Perspective…

   The older I get, the more I realize how different perspective on something can be based on where one is at the time, be it physically, emotionally, spiritually, and so on. This weekend I saw some amazing examples of differences in perspective and thought I would share them with you. Mostly because I had such a fun time and I want to tell about it! 🙂

Here is an all-but empty stadium from the staff and security perspective – 

And a full stadium from the players’ perspective (or that of us flag holders, who are most essential for opening ceremonies to go as planned!)- 

 

A little perspective from the seats, appreciating how well these guys wear their uniforms! – 

And now, the absolutely amazing women being honored for surviving their fight – from the seats:

And from up above:

What an amazingly fun weekend to celebrate Emmet’s 16th birthday!

And as always, to tie it back to food (you knew this was coming!)…

My perspective as a rancher is that beef producers are wonderful people and the product we raise is absolutely nutritious and delicious. Twice, very recently, I have heard people imply that hormones from today’s meat are causing young ladies to mature more quickly. I know that is simply not true – for at least a couple of reasons. First of all, we are just feeding our children much better these days and young peoples bodies are no longer lacking in nutrition that may have delayed puberty. Secondly, the amount of hormones in meat are minuscule in comparison to other foods that are, hopefully, consumed on a regular basis. A friend of mine did a wonderful blog post using M&M’s to show the comparisons of hormone levels in different foods. You can see it here. 

So, I say, GO, EAT BEEF WITH CONFIDENCE! YOU WILL NOT CAUSE EARLY BREAST DEVELOPMENT IN YOUR DAUGHTERS! 

Finally, a quick, weeknight recipe for ya…
Stuffed (with whatever you like best) hamburgers!
You will need: 
enough ground beef to make nice size patties for your family
bacon
cheese
Peppers (pickled banana is what I used)
Salt and Pepper
Anything else you think sounds amazingly delicious

Just take the portion of meat for each person and divide equally in half. Make a large, thin patty out of each half. Place the desired stuffing ingredients on top of one side (as shown)

Cover with the other half and pinch the sides together so the cheese doesn’t leak out into the grill.

Grill to perfection.
And – enjoy the juicy, flavorful, nutritious, deliciousness…

 

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One out of the nest…kind of…

I don’t feel old – at all! I really don’t! Help me out here – I am using that theory that if you tell yourself something enough, you will believe it! Yet, I look in the mirror and my stomach is not as hard and shapely as it used to be. And my husband, bless his heart, was watching some kind of he-woman competition last week and pointed out that my legs USED to look JUST LIKE one of the gals who was in the lead – I guess I was in pretty decent shape back in the day… At least he still “checks me out so he can compare. 🙂

And now, I am old enough to have one bird gone from the nest. Those of you who have already passed this stage know already, but I have found that it is just an odd feeling to describe. Oh, there are times she is missed at the supper table and I know Emmet misses trading off chore duties with her. But she has blessed us several weekends already with LOADS of love – I mean laundry! LOADS, I tell you! In fact – we are on our way to get a new washing machine this week. 20 years I got out of the old Maytag. Can’t complain there!

Emmet is always really excited to have Kaydee there for his games on Friday nights!

Kaydee is always glad to eat some good, home cookin’! And yes – Emmet LOVES that I cook more when she is home, too!

This weekend we made taco soup since it was cool and blustery outside. I know there are dozens of delicious ways to make taco soup, but here is what we concocted with what we had in the freezer and pantry:

Brown 2# of ground beef (Kaydee wanted a LOT of meat – she doesn’t think she gets nearly enough in the dining hall!)
Diced onion – as much as you like. We used about 2/3 of a sweet onion; add it to the beef just as the beef is getting done
Chili pepper – lots of it
Taco seasoning – about a pack (I keep a big can of it and just dump)
A can of baked beans (I didn’t have any chili beans or great northerns or black…we were really making do & it tasted great!)
A can of pork & beans
A can of stewed tomatoes chopped to small pieces and undrained
A can of Ro-Tel
1 1/2 pound Velveeta
What was left of a tub of sour cream (probably a cup or so)

Get this all heated through and the cheese all melted and enjoy with some Frito’s on top. YUM!!!! Our family really likes chili, but this is a nice change-up. We made a batch of sopapillas for dessert and it was a perfect meal on a Sunday night.

Kaydee is back at college this week and Emmet is back to having me help him fix a lunch every morning because the school lunches just don’t cut it for farm boys playing football.  And me, I just keep working and buying LOTS of groceries!

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