Speaking of the Wicked Wind...

A cold front slid through Michigan Wednesday morning and the winds were fierce! It wasn't raining yet at lunch time, but the wind was blowing leaves, trash, etc. everywhere. I even saw a couple of dust devils (like a mini-tornado). It said on the 'Net there were gusts up to 40 mph. However, I was grateful it didn't start raining until after I was inside and back at work.

And Lord, did it rain! Sometimes it was difficult to hear with the rain pounding the roof and windows. It slacked off a bit (to just a light rain) on the drive home.

Since it was Wednesday, I put on my boots (after treating the cats, of course) and went out to fill the bird feeder. I checked the rain gauge and I had about 1/4-inch of rain so far today, with more predicted tonight. Makes my watering the grass yesterday look stupid, I know, but I can't tell you how many times I DIDN'T water the grass, based on the weather forecast and then it never rained.

Once back inside, I changed clothes and started the mid-week laundry load. Then I started writing out all the medications I take, and searching for the quickest route to St. Clair River District Hospital. In case you forgot, I have a stress test scheduled for 8:45 AM tomorrow. So, I probably need to leave from my house by 6:30 AM (groan). Quickest route? According to Yahoo Maps, it's 67.1 miles and 1 hour, 11 minutes. But, because I know Michigan traffic and road construction, I'll leave 2 hours early.

Worst part about this test? Forget the fasting and no drinking water, I'm not supposed to take my medicines tomorrow morning until after the test. Do you have any idea how crippled up I will be for the next several days, not taking Celebrex and then running on a treadmill? (groan)

Okay, so it's almost 6:30 PM and time to make dinner. Tonight, it's one of my favorite sandwiches, Philly Cheese Steak. You remember I seared two round steaks last weekend, right? Well, tonight I am starting off with a large, sweet white onion, sliced thing and one green pepper, julienned. The recipe calls for a green and a red pepper, BTW. But I am using less steak so I adjusted accordingly.

Then I cut the round steak into 1/4 inch strips, against the grain. The onions and the green pepper went into a saut� pan with olive oil and butter on medium high heat. And, when they looked "done enough" I added the steak strips to warm up. Please note: The original recipe called for cooking the steak strips while you were saut�ing the onion and pepper. However, since I had the coals in the BBQ last weekend, I just went for it!

Next I buttered the insides of two of the 6-inch hoagie/submarine buns I bought from the Meijer's bakery. I added two slices of deli Swiss cheese and then filled them with the steak/green pepper/onion mixture. Finally, I added in some of the canned whole green chilies I drained and chopped (I used Old El Paso, a name brand I know and trust). I wrapped the sandwiches in tinfoil and put them in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes.

Just as they were done, so was the laundry, so I opened the oven door while attending to my shirts and pants. That done, it was time to eat!

I fixed my plate with one sandwich, cut in half, and some wavy potato chips and went in to watch some TV at 7:20 PM. How did they compare with restaurant Philly Cheese Steaks? They tasted great, but seemed to be missing something. Salt helped, but that's not totally it. I'll have to research a few more recipes for this and try and find the magic missing ingredient.

I watched a taped Boston Legal and then deliberately went to bed at 9:00, after resetting my alarm 30 minutes early. I had trouble falling asleep, but eventually did.