Karen’s Opinion

Today was the day, in 1955, the microwave oven, for home use, was introduced by The Tappan Company. A microwave oven, or simply a microwave, is a kitchen appliance that cooks or heats food by dielectric heating. This is accomplished by using microwave radiation to heat water and other polarized molecules within the food. This excitation is fairly uniform, leading to food being more evenly heated throughout (except in dense objects) than generally occurs in other cooking techniques. The use of high-frequency electric fields for heating dielectric materials had been proposed in the 1930s.

Do these look familiar? I remember when the first home microwaves were introduced. They were very expensive. Now, you can pick a small one up at Walmart for less than $100.

The heating effect of microwaves was discovered accidentally in 1945. Percy Spencer was working on an active radar set when he noticed that a peanut chocolate bar he had in his pocket started to melt. The radar had melted his chocolate bar with microwaves. The first food to be deliberately cooked with Spencer’s microwave was popcorn, and the second was an egg, which exploded in the face of one of the experimenters.

My house is on its third microwave. I blew one up by putting a foil wrapped burger in it. Not good. The second one died of old age. I like my new one because it has setting for different foods. If I want to pop some popcorn, I select the popcorn button. Easy peasy.

I told you in my previous post, how fall weather makes me think of baking. It also gets me in the mood for soup. I love a big bowl of chili or vegetable soup. Do you put noodles in your chili? I like to add macaroni noodles to chili when it is just about finished cooking. Nothing is more inviting than sitting in a big comfy chair, looking through the Internet for promo codes for new fabric and eating a big bowl of hot chili.

Another soup that has become a favorite with my family is Taco soup.

Taco Soup

2 pounds ground beef
2 cups diced onions
2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans pinto beans
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can pink kidney beans
1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can tomatoes with chilies
2 (4 1/2-ounce) cans diced green chilies
1 (4.6-ounce) can black olives, drained and sliced, optional
1/2 cup green olives, sliced, optional
1 (1 1/4-ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (1-ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix
Corn chips, for serving
Sour cream, for garnish
Grated cheese, for garnish
Chopped green onions, for garnish
Pickled jalapenos, for garnish

Brown the ground beef and onions in a large skillet; drain the excess fat, then transfer the browned beef and onions to a large slow cooker or a stockpot. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chilies, black olives, green olives, taco seasoning, and ranch dressing mix, and cook in a slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours or simmer over low heat for about 1 hour in a pot on the stove. To serve, place a few corn chips in each bowl and ladle soup over them. Top with sour cream, cheese, green onions and jalapenos.

I like to serve cornbread with this soup. I cheat and use two boxes of Jiffy’s cornbread mix. I add an extra egg to make the bread fluffy.

I love the cooler fall weather we are having here in Indiana. It is time to bring out the sweatshirts and long pants. I have been making an effort to get some walking exercise. When it is hot, I talk myself out of going for walks. I also talk myself out of walking if it is too cool, I am too tired, the wind is blowing. Sigh…

I am going to have to do better about exercising though because with the fall season comes fall baking. My husband and I went to the orchard and bought apples to eat and another kind that are good to bake with. I made apple crisp last night and it is gone! I only made a half batch so that I wouldn’t sit around and eat it all day. I know how I am. LOL

Do the seasons change where you live?

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of PlayStation MOVE. All opinions are 100% mine.

I don’t care to play a game that requires me to work hard to benefit from it but I wouldn’t mind playing a game that gets me to move. I need the exercise! I sit at a desk most of my day and my butt shows it. When I am not working, I am sewing. Another butt builder activity. I need to get moving with the new PlayStation®Move. The Move is a gaming system that works with the PlayStation®3 system. It’s controllers are ergonomically designed to give the player the most control of any gaming system out there. That is what I need! I tried the one I had bought before Christmas and I was not coordinated enough to get it to work for me. That was so frustrating that I gave up and sold it.

The new PlayStation®Move is just what my doctor ordered. Yes, just today, I went to the doctor for a routine check up and I we discussed how I would probably feel better if I exercised. The PlayStation®Move has a bowling game that looks like something that even I could learn to play and have fun with.

Whatever your skill level, PlayStation®Move will want you to have friends over to get moving. I can see it becoming the highlight of our week. Sony has made adding MOVE to your gaming system affordable. The MOVE bundle package allows you to add MOVE to your system for the low cost of $99! At that price, we can all get moving!

I was cleaning out a cupboard while trying to make room for some books and I happened upon my folders of quarters. Did anyone else save quarters when they came out for each state? It was fun to find them. Both mints, Denver and Philadelphia, produced the quarters so I found two quarters for each state, one with each mint marking.

From Washington Quarters.org: The original composition of 90% silver and 10% copper was used from 1932 to 1964 before being replaced with the copper nickel clad composition. Mintages have ranged widely over they years, with widespread circulation throughout the United States. After the introduction of State Quarters in 1999, the series has gained in popularity and prices for many issues have risen considerably.

Does that mean my collection is valuable? I doubt it as there were so many produced. I didn’t really collect them for their value rather the fun of the hunt was my main objective.