Boiling Hamburger...Who Knew?

So as I previously mentioned, Ellie has been sick the last several days. She is now on a "bland" diet consisting of hamburger and rice. The vet told us to "boil" the hamburger. I had never heard of such a thing, so I looked it up online.

I thought it would be complicated, but no. Boil water, dump the hamburger in, come back in two minutes. Yes, I said two minutes.

So this morning I get a pot out, get the water boiling, and start to crumble the hamburger into it. The little pieces immediately rose to the top already done. I threw the package away, washed my hands, returned to the pot, and wah la! A half-pound of hamburger browned to perfection. I drained it, rinsed it, and mixed it with the rice. Ellie loved it.

The article I read online said that it's a fast way to cook hamburger, but because you're taking all of the fat out of it, there isn't much taste left (which was true, I tasted it)...but for recipes calling for hamburger that will also have other spices or flavoring in it (tacos, for example), this works great! Also, if you have some frozen hamburger you can just dump the whole frozen piece of hamburger into the water. After a couple of minutes break it apart with a utensil and leave it to cook for a few more minutes. Soooo much faster than thawing it on the counter, in the fridge, or in the microwave and then frying it up.

Obviously boiling hamburger wouldn't work for every recipe, but I'm excited to "discover" this trick that I can use for some recipes or when I'm in a pinch for time!

Craigslist Addicts

We just went and picked up a reel mower that Kristin found on Craigslist. I love my self-propelled mower, but it is tearing the steep hills in our yard apart, so I wanted to get a lighter mower to do those with.

After we picked it up I realized we have A LOT of stuff in our house from Craigslist. We have probably saved thousands of dollars over the past few years by purchasing so many things second hand.

Here is a quick list of some things we have purchased that we are still using (I'm sure there are more, but this is what I could come up with in a few minutes):

Entertainment Center

Bookshelves

Couch

Kitchen Table and Chairs

Cat Perch

DVD/CD Storage Unit

Wardrobe

Day/Trundle Bed

Dishwasher

Reel Lawn Mower

Deck furniture

Bathroom Storage Unit

Plastic Wardrobe Units

Dog Bed (converted camping mattress)

Butcher Block

Hmm...I'm sure there's more...but that's a lot of stuff...all of which we got for very cheap or free (the couch was a little spendy but much less than we would have paid had we gone to a store to buy it!).

Thanks to Kristin for finding all the deals...I'm not big on perusing Craigslist, but am always happy with what she finds :)

Welcome, Mollie!

On Tuesday we adopted a new puppy, Mollie! Her paperwork says she is any mix of the following: German Shepherd, Bernese Mountain Dog, Rottweiler, and Australian Shepherd. I tend to lean towards the Rottweiler and Bernese Mountain Dog...but who knows. She's pretty cute, very lovey, a complete wiggle worm, and extra soft.

While she seems to have some things to learn (like potty training - she doesn't give much of a signal when she needs to go out), she seems pretty smart and her over-the-top sweetness makes it hard to get mad at her when she does have an accident.

She is only 8 months old, so she is still in high puppy mode, but I think she's going to be a great addition to our family!

Ellie hasn't shown much interest in her as of yet, but she has been really sick with some stomach thing (we think she swallowed something she shouldn't have), so I'm hoping once she is feeling better she will love Mollie just as much as we do.