Homemade Roast Beef Stew for the Cold Holiday Weather!

With winter fast approaching, I can't help but crave home of my grandmother's home cooked meals.  My favorite on a cold day was her roast beed stew.  It's so easy to make, it makes the house smell amazing and it's a great way to clean out all the veggies you've avoided making since your last grocery shopping trip, and did I mention that the crock pot does most the work for you?

Ingredients

1 3-5 pound chuck roast
1 package of Lipton's Onion Soup Mix
1 package of the little red potatoes (usually marked as the "steam bag")
1 bag of regular size carrots, do not use the baby carrots they just don't work
2-3 stalks of celery
1 can of the Hunts stewed tomatoes, I like to use the celery bell pepper mix
1 bag of broccoli florets,
1 bag of fresh green beans
1 can of corn
Salt and pepper to taste

First things first, dust off that crock pot!

I try to prep everything the night before so I can just dump it in the crock pot in the morning and get to work.  Really the only prep work is to quarter the potatoes and slice the carrots.  I usually slice them about a quarter of an inch thick.  Then I trim a little bit of the fat off of the roast.  Don't trim it all because a lot of the flavor in the broth comes from that.

Before anything goes into the crock pot, you need to brown the roast very quickly on the top and on the bottom.  A 3-5 pond roast is the perfect size for a family of 4, you'll even have left overs for lunch the next day.  Once you've done browned the roast, place the carrots and the potatoes on the bottom of the crock pot and then place the roast on top of them.  You want veggies under the roast so that they absorb all those great flavors.  Next add your Lipton Soup packet and add enough water to cover the sides of your roast.  The water line should be even with the top of your roast, but not covering it.  Turn on low and let the crock pot do the magic for you.  I typically start mine about 7:00 a.m. before I drop Zoey off at daycare and it cooks until about 4:45 p.m., when I finally get home from picking up Zoey after work.

When you get home, switch the crock pot from low to "keep warm", your potatoes, carrots and the meat should be throughly cooked.  Did I mention your house should smell amazing?    This is the fun part, you have to pull the roast out and shred it.  I use a spatula to grab it out of the crock pot and two forks to shred it, it doesn't take much effort after slow cooking all day.

Once the meat is shredded you want to transfer your broth, potatoes, carrots and meat to a large pot.
Turn the heat on between low and medium to keep it warm.  Now it's time to add everything else.  The broccoli should be a good size right out of the bag, but you may need to cut the green beans in half to make it easier to eat.  When you add your corn and tomatoes, make sure you drain those as well, you don't want to dilute your broth too much.

I bring it back up to a small boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes just to get those new veggies cooked and mixed.  I've found that this main course deserves a great side of corn bread to really make it fantastic.   Feel free to add any other veggie you have lying around, I also throw in some zucchini and any color bell pepper I have lying around.


Happy Cooking Everyone!  

The Seasons have Swapped, and So Should Your Closet!

I know it's December and Christmas is around the corner, but I'm pretty sure jack frost has awoken early in Virginia.  Being born and raised in southern California, I grew accustomed to warm weather and sunshine, and yea I have made Virginia my home for the last 6 years, but I'm still not used to these freezing cold temperatures.  Not to mention the fact that the weather is a constant roller coaster, yesterday was 74 degrees, today a whooping 37.  So what's a girl to do with her time?  Well swap out my clothes of course!

Yea, I made that sound way too fun.  This task for me is no hour job.  It involves lugging the tote out of my attic that currently houses all my winter clothes and swapping them out with all the summer clothes I'd freeze body parts off in this season.  

Step 1: Grab your tote (and if you don't have one, buy one, don't go cheap either, get a good tight snapping top to prevent bugs or critters from making your sweaters their new homes)

Step 2: Empty the Tote.  Don't just dump it either, you need to go piece by piece.  Are you going to wear that piece this winter?  If you just can't make up your mind, donate it. You typically know right away if you're going to wear something.  If you need to think twice, you won't wear it.  Does it fit you?  We all shift in weight throughout the year.  Make sure to keep in mind that we tend to gain a few extra pounds during the holidays.  So if it's tight now, you may not like the way it fits come January.  

Step 3: Swap it out.  Don't allow your summer clothes to clutter up your closet for winter.  In Virginia, there is no way I am wearing a summer dress during the winter.  I used to try to wear dresses for work with tights, but one, I can not stand tights and two, it doesn't matter how thick they are, it's still too cold for it.  There are certain tank tops that you can dress up with a cardigan, but you aren't going to be dressing up those shorts.  This step isn't limited to your clothes.  Swap out those shoes! Your flip flops have no place in the snow (if you have snow), and peep toes, that's your call, here it's a little too cold.  Bring out those boots!  Summer's way too hot to keep those piggies in those amazing boots, but winter demands the warmth of last year's awesome finds.  

Step 4: Load up the Summer Stuff.  At this point, I can attest to the lack of motivation to put all your summer items in the bin neatly.  You've tried things on, made a donate pile, and hung up all your winter stuff.  But this is the time to pull every last ounce of energy you have left and fold those clothes.  Believe me you'll be able to fit more in the bin, and when you need to pull all this out when the seasons change again, you'll appreciate all that hard work.  

Step 5:  Put that bin back where it belongs.  It's easy to do all this work and put that bin back "tomorrow" but tomorrow will come and go and you'll eventually start hanging laundry on it.  Save yourself the trouble of having to put it away later, after you've dug it out of the avalanche of purses, clothes, scarves and shoes.  

Happy Swapping Everyone! 

      

DIY Calendar Pin Board

I can definitely say that I am addicted to Pinterest and I love looking at all the great DIY project pins.  That being said, I have noticed that a lot of people have pinned a "command center", which consists of a desk, chair, small filing area, calendar, and usually a laptop, essentially it holds their their lives in one place.  I don't have anywhere to put one in my house, but I do have a big empty wall in my kitchen screaming for some attention.  So I decided to make my own interpretation of the command center for those who don't have the additional space for a command center.  My idea inspiration came from a pin, of course, that took a frame and used it as dry erase board, seen here:

I wanted to make a reusable calendar that mimicked this idea, but also had a cork board to hold all my important letters, my grocery list, bills and any of the things that would otherwise get lost.  So I ran out, paid maybe $12 for the materials and made my very own command center, and this is what I came up with:

My neighbor loved the idea and needed one of these bad boys for her house.  Since the frame was buy one, get one free and the cork came in a four pack, I had the extra materials to make her one too.  So after work, we had a Pinterest craft party.  Her's was a little more involved than mine, so if you want a more plain Jane one like mine, swap the fabric for ribbon to cover the edges of the cork (attach with hot glue), and nix the paint samples to draw on the calendar.

You'll need the following:

• A frame - I used a poster size that would fit on the wall I wanted to use, and they were buy one get one free!
• A sharpie
• A ruler
• A pencil
• Cork board- I found a four pack of these great squares.  
• Hot glue gun and glue
• Paint sample cards -I've made two of these now, one I used paint sample cards and the other I just hand sketched the calendar out, either way looked great.  
• A piece of Fabric (one fat quarter was more than enough for one piece of cork)

Step one: Map it out. 

I wasn't sure about the lay out.  I wanted a decent size cork board, and the squares had to be big enough to write in, so it took me a couple of tries to get the size for mine just right. I also wanted to make sure there was room at the bottom for notes, meal planning, etc.  Make sure you know what you want and that it will fit in the size frame you purchase.   The two pieces of cork together were a little too long to fit in this frame so I just used a regular pair of scissors and trimmed it down until they both fit.  

  For Brianna's, she went to Home Depot and grabbed a few of these super paint sample card to use as her days.  Pretty smart considering it took me about an hour just to measure and draw out my map.  Once it's mapped out, you need to remove the plastic or glass, depending on your frame.  I know it sounds weird but you need to be able to map it all out correctly.  For this frame, the plastic was only held on my four sticky spots.  All I did was pull slightly and it popped right off.

Next, you'll want to flip over that spiffy sheet that the frame comes with to give yourself a nice (and free) white background.  Next put your cork back in place, but DO NOT glue the cork down in this step, you just need it for spacing.  This is when you either draw out your calendar or use these cute paint sample cards.  My neighbor was able to make this really pattern for hers that can be mimicked with any color really.  We spaced out the colors evenly and then one by one glued them down with hot glue.  You might want to use a paper towel to press down on the cards because after the first three it starts to really burn the fingerprints.  

Now its time to put the glass/plastic back in the frame.  You can reattach it to the frame just the hot glue.  I added one drop to each side and then one in each of the corners.  Place the frame back over the calendar and attach the cork to the top of the glass/plastic.  My neighbor wanted to add her own flare to the cork board before we attached it to the board.  So she printed out this really cute image and we just hot glued it right to the cork.  To secure the cork, we used the double sided foam pieces that came with the cork.  You can add almost anything to it to make it your own.  My neighbor covered her cork board in her favorite fabric to give it some flare.  You can also add photos under the glass to personalize.  The very last step is to use a dry erase marker and organize your life!  Happy Crafting!!!

The DIY gift for the Geek

I always find that I have one person that is almost impossible to Christmas shop for.  This year it's my neighbor's husband.  While his wife and I are pretty close, and I have a long list of options for her, I had a huge blank space under his name.  Like my husband, he is the guy that buys everything he wants for himself.  He likes reading, but has a library, he loves movies, but has a huge collection, no particular hobby, a family man, has a huge sweet tooth and likes Star Trek.  So what do you get the man that's impossible to buy for?  A cookie jar embellished with his Star Trek quote of course!

The last time I was at my mother in law's house, I commented on her cute dog treat containers.  They were simple plastic jars with her dogs name on them.  She told me she made them herself with the Cricut machine and some crafting vinyl.  I've been wanting to try this out for myself but haven't had an opportunity (or a need) to do it for my house.  Thank you mom for the inspiration.

First things first, I needed an awesome cookie jar.  TJ Maxx has this little guy for around $8.  I bought this one specifically for the air tight, suction top.  The only bad cookie is a stale one.

Then I dusted off the old Cricut and found the vinyl I had stuffed away from a previous project.  The vinyl is typically a little on the expensive side, so if you don't already have some, I would suggest waiting for a sale.  The coupons in the craft stores tend to exclude all Cricut stuff so unless you can find a different one, this is going to be a pricy purchase.

Next I chose a gender neutral font.  Come on ladies, we all love the scrolls and the loops and all the pretty fonts but for a guy, lets just say the simpler the better!  You need to choose a skinnier font if your words are more than 3 letters long, because your words end up wrapping around the jar, which looks a little awkward.

 

The tricky part is the saying.  The saying is the most important thing about this project.  You have to find something that, not only appeals to the recipient, but that they won't mind looking at every time they get a craving for a cookie.  And heaven forbid you mix up genres or misquote anything.  Do your research!  In this instance, I know that my neighbor's husband is more of a Treky than a Star Wars guy so the dark side cookies probably wouldn't appeal to him as much as "beam me up scotty".  But I must say it's a little funny to have "live long and prosper" on a container full of some of the most fattening cookies known to man, but the humor is the best part of the present, outside of the cookies, of course.

The final step is to add their favorite cookies.  For me, I now know that Oreos (whose aren't though really?) are his favorites, courtesy of his wife.  Add a big bow on top and you're done!  Knowing my neighbor, when the cookies are gone, say three days after opening this, he will find a use for this in his office or the shed, either way, it's a thoughtful reusable gift. In my experience, it takes two packages of Oreos to get this thing semi full.  I would suggest three, and whatever doesn't fit, well I guess you will just have to enjoy the left overs. 

Happy Crafting!

My Guilty Pleasure of the Week...

I'd like to say that my music preference is pretty broad, and I typically don't like the top 100's that they play over and over and over on the radio,  but this album is by far the best I've heard from T. Swift.  Her other albums were great for nursing a broken heart or when you're 15. But this album definitely has the pizazz all her other ones were missing.  I can hit the random button and listen to this entire album from start to finish.  Its one you can clean your house to, one you can blast in the car, and one you can play in the office.  I recommend tracks 2 & 9 to start.  If you haven't bought it yet, this is worth every penny on iTunes.    Happy listening everyone!

Spooktacular Halloween 2014

Growing up I loved dressing up for halloween.  I got to pretend to be someone else for one night, and my neighbors rewarded me with candy for doing it!  I sure miss those days, now its just me walking down the candy aisle knowing I'll hate myself later for what I bought.  But as a mom, I get to enjoy all the perks of Halloween all over again.  At three, Zoey is just now getting into the costume fun and this year we bought her first pumpkin!  I personally am allergic to pumpkin, so when I carve them my arm turns into one giant hive.  She's still pretty young, and even though we bought a smaller pumpkin, I still wanted to avoid the carving and the pumpkin gut mess for at least one more year.

During one of my typical Target trips on my lunch hour, I ran across this really sweet pumpkin decorating kit by Mr. Potato Head at Target this afternoon.  It cost me a whole $8.00 and allowed me to avoid the mess and hives for one more year.  The best part is... It's reusable! Remove the pieces, wash them off and store them away for next year.  Some of you may prefer to use the pieces from your child's Mr. Potato Head in their toy box, and that's perfectly fine, however, even on small pumpkin we bought, the parts were awkwardly small.  

This set comes with 12 pieces that look just like potato head pieces.  Since the kit is kid friendly, there aren't any sharp edges to acutally puncture the pumpkin with.  And of course I didn't buy a carving kit today, so I had to get a little resourceful.  

I grabbed my handy dandy meat thermomater.  I punctured the pumpkin, where we previously planned out the face, and I had to move it the thermometer in small circles to enlarge the hole a little, but after a little elbow grease, we were ready to decorate our pumpkin.  Since Zoey was already familiar with Mr. Potato Head, the rest was just her having fun.

Happy Decorating Everyone!

GILMORE GIRLS!!

I know that this news has been circling the internet for a couple of weeks but I just can't contain myself anymore, Gilmore Girls is back !!!!!  Thank you Netflix for making my down time tolerable again! And by down time, I mean the time I spend folding the laundry, dusting, vacuuming or cooking (thank you iPad Netflix app).  I can do the occasional Greek marathon, or Royal Pains when I need good background noise, but there is nothing better than watching one of my old favorites without commercials.  Okay that's my 30 second celebration dance for today, Happy watching friends!