Super simple pot roast

Who doesn't love pot roast?! I suppose it's not something you could mess too easily, especially in the ever-so-handy slow cooker, either. However, here I go again...So proud of myself for "cooking" another meal. I'm shameless...I know. But really- this isn't something I'm used to doing! :)

Here's what I used, some which I bought and some of which I had in my fridge and needed to use up (some suggested by my mom):

- 4lb roast from Giant Eagle. This was a lot of meat and buying a single one for $20 was pricey, but they often have B1G1 deals so it was really only $10.

- Five medium/large potatoes cut into chunks

- Five whole carrots chunked into large pieces

- 3/4 large white onion

- 1 bag frozen green beans

- Onion soup mix

- One can beef broth

- One can cream of mushroom soup

- 2 cups water to give it a little more "juice" (I really should have used two cans of beef broth, though.)

- Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients into the slow cooker and set your desired time/heat setting. I set mine on "high" heat for 6 hours. The roast wasn't quite as tender and I had hoped and think it could have used a tad bit more time, but it was cooked through and it still cut easily. We had PLENTY of meat leftover- of course, a family of two adults and three small children can't eat 4lbs of meat! It was super yummy, easy and cheap to make. My 15 month old ate two helpings at dinner that night, as well as two helpings for lunch the next day!

Here is a picture pre

-cooked.

Getting Creative

I've been feeling "domesticated" lately! :) A couple days ago, in a single day!, I got clothes in the washer and dryer, put clothes away, played some games with my girls, cleaned up some areas of the house that have been driving me crazy, got my nephews to their afternoon class...But what I'm most excited about is that I tried out some new recipes!

I'm really starting to enjoy cooking and trying out new recipes and am even getting comfortable with taking a recipe and changing it up a bit. (I know, I know. This isn't a big deal for some people, but for me...) So, the afternoon started with plain old tomato soup. Ally wanted some so I fixed it, no frills, and was settling down to my bowl when I decided maybe I'd add a little mozzarella to it. "Hmmm", I thought, "what about some basil, too?" I sprinkled a bit on and it took boring tomato soup to YUM! Good flavor, which would have been great with a crispy piece of bread, but I had to settle for crackers instead. In any case, it was really good, taste-wise and budget-wise!

Then came the cookies. I had found a recipe for "Brownie Cookies" on allrecipes.com. I love both brownies and cookies and was super excited about these. It called for the dough

to be refrigerated overnight so I mixed it Sunday and planned on the girls helping me roll the dough balls in the morning, which

I ended up just doing myself because the dough ended up sooo sticky it just wasn't going to be worth the mess of them helping. (Yes, I'll admit that I'm not terribly patient all the time and just like to "get things done.")

So how are the cookies? I'm a little torn. They look great and they crackled nicely on top, which I was hoping they would do, and they taste great...My only issues with them are 1) how sticky the dough was, like I mentioned, but nothing I couldn't handle and 2) how light they are. Maybe "light" isn't the proper word...They just aren't dense like brownies would be. I guess I like the texture of a good, thick brownie. *shrugs* BUT we all like them and I give them 2 days before they're gone. :)

And now dinner. (Goodness, did I really make all this food today?!) I had planned on Green Pepper Casserole for that night when we had gone to the store over the weekend so I had the basic ingredients for a recipe, which I had found online as well. I had the green peppers, beef, rice, cheese and tomato sauce. The fun part about this was what I was able to mix in and make it taste quite good, if I say so myself. :) I added onions, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and worcestershire sauce to the beef after it was drained and instead of the cheddar cheese the recipe called for I sprinkled Parmesan on the top. Oh, and I used pasta sauce instead of tomato.

Not the most extravagant, I'm sure, but I'm so proud of myself. Everything turned out good and my girls liked it *all,* which is a bonus. They are not picky eaters in the least, but I typically have at least one that turns their nose up at something I've made. :)