I think I posted earlier about the Prosperity Elementary Spelling Bee. If you remember, Aubrey took second place. We just found out today that the boy who beat her won the Reno County Spelling Bee and is on to the State Bee in Topeka. At least she lost to a champion!
We had Valentine's Day parties at school today. I dashed in to Jackson's for just a minute - the kindergartners were so cute! One little girl was whispering in my ear what she put in Jackson's Valentine - apparently he has an admirer (oh my!) I then hurried over to Aubrey's party at a different school. We had strawberry ice cream floats, which were a big hit. Aubrey and Luke's classes both went roller skating today, and I think they could have just forgotten the whole party afterwards! The skating was so much fun for everyone. Luke is on his bed "chillin'" now. Guess that's what all the cool kids do. They chill.
Aubrey has a friend over for the evening, so I need to fix something for supper that everyone will love. Aubrey vetoed the cauliflower I had planned.
I was not home from Aubrey's party in time to meet Jackson's bus, so he went over to our neighbors. It is nice to be getting to know people well enough here that I can ask for favors!
Hope you all have a lovely Valentine's Day!
Aubrey and Luke's gifted class is having a seminar today with all the Reno County gifted students. They had to bring a lunch box fixed around a fairytale theme. Each box is graded and given a certain number of points based on creativity, neatness, number of food groups represented in the lunch, and the way the food fit into the overall theme of the box. Then they take the points they earned from their own lunch and use it to bid on someone else's lunch to eat. Here's what we came up with:
Luke's lunch box was "Aladdin and the Cave of Wonders". We tried to make it look like the desert opening up to swallow Aladdin and Abu - it has an evil tiger face on the top of the box. His food items were The Sultan's Ruby (apple), Oasis Spring Water (Gatorade), Aladdin's Magic Carpet (pb & j sandwich), Arabian Gold Coins (carrots), Golden Tassels (cheese sticks), and the "It's so good, it's the third wish" Chocolate Pudding.
Aubrey's lunch box was "The Princess and the Pea." Her box was covered in fabric to look like a bed. This picture doesn't do it justice, it was beautiful! She made little pillows to go on top also. Her food items were: Peanut Butter and Strawberry Tiara (pb&j cut into the shape of a crown), the Princess's Perfectly Picked Peas (sugar snap peas), Prince Charming's Favorite Chocolate Pudding, Cheesy Bed Posts (cheesesticks), Wonderful Watermelon Pillows (watermelon squares), and Her Highness's Royal Berry Fizz (gatorade).
Whew! It was fun, but it probably would have been more fun if we hadn't procrastinated until the night before to come up with all this. Of course, it was American Idol's Hollywood night (FINALLY!!!), so we had to watch that also. Michael Jones was our fave so far. We think he could win it.
I have a Jewish friend from New York, who, through a long convoluted series of events (she would be the first to tell you that God was in every single one of those events) moved to Syracuse, KS, became a Christian, and met and married a farmer. Michelle is a lot of fun to talk to; she definitely has a different perspective on life in Western Kansas than those of us who have lived there all our lives. Anyway, I think Michelle was in shock (understandably) for the first year or so. One of the things that she missed the most about New York was the variety of foods that were readily available. We introduced her to some good ol' home cooking, which I think for the most part she has grown used to. One of her pet peeves about food in Kansas is that every other recipe involves Cream of Mushroom soup in one form or another (on a side note, my Texas transplant friend says everything down there is made from Cheez Whiz). Anyway, I couldn't help thinking of Michelle when I made this pot roast, and in this case, I have to admit she is right. Cream of Mushroom soup did NOT make a better pot roast!
We did like the roast, it was juicy and tender and it did make it's own gravy (so there you go, Kim). It tasted just fine, really. However, the unanimous consensus was that I need to go back to my regular method of cooking pot roast. Essentially it is the same recipe, but with a packet of Au Jus mix instead of the COM soup. More flavorful, and more beefy!
So there you go, from our dinner table to yours!
I'm trying a new pot roast recipe for dinner tonight, and thought you might want to join in. I happen to know that several of you have access to the best beef on the market today just by walking to your deep freeze :)
If you're not a brave soul, and would much rather have someone else be the guinea pig for a new recipe, check back tomorrow and I'll post my family's review of the dish.
Erica's Pot Roast
Any cut of roast can be used for this. It cooks for 8 to 10 hours with baby carrots, onions, herbs, and condensed cream of mushroom soup.
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 9 Hours
Ready In: 9 Hours 20 Minutes
Yields: 4 servings
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds boneless beef roast
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 onion, quartered
16 baby carrots
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
DIRECTIONS
In a large skillet over medium high heat, saute the roast in the oil for 15 minutes, or until all sides are well browned. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
Place the onion, carrots, garlic and parsley in the bottom of a slow cooker. Place the roast on top of the vegetables and pour the soup over the roast and the vegetables.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours, stirring once.
Transfer roast to a serving platter and place the vegetables around it. Pour the roast gravy from the slow cooker into a gravy boat.
Guess what? You know how I had a birthday earlier this month? It wasn't a major milestone, just a normal birthday. I am now thirty-six. I wasn't feeling particularly ancient, didn't even examine my eyes in the mirror for any new wrinkles. Anyway, I got my hair trimmed on Tuesday, and then went to work for Jerry at the clinic in the afternoon. He was checking out my new haircut, when guess what he found? You're right, three grey hairs. Or maybe they were white. Whatever. He pulled them out, thank you very much! Now why didn't my stylist tell me they were there?
So later that evening at supper we were telling the kids about my new greyness, when it occurred to me how significant it was that I had THREE grey hairs and I have THREE kids. Thinking maybe I'd make them feel guilty, I said "What do you think it means that I had THREE grey hairs?" the six-year old, without missing a beat, piped up "It means you're old, Mom!"
I asked for that, didn't I?
