A Bit Rough

Walking to school was a little rough this morning.  Winter Storm Saturn brought us crazy winds last night and a bit of snow as well.  

Considering it will probably be the last snow of the season (hopefully), it's not so bad.  Growing up in Michigan, I actually like snow, minus the cold and the shoveling.  

After bringing the kids over, I came home and turned up the thermostat.  We keep our home at a cool 55 at night and have gotten used to keeping it at 65 during the day.  Heating costs on Long Island are pretty pricey, so we do what we can.  When I feel cold, I try to remind myself that soon enough, it will be a muggy 80 degrees and that puts it into perspective.

In cleaning up the house, I came across this breakfast plate.  Christian has graciously been making Ellee breakfast in the morning, but apparently I need to remind him to use a bit less syrup for the waffles.  It's really been nice to see our kids grow more independent as they get older and even nicer to see them helping each other out.

Last week, I mentioned that I was making our favorite Crock Pot meal for dinner.  I try to utilize the Crock Pot on Wednesdays or Thursdays, since they seem to be busier and having a meal that pretty much cooks itself all day is quite the treat by the time evening rolls around.  Since a friend had asked about it last week, and I planned to make the same thing today for dinner, I thought I would share.  

First off, a disclaimer.  I am not gifted in the skills of cooking.  So when I share my methods here, they are pretty simple and based on what works for our family.  Just thought I should throw that out there.  Moving along, the first thing that I do is to buy meat.  As I mentioned before, I don't know much about meat, so I pretty much just go to the store, and find something that is beefy and has a bit of fat and doesn't cost too much.  This week, I ended up with this gem.

I also buy a sweet onion and potatoes.  I usually buy one regular and one sweet, because the sweet potatoes made in the Crock Pot with this meal practically turn into candy.  They are amazingly good.  That being said, unfortunately I forgot the sweet potato and had to supplement with these red ones.  

Finally, I buy two pounds of carrots and then we're good to go.

After I plug in the Crock Pot, I splash in a bit of the worcester's sauce and mix it with a bit of ranch dressing.  As for me and my house, we love the Hidden Valley.  

Then I add the beef along with the peeled and sliced onion.  

I peel and quarter the potato, using an amazing peeler that my Mom bought me from an Amish market. Kudos to the Amish as it's been the best peeler that I've ever had and works pretty great after almost ten years of marriage.  I didn't peel the red potatoes, because I'm pretty sure you don't have too.  

I add the potatoes and then peel and cut the carrots.  For some reason, the carrots that I got this week were gigantic, so I just cut them down to a more cookable size.  

And that's pretty much it.  All of the food will cook down to sheer deliciousness throughout the day.  On Thursday nights, the kids and I go to the gym before youth group and then usually get back and head straight to Youth Group.  So I'll grab a bit out for them and it will continue to cook down to perfection for when Jer gets home afterwards.  It's nice to have a meal that is simple and delicious for the busier days of the week, and this is ours.