Over the weekend, the husband and I went grocery shopping. $150 later we had food for the week and a bunch of other necessities. Save Mart was having a kick ass deal on meat, so we got ground turkey for chili, chicken drumsticks, ground beef and a pot roast. Sunday night we decided that Monday we'd make the pot roast. I checked out this Tyler Florence video and recipe. It turned out wonderfully!!! Please feel free to try it because it's wonderful.
Pot Roast with Vegetables
Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence
Ingredients
* 1 (3 to 4 pound) piece beef chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 can crushed tomatoes
* 1 cup water or wine (we used a shiraz)
* 2 yellow onion, halved
* 2 garlic cloves, chopped
* 1 bunch baby carrots
* 2 celery stalks, sliced
* 1 cup button mushrooms, stems removed and sliced in half
* 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
* 4 sprigs fresh thyme
* 2 bay leaves
Directions
Season all sides of the beef with a fair amount of salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot that has a tight cover; heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over moderately high heat. Brown the meat on all sides, taking the time to get a nice crust on the outside. Pour in the tomatoes and the water. Scatter the vegetables and herbs around the pot roast, season with salt and pepper; and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Braise for about 3 hours, basting every 30 minutes with the pan juices, until the beef is fork tender.
Slice the pot roast and arrange on platter surrounded by the vegetables. Serve with the pot juices.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
An Odd Thursday Posting
So on most Thursdays I try to post a new recipe that I have tried on my Wednesday night at home. I did that on Tuesday so I thought I'd share something that I absolutely LOVE!!!!! I found this show randomly this week on hulu. I like the actress that is the main character Edie. And the show portrays an interesting dynamic of a relationship. Enjoy the pilot...and if you like it, there are 6 more episodes on hulu. I'm so sucked into this show that I have not watched Modern Family or Cougar Town.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Recipe Tuesday....From Pampered Chef
Since I will be off from work Friday-Monday....I will be swamped Thursday with work. So below is a recipe I adapted last night. I sauteed the yellow onion with mushrooms and I used a ham steak from Costco and other cheese. I also used 2 tubes of thin crust pizza dough and it seemed to make the dish lower in carbs. I also used more broccoli because we need our veggies. Please ignore all of the tools that are mentioned in the recipe. I used a cookie sheet to bake the calzone. I mixed all of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl that I all ready have. And I just chopped everything with a knife. I also just folded the bottom edge over the top. My husband LOVED it and the dog (YOGI) tried to drag the left overs off the stove. The other dog (SMOKEY) is too good to do such things. :) Enjoy the recipe!!!!
Ham & Cheese Calzone
2 tbsp (30 mL) mayonnaise
2 tsp (10 mL) Dijon mustard
1 cup (250 mL) fresh broccoli florets (about 2 oz/60 g)
1 8-oz (250-g) slice smoked deli ham (about ½ in./1 cm thick)
1/2 small onion
8 oz (250 g) Swiss cheese, grated, divided
1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil, divided
2 pkg (13.8 oz/283 g) refrigerated pizza crust
1 oz (30 g) Parmesan cheese, grated
1. Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C). Combine mayonnaise and mustard in Classic Batter Bowl; mix well with Small Mix ‘N Scraper®. With Utility Knife, cut broccoli into small florets; dice ham. Using Food Chopper, coarsely chop onion. Grate Swiss cheese with Ultimate Mandoline fitted with grating blade. Combine broccoli, ham, onion and half of the Swiss cheese in batter bowl with mayonnaise and mustard mixture; mix well.
2. Lightly brush Large Bar Pan with 1 tsp (5 mL) of the oil using Chef's Silicone Basting Brush. Unroll one package of dough onto bottom of bar pan, gently stretching and pressing dough to cover bottom. Sprinkle with remaining Swiss cheese to within 1 in. (2.5 cm) of edges; spoon ham mixture over cheese. Unroll remaining dough directly over filling, matching edges of dough and shaping to fit as dough is unrolled. Trim 1/2 in. (1 cm) off sides of dough with Utility Knife. Press edges to seal with Mini-Tart Shaper. Brush remaining oil over dough. Using Utility Knife, make 12 slits, in three rows of four each, into top crust.
3. Bake 14-16 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, grate Parmesan cheese using Microplane® Adjustable Grater; sprinkle over calzone. Return calzone to oven; bake 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is deep golden brown. Slice with Pizza Cutter; serve with Mini-Serving Spatula.
Ham & Cheese Calzone
2 tbsp (30 mL) mayonnaise
2 tsp (10 mL) Dijon mustard
1 cup (250 mL) fresh broccoli florets (about 2 oz/60 g)
1 8-oz (250-g) slice smoked deli ham (about ½ in./1 cm thick)
1/2 small onion
8 oz (250 g) Swiss cheese, grated, divided
1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil, divided
2 pkg (13.8 oz/283 g) refrigerated pizza crust
1 oz (30 g) Parmesan cheese, grated
1. Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C). Combine mayonnaise and mustard in Classic Batter Bowl; mix well with Small Mix ‘N Scraper®. With Utility Knife, cut broccoli into small florets; dice ham. Using Food Chopper, coarsely chop onion. Grate Swiss cheese with Ultimate Mandoline fitted with grating blade. Combine broccoli, ham, onion and half of the Swiss cheese in batter bowl with mayonnaise and mustard mixture; mix well.
2. Lightly brush Large Bar Pan with 1 tsp (5 mL) of the oil using Chef's Silicone Basting Brush. Unroll one package of dough onto bottom of bar pan, gently stretching and pressing dough to cover bottom. Sprinkle with remaining Swiss cheese to within 1 in. (2.5 cm) of edges; spoon ham mixture over cheese. Unroll remaining dough directly over filling, matching edges of dough and shaping to fit as dough is unrolled. Trim 1/2 in. (1 cm) off sides of dough with Utility Knife. Press edges to seal with Mini-Tart Shaper. Brush remaining oil over dough. Using Utility Knife, make 12 slits, in three rows of four each, into top crust.
3. Bake 14-16 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, grate Parmesan cheese using Microplane® Adjustable Grater; sprinkle over calzone. Return calzone to oven; bake 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is deep golden brown. Slice with Pizza Cutter; serve with Mini-Serving Spatula.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Modern Family
I LOVE the show Modern Family. If you haven't seen it, you should watch it. It's a great story of a family in this day and age. In certain ways it reminds me of my own family. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Recipe Thursday....I really should do this more.
So I haven't posted a recipe for "Recipe Thursday" since I tried to start this theme day of the week. But last night I changed and adapted a recipe I made Monday night and now it is time to share it with the world. I have been trying to do a Meatless Monday because we both need more veggies in our lives and I'd like to know how to make more vegetarian dishes for Chris. So Monday I made cheese tortellini with a roasted tomato, spinach and white wine sauce. Last night i took the left over sauce from Monday and added more veggies and chicken to it. Den loved it and I thought it was good. I didn't want to make pasta twice in the same week but we were supposed to have friends come over last night and with the limited food in the house, pasta was easiest. We're attempting not to over shop as we have been known to do in the past. So big meals for more than the 2 of us are hard especially when you have someone with food allergies coming over for dinner.
Here's the recipe
1 qtr cup chopped mushrooms
1 qtr cup diced yellow onion
1 qtr cup diced frozen multi color bell peppers
1 frozen package of spinach thawed and water drained
2 cans of roasted tomatoes
1 qtr cup favorite white wine
1 package Penne pasta
Cook pasta to al dente
Reserve one cup of starchy water from pasta for sauce
Put a little olive oil in cooked pasta to keep it from sticking
In a separate saute mushrooms, onion and bell pepper. Once veggies are soft, add spinach and tomatoes. Do not bother to drain the tomatoes. Once veggies are combined add white wine. Simmer and let wine reduce in veggie mixture. Once the wine has reduced, pour in half of starchy water. This will thicken the veggie sauce mixture. Continue adding water until the sauce has the consistency you want. Mix sauce and pasta together. Add to a baking pan and cook for 10 minutes. The baking will help the sauce flavor infuse into the pasta.
Feel free to add chicken or other meat to the dish to make this meal not vegetarian.
I'm not the best recipe writer, especially because I do most of this on the fly while I'm in the kitchen, so if you have questions, feel free to ask.
Here's the recipe
1 qtr cup chopped mushrooms
1 qtr cup diced yellow onion
1 qtr cup diced frozen multi color bell peppers
1 frozen package of spinach thawed and water drained
2 cans of roasted tomatoes
1 qtr cup favorite white wine
1 package Penne pasta
Cook pasta to al dente
Reserve one cup of starchy water from pasta for sauce
Put a little olive oil in cooked pasta to keep it from sticking
In a separate saute mushrooms, onion and bell pepper. Once veggies are soft, add spinach and tomatoes. Do not bother to drain the tomatoes. Once veggies are combined add white wine. Simmer and let wine reduce in veggie mixture. Once the wine has reduced, pour in half of starchy water. This will thicken the veggie sauce mixture. Continue adding water until the sauce has the consistency you want. Mix sauce and pasta together. Add to a baking pan and cook for 10 minutes. The baking will help the sauce flavor infuse into the pasta.
Feel free to add chicken or other meat to the dish to make this meal not vegetarian.
I'm not the best recipe writer, especially because I do most of this on the fly while I'm in the kitchen, so if you have questions, feel free to ask.
Today the media has offended me....
I get random questions about what I think about our first black President in my small community. I realize that there are not a lot of black people in this area....Yes, I'm making this specifically about black people because there are many people of color in this area but that color is usually derived from some background of Hispanic or Latino. I understand that people want some perspective from someone of a different background...so I don't mind the questions. I don't even mind national budget questions even though I think it will take a miracle to fix the mess we're in now.
So here is how the media has offended me today....I'm not one of those easily offended people but today it may seem like I am. Michelle Obama, who I believe is an amazing first lady (mainly because the things she cares about and tries to change are important issues that need to be addressed) is under fire today for discussing her daughters weight when addressing the nations child obesity rate has tripled. I was sure this statistic was coming out since we used to have talk shows like Maury Povich with toddlers who weigh more than some 4th graders. That's insane. Michelle Obama is a concerned mother trying to relate to regular people in the US. A lot of mothers take their children to the doctor and hear the same information from a physician. They have the same thought process as the first lady "My kids are perfect. How are they becoming overweight?" Being overweight the majority of my life I was not really supported in any efforts to slim down. I was harassed to loose weight as a child for my diabetes. As a teenager, I took on working out to get in shape for myself but the effort put forth was never good enough. I never slimmed down to a size 10. Today I look back at how I felt then and wished I felt that good today. My stomach wasn't perfectly flat but it was closer than it is now. Now that I'm almost 30 I work out to try to live longer, to be apart of my family longer.
Ultimately I think if Michelle Obama has a great parenting relationship with her girls and can talk to them about how they feel and how they're handling all of the publicity, they'll be fine. No one really chastised the political group that used images of the Sasha and Malia in their campaign to get better school lunches for hungry children. But now it's not ok for the First Lady to relate to mothers everywhere about their children and their weight problems. I'm offended. As a woman who is dying to be a mother, I would think that the first lady talks to her daughters about body issues (weight being one of them) because I would want to talk to my daughter about body issues. I would want to make sure that my children understood how to work towards change and provide them with all of the support in the world. I commend Michelle Obama for trying to be a First Lady who helps people and changes their lives. With the many lists the First Lady has been named to, I love how it doesn't phase her. She is still just being herself, a married woman supporting her husband, doing her thing, being a mother and loving her children. Mrs. Obama, You Are Inspiring!
Two weeks after announcing the unnerving news that childhood obesity has tripled over the last 30 years, and unveiling her own initiative to combat it, Michelle Obama has offended critics by discussing her own “wake-up” moment—when the family pediatrician told her that daughters Sasha and Malia were becoming overweight. 
“In my eyes I thought my children were perfect,” Mrs. Obama said at the January launch of her initiative. “I didn’t see the changes.”
So here is how the media has offended me today....I'm not one of those easily offended people but today it may seem like I am. Michelle Obama, who I believe is an amazing first lady (mainly because the things she cares about and tries to change are important issues that need to be addressed) is under fire today for discussing her daughters weight when addressing the nations child obesity rate has tripled. I was sure this statistic was coming out since we used to have talk shows like Maury Povich with toddlers who weigh more than some 4th graders. That's insane. Michelle Obama is a concerned mother trying to relate to regular people in the US. A lot of mothers take their children to the doctor and hear the same information from a physician. They have the same thought process as the first lady "My kids are perfect. How are they becoming overweight?" Being overweight the majority of my life I was not really supported in any efforts to slim down. I was harassed to loose weight as a child for my diabetes. As a teenager, I took on working out to get in shape for myself but the effort put forth was never good enough. I never slimmed down to a size 10. Today I look back at how I felt then and wished I felt that good today. My stomach wasn't perfectly flat but it was closer than it is now. Now that I'm almost 30 I work out to try to live longer, to be apart of my family longer.
Ultimately I think if Michelle Obama has a great parenting relationship with her girls and can talk to them about how they feel and how they're handling all of the publicity, they'll be fine. No one really chastised the political group that used images of the Sasha and Malia in their campaign to get better school lunches for hungry children. But now it's not ok for the First Lady to relate to mothers everywhere about their children and their weight problems. I'm offended. As a woman who is dying to be a mother, I would think that the first lady talks to her daughters about body issues (weight being one of them) because I would want to talk to my daughter about body issues. I would want to make sure that my children understood how to work towards change and provide them with all of the support in the world. I commend Michelle Obama for trying to be a First Lady who helps people and changes their lives. With the many lists the First Lady has been named to, I love how it doesn't phase her. She is still just being herself, a married woman supporting her husband, doing her thing, being a mother and loving her children. Mrs. Obama, You Are Inspiring!
Is it okay to talk about your daughters’ weight if it’s for the national good?
by ,Two weeks after announcing the unnerving news that childhood obesity has tripled over the last 30 years, and unveiling her own initiative to combat it, Michelle Obama has offended critics by discussing her own “wake-up” moment—when the family pediatrician told her that daughters Sasha and Malia were becoming overweight.
While innocuous to some, this comment has set off both valid and not-so-valid criticism in the blogosphere—everything from calling the first lady well-intentioned-but-misguided to hinting that she could be tipping off her daughters’ future eating disorders. Even with one-third of American children classified as overweight or obese, several critics are far more concerned with Michelle Obama’s anecdotal use of her daughters.
Jeanne Sager, a writer for Strollerderby who admits to reading “everything through eating-disorder glasses” says she feels worried for the girls because their mother has “taken an extremely touchy subject out into the open.”
She goes on to say, “On the brink of teenagehood, Malia Obama is at an especially precarious position. With a naturally changing body, the idea that she has to face the world debating her fat puts her at higher risk for an eating disorder.”
In a post that delineates the difference between what is accepted in “the eating disorder world” vs. "the outside world," Laura Collins Lyster-Mensh of the Huffington Post writes, “I am sucker-punched to read that our First Family put their daughters on a 'diet' because they feared 'obesity' and no doubt will be lauded for it…This is not an eating disorder issue, however, and it should not be only us who know this and speak out about it. These are medical, social, and ultimately self-defeating errors in thinking that do harm to all children and all of us. I am very sad today.”
Jezebel brings up the fair point (via Fox News Channel contributor Michelle Malkin) that perhaps in “revealing that her children have had weight issues too” Michelle Obama is “exposing her children to scrutiny at an early age.” Judging from the over-scrutinized lives of other White House daughters—from Amy Carter to Chelsea Clinton to the Bush twins—that’s one fate the Obamas might want to avoid whenever possible.
Mrs. Obama also sat down for a revealing interview on “The Today Show” (see clip below), where she talked about keeping Sasha and Malia grounded, finding time for dinner, and handling the pressures of being a style icon.
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