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The Mad Butcher

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As you know I want to make Arrachera for dinner on Saturday. Well Gregg had to go to a butcher and order it since its a cut of beef that most stores don’t carry. In the past, we have tried the Mad Butcher and we didn’t like it. Why? Well, the old building they were in was just that, old. Everything about the place screamed POISON!Its was dirty and dingy. The lighting was terrible and the freezers were rusty. We weren’t impressed. I guess that is why the meat that we did buy there turned out to not taste so good.

Anyways, Yesterday afternoon They called to let me know that the skirt steaks were in. So I walked up. Lucky for me its only a 10 minute walk. (It was nice to get out of my condo since if was filled with pot smoke from Dippy below). I got there and was surprised. They had moved to a new building on the other side of the parking lot form the old place. I got to the doors and they swooshed open. No need to touch, that was nice. I walked in and looked around. The first thing I noticed, the lighting, it was bright. THen the cashier, smiling at me and wanting to help me.

So I asked about my order and she walked me over to the butchering area and grabbed it for me. I quickly asked if it could get cut into strips and he said sure but it was already cut thinly.We agreed that I would use it as is and let him know how it turns out. So walked around a bit looking at prices and meats. They have a tiny coffee counter with sandwiches and such. There was also a section of breads and spices.

I was very pleased with everything I saw. I admit that I will go back. Now that the place looks like a real butcher shop. The floors and freezers were spotless. The whole place felt friendly. Plus I like to see the butcher area. If I can’t see the butcher working then I don’t trust the meat. I think thats why I only buy meat from Costco or Save-on Foods. You can see what they are doing.

I bought some marinated chicken while I was there and we will be having it for dinner this evening. Tomato and basil sauce, I hope its yummy!

What am I Doing? Arrachera

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Well I am cleaning. Doing the laundry and then do my workout and after that I will have a shower. Gregg went out yesterday to the local butcher up the road and ordered some skirt steaks that I have to pick up tomorrow. I am planning on making a Mexican meal for Valentine’s Day. Your probably wondering what I plan to make. Well let me tell you.

When we were in Mexico, we noticed a steak that was served almost at every restaurant. Its called “Arrachera” which means flank or skirt steak. Its actually a simple meal. I think its all about the spices and how long it marinates. Anyways, we really enjoyed it. So now I am going to make it for us. We drove into Vancouver on Saturday and stopped by a Mexican grocery store and found the spice we need.

The recipe is very easy, all you do is marinate the meat in the spices for 1 day. Then grill and serve.

Season both sides of meat with GOYA seasoning and lime juice. Cover entire meat with lime and season lightly.
Once the meat is limed up and seasoned you roll it up, like a sushi roll, nice and tight and place all of the meat all rolled up in rolls in a deep dish and pour beer on top making sure it gets all over. If you marinate your meat with beer and you don’t roll it up, you wash off all of your seasonings.
Cover the meat with plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge over night, but 2-3 hours works just as well.
Then just grill each side for like 5-6 min less if you like it medium. The meat will be tender, juicy and full of flavor. Enjoy

I’m really curious if this will taste the same. I hope so! I have been wanting it for a while now. Here is a picture of what we had in Mexico at H&C restaurant/butcher. You get the steak, a baked potato, half an avocado and lime and a hot green pepper. Gregg and Glen both gave me their avocados.

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And with steak you must have a tasty beer to wash it all down.

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The only problem with this, is that I can’t get Leon Beer here. It doesn’t get exported out of the Yucatan. So Gregg will have to have something else. A cold glass of diet coke with a twist of lime on ice sounds good.

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My Makeup Bag-Clinique

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As you know I tried some different types of makeup over the last year to see what I was going to go with. I did a lot of searching and reading. I ordered samples and got samples from stores. I finally decided what to go with. Clinique.

I really wanted to be able to go with a mineral makeup, but every one I tried felt heavy on my skin and made it itchy and break out in acne, plus my eyes got sore and puffy. Not sure why this happened. I must be allergic to it. So after all the samples and even buying a few small items I gave up on the mineral makeup. I’m not saying its bad, its just not for me.

I’m no longer going to buy any drugstore junk. My skin has changed over the last few years. Wearing  CoverGirl, Maybeline, Revlon or any of the cheap brands just isn’t going to do it anymore. All those brands turn orange on my skin. I might use eye liner from them but not much more.

This Christmas Mom gave us all some money as a gift and I took some of it and decided I would buy new makeup. First, the reason I am going with Clinique. Its allergy tested, fragrance free and they don’t test on animals. These are important to me. I don’t think animal testing is necessary. This company has been around long enough that I trust they know what they are doing. Second thing, I hate it when I can smell my makeup. YUK!  And the third thing, I don’t turn orange! That’s right, the foundation doesn’t turn orange on my face. I knew then that this would be the makeup for me.

I know that the Clinique makeup costs a bit more and I figured I would be spending about 200 dollars. So Gregg said “why not look on Ebay?” Hmmm, so I did. Instead of buying at full price at the store I bought it for a quarter of the cost on Ebay. I is happy!

What did I get? Well, I got all of this…

Clinique makeup
8 lipsticks and 2 mascaras. 3 of the lipsticks were doubles. The colors are “Beauty, Pink Beach, Rose Spectrum, A Different Grape and Raspberry Glace.

Clinique makeup
This little 6 pack is perfect! I love all the colors!

Clinique makeup
And I had to go buy my foundation. I didn’t want to buy it on Ebay. I needed to try colors and find the right one for me. I didn’t want to buy the wrong one.

What did this all cost me? Well, the foundation was 32.00 including the taxes. The rest came to a total of  62.58 that included all the shipping too. If I would of bought this at the store I would of paid about 180.00. I think I got a pretty good deal. The only things I still need are blush and moisturizer. Which I will buy on Ebay if I can find a good deal.

Now what do I do with all my old makeup?LOL

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Ikea with Mom

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This past Saturday I woke up feeling really good. What I mean is, I felt normal for the first time in months. Usually when I wake up I sit on the edge of my bed and wait for my brain and eyes to settle and see what kind of day it will be. Well, turns out my brain and eyes were in sync for the first time in a very long time. It was a great feeling. For my new readers I have “vestibulopathy”.

My day started off great. Had coffee with Gregg and then went to shower and there I thought about what to do for the day. I do a lot of my thinking in the shower. I got out and told Gregg I would love to hang out with Mom. He said sure. So I called Mom and asked if she would like to go to Ikea. Yup, and the plan was made.

We picked her up at 1pm and headed out. Ikea is about a 30 minute drive from home. We got there and I could see that Mom was excited. She hadn’t been to this big new Ikea. We started in the showroom area and followed the big blue arrows on the floor. Mom got a bit confused a few times as to what direction were headed, but I kept telling her “follow the blue arrows”.

I think she was a bit overwhelemed. There was so much to look at. Plus 100′s of people. Normally it would be me getting confused and dizzy. We both saw a couple items we wanted. She even picked up a mirror for her new condo.

We stopped at the cafeteria for a drink and to rest our feet. We then headed down to the checkout. We paid and got out of there. The three of us decided it was dinner time and off we drove to the Cactus Club 2 blocks down the road. When we got there they told us we would have to wait about 15 minutes. Instead Gregg saw a table open in the bar. Off we went!Chicken Rice Bowl

The Burger

The Burger

It just so happened that it was Hockey night and the bar was very loud and full of people. It was a bit hard to talk. We each ordered a drink, yes, even Mom. and then ordered our food. It was all very good. We were there about an hour. Afterwards, we headed back to Mom’s place.

Once there, we relaxed and watched the DVD we brought over for her of all her slides we had scanned into my PC. I could see that it brought back a lot of memories for her and me too. Its not see to see Dad in them. It must be really hard for Mom to see her whole life with dad in those pictures. But she held it together and didn’t cry. We finally were ready to leave and had a group hug and said good night. It was just after 9pm when we got home. I was still feeling good. :)

I am so thankful that I had this day with Mom and Gregg. I don’t get many good days like that anymore.

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