5.14.08

Good morning!

Woke up around 5:15 a.m. to the sound of thunder and heavy rain. Had a few hours of bad storms around us, a little hail, but thank the Lord they weren't severe. We are expected to get more storms later, but for now the sun is out. I went outside and snapped a few photos. I love how the flowers look after a rain storm. These are some Easter lillies that just opened about a week ago.

My sister Allison just opened up her own Etsy shop! She is selling patterns for crocheting amigurumi dolls, right now the characters from Yo, Gabba, Gabba! (kids' show). She is really talented. :)

With all of the rain, I felt like making comfort food for dinner, so I've got a roast in the crockpot. (recipe below) I'll also roast some fresh vegetables later to go with it. I just cut up large chunks of veggies, put them in a deep dish pan, toss them with some olive oil, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper and bake for about 30 minutes on 400 degrees (depending on the veggies you use). YUMMY way to eat fresh veggies with lots of flavor. I think I'll use sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, and fresh green beans.

Jennifer's Crock Pot Roast and Vegetables

2-3 lb. roast (remove excess fat)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, sliced
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 bay leaf
Worcestershire sauce
3 stalks celery, chopped
Good red wine
salt and pepper
1 can cream of mushrm. soup
½ can milk (or water)

*Rinse roast from package. Add olive oil to a dutch oven and heat to medium-high heat. Add onion, celery and garlic and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add roast and just brown the roast on all sides to seal in juices. Put 3-4 dashes of Worcestershire on top of roast. Add 1/8-1/4 c. wine. In Crock Pot, add ½ of the can of cream of mushrm. soup. Place roast in crock pot on top of this, then pour onions, celery, and pan drippings on top of roast. Add rest of cream of mushrm. soup on top of roast. Add milk or water. Add two more dashes of Worcestershire, a little more wine, the bay leaf, and season with salt and pepper. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or all day on low. (Low is the best setting and it makes your house smell wonderful!) When ready to serve, remove roast and vegetables from crock pot. You will have a wonderful gravy left in the crock pot. (You can add carrots to the crockpot about 2 hours before serving, or serve roasted veggies with the roast)

I've added the video tour of my scrap space to my sidebar so it's always available.

Have a blessed day!