Tuesday, April 28

Two thunderclaps and three raindrops was all we got from yesterday's predicted thunderstorms. But nature made up for it early this morning with lots of thunder, lightening, and buckets of rain.

We had nothing important scheduled for today, so we took advantage of the foul weather to snooze late...didn't get up until after 8 a.m. The storm had abated by then, so after a cold cereal breakfast with sliced bananas, I hopped on the treadmill. It rained pretty hard again as I was getting ready for the day, but there was no thunder or lightening with it.

After getting over four inches of rain, the yard was flooded, so obviously Hubbie couldn't go outdoors to work, and since I didn't have a good plan for the day, we decided to catch up on some new shows that I'd recorded on DVR. We watched a couple of episodes of each of three shows..."Harper's Island," "Southland," and "The Unusuals." We didn't care for "Southland," but will probably continue watching the other two for as long as they remain on the air, which, if they're like other shows we've decided to watch, will probably be promptly cancelled.

Mother stayed home most of the day, and came over about 3 p.m. to join us in watching TV. For supper, we had (you guessed it) leftovers...this time the macaroni dish from last Saturday night. It was still very good. Here's the recipe that we got at a Weight Watchers meeting:

HAMBURGER STUFF

1 lb. lean ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt (we added no salt, of course)
Pepper to taste
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can red kidney beans
3/4 cup pasta or quick-cooking rice
3/4 water
3 tbsp. green pepper, chopped
3/4 cup fat free cheddar cheese, grated

Cook ground beef with onion until beef is brown and onion is tender, seasoning with salt (optional)), garlic, pepper, and chili powder. Drain fat, if there is any. Add undrained tomatoes, beans, pasta or rice, water, and green pepper. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until pasta or rice is done. Top with cheese; cover and cook until cheese is melted.

Because diced tomatoes now come in 14 1/2 oz. cans instead of 16 oz., and because we drain and rinse canned beans, we added 1/2 cup more water to make up the liquid difference. Also, because I am allergic to yellow dye, we used shredded Monterey Jack cheese instead of cheddar.