Trina's Kitchen: Sweet Potato Stew and Sausage and Peppers in the Kitchen

Going through the e-mails I found two good slow cooker recipes. Denny e-mailed this recipe for Sweet Potato Stew from Chelsea's Messy Apron:

Ingredients

3 cups (~2 potatoes) medium-sized sweet potatoes chopped
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 small yellow onion
8 ounce bag mini carrots
1 can (15 ounces) corn I use fire-roasted (or use frozen sweet corn or cut it off the cob!)
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes I use fire-roasted
1 pound beef chuck roast cut into cut into 1/2-inch chunks (can use pre-cut stew meat for super quick prep)
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon each seasoned salt and pepper
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 cup water
Optional: fresh flat leaf parsley

Instructions

Coat the inside of a slow cooker with non-stick spray. I use a 6-quart pot.
Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into large chunks. Measure to get a heaping 3 cups and place in the prepared slow cooker.
Add in the chopped celery, chopped onion, the bag of carrots, drained can of corn (I buy corn that is fire-roasted and it adds so much flavor! It's right by regular canned corn in the grocery store) and undrained can of diced tomatoes.
Toss together the flour, seasoned salt, and pepper. Toss the cut meat (cut in 1 inch cubes if not pre-cut) in the flour mixture until well coated.
Place the coated meat in the slow cooker on top of all the vegetables. You do not need to pre-cook the meat.
Add in the bay leaf, minced garlic, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, and fresh parsley. (I coarsely chop parsley and pack it in a tablespoon to get that measurement.)
Crumble in the bouillon cubes and the water.
Stir everything together and submerge the meat below the veggies to keep it as tender as possible. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours, high for 5-7 hours or until the sweet potatoes and vegetables are tender and the meat is cooked through and tender. All slow cookers cook at different temperatures. Mine takes about 8 hours on low and I don't typically cook stews on high because I find them to be more flavorful (meat more tender) after slow cooking all day! If you are home, occasionally stir the stew throughout the day.
When ready to serve, remove the bay leaf.
Stir the ingredients together and slightly mash the tender sweet potatoes in the crockpot. This gives it a chunkier and thicker stew consistency and it's delicious!
If desired, top with some fresh parsley.

That's a good recipe but if it has too many steps or too many ingredients for you, Marla e-mailed this slow cooker recipe for Sausage and Peppers from The Salty Marshmallow:

Ingredients

▢ 2 Pounds Italian Sausage Links
▢ 3 Bell Peppers, I use a mix of red and green Seeded and sliced into strips
▢ 1 Large Red Onion, Sliced into strips
▢ 2 Cups Marinara Sauce
▢ 1 Teaspoon Each Salt, Garlic Powder, Italian Seasoning
▢ ⅛ Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper, Optional
▢ 1 Cup Shredded Italian Cheese Blend, For serving, optional
▢ 10 Hoagie rolls

Instructions

Add the Italian Sausage to the slow cooker. Top with the bell peppers and onions. Sprinkle on the salt, garlic, Italian seasoning, and cayenne if using. Pour on the marinara sauce. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
If desired, toast the hoagie rolls under the broiler for 1-2 minutes. Fill each roll with one sausage and desired amount of sauce. Top with shredded cheese and broil for 1-2 more minutes until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

And to follow up on yesterday's "The victory of Amazon workers," this is from Mediaite:

Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island voted to unionize last week, and some of them say Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) abandoned them.

The facility has made headlines since 2020, when workers first began to complain of conditions. Christian Smalls, who attempted to start a union, was fired. In February, he was arrested after he was asked to leave the facility.

Last Friday, the Amazon Labor Union he helped found reported workers voted 1518 to 1154 to unionize. Ocasio-Cortez, whom union organizers have said had their support before abandoning them, celebrated on Twitter.

She shared the ALU tweet and a flexing emoji. She was quickly called out by podcaster Krystal Ball.

“Here’s the guy who organized the union drive talking about how you left them high and dry,” Ball said in response to Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet. “These are your constituents and you couldn’t be bothered to show up until they’re on the cusp of victory.”

Poor, fake ass AOC. She must have thought the job would be easier than it turned out to be and, having been so fawned over, the thought of being held accountable is just too much for her.

This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Tuesday:

Tuesday, April 5, 2022. It's time for a specail counsel to be appointed for Hunter Biden, the Kurds do not have to sacrifice yet again to make the US government happy, and much more.

Starting with Jonathan Turley and his latest column at THE HILL:

“We absolutely stand by the president’s comment.” With those words, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield reaffirmed that President Biden maintains his son Hunter Biden did “nothing [that] was unethical” and never “made money” in China.

Those claims appear demonstrably false — and they make the positions of both the media and Attorney General Merrick Garland absolutely untenable.

For the media, the ongoing investigation of Hunter Biden by U.S. Attorney David Weiss in Delaware has presented a growing danger of self-indictment over its prior coverage (or noncoverage). Weiss has called a long line of witnesses before a grand jury, and there is growing expectation of criminal charges against Hunter Biden.

Nothing concentrates the mind as much as a looming indictment.

Thus, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and other media faced the embarrassing prospect of an indictment based on a story they previously suggested was either a nonstory or Russian disinformation. Suddenly, in recent days, they all rushed to declare the story legitimate, 18 months after the New York Post reported it in October 2020.

What quickly emerged, though, was a new narrative: None of this implicates President Biden. On CNN, White House correspondent John Harwood declared, “There is zero evidence that Vice President Biden, or President Biden, has done anything wrong in connection with what Hunter Biden has done.” Anchor Brianna Keilar then added for emphasis that Harwood was making “an important distinction.”

It was important, but not because it was true. While many media figures now willingly admit the legitimacy of Hunter Biden’s abandoned-laptop story, they are avoiding what the emails found on that laptop actually contain. Hundreds of emails appear to detail a multimillion-dollar influence-peddling enterprise by the Biden family, including Hunter Biden and his uncle James Biden.

An ongoing investigtation is taking place. Joe Biden and the White House are not at liberty to comment. IAs the head of the federal government, it is inappropriate for him to comment. From the beginning, the problem has not only been the lies from Joe on behalf of his son, it has also been that he doesn't grasp his role.

It is time for a speical prosecutor. One should have been appointed long ago but this behavior demonstrates that the rules are not being followedc and will not be followed. This is outrageous. Joe has created a standard for his son that is inappropriate and goes to how he is repeatedly attempting to steer the investigation with his comments as president of the United States.

He is not standing back. If this were his best friend, as president of the United States, he would not be able to comment. This is his son. We are seeing that Hunter means all ethics go out the window. Gee, wonder what message that passed on to Hunter growing up?

He has put himself into this conflict. He didn't have to speak. The appropriate response is "We do not have any comment at this time as a result of this being an ongoing investigation."

More to the point, this issue came up during the primaries and Joe lied repeatedly. His son did nothing wrong!!!! No, his sond id huge wrongs. These were ethical issues and they should have been addressed then. They weren't. But Joe ran for the nomination knowing this was out there.

He may have thought he could bully the press intos ilence on this matter foerever.

Well he bet wrong.

That's on him.

And now it is necessary for a special prosecutor to be appointed.

He has made it clear that he intends to put a thumb on the scales of justice, that he is unable to prevent himself from doing so.

And it's time for the press to stop coddling him and his crooked son. The editorial board of THE BOSTON HERALD notes:

Here’s how we see all this. A free press must remain vigilant and non-partisan while hunting for lies, crimes, abuse and neglect while calling out politicians and pundits who try to quash a good story just because it doesn’t fit the narrative of the prevailing political winds.

The New York Times and Washington Post can be great newspapers. They sometimes do meaningful work. They just need to get out of their own way.

The AP needs to stop trying to be the voice of America and just chase down the news. If a tweet or post somewhere in the cesspool of trolls and scam artists on the web does warrant coverage, then have at it. But a running feature of every little oddity that fires up TikTok is just a waste of time.

Joe Biden has become a portrait of hypocrisy. He's recently begun screaiming War Crimes at others. Richard Medhurst notes:

“Putin is a war criminal” — guy who pushed for Iraq war in the senate, and less than a year ago drone striked an entire Afghan family (the Ahmadi family), followed by a Pentagon cover up

6:35 AM · Apr 5, 2022

The World Can't Wait's Debra Sweet notes:

While the victims of U.S. wars are nameless, U.S. media is 24/7 on the tragic death Russia is bringing to Ukraine. Children, pregnant women, elderly have all died there, just as they have in Yemen by the Saudis with U.S. weapons, as they died in Libya by U.S./NATO forces.

People here are being led to cheer for a dangerous U.S. escalation, including a direct war with Russia that could ensue from a "no-fly zone," up to and including a nuclear exchange. Everyone should oppose Russia's aggression, but no one who understands what the U.S. empire has done across the globe should be cheering for U.S./NATO war on Russia.

Our WarCriminalsWatch.org site has a curated series of worthwhile background readings on this situation:

Russia’s Ukraine War Heightens Urgency Around Biden’s Nuclear Weapons Strategy
Sara Sirota, The Intercept

“Anti-Authoritarianism” as a “Cover” for Supporting U.S. Imperialism
Bob Avakian, Revcom.us

The Plank in Uncle Sam’s Eye: A Plea for Humility as War Pigs Move to “Close the Sky”
Paul Street, Counterpunch.org

Calling Russia’s Attack ‘Unprovoked’ Lets US Off the Hook
Bryce Greene, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting

How the U.S. Started a Cold War with Russia and Left Ukraine to Fight It
Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies, CodePink.org

Time for the US to take the lead for peace in Ukraine: The US’s Aggressive Expansion of NATO Created This Horror; The US Can and Should End It
Dave Lindorff, This Can't Be Happening

'Let Them Kill as Many as Possible': The Roots of US Militarism in Russia and Around the World Brian Terrell, Common Dreams

OMG, War Is Kind of Horrible David Swanson, Let's Try Democracy

War Torn: Continental Drifters and the Nationless Nation Nick Turse, Tom Dispatch

On Iraq, at THE HILL, David Schenker offers nonsense:

For Washington and other supporters of a sovereign and prosperous Iraq, the October 2021 Iraqi parliamentary elections were a success. Contrary to expectations, Iranian-backed Shiite Islamist parties and their militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashd, were defeated at the ballot box. The Hashd lost not to Western-oriented candidates but to another credible local Shiite party whose leader’s hashtag, #NeitherEastnorWest, was an unambiguous call for an Iraq dominated by neither Tehran nor Washington. The election results mitigated toward the establishment of a new, majoritarian government — the first since the 2003 U.S. invasion — capable of pursuing better governance and an independent Iraq.

It’s cruel irony that this potential outcome, a longstanding U.S. aspiration for Iraq, appears to have been undermined in part by Washington’s best friends in Iraq: the Kurds.

The big winner in the electoral contest was Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric whose Sairoun political party won a plurality of the seats in the Iraqi Council of Representatives. In the aftermath of the 2003 invasion, Sadr’s “Mahdi army” emerged as a leading adversary of the U.S., and the firebrand was nearly targeted by U.S. forces. More recently, however, Sadr, an unabashed populist who tapped into the electorate’s resentment of Iranian overreach in Iraq, has developed into a somewhat more responsible politician.

How stupid do you have to be to write that garbage. Moqtada's cult turned out. Not in the numbers they have in previous elections -- he had a huge fall off. But they did turn out. He was not the clear winner. A clear winner would be someone who had enough seats to move forward without having to partner with anyone else. He had a few more seats. But coaltitions could have been cobbled together without his seats.

Does the idiot even understnad how it works in Iraq or how many MPs are needed to form a coalition?

What a lying moron.

ANd now he wants to? Blame the Kurds.

The Kurds are not the problem.

Yes, the KDP wants the presidency and yes the PUK wants the presidency. My take? The KDP got sigfinicantly more seats in the eleeciton so they should have the presidency. The PUK has consistently lost support -- a trend that no one wants to talk about in the US because it requires admitting facts that the US doesn't want to admit. Including? That every time there's a problem, the US government expects the Kurds to sacrifice their own goals and save the US government's ass by 'coming together' with some other side.

I don't think the PUK deserves the presidency.

That's my opinion.

That doesn't mean that they don't have the right to fight for it. That doesn't mean the KDP doesn't have the right to fight for it.

But, yet again, another American has emerged to insist that it is time for the Kurds to sacrifice for the 'good' of Iraq.

In other words, for the good of what the US government wants in Iraq.

Elections were held October 10th. There is no president still. That's not the Kurds fault. It is the fault of Moqtada al-Sadr who does not know how to assemble a governmentt.

Iraq had a poltiical stalemate in 2010 that lasted eight months. There the problem wasn't Nouri couldn't assemble a government. Back then, the problem was Nouri al-Maliki lost the election and refused to step down as prime minister. Eventually, Joe Biden led a negotiation resulting in The Erbil Agreement which named Nouri prime minister-desigante. Nouri imemediately put together a government.

This is the a six month political stalemate and it has lasted this long because Moqtada is incompetent.

That's where you start laying the blame, not at the Kurds.

The following sites updated: