Lamb Stew!

Living Alone Lesson 1: How to de-clog the sink.

The sister is out and about enjoying pineapple, coconuts, and volcanoes. She is celebrating her birthday, her recent addition of PhD after her name, and many years with her hubby. In the meantime, I am throwing raging parties every night. The house will be clean before she gets back.

It's been nice to make a mess when I cook and not have to worry about it. Or leave my clothes all over the house. In fact, I think I have been doing it these past few days just because I can! I will admit, I did pick up and play housewife today. The counter-tops are shining and I can see the carpet in my room!

Garbage disposals are great. Don't have to worry about scraping out the crumbs or peels from the sink. Just push the little button. However, today we had a little spit up. Usually when this happens, I just stand there and look cute while Jeanie plugs the mess away. Doesn't seem too complicated and, to be honest, I have plenty of toilet plunging experiences from the good ol college days (o how I miss the roomies!) With no Jeanie to do the work for me, I was left to use my own skills...

Lamb Stew
1/2 medium onion
3 stalks celery
3 carrots
2 potatoes
6 stalks of parsley, stems removed, tops chopped
about 3/4 lb lamb meat
1 bottle dark beer
1 can Hunts tomato sauce (you can use fresh or diced tomatoes as well)
rosemary
thyme
pepper
olive oil

Peel, rinse and chop all the veggies and add to crock pot. Remove the stems from the parsley, chop the tops and add to the pot. Carefully trim the lamb meat, cut into chunks and add in. Pour in the beer and tomato sauce. Add a splash of olive oils and seasonings to taste. You can always add more later! Set the crock pot on high for 4 hours and enjoy!

my stew with some fresh French Baguette!

We all know how capable I am...so after plunging for 20 minutes, I called papa bear for some guidance. I learned how to create more pressure by using the stopper for one side of the sink and plunging on the other. I heard WOOOOOSH and magically the water drained! Thank God for cell phones, the engineers in my life, and my amazing ability to follow directions.

I am not sure if it was the potato peels or carrots, but needless to say, next time I might just throw the peels in the garbage. (My personal plumber highly recommended that) I know I should probably be eco-friendly and compost, but I don't want raccoons. I do not think I am ready to deal with them. At least not yet.