margarita Chicken (alcoholic margarita mix, parsley, olive oil) in a freezer bag
• Thin cut beef roast
• Taco Meat
• Pasta sauce - meatless AND beef sauce
• Pesto
• French fries
• Peas
• Chicken sausage
• Ground turkey (which I think the dog might end up eating)
• Pork chops - two different marinades
• Steak (5 steaks)
• Mixed veggies - a few bags of random seasoned and plain veggies

Cupboard Inventory

• Annie's Mac & Cheese (mostly for lunches)
• Near East Garlic & Olive Oil Pasta
• Near East Mediterranean Cous Cous
• Black beans
• Tomato sauce
• Tomato paste
• Jasmine rice
• Honey
• Spices
• Flour & sugar
• Black olives
• Wildtree Organic spices, flatbread mix, cinnamon rolls
• Pasta - spaghetti and rotini

Gah. I know there's more but that's what I know I have off the top of my head. I stopped at the farmer's market and got broccoli, two types of beans, lettuce and a few tomatoes for this week for fresh veggies. 

Oy, meal planning is hard. We'll see what we end up eating this month!

New Living Room Rug

Even The Monkey thinks its pretty awesome! I find her laying on it a lot. HA!

We went from two hastily seamed together Ikea rugs (yay for $19.99 each at the time...) to a larger 8x10 rug. The old rugs were mostly under the furniture but for this rug only the front legs of the furniture are on the rug. I've discovered that the play area was the rug and The Monkey just needed a larger space plus our old rugs were, well, old. And a pain to vacuum every day.

This rug is from Joss And Main. which is one of my new favorite decor sites to peruse occasionally. There's a ton of stuff to look at, so its better if you know what you want (an end table, a painting, etc...) to find what you like, otherwise you will be sucked in and 30 minutes later you're wondering where the time went. Shipping was super quick.

The next thing on my to-do list is to get rid of the changing table in The Monkey's room, replace that with a bookcase so I can move all of her books into her room and get the white bookshelf that we use for toy/book storage down into the basement for toy storage there. I'd like to replace the book shelf in the living room with some sort of antique or rustic table - effectively getting rid of the toys in the living room except the kitchen in the corner and a new toy storage bin rack. I think I'm over the toys but we just don't have the space and the basement is still unfinished (ok, it just doesn't have a finished ceiling or drywall up).

I rotate The Monkey's toys - she has 4 toy storage bins with a variety of toys in each. I rotate them every 2-3 weeks depending on her boredom level. Any new toys HAVE TO FIT, otherwise, well, they just sit on the floor and kids accumulate a lot of stuff. So toys need to be rotated otherwise I would be swimming in toys. No, thank you.

So, phew, new rug is in. I don't have to worry about this anymore. YAY!!!!

Happy Wednesday!!!

The Thing That Sees Me When I'm Peeing

I'm going to let all of you women-who-want-children-but-haven't-had-any in on a little secret.

Your bladder will no longer work like it does now.

As in, I used to be able to hold my pee all night long, even after drinking.

I now wake up at least twice to pee at night, I still drink a TON of water - generally my day consists of caffeine until 9 and then water, water, water, water, water, a beer or two and then that's it. I just can't hold my urine anymore. I have not had a full night's sleep in almost 3 years. Mothers sacrifice their bladders. It's just how it works.

Which brings me to this post.

A few weeks ago I was talking to our neighbor and she noticed a few headless dead animals in her yard, and the neighbor next to her did too. We've had three dead headless birds on our front sidewalk, a dead headless chipmunk on the side of our house (not killed by Rusty), and I've seen at least two dead headless rabbits in our back alley. One neighbor said it was hawks killing the small animals - the head is the best nutritious part of the animals. I guess brains taste delicious but I wouldn't know. I've never eaten brains before.

The past two weeks I've been up at 2:30, 3:30, 4:30, 5, 5:30, etc... peeing. And I've looked up and out the skylight while peeing to see a moving object (though I was a bit blurry eye-ed with sleep), that is incredibly large, tall, with HUGE tail feathers walking up and down the same branches.

It sort of looks like an owl, but then when it turns it looks like an eagle. We do live close to Minnehaha Creek and I have seen Bald Eagles in the area several times (they are HUGE when they swoop through the air!). My problem is that I'm not a bird-watcher and I have no idea what to look for to identify owls or eagles in the middle of the night.

I"m pretty sure it's this bird-thing that's killing the small animals (which I hope it eats more chipmunks!!). But I don't know what it is! In the middle of the night I'm way too tired to even think about grabbing my camera or shining a flashlight or anything that might help me to figure out what it is.

So, to explain where I"m looking, here's a few photos. If there are any bird-watchers reading this, please, please let me know if you think you know what this is or how I can identify this bird creature!

Here's a photo - you can see the skylight and the toilet

This is my view from the toilet out the skylight

And here's a better view of where this bird thingy sits in the trees.

Anybody know what this thing might be????

Read Any Good Books Lately?

I started reading Night Film by Marisha Pessl and it's pretty addicting.

It starts off a bit weird, gets a little weirder and you want to stop reading it but I've kept up with it. I have about 100 pages left and so I need some new reading material!

Night Film is about an investigative reporter investigating what else... a suicide... or is it murder??? He dives deep into the girl's history and discovers some crazy secrets - the dead girl's dad is a movie director who likes the supernatural and makes horror films, somehow black witchcraft is involved, blah, blah, blah. It's a pretty good mystery. I do recommend it so far (but again, I haven't yet finished the book!).

Now that I know I need something new to read I'm debating about going back and re-reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon OR re-reading the Sookie Stackhouse series since I only got to book 8 or 9, it's been so long that I can't remember.

From a parent's perspective, I still have to finish Clutterfree with Kids and also Mindful Parenting. I've been on a weird parenting book kick lately and an even weirder "minimalist" lifestyle bender. I LOVE the concept of being a minimalist but at this very moment, I really can't picture myself doing it. There's a ton of stuff we can get rid of but I know I'd totally fail.

Read anything good enough to recommend lately???

A Little Cottage Inspiration

Photo from BHG

Loving the cottage style right now. Reminds me of summer!

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The House Didn't Explode

Monday was an exciting day in the Bimmer-McTatty household.

The gas company had contractors out at our house to work on gas lines and to move our gas meter from inside the house to outside the house.

These people (yep, my irritation here is obvious) have been working on gas lines in our neighborhood for months. MONTHS. The main street into our neighborhood was closed. Our sidewalks have holes. My yard has holes. The street has holes and piles of dirt and pavement. There's even a Biffy at the end of our street.

YET MY RETAINING WALL STILL STANDS.

VICTORY.

I was really worried about it last week when a guy came around to make an appointment to move our meter. He was so nonchalant about it too.

Me: What are you doing to my house? You're not going to touch my retaining walls or plants, right?

Him: We're moving your gas meter outside. Where do you want it?

Me: I have options?

Him: Yeah, anywhere outside.

Me: Just don't touch my retaining walls or plants.

Him: Ok. We have to dig up your yard to get around the tree.

Me: Where? Will you put the dirt back in the holes? Do I have to replant the grass? You're not going to touch my retaining walls, right? I don't want to replace them.

Him: Neither do we.

Me: Ok. Just don't touch my stuff. Is my house going to explode?

Him: It shouldn't.

That wasn't very comforting. Because I watch the news... Houses have exploded from gas line maintenance not very far from our house. I didn't want to be the people whose dog flew 50 feet from the house and ended up doing a news story from the vet's office.

He then marked out two spots to dig in our front yard with spray paint and I shit my pants just a little. THEY WERE HUGE MARKINGS. From me intently watching our neighbor's yard, I knew that they would dig exactly where the paint was. And some of that paint was right next to our sidewalk. Ugh.

So Monday morning came and I grabbed a box and started to throw stuff in it just in case our house exploded. I grabbed necessities. Phone charger, crochet hooks, dog leash, a sweater, my Kindle. And put it on the back porch if I had to run for cover.

They ended up putting the meter on the front of the house - had they put it on the side they would have had to dig up our sidewalk and then they would replace that in a few WEEKS. WEEKS. So I said no to that. Plus with our luck and Minnesota winters I figured Bimmerman or I would take it out with the snowblower at some point. Then our house probably would explode.

So now I just have to wait for my plant outside to cover it up next year. The guy that came and filled in the holes was pretty awesome, they set aside my pine bark mulch and then instead of just leaving dirt they replaced the pine bark mulch on top. I'm sure I didn't have to complain about it because a previous person had already done that. SO, now I just have one random dirt patch that needs to be seeded.

Phew. Worries about exploding houses are over. Onto the next project....