Tucson Tired

I had my spot all picked out for my winter garden (attempt) when do something dumb. I stopped and read an article on the internet that said in Tucson a winter garden needs at least 8 hrs. of sun so pick your garden plot accordingly.

Great, My spot (which I’ve had picked out all summer is on the Northeast end of the lot and gets about 5 hours of some sun and lots of cool shade.

So, I went looking around the place for a spot that got at least 6 to 7 hours of kinda direct sunlight. Wouldn’t you know it, the only place is where I put the rock stream bed down when I was laying out the new back yard design last spring.

This lead to several different ideas including “Screw the winter garden”.

The Bermuda Grass is going dormant for the winter. This leaves me with a choice. Either I leave it brown and wait for summer to return, or I put in a perennial rye grass as an over seed to the Bermuda and enjoy a green lawn all winter long. I like green.

But it isn’t easy being green. I have to cut the Bermuda down to 1 inch in height (that’s as low as my mower will go). However, I noticed that as the grass began to turn brown it also became more and more like a wire brush. I thought my mower was going dull. I bought a new mower with more ump. However, it turns out that even with a new sharp mower I had to drop the blade 1/2″ at a pass and only cut about 3 inch swaths at a time. Take a look.

Once the Bermuda is down to 1 inch I can put down the starter fertilizer, over seed with the winter rye, add 1/4 inch of topper soil with fertilizer and roll. Then it is water, water, water, for a week till the seed germinates and takes root. In about 4 weeks I should have a healthy green lawn again.

Then I can start mowing a couple of times a week. (Huh, I have to mow all winter too . . . was this a good idea?)

Yep,  It’s Monopoly at Mcdonalds 2011

McMillion Calories Time Again

I was expecting this to start on Tue. Sept. 27th as the place mat above indicates.   But when I meet my Dad and sister at Mcdonalds on Monday Sept. 26th the game pieces were already out and on our Hashbrowns. (I won a medium fry

Thus begins the McMillion Calorie count period till October 24th.  That spot you see on the W for win is hashbrown grease.  Lot’s of it.  Hot grease and hashbrowns go together.  I’ve had hashbrown every morning this week.  Three days in a row I was a winner; Medium Fry, Mcflurry, and some sweet dessert thing.

Now the process of finding the perfect meal to grab the most amount of stickers in a meal and keep the calorie count under 120o and the check under $10.

Doing so makes for an interesting strategy to survive till October 24th and NOT PUT ON TOO MUCH WEIGHT.  How much is too much?

Well we don’t have a scale in our house, the weight watch method of choice is the notch method.  If I have to let out the belt a single notch . . .  then I have to get the notch back without breaking buttons before I can continue collecting.

So we are off and running.

Yep, another day wraps up in the desert

The past three weeks have add a capitol T to the Tired Guy.  It has been non-stop since early July, but the capper for the summer has been what we call the “Triathlon” around here.

First was a local realtor expo at the Tucson Convention Center.  A booth for a wild west theme was required.  Build, painted (per my son Josh) (tired guy in the making).  carted down, setup, taken down, carted home, it’s in the garage (bay 3)

Next up the Move of the sister.  Two ten foot covered trailer loads from her home to a third floor apartment.  Oh, yeah, third floor; at least there wasn’t a piano.

Final leg, a Women’s counsel of realtors Dessert Auction known this year as “A Martini Affair” at Desert diamond casino (the one by the airport not the one down I-19).

The next night was the bonus round.  Watching three very active Grand kids (they are a long way from tired) then driving home for Arizona city at 1 am. in the morning.

Oh, did I mention as I was anticipating a restful weekend and excited about time for my garden and back yard, I got a cold. . .   didn’t think I mentioned that.

This recipe have never been written down or passed down.  It is an original creation by The Tired Guy and it is one that till now has been kept strictly in his head.

There have been rave reviews by those that have eaten it in the past.  It is a requested dish whenever I’m going to bringing something to a potluck or luncheon.  Now, there’s a request for the recipe.  Therefore, I’ll do my best to share it here.

Why can I only do my best?  Because nothing is ever measured with this recipe, never has been.  I attended the “Pinch of this, Dab of that, Shake it” school of cooking.  It was run by my mom and she was, for me, the pioneer of this method of cooking, (if indeed it can be called a method).

99.9% Vegan Chili

Large 8 Qt. Pan will be needed for this to cook in, minimum of 5 hrs. cooking time.

• 1/4 stick of butter (Not margarine, butter)  salted or unsalted.
• 2 -3 medium size yellow onions. (Chopped) I use a Pampered Chief chopper (No I’m not a distributor)
• Red, Yellow, Orange Peppers.  (Whatever is cheapest and available)  5 or 6 in any combination, does not require all three. Cut into strips then chunks
• 1/2 Stalk of celery (chopped with a knife)  NOT the pampered chief chopper
• 24 oz. baby bella mushrooms (Chopped like the onions)
• 2 bags of sliced bella mushrooms for Trader Joes
• 3 cans S & W Premium Kidney beans
• 2 cans chili beans (Hot or Mild)
• 1 quart can of Tomato Sauce
• 1 quart can of Diced Tomatoes
• 2 cans of Fire Roasted with Garlic tomatoes
• 1 bulb (Not clove, BULB) of garlic, fresh,  peeled, pressed
• 1 can medium Black olives (rinsed, slice in half longways)
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Chili Powder
• Organic Oregano (Trader Joes)
• Everyday Seasoning (Trader Joes)
• 21 Seasoning (Trader Joes)

The cans I usually get a Walmart Neighborhood Market on Oracle at McGee – Sprouts (just down Oracle has the fresh veggies and Trader Joes is across the street at McGee has the rest).  I often buy the portabella mushrooms that are chopped at Costco, One Box

I use a gas stove on medium low heat to start.  Partially cover the pot with a lid.

Place the butter in the pan and turn on the heat,  Chop and add the onions, stir.
Chop and add the baby bella mushrooms
Add all the seasonings except the garlic, stir
Cut and add the Peppers (add each as they are ready), stir
I wash celery and remove top of the stalk (but not all the leaves)  then I cut from top to middle in 1/8 inch slices, Add, stir
Add the chili beans (Drain)
Add the kidney beans (Drain)
Add the diced tomatoes all three cans
Add the tomato sauce, stir
Reduce the heat to low simmer, stir as needed
After 1 hr. Add the first bag of mushroom slices
Wait 30 min. Add second bag of mushroom slices, Yeah, Stir
Simmer for another hour
Add Garlic, stir
Add Olives, stir
Simmer and stir, after 3 hrs. let it simmer longer between stirring, thin scum will form on top and the color with begin to darken, taste, and season to taste from here on.
Simmer for a minimum of 5 hours and can hold on very low heat up to 7 hrs.

What isn’t eaten can be kept and reheat as much as you want but not all of the chili.
I never microwave this chili, always heat slowly in a pan on the stove.

If you find your pot can’t hold the mushrooms in bags spoon out enough into a bowl and gradually add it back in as the chili cooks down.

You will find this chili doesn’t stick to pans or the pot like chili’s that have meat in them.  Clean up when done is easy if you don’t let the dishes and pot sit overnight empty and dirty.

I was searching for information on how to import a csv file into gmail and put those into a separate group. The information I found wasn’t very good. So I decided to make a little video on how easy it really is to import a contact list of emails into a group in your gmail account. Oh if you like this. G + is up and to the right, just click on the pretty 1.

So, how’s life treating you?