Oatmeal bake

Jeanne loves oatmeal. So on Sunday, I made this oatmeal bake. It was really good! I think I will add more sugar next time. I like oatmeal sweeter. Of course, I didn't add the chocolate chips because I used them all in the cookies yesterday. That may have helped with the sweetness. I did add some maple syrup for the second piece I tried.

Then that evening, we had a mule deer rice and gravy. I wish I could give you a recipe, but this is Shawn's from scratch cooking, with "a little of this" and "a lot of that." Basically, you brown whatever seasoned meat you want. When you think it is brown enough, brown it longer. This makes for a dark, more flavorful gravy. We usually brown any meat for almost an hour. Don't have the heat too high, or it will burn your meat.

After the meat is browned, remove it and add onions and bell peppers (we used the frozen seasoning blend).  Cook these this translucent. Stir often so they don't burn. Next is the tricky part. We have just recently started adding a little bit of flour and stirring it well till golden. This can go bad fast, so you can't leave the room. The flour helps to make the gravy thicker. Don't add too much, then you will have a stew. Then you add water to make the gravy. Put the meat back in and add enough meat to almost cover it. Cover the pot and let it cook. Check it every 30 minutes to turn the meat over and make sure the water isn't gone. Add seasonings to the gravy. Cook it for a few hours, until the meat is fork tender. Meaning, a fork will easily pull it apart. If the gravy isn't thick enough for you, at this point you can leave the cover off and boil off the water.  Add more seasoning to taste. It was quite wonderful. I made potato salad and green beans for side dishes. Sorry I don't have a picture for you!


When Jeanne woke up from her nap yesterday, she trudged down the hall pointing to her backside. I thought she had an accident , when she was actually showing me she had put on 6 pairs of pants on top of the pants she already had on! Such a silly goose. Then today, I pulled her hair up in a bun so she could eat breakfast. She then put her hand on her neck and exclaimed, "I lost my tail!!"! She cracks me up!