Best Pot Roast Ever

I love pot roast, but I didn't always. I actually hated it as a kid, because it was always SO bland and dry, and needed more salt than was humanly safe in order to make it taste good. Turns out my mom was just a shitty cook.

I make it now for my kids, and they love it, because this recipe kicks ass.

Behold.

What You Need

A 3-5 lb. roast

1 package of dry onion soup mix

1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 can of beef broth

1 package of whole, washed mushrooms

olive oil

tin foil

garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper, and if you're feelin fancy some Cajun seasoning is good too.

Preheat your oven to 325

In a bowl, combine the onion soup mix, the condensed cream of mushroom soup and the beef brother together and mix well

In a frying pan, heat to medium high, and drizzle olive oil on the pan

When it's hot, sear the meat until it's lightly browned on the top and bottom {probably only a minute or two on each side, if that}

Place the roast in a casserole pan or roasting pan

Season with the above seasonings to taste

Pour the onion/mushroom/broth mixture over the roast

Throw the mushrooms around the pot roast, whole

Cover with tin foil

Bake at 325 for 1.5 hours, then increase the heat to 350 and bake for another 1.5 hours

I personally do not add potatoes or veggies to my roast pan, because they absorb all the sauce mixture around the roast, which I like to use as gravy over the meat and mashed potatoes, but that's just me. You are free to do as you like.

Enjoy.



Egg Casserole

Egg casserole, otherwise known as Amish breakfast casserole, is an absolute Sunday morning standard in my house, right up there with Robins in a Nest {or eggs in a bread hole as Bill likes to call it}

What You Need

4-5 medium/large washed red potatoes

Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 a white or yellow onion

1 lb. of ground breakfast sausage {I like sage flavored, but whatever turns you on}

12 eggs

A splash of milk

Preheat the oven to 350

Beat the eggs together in a bowl with the splash of milk, like you're going to make an omlette

Cube the potatoes

Chop the onion

Brown the breakfast sausage in a skillet

Spray a 13x9 casserole dish {glass is best} with some Pam

Throw in the sausage, onion and potatoes

Pour in the beaten eggs

Toss in about a cup of shredded cheese and mix it all together until it's well mixed

Top with garlic and onion powder and salt and pepper to taste

Cover the top with an even layer of shredded cheese

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, until cheese is set and bubbly

Cut into squares like a casserole and enjoy!

Moonlight Miles

So lately I havent been sleeping. And by that I mean, I haven't been able to fall asleep until after four in the morning. And I wake up by seven. I lay on the couch, and watch movies. TV shows. Read books I have already read a hundred times. I take showers, and change my pajamas. I let the dogs inside, and outside, and inside again. I check my email, my facebook and whatever else I can think of. Sleep keeps escaping me.
While I sit up at night, not sleeping, feeling my eyes get puffy and red, feeling wrinkles set into my skin, I think. I think about all the parts of my life. You know, the main things: Money, Love, Family, Sex and personal development. Where all these things have been and where they are and where they might go. I think and think and think until I should be absolutely exhausted. Until I should be able to drop into a coma like sleep and not emerge until some at least one season has come and gone. But nothing. Not even a heavy eyelid, or a yawn.
Lately, I have been thinking alot about love. Love seems to occupy my mind like a foreign army. Marching around and putting up flags. Claiming territories in my mind that once belonged to idle thoughts about mundane nothingness. Love takes up any free space there is or was, and occasionally forces out useful ideas and helpful thought processes and barges in with its hearts and flowers and sappy music.
I am starting to hate thoughts about love. I am beginning to hate this merry go round I have been riding for a year and a half, that seems to only become more convoluted and unclear with each passing day. At least there once was a time when affection was clearly evident, and I at least knew for sure that I charmed my halfway sweetheart. Now I cannot decipher affection from lust, or true amoration from tolerance, or desire and passion from comfort. Somedays I think he cant stand me. He barely looks at me, talks dryly and keeps his hands to himself. Somedays I am certain he adores me, as he kisses me, and laughs at my jokes. But that warmth in his gaze, those loving turns of phrase, the sweet tiny gestures, they have yet to return. And I am left open mouthed and wanting.

I am so tired of thoughts about love, and the never ending question
"He loves me, he loves me....not."

I was in Burlington Coat Factory today with Meghan and Lainie and Jackson. I was trying on a coat, and Jackson was on the floor by my feet playing with some belts. The next thing I knew, I looked down to smile at my son, and he was gone. Just gone. I started looking around the area immediately near me, as the panic built. I started walking, around and around. No Jackson. I started running. Pictures of children on missing posters filled my mind. The images and memories of newspaper articles and billboards of children kidnapped, molested, raped, murdered flooded me as I ran faster and faster, asking every person I passed "Seen a little blond boy, red shirt, khakis, black sandals?" and the dismay as they said "Sorry, no" Lainie ran behind me, screaming, crying and panicking. She sobbed "Dear God, please don't let me lose my brother. I dont wanna lose my brother." A saleswoman brought me to the security guard and as I started describibg Jackson so he could alert mall security, a woman came to me, and yelled "I think we found him! Two men in the toy section have him, he's playing with some toys" I RAN. I ran like Hell. Yes he was still in the store, and had only been missing a few minutes, but I ran as fast as I could to my baby, Lainie at my side. I turned around the corner to the toy section, and there he was. Sitting on the ground playing with a little toy truck. The man that found him was standing there smiling. I grabbed him, and hugged him hard. He definitely looked freaked out. I dropped to my knees and grabbed my son. I pulled him to me, crying and shaking. He was safe in my arms and had no idea anything had ever happened.

I thought for 5 minutes today that I might never see my son again. I thought I would be handing out MISSING posters to neighbors and be pleading on the news to the kidnapper to please bring my baby home. I put him to bed tonight in his own bed. I tucked in my little boy and my sweet girl. And I felt so lucky. I felt like I had just brought them both home from the hospital all over again. I hope I never have to wonder where my children are. I hope I never miss a day of their lives. I hope all the missing babies in the world come home safely. I hope God is answering those parent's prayers, the way he answered my daughter's prayer today. I hope you all kiss your kids goodnight tonight.