Easiest and BEST pot roast recipe EVER!

It's been such a long time since I posted to this blog but I am back! I'm going to start updating it more and hopefully I have at least one of my readers still. (right dad?)

So I work from home now so I have time to actually slow roast. This is good because I can purchase lower priced meats and braise them long enough that they taste amazing.

Well, I have a pot roast recipe for you that I have recently fell in love with. Jonathan, who is now 8 doesn't like the traditional way I made this roast but he'll eat it this way!

What you'll need:

2 pounds of boneless chuck roast
2 Tablespoons Oil
1 Tablespoon unsalted Butter
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 bottle of red wine
2 cups of Vegetable Stock
2 cups of Beef Stock

What you'll do:

I use a Dutch Oven but you can use any heavy bottom pot as long as it can go from stove top to oven.

Pre-heat oven to 350
Heat oil and butter
Sear Roast on all sides
Set Roast aside
Add Onion and garlic and let cook for about a minute
Add the ENTIRE bottle of wine
Reduce until you have about a cup of wine in the pot
Add your roast back in pot
Add the stock
Cover
Place in oven and cook for about 3 hours
Take out and enjoy!

I serve this with mashed potatoes. The texture of the mashed potatoes and the richness of the meat go so well together.

Easiest Meatballs Ever!

There are only so many hours in a day so of course whenever I can take a shortcut and still make a great and inexpensive meal I am a happy person! So here is my recipe for the easiest and a great tasting spaghetti and meatballs using one of my favorite kitchen appliances, the slow cooker.

For this I use the meatloaf meat from the butcher department in my grocery store. The reason is shortcut, shortcut, shortcut! It's already well seasoned and makes for great meatballs.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Meatloaf (raw of course)

1 egg

Italian breadcrumbs

1 can or jar of pasta sauce

1/4 cup water

Directions:

Mix meatloaf and egg. Add enough breadcrumbs to bind. Lightly spray crockpot oil. Make meatballs about the size of a medium sized meatball. Not too small and not too large. Place meatballs in crockpot and cover with sauce and water. Set to low and in about 6 hours you will have perfect meatballs.

A New Job for Dilly is HERE!

I was so excited to check my mailbox and find a children's book I pre-purchased a while back. It's called A New Job for Dilly and is written by Rena Jones, Illustrated by Lisa Oakman.

This Dilly book is great. It is one of those books you want to read over and over and over. It's about a mouse named Dilly that LOVES pickles, especially the sour ones! (I can relate!) Dilly needed to be able to get more pickles so he set out to get a job. This book goes from A-Z and is perfect for any young child from around 4-8 years old.

When I got the book I showed it to Jonathan and he read it to me. He also brought it to school and read it to his class. We love this book and I think have already read it about 100 times! Our favorite page is when Dilly tried to be an electrician and he shocks himself. The picture cracked us up! The illustrations are so cute. (click here to visit the illustrator's website)

Rena Jones, Author Extraordinaire

I not only bought the book to support my friend but to support a new author. This is Rena's 1st published book. Rena always loved writing. She spent most of the 1990s writing letters to pen pals. Around the same time, she self-published three newsletters for pen pals. I wish I knew her back then because one of her newsletters was all about coffee! YUM! She began writing for children in 2003, after visiting Glacier National Park in Montana. A little mountain goat inspired her to write a story about him and her love for writing children’s stories began.

Rena is a home educator to her children and has been doing so for 11 years. Yup, 11 years! She also enjoys photography (Rena is an AMAZING photographer!), wildlife watching, camping, national parks, kayaking, music and even sour pickles. When not writing or taking pictures, she is usually being entertained by the crazy wildlife that frequents her mountain home. Seriously, she has crazy bears, squirrels...you name it! So different from Southern California!

Read to your child!

I have been a huge advocate of Reading is Fundamental for a very long time. I believe reading to your child every day for at least 15 minutes a day. When your child gets to the age where they are reading their own then have them pick out 2 books. One for them to read to you and another for you to read to them. It not only helps the child love books but they will become really great readers and gain a wonderful vocabulary. Spelling will come easier as well as more and more words become familiar.

Win an autographed copy of A New Job for Dilly!
All you need to do is leave a comment on at least FOUR of the seven blog stops. (blogs listed below) Rena will put your name in a pot and a winner will be chosen at the end of the tour. Please make sure she has a way to contact you. Please give your email address and at least your first name.

But remember, you have to reply to at least FOUR different stops to qualify. Rena will contact the winner at the end of the tour to find out how they'd like the book to be signed. Thanks and good luck!

June 21st – Sherrie Petersen
http://solvangsherrie.blogspot.com/

June 22nd – Beth Reinke

http://bethbencereinke.com/blog/

June 23rd – Elysabeth Eldering
http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com/

June 24th – Sharon Spray (THAT'S ME!)

http://mamasharonsays.blogspot.com/

June 25th – Adrienne Saldivar
http://a-saldivar.blogspot.com/

June 26th – Nikki Shoemaker

http://www.pinkpencil.blogspot.com/

June 27th – Vivian Zabel

http://vivianzabel.blogspot.com/

CLICK HERE to visit Rena's website.

CLICK HERE to visit Rena's Blog.

CLICK HERE to purchase the book.

Itailan Skillet Chicken

Tonight I realized I that the taco seasoned ground turkey I bought the other day went bad. I had just purchased a can of petite diced tomatoes and some sliced black olives for the taco casserole I was going to make for dinner tonight.

So with the bad turkey out of the picture, I had to think fast. Here was my healthy low fat solution.

I had already diced up some onion so I added it to my electric skillet and briefly sauteed it in a tablespoon of olive oil then discarded the onion so that the pan was seasoned.

Added 4 Chicken Breasts

Cooked until golden on both sides.

Added canned diced tomatoes, small can of sliced black olives, dried oregano, dried basil and a dash of sea salt.

Covered and let simmer for about 12-15 minutes turning the chicken once.

I served over jasmine rice.

It turned out fabulous and it was quick and very easy.

I really should have taken a picture but we were a hungry family! Next time I'll get a shot of it. There will definitely be a next time for this one!

Screaming girls and white Ray-Bans can only mean one thing...The Jonas Brothers movie is out!

Yesterday we trekked up to Hollywood to see the very popular movie, The Jonas Brothers a 3D Concert Experience. Were we a little crazy to go on opening weekend? Maybe. But I'm glad we did.

We took Jonathan months ago to see the boys from NJ perform at the Honda Center in Anaheim. That particular show was special because they were filming the concert footage for this movie that night. Demi Lovato then opened the show after becoming instantly huge from Camp Rock which was of course aired just weeks before. Also performing and a special guest in the movie was the very talented and also a teen, Taylor Swift. It was a really good and very long show. I think I blogged about it.

So the movie pleased Jonathan and all of the tweens and teens in the theatre. It showed some behind the scenes footage. Mostly shot in NYC. But all of the concert footage was Anaheim even though that was not mentioned.

Throughout the movie it was hard to tell if it was the girls in the movie screaming or the girls in the theatre! It was funny and I could totally relate since I would have been the same way if this were a movie about Duran Duran and the year was 1984.

When asking Jonathan what he liked best about the movie he said when they performed Burnin Up. He loved it in concert and I can see why. The movie was so well done that it didn't take away from the live feeling of being there at all.

As far as Disney Digital 3D goes this movie was way better than the Hannah Montana/Myley Cyrus movie but the Hannah movie seemed more "real" and not scripted. This was obviously scripted and "set-up" in many places for what was to be behind the scenes or footage.

The newest D-3D movie coming out is UP. We got to see an extensive preview and it looks great. Disney has really perfected the 3D movie experience since Meet the Robinsons came out. I don't know if Monsters and Aliens is Disney but it will be 3D and looks pretty good as well.

So after the movie we left with some posters and white JB 3D glasses only given out at the El Capitan and only this weekend. It was a nice reminder for Jonathan about the movie he just enjoyed so much. He is such a huge JB fan and has been since they had small appearances on the Disney Channel with Year 3000 and Kids of the Future (a remake of Kids of America made for the Meet the Robinsons movie). I have to admit that Dave and I do not mind the music either and as far as role models, so far so good.

One more note before I wrap this post up. Disney Channel will be premiering the new show JONAS in April. From the preview I am a little frightened of this one but of course Jonathan is counting down the days. The boys, Kevin, Joe and Nick are apparently Junior Operatives Networking as Spies (J.O.N.A.S.), who battle evil while working undercover as a teen rock band. Um..OK. Anyway, it looked quirky along the lines of The Monkees. We'll see how this one goes. It'll most likely be an instant hit simply because it is after all, The Jonas Brothers. Another sweet addition for the show is they are including their little brother Frankie known to fans as the "bonus Jonas." And for one last mention for fans of Camp Rock...filming for Camp Rock 2 has been mentioned to start at the end of this year. Apparently the entire cast is going to be back.

OK, Now after this post I think I need to go read a newspaper or do something a grown-up does. :)

Paul Harvey dies at age 90 and will be missed

Below is the story from the AP. (posted here with proper permission of course) My husband and I love "The rest of the story." We discovered it when we lived in TN and seriously, there was nothing on the radio to listen to. We truly admired and enjoyed Mr. Harvey.


Broadcasting pioneer Paul Harvey dies at age of 90 from Associated Press

You are what you eat...see!

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