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Crockpot Beef Short Ribs

February 21, 2022



We went food shopping recently at BJ's when I saw a package of beef short ribs.  The meat looked good and so I decided to make beef short ribs for dinner.  I've always made crockpot pork ribs for dinner but I'm glad I made the beef short ribs for a change.


I browned the beef ribs on both sides before adding them to the crockpot.



I sprayed non-stick cooking spray into the crockpot.  I then added the beef ribs to the crockpot.


I added a marinade mixture on top of the beef ribs.


These beef ribs came out yummy tasting after cooking in the crockpot for a few hours.  I can't wait to add this crockpot recipe to my winter meals.  I hope you give this recipe a try as it's the perfect comfort food for dinner.

CROCKPOT BEEF SHORT RIBS


INGREDIENTS:

1 package of beef short ribs
1/2 cup of chicken stock
1 packet of onion soup mix
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
salt and pepper to taste
non-stick cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:

Spray a large frying pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Season beef short ribs with salt and pepper.  Put the short ribs into a frying pan and brown on both sides of the ribs.  Mix the chicken stock, 1 packet of onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, and salt and pepper to taste.  Spray crockpot with non-stick cooking spray.  Add beef short ribs to the crockpot.  Spread the soup mixture over the ribs.  Set crockpot to HIGH setting and cook for four to five hours.  The beef short ribs are done cooking when the meat falls easily off the bone.

Serve over mashed potatoes.

YUMMY CROCKPOT BEEF SHORT RIBS!


Click HERE to see the blog parties I will be linking up to.

Julie

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Household Dollar Tree Items

February 17, 2022


Hey guys, it's been a while since I've shopped at the Dollar Tree store or did a blog post.  I used to have a DT store close to me but it closed down.  I don't understand why that happened because that store was always busy.  There are two other stores about 30-minutes away from me which isn't very convenient.  I was in Rhode Island over the weekend and I stopped into the Dollar Tree store to buy some things I needed.  I'd love to share with you my mini haul.
I always use these rubber gloves whenever I have dishes or large pots to wash.  I bought four packages of these gloves. 

I like to use this lemon Pine Glo cleaner for the bathroom.  I bought 2 bottles of this cleaner.  This lemon cleaner is just like Mr. Clean.

I like to use this type of air freshener in my shoe closet.  I thought this scent might be nice and bought two of them.

I use the crockpot a lot during the winter months.  I've never used a slow cooker liner for the crockpot.  I saw this package of six-liners and I'm looking forward to trying these out.  

We needed new small white envelopes.  I like that these envelopes are instant sealing.

I picked up this box of large security envelopes.

I also forgot to take out of the basket a cute stone outdoor wall plaque for spring.  I hate when I do silly things like that!  LOL!  I noticed the store still had a lot of nice Valentine's Day decorations.  I was a little disappointed not to see any St. Patrick's Day or spring decorations.        

Have you bought anything from the Dollar Tree store lately?

Click HERE to see the blog parties I will be linking up to.

Julie
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Book Goals -2022

February 8, 2022


I set a goal to read the six books seen listed below.  I haven't set a deadline to read the books since I have so many other things that occupy my time.   

I used to visit our local library before the pandemic.  I haven't been to our library in a long time.  I now purchase most of my books from either BJ's, Costco, or Amazon.  My daughter and husband both like reading their books on a Kindle.  I like to read a book that I can hold in my hand.  

I bought some of the books listed below at BJ's, the Strand Book Store, and I received two books for Christmas.  

When I accumulate too many books, I can sell back any of my used books to the Strand Book Store.  

I like to read non-fiction books based on historical fiction, love stories, and mystery.


How to Stop Time by Matt Haig - I'm currently reading this book my daughter picked out for me for Christmas.  Below is how the book is described on Amazon:

How to Stop Time tells a love story across the ages—and for the ages—about a man lost in time, the woman who could save him, and the lifetimes it can take to learn how to live. It is a bighearted, wildly original novel about losing and finding yourself, the inevitability of change, and how with enough time to learn, we just might find happiness.
 
The Queen of Paris: A Novel of Coco Chanel by Pamela Binnings Ewen.
My daughter picked this book out for me for Christmas.  I look forward to reading about Coco Chanel.  Below is how the book is described on Amazon:
 

Legendary fashion designer Coco Chanel is revered for her sophisticated style—the iconic little black dress—and famed for her intoxicating perfume Chanel No. 5. Yet behind the public persona is a complicated woman of intrigue, shadowed by mysterious rumors. The Queen of Paris, the new novel from award-winning author Pamela Binnings Ewen, vividly imagines the hidden life of Chanel during the four years of Nazi occupation in Paris in the midst of WWII—as discovered in recently unearthed wartime files.

Coco Chanel could be cheerful, lighthearted, and generous; she also could be ruthless, manipulative, even cruel. Against the winds of war, with the Wehrmacht marching down the Champs-Élysées, Chanel finds herself residing alongside the Reich’s High Command in the Hotel Ritz. Surrounded by the enemy, Chanel wages a private war of her own to wrestle full control of her perfume company from the hands of her Jewish business partner, Pierre Wertheimer. With anti-Semitism on the rise, he has escaped to the United States with the confidential formula for Chanel No. 5. Distrustful of his intentions to set up production on the outskirts of New York City, Chanel fights to seize ownership. The House of Chanel shall not fall.

While Chanel struggles to keep her livelihood intact, Paris sinks under the iron fist of German rule. Chanel—a woman made of sparkling granite—will do anything to survive. She will even agree to collaborate with the Nazis in order to protect her darkest secrets. When she is covertly recruited by Germany to spy for the Reich, she becomes Agent F-7124, code name: Westminster. But why? And to what lengths will she go to keep her stormy past from haunting her future?

The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs - This looks like a fun and easy read.  This is how it's described on Amazon:

There is a book for everything . . . 

Somewhere in the vast Library of the Universe, as Natalie thought of it, there was a book that embodied exactly the things she was worrying about.

In the wake of a shocking tragedy, Natalie Harper inherits her mother’s charming but financially strapped bookshop in San Francisco. She also becomes caretaker for her ailing grandfather Andrew, her only living relative—not counting her scoundrel father.

But the gruff, deeply kind Andrew has begun displaying signs of decline. Natalie thinks it’s best to move him to an assisted living facility to ensure the care he needs. To pay for it, she plans to close the bookstore and sell the derelict but valuable building on historic Perdita Street, which is in need of constant fixing. There’s only one problem–Grandpa Andrew owns the building and refuses to sell. Natalie adores her grandfather; she’ll do whatever it takes to make his final years happy. Besides, she loves the store and its books provide welcome solace for her overwhelming grief.

After she moves into the small studio apartment above the shop, Natalie carries out her grandfather’s request and hires contractor Peach Gallagher to do the necessary and ongoing repairs. His young daughter, Dorothy, also becomes a regular at the store, and she and Natalie begin reading together while Peach works.

To Natalie’s surprise, her sorrow begins to dissipate as her life becomes an unexpected journey of new connections, discoveries and revelations, from unearthing artifacts hidden in the bookshop’s walls, to discovering the truth about her family, her future, and her own heart

Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan - I was browsing through the Strand Book Store.  This is a book that caught my eye and looks interesting.
Here is how it's described on Amazon:

In 1973, twenty-year-old Moll Gladney takes a morning bus from her rural home in Ireland and disappears. Bewildered and distraught, Paddy and Kit must confront an unbearable prospect: that they will never see their daughter again.

Five years later, Moll returns from London. What - and who - she brings with her will change the course of her family's life forever. Beautiful and devastating, this exploration of loss, alienation and the redemptive power of love reaffirms Donal Ryan as one of the most talented and empathetic writers at work today.

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner - This is another book I thought looked interesting about Jane Austen.  Here is how it's described on Amazon:

Just after the Second World War, in the small English village of Chawton, an unusual but like-minded group of people band together to attempt something remarkable.

One hundred and fifty years ago, Chawton was the final home of Jane Austen, one of England's finest novelists. Now it's home to a few distant relatives and their diminishing estate. With the last bit of Austen's legacy threatened, a group of disparate individuals come together to preserve both Jane Austen's home and her legacy. These people—a laborer, a young widow, the local doctor, and a movie star, among others—could not be more different and yet they are united in their love for the works and words of Austen. As each of them endures their own quiet struggle with loss and trauma, some from the recent war, others from more distant tragedies, they rally together to create the Jane Austen Society.

Summer Island by Kristin Hannah - I love books by Kristin Hannah after reading The Great Alone, The Nightingale, and The Four Winds.  You can read how this book is described on Amazon:

Years ago, Nora Bridge walked out on her marriage and left her daughters behind. She has since become a famous radio talk-show host and newspaper columnist beloved for her moral advice. Her youngest daughter, Ruby, is a struggling comedienne who uses her famous mother as fuel for her bitter, cynical humor. When the tabloids unearth a scandalous secret from Nora's past, their estrangement suddenly becomes dramatic: Nora is injured in an accident and a glossy magazine offers Ruby a fortune to write a tell-all about her mother. Under false pretenses, Ruby returns home to take care of the woman she hasn't spoken to for almost a decade.

Nora insists they retreat to Summer Island in the San Juans, to the lovely old house on the water where Ruby grew up, a place filled with childhood memories of love and joy and belonging. There Ruby is also reunited with her first love and his brother. Once, the three of them had been best friends, inseparable. Until the summer that Nora had left and everyone's hearts had been broken. . . .

What began as an expose evolves, as Ruby writes, into an exploration of her family's past. Nora is not the woman Ruby has hated all these years. Witty, wise, and vulnerable, she is desperate to reconcile with her daughter. As the magazine deadline draws near and Ruby finishes what has begun to seem to her an act of brutal betrayal, she is forced to grow up and at last to look at her mother--and herself--through the eyes of a woman. And she must, finally, allow herself to love.

Summer Island is a beautiful novel, funny, tender, sad, and ultimately triumphant.


The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
I just finished reading this book and I loved it.  This is a Read with Jenna - Today Show Book Club Pick.    
This is how the book is described on Amazon:

Ann Patchett, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth, delivers her most powerful novel to date: a richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. The Dutch House is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and of who we really are.

 
Have you read any of these books?  What book are you reading now?


Click HERE to see the blog parties I will be linking up to.

Julie
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WIP - Update on Crochet Sweater

February 3, 2022



I recently decided to make a goal for myself and make a crocheted sweater.  I have an update on the crocheted sweater project that I started working on.  

I thought I would need more yarn for the sweater I was working on as I bought six skeins of yarn.  I went to a Michaels store again to find more of the yarn as directed in the crochet pattern.  Well, the Michaels store did not have the Taupe color I needed for the sweater.  I thought I would pick up two to four skeins of the yarn.  I walked out of the store with no more extra yarn.


Well, I've been working on the sweater for about an hour each afternoon for the past two weeks. 


I've made a good amount of progress on the sweater when I realized that the sweater was going to be too big-fitting on me. 
 

I used the pattern directions for a size small.  I held the rectangle piece up to me and it looked too big.  This is for an oversized sweater but I don't want it to be huge fitting on me.  I unraveled and took apart the sweater.  I now had to figure out the different chain stitching to start the project all over again.  I figured it out and I'm hoping the new sizing will be better. 


I realize that this crocheted sweater is a challenge to make.  I'm not in any rush to have this sweater done but I want it to look good.  

Wish me luck on the progress with making this sweater.

 


Click HERE to see the blog parties I will be linking up to.

Julie
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Amazon Prime Purchases - February 2022

February 1, 2022


Happy February friends!

I thought it would be fun to share some of our Amazon Prime Purchases from the month of December and January.

It's that time of the month where we share our Amazon Prime Purchases at Tanya's blog.  I always enjoy taking a peek at what other people are buying from Amazon.


My Daughter's Purchases:

Campbell's Soup on the Go Chicken & Star Shaped Pasta Soup, 10.75 oz. Cup (Pack of 8)

My daughter ordered these cans of soup for school.  This soup is a great lunch idea for students who are on the go for college.

MOLOVA Case for Airpods 1&2 Case, Ice Blue Marble with Koi Fish Airpods Hard Protective Cover Shock Proof Compatiable with Wireless Charging Case Keychain for Kids Teens Boys Girls

This is a pretty case my daughter ordered to hold her Airpods.

Wecolor 100 PCS Disposable 3 Ply Earloop Face Masks, Suitable for Home, School, Office and Outdoors (Black)

My daughter ordered a box of these face masks for school and the gym.


CELSIUS Essential Energy Drink, 12 Fl Oz, Official Variety Pack (Pack of 12)

My daughter likes to drink these energy drinks.


GMS Optical® 1.3mm Ultra-Thin Anti-Slip Adhesive Contoured Silicone Eyeglass Nose Pads with Super Sticky Backing for Glasses, Sunglasses, and Eye Wear - 5 Pair (Clear)

My daughter ordered these eyeglass nose pads for her eyeglasses.



Mr. JCL's Purchases:


Cross 8511-2 Refills for Ballpoint Pens, Medium, Blue Ink, 2/Pack (85112)

My husband needed new refills for his Cross ballpoint pen.



My Purchases:

RONXS Lighter, Candle Lighter Camping Lighter Grill Lighter USB Lighter Plasma Arc with LED Battery Display Safety Switch, Longer Flexible Neck for Candle Cooking BBQs Fireworks

I ordered two of these candle lighters, one for me and one for my SIL.  I love lighting candles during the winter months.  It's so easy to light candles because the long flexible neck can reach into candles.  


Hair Claw Clips for Thick Hair - 3pcs 4.3’’ ABS Nonslip Jumbo Hair Clips Strong Hold Hair Jaw Clips Big Hair Clips French Design Hair Styling Accessories for Women Girls(3 Packs)

I ordered these hair claws for my daughter for Christmas.


Olivia Garden Brush Cleaner, Blue

I gave this brush cleaner to my daughter for Christmas.

Goody Ouchless Womens Hair Scrunchie - 8 Count, Black - Suitable for All Hair Types - Pain-Free Hair Accessories for Women Perfect for Long Lasting Braids, Ponytails and More

These hair scrunchies were a stocking stuffer for my daughter for Christmas.


essence | Lash Princess Curl Mascara | For Dramatic Curl & Volume | Vegan | Alcohol, Paraben, & Fragrance Free | Cruelty Free

I ordered this mascara after it was recommended to me by my friend.  I also read about it on Ann's blog Our New Vista.  I like how this mascara works and it's a great price at only $5.

Garnier Whole Blends Oat Delicacy Softening Shampoo Bar for Fine Hair, Zero Plastic Packaging, Preservative/ Silicone/Soap & Dye Free, with Rice Cream and Responsibly Sourced Milk, 2.0 Oz

I saw an ad on Instagram for this shampoo and I decided to buy it.  I ordered one for me and one for my husband.  It works great and I like that there is no plastic packaging.

Hasbro Gaming CONNECT 4 - Classic four in a row game - Board Games and Toys for Kids, boys, girls - Ages 6+

I needed to buy some gifts for children at our church.  I ordered this one for Christmas.



Vinyl Tablecloth with Flannel Backing,Plastic Waterproof Rectangular Tablecloths,Easy Clean Spillproof Table Cloth for Camping Party Indoor & Outdoor, Easy Care Table Cover(Brown Stripes,58 x 84 Inch)

I wanted a new plastic tablecloth for my dining room table.  This tablecloth is great because you don't have to worry about any stains or spills and it cleans up easily.


KISS imPRESS Color Press-On Manicure, Gel Nail Kit, PureFit Technology, Short Length, “Peanut Pink”, Polish-Free Solid Color Mani, Includes Prep Pad, Mini File, Cuticle Stick, and 30 Fake Nails

I ordered a set of these press-on nails after hearing about them from Kim.  This is a great idea if you don't want to go to the nail salon and want to do your nails.  These nails are very easy to apply and last about a week.  I like the length of these nails as they aren't long.  I wore this set of nails for the holidays.  I bought them for only $6 and that is less than paying for a manicure in the nail salon.

KISS imPRESS Color Press-On Manicure, Gel Nail Kit, PureFit Technology, Short Length, “Taupe Prize”, Polish-Free Solid Color Mani, Includes Prep Pad, Mini File, Cuticle Stick, and 30 Fake Nails

I also ordered this set of nails and I'm looking forward to wearing these.

Rachael Ray Nutrish Real Meat Dog Treats

I give these dog treats to Bosco and he loves them.  I sometimes have to break it up into small pieces to help Bosco eat his dry dog food.

Affresh W10355052 Coffee Maker Cleaner, 3 Tablets | Compatible with multi-cup coffeemakers and single serve brewers

I have a Faberware coffee pot and I like to use these tablets to keep the pot clean from any coffee buildup.

Ezi Women's Cotton-Polyester Cobbler Apron with Pockets

I like wearing these types of aprons for cooking our dinner.  I like the snowflake print on this apron. 

1 Pair Short Oven Mitts, Heat Resistant Silicone Kitchen Mini Oven Mitts for 500 Degrees, Non-Slip Grip Surfaces and Hanging Loop Gloves, Baking Grilling Barbecue Microwave Machine Washable (Gray)

I needed new kitchen mitts as mine were worn out and had holes in them.

12 Cups Silicone Muffin Pan - Nonstick BPA Free Cupcake Pan 1 Pack Regular Size Silicone Mold

I've been making protein pumpkin muffins for us lately.  I am looking forward to trying out this silicone muffin pan so that the muffins don't stick to the pan.

 

Have you bought anything from Amazon lately?


Click HERE to see the blog parties I will be linking up to.

Julie

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