busy week and a little something yummy

We had a busy week during spring break. That's why you didn't see much of me. We also celebrated a birthday (a couple of times). And had some cump-ny too. The IL's visited and we had a wonderful visit. I took them out to eat for lunches on Thursday and Friday. And we also enjoyed a little bit of local fun. We went to a fun factory that has tours. And on Friday, they took Boo to the mall to walk around. She enjoyed some one on one time with them. And I took the afternoon to do some important stuff like reading some blogs folding clothes.

I also made big dinners Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights. Well kinda anyway. Wednesday I made turkey burgers. It's not exactly a big meal, but it makes six patties and I didn't have to freeze the extras like I do when I make it for 'just us'. And Friday night I made roasted chicken and veggies with rice. It was all very good. Oh yes.. and birthday cake.

And Thursday night I just made a roast. Well...not just a roast. But the best roast ever! There's a story behind The. Best. Roast. Ever. One day early in my married life, I was visiting a friend. She and I would hang out all day sometimes in her kitchen while she did this or that.. or worked on a craft project or something. It was a fun time for us and sometimes I don't know if we realized it or not. Anyway... one day I was over there and after a while I mentioned I was beginning to get hungry. Now this girl has always been sort of the grandmotherly type, or maybe she's just a good southern girl, because she always had a little something on hand if the munchies set in. So she proceeded to tell me my 'options' from her freezer. And one of them was roast. I kinda just sat there. Roast??? Well. ok. I guess.

I had eaten my fair share of roast growing up and I was not too impressed with it, to tell you the truth. The gravy was always kinda watery and the meat wasn't always tender and it was a bit of a hassle to make. So when she said roast, it didn't conjure up the best images.

But my options were few that day. So I decided I would have to could handle the roast. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. I couldn't stop raving about this roast! And of course, asked her how to make it. Because if roast could taste like that, then I wanted a piece of that action for myself! To my delight, the recipe isn't hard at all. And *gasp*...I can make it in the crock pot. Love. It!

Now that you're probably slobbering all over the keyboard, I'll tell you how it's done! : )


These are the two key ingredients! Tony's Creole Seasoning and

two pouches of McCormick's brown gravy mix. That's it.

Well, except for the roast and potatoes, that is! You put the roast in the crock pot.

I trim the meat of the weird layer of fat on the bottom of the roast.

I didn't do that in my younger days. But I do now. And

if it's a big roast, it might be a good idea to cut it in half

because of cooking it in the crock pot and core temperatures

and the 'danger zone' and all that junk.

Anyhoo...

You put the roast in and sprinkle some Tony's on it. If you're more liberal

with it, the whole thing will have more zip, since this is a spicy seasoning.

But also keep in mind, it's mostly salt. So... use it accordingly.

I tend to do a light sprinkle and it just adds that little something

special without fire shooting off anybody's tongue or anything.

Then you cut up some potatoes and put them around the roast. After that you mix up the gravy mixes with water in a shaker container (or put it in a measuring cup and stir with a fork to get out most of the clumps etc) and pour it over the meat and potatoes. I then refill the container with water and pour over it all until the gravy just about covers most of the stuff in the crock pot. I know this runs against all the crock pot wisdom that's out there about not needing to add liquids bla bla bla. But hello..you're making dinner and gravy too! Put it on high for a little while to kick start the cooking and then turn it to low 'all day'... or 8 or so hours.

Here's what I do when it's time to eat. I take out the meat and potatoes and put them in a dish and cover them with foil to keep them warm and let the meat 'rest'. Then ladle some of the gravy into a sauce pan and start bringing it to a boil. While that's happening, I take some cornstarch and water and mix that together... probably about 1 1/2 tablespoons of each...I'm just guessing...and pour that into the gravy and stir with a whisk. It will thicken up pretty quickly.

I usually make dinner rolls to take advantage of the deee-lish gravy. And a salad or steamed broccoli is nice to go along side. Gather the fam. Your dinner is ready!

Can I come over?