potato

Easy Crock Pot Roast

I know, I know… I’m too busy to blog recipes. I’m too busy for sleep. But the family still has to eat. So, when your sister says “Hey, I’ve got your dinner covered tonight,” it makes you appreciate the holiday season even more. I’ve got to pass it along! Maybe you’re busy too, but if you can get the ingredients in the crock pot… you can have a healthy dinner ready when you are. Better yet, maybe you know someone that could use a break? Maybe you can spread a little holiday cheer! No matter the occasion, if it’s cold outside this dinner is for you.

As organic as possible:

1 pound bag of organic baby carrots

1 1/2 pounds organic golden potatoes halved

1 large onion quartered (in large pieces)

3 pound beef roast

1/4 tsp Seasoned salt

1 tbsp Kosher salt

1 tsp cracked pepper

1/2 tsp Onion powder

3 dashes Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup low sodium Soy sauce

1 sprig Thyme

1 sprig Rosemary

2 cups Beef broth

 

Sprinkle roast only with seasoned salt lightly. Set aside. Put carrots, onions, potatoes, salt, pepper, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce in the crockpot. Give a little stir. Place roast on top. Pour in broth and lay thyme and rosemary on the roast.

Set crock pot on low for eight hours. If able, after two hours of cooking time rotate vegetables to top of roast to prevent too much softening.

Please enjoy the smell of your home; comfort food at it’s finest.

Hot Potato

Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to…

Did you know how healthy potatoes are? I’m not talking about diced, shredded and fried (although undeniably Delicious). I’m referring to the low-cal (about 110 calories in 1 medium) naturally gluten-free vegetable with more potassium than a banana, 45% of your daily intake of vitamin C, 10% of vitamin B6, zero fat, zero cholesterol that contains essential minerals like magnesium and zinc to mention a few. We all know the story: eat your potato while drinking a glass of milk and live forever! Or at least avoid scurvy. But seriously, with necessary blood aids like iron and much needed digestive assistance from fiber (of which sadly our diets are greatly deprived), it just might be what the doctor ordered. That is of course baked- to maintain the most nutrients. (Save the sticks of butter and cups of cream for special occasions 😉 ) And if I may, please make sure you buy organic- not crazy hi-bred weird GMO who knows what they are potatoes, because I can’t vouch for those.

Serves 4-6

2 1/2 pounds -about 10-12 medium Potatoes (Russet, Idaho, Golden, Red…)

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1-2 Tbsp Course Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 375°. Wash, scrub and rinse the potatoes. Remove any eyes or blemishes that you don’t want to eat. Dry the potatoes completely with a towel. Brush on the olive oil (a little goes a long way) or get messy and use your hands to cover the skins. Generously sprinkle the potatoes with the course salt. (Do not be afraid of this- the Kosher course salt is not as “salty” as fine salt. If you are using regular table salt, go easier obviously… I trust your judgement.)

Place potatoes on a baking sheet. I like to cover the sheet with Silpat or parchment paper for easier clean-up. Bake for an hour (sometimes 15-20 minutes more if using large potatoes) until skin is crispy and inside of potato is tender. Eat just like this, or with a pat of butter and a little salt and pepper, or with a dollop of sour cream (or plain yogurt if you’re eating clean) or crumbled bacon if you’re feeling wild. I’ll stop. You know what you like.

For more information on the healthiness of potatoes along with recipe ideas check out potatogoodness.com or an interesting article on the health benefits at livescience.com.

Quirky and Wonderful’s Broccoli Potato Casserole

For those of you who may not know, I have been challenged by a fellow blogger, Healthy in All Hues, to make recipes of seven different fellow foodie bloggers. There are so many delicious choices that I narrowly limited it to eight, and I am seriously thinking about challenging myself to make at least one fellow blogger’s dish per month. I think it’s a great way to promote other bloggers and get to try new recipes, a win/win! For the third installment of my WordPress Cooking Challenge, I selected a Broccoli Cheese Potato Casserole from Quirky and Wonderful.

I’m a practical mother with half of a dozen mouths to feed on a regular basis. Casseroles make a lot of sense to me. They are often loaded with with meat and cheese which not only makes them tasty, but filling- which is always helpful when feeding a crowd. Many times they can be prepared ahead of time, which is really convenient when meal planning. And when you come across a recipe that calls for a tater tot crust, well “hook, line and sinker!” But the best part about this dish was there were so many yummy flavors going on that I could hide the broccoli from my little ones!

The recipe wasn’t difficult, but did require a couple steps. Firstly, let me say that I have never steamed broccoli in the microwave before. What a time saver! Secondly, one of the stages specifically called for Oreida brand potato crowns, but did go on to say that if I tried another brand to let her know (which she confided in the reader, namely me, that she would not rat me out to her mother-in-law, the originator of the recipe). So I feel compelled to say I did try another brand; I used Whole Foods 365 brand of Tater Puffs. Since this was my first tasting of the dish, I cannot confirm nor deny that it was better or worse than another. But I can say that the casserole at large was very satisfying, both in flavor and in mass. Also to follow the recipe I was unable to find condensed organic soups, I could find cream of celery (but not condensed). I’m curious if one of our non GMO cheese dips would make a good replacement for the condensed cheese soup in the future? I must also admit that the recipe was written in a double portion, one for now and one to freeze for the future. And I took the liberty to cut the recipe into half to just make one dish, because we were leaving for the weekend and I did not have the space in my freezer to store another. (Note to self: clean out freezer!)

Thanks Quirky and Wonderful for taking the time to pass down a family heirloom of a recipe. I can see how it would be a comforting dish to a new mother! (I think I enjoyed the leftovers even more! The flavors had even more time to combine… and I wish I had one more in the freezer.) Because there are several stages to the process and Quirky and Wonderful has kindly taken the time to spell it our for you, click here for the original recipe and instructions.