Recipe: Pepperocini Roast

I am not a big fan of traditional roast. I don't know, the meat always seems kind of dry and like it is missing something! And don't even get me started on the cooked carrots and potatos people usually serve with it! I know, it is like un-American or something! But, I am a big fan of anything easy that I can throw into my crockpot! Well, it doesn't get much easier than a 3 ingredient recipe! So, to make this you will need a 3-4 pound roast, a jar of pepperocinis, and 4-5 cloves of garlic.

(I really wish I had a picture but we just ate it too fast! Ha!) 

Thinly slice your garlic cloves. Then take the point of your knife and pierce the roast all over, inserting a piece of garlic into each slit. Put roast in crock pot and pour entire jar of pepperocinis  on top. Cook on low for 8 hours. Shred or chop up beef when finished and return to liquid.

Last night we had this on tacos but it is also delcious on a crusty bun with cheese or just eat it with a fork!

What's new...

Well... we have been keeping ourselves pretty busy lately! Jack of course is walking and climbling and is pretty much into everything so he keeps me pretty busy!

 I am also trying to get back on the weight loss wagon! After loosing and gaining the same 8 pounds over and over again I am ready to just get it off! So, I am down about 4 pounds and hoping to continue!

 Aside from getting back on the weight loss wagon I have also gotten back on the Dave Ramsey wagon! Nick and I worked hard and got out of debt a few years ago but we have still not quite gotten our big emergency fund in order yet. We also need to save to replace my van here in a few years since we will be buying our replacement vehicle with cash. So, we have really tightened the belt around here and it is going well. I have worked to cut down our grocery bill significantly (while buying healthier foods, woo hoo!) and we are living on less! We are planning to cancel our satellite dish next month when our contract is up and we have been working on making some cuts in other areas. It feels good to be going in the right direction there.

 In Friend2Friend this semester I am reading "Effective Parenting in a Defective World" by Chip Ingram. It is AWESOME so far! And my group of women is just great! I am so blessed by this semester already.

 We are really praying about what we will do for school for Max next year. I really believe that God will make His will perfectly clear but it is hard to wait! Especially when there are so many pros and cons with each possibility.

 Max is going to be playing basketball this winter at the YMCA. It is super cute how excited he already is! I will be suprised if he ends up really liking it but I think it is cute he is excited! I wanted to sign him up for soccer but I missed the cut off so I went ahead and signed him up for basketball. I think we will definitely try soccer in the spring though.

 And Sophie Lou has started her ballet class. Her second class is tonight. She did SO well the first week! She cried when it was time to leave! She is going to Daughters of Grace Dance Academy which I think is perfect for her starting out. It seems low stress and it is a Christian dance studio so I like that. They even pray at the end of class which with all of those little girls is totally precious!

I guess that is all that is up with us! Just wanted to give a little update! I hope everyone else is having a great Tuesday!

First Word!

So, this handsome little guy said his first word about a week ago and hasn't stopped using it since! It was "ball". How cute is that? He pretty much always has a ball that he is chasing around these days. It goes to show that kids really do have their own personatlies and interests. I think it is pretty cute since Max's first word was "duck" and he is still OBSESSED with animals! It will be funny to see if Jack is a little sports guy!

Recipe Link! Try it! Seriously!

I am not usually a big fan of vegan/vegetarian soups. I know... but it is true. But a friend on Facebook posted this recipe and even though it sounded odd I was intrigued... So, I went to the store that day to make it for dinner! And I do not regret it to this day! So, now I am telling you to do the same! Go make this delicious Sweet Potato Chili. It is kind of sweet and spicy and oh so filling! Seriously make it! Or I will send this guy after you...

and it won't end pretty!

Direction

For the last several months our family has been attending a wonderful church. If you are in the St. Louis/St. Charles area and are looking for a church we would love to have you!

Just the other day I told my husband, "you know what the annoying thing about Element Church is?" He looked a little shocked but asked "what?". And I replied, "That after a service I can never just go home and keep doing what I was doing. Every week I am presented with something that I have to change or implement in my life or a realization about something that changes the way I think about everything!" I have never been so encougaged to be a "doer of the Word" and it has been awesome.

Several months ago I shared that I felt a call to blog but I wasn't exactly sure of the details. Well, pretty much as soon as I said that my mind was a BLANK! I had no idea what I was supposed to write about! And my very exciting news is... I still don't! But, our pastor said something that really made me think about my approach. He was not talking about blogging obviously but what he basically said was, it is easier to direct a moving car than one that is sitting parked.

So, I realized that I need to just keep blogging and hopefully then, while obeying and moving forward I will get the direction I have been waiting for! So, there might be a new blog down the road or maybe this one will take a different direction... we will see!

So, Lord willing, you will start to see me post on here a lot more often like I used to! Thanks for sticking around!

Meal Planning

On my list of personal strengths I would not list being naturally organized as one of them. So, in this house, although I have a VERY strong desire to meal plan, it always falls by the wayside eventually. I have done a little better since I started using this cute little printable but I still struggle.

So, I have seen a few people that use kind of a day of the week system for meal planning, so I think I might give it a try. The idea is that you think of seven "categories" and think of as many meals as you can for each one. Like: Italian, Mexican, Chicken, Breakfast for dinner, etc. Then you pick a day of the week for each category and you fill in your menu plan from that.

In my attempt to be cutsie I came up with this for our family...
Mexican Mondays
Tuesday Mornings (Breakfast for dinner)
Wild Wednesdays (New recipe or something "fancy")
Traditional Thursday (Cassroles, meatloaf, etc.)
Friday Fun (pizza night, appetizers, or something else fun)
Soup 'n Salad Saturdays
Spaghetti Sundays (anything Italian/pasta really)

I know! How dorky am I, right? :-) So, if you have any great recipes that fit these categories let me know and I would love to add them to my list! I thought it was at least worth a try! I will let you all know if I stick to it for more than a day!

a new post!

Our Little R's are keeping us pretty busy these days! And Jack has started walking which has added another demention of CRAZY! But, it is super precious!

See for yourself...

Don't you don't want to SQUEEZE him until he is all squishy? No? Just me. Okay. Moving on...

In other news, I have been re-reading one of my favorite books of all time, "Boys Should be Boys". And I am telling you now if any of you have boys or know boys or anything you HAVE to read this book! Whenever I tell people about this book they say, oh, that is nice, I read "Bringing Up Boys" by Dr. Dobson. Now, I LOVE "Bringing Up Boys" but they are totally different books! So, just humor me and read this one. I really don't think you will regret it. And if you have a daughter, while you are at it, read her book about girls, "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters" which is also amazing!

Okay, so to recap this post...

Life is busy.

Jack is walking and squishable.

Read "Boys Should Be Boys".