So, today we had 50+ mph winds… goodness!! At one point earlier today it was so windy I couldn’t move forward for a couple seconds! So yesterday, I finally went and got us some sheets!! YAY!! And our groceries were delivered… YAY!! Since it’s been cold, I decided to make some Irish Stew with beef instead of lamb.
Here’s how I did it…
- I used 2 kilos (a bit over 3 pounds) of stewing beef
- 8 carrots chopped up
- 2 medium onions chopped up
- 10 baby potoatoes, peeled and quartered or halved
Stewing Beef, Potatoes, Carrots, Onions
I browned the beef for a little bit in some oil, then set that in the bottom of my red casserole dish and seasoned the top of the layer with salt and pepper. Then, I sauteed the carrots and onions for a few minutes and set those on top of the beef, then salt and pepper that layer. The last layer was all potatoes so they are steamed while everything cooked. I added 900 ml (3 and 3/4 cups) of beef stock.
All my layers prior to pouring in my beef stock
I had a cast iron lid that went with my cast iron casserole, but you could top it with like aluminum foil or something probably. I cooked it in the oven for 3 hours at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit). I didn’t realize when I started it, that it would take this long to cook, so we are going to eat it tonight for dinner, ha ha. But the photo below is what it looked like when it was done. I think next time I’m going to add flour and margarine to thicken it up a bit.
My Irish Stew 🙂
Anyway, I’m excited to eat it tonight. Our landlord is finally coming over tonight to have us sign our lease, ha ha. We’ve only be living here for… what, 3 days already? ha ha. Anyway, here are some of the personal touches I’ve been able to put on the apartment so far…
My new fake plant, ha ha - and my new Yankee Candle. It's lemon and lavender, smells amazing!!!
My fake fireplace - ha ha. Please disregard my toothbrush, I was charging it
My new bedding - The dark pillows in back are purple. Tiffany, notice my dresser? 🙂
So – we’re slowly working on making it all feel like “home”. I really like our new bedding. I was hoping we could have brought our own bedding with us, but it was just too big to bring with, and it’s too expensive (at least right now) to ship over. so eventually we’ll probably ship it over, and then use this as extra bedding or something. I got most of the stuff at Arnott’s and/or Dunnes. Arnott’s is kind of like a macy’s/nordstrom, and Dunnes is kind of like a J C Penny’s/Target.
I also looked around at gyms today, and I think I got that all set up. Looked into private health insurance, because Toby’s company won’t pay for it until he’s been there for two months, looks like for the plan I want it’s like 200 euros a month, which was more than we were hoping to pay, but we still have to look into other companies. From what I’ve found so far, you can get all hospital care covered, but the most GP visits you can get paid for is like 7, then you have to pay out of pocket, but I still think that’s only 50-60 euros a visit. I haven’t even begun to try to figure out how prescriptions work… ha ha
Anyway, I’m hungry, so I’m going to go eat. Good night guys!
From Cornfields to Celts 