January 29, 2014 By 16 Comments

My First Pot Roast

Cooking a pot roast was one of those things which just seemed so grown up to me.  Whenever I heard anyone talk about pot roasts all I could think was how grown up and responsible and culinary geniusish the person was.  I was completely intimidated.  I never ever ever thought I could cook a pot roast.  Brea has been telling me for a while to just do it and how easy it is.  I didn’t listen.  I thought she was crazy and yes, a culinary genius in the kitchen.

Then when I posted a little while ago about looking for easy, good recipes, my friend Marcie sent me an whole email full of easy, good meals and there sat the Mississippi Pot Roast recipe just taunting me.  I decided it was time I take on the challenge.

The first problem I encountered was figuring out how to buy a pot roast.  Yep.  I’m grocery store challenged as well apparently.  I was so intimidated.  I couldn’t figure out what to buy and finally found a roast chuck or something like that, and asked the meat guy if that was in fact a pot roast…he smiled and said yes.  That’s when I rambled to him about how I had never cooked one before and how I was feeling pretty grown up that day and accomplished because I was actually going to cook a pot roast.  He smiled and wished me good luck.

The next problem was finding this au jus sauce packet.  What the what is au jus????  I wandered and looked and wandered and looked.  Then text Marcie.  Then I found it.  I may have given Hudson and Solomon a high-five.

Next on the problem list was realizing as I’m trying to stick this almost 3 lb pot roast in my broken crock pot that my crock pot is on the tad small side.  Then I proceeded to try and fold the pot roast in half and squish it down to the bottom of my small broken crock pot.  Later Susan asked if I just cut it in half…well, that would have been a much better idea.  It, however, never even occurred to me to just cut the sucker in half.  But I got it all in there, threw in the toppings and turned it on low.

Then like any normal person I got on Target.com and bought this beautiful guy solving all my crock pot problems with a few clicks of my mouse and my Target red card.  Let me take a moment and say, “God bless the Target Red Card and all it’s perks including the 5% discount and free shipping.”

Then I waited.  I felt so accomplished.  So grown up.  I may have text multiple friends to brag on my folded little pot roast.  I felt like I needed to do something else really grown up as well like refinance or get fitted for bra by an old woman at Macys.  I felt like I had arrived.

I even made sides.  I am completely a one pan dinner person.  I rarely make a meal that has sides…other than a salad.  But I went all cooking crazy and made these Oven Baked Parmesan Seasoned Fries and cooked broccoli.  Things got weird.  The house smelled all yummy.  I kept checking on my pot roast all day long like a newborn baby.  I just loved her.

Then came dinner time.  I was so proud.  Pretty sure I was beaming.  Josh started getting everyone’s plates ready and I started pulling out the pot roast.  It was breaking into pieces because it was so tender.  I was shredding each section in a separate bowl.  And that’s when I pulled out a section now entwined in 8 hour long cooked plastic.  Apparently I did not remove a section of the plastic covering.  Hmmmmm.  Would it kill us all to eat pot roast roasted in plastic?!?!?  I started thinking about how some people claim reheating food in plastic containers in your microwave is going to give you cancer and I had just marinated and cooked our pot roast in plastic for 8 hours.

I weighed our options and  then we totally ate it.  Not cancer caused by plastic or a pot roast cooked in some plastic was going to stand in my way of enjoying my first pot roast.  And it was delicious.  I may be bold enough to say the best pot roast I’ve ever eaten.  Maybe a little bit of plastic should be added to the recipe.

I sent Marcie a text asking her, hypothetically speaking, if she thought a family would die from plastic poisoning after consuming a pot roast that has been cooked with some plastic.  She laughed and said to eat it.  And we’re all still alive and there are zero leftovers in the fridge.  They were all consumed the next day on little rolls.  Pot roast sandwich?  Yes, please.

And that’s the tale of me and my first pot roast.

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , 16 Comments
September 23, 2013 By 1 Comment

This & That

This weeks Sevenly is raising money for children with cancer.  They are purchasing toys and games for these sweet kids.  Seriously just makes my stomach turn.  I cannot even imagine how these children and parents feel.  Can’t even imagine.  I purchased this week for sure.  I can’t purchase every week, but love to support organizations like this one.  I even got Harper a tee too.  Check them out and sign up for their weekly emails so you can see each week’s organization being supported.  Love me some Sevenly.

Also Mightee Kids tee this month is supporting Baby2Baby which provides essential baby gear and clothing to families in need.  Sign me up…for reals.  Harper is going to be rockin’ her new digs well.

The American Heart Association’s Nashville Heart Walk is just a few weeks away.  October 12.  We’d still love for you to walk with us.  And you can still make a donation in honor of Amon HERE on our personal fundraising page.  If you make a donation of $15 or more I will mail you a ‘thank you’ key fob as a small token of our appreciation.  After you donate don’t forget to CLICK HERE and send me your mailing address.  Today I found the most perfect fabric for some tees I’m going to make for the Kelley kids to walk in.  I’m pretty excited.  Team Ace of Hearts.

I’ve tried a few more of those healthy recipes I’ve been pinning.

This Chicken Chili was not my favorite, but feel like it just needed a little more punch in the spice department.  I think I may give it another go and add some cumin, black pepper, red pepper and chili powder.  That may do the trick.  Let me know if you figure something out.

picture source

I was actually quite the fan of these Banana Chia Muffins.  Quite tasty indeed.  I like seedy stuff though, so they were right up my alley.  The Kelley kids liked them too.

picture source

And lastly I tried out these Oatmeal Waffles.  I added like a 1/2 cup of ground up flax seed and I realized I added too much.  Next time I won’t add that much, but even with the over flax seeding, everyone gobbled them right up.

picture source

Our Monday has been very tiring…therapy and just lots to do.  Excited zumba is just a few hours away and even more excited we’re closing in on bedtime 🙂  Monday’s can be tiring.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , 1 Comment
October 23, 2012 By 2 Comments

Funfetti Deliciousness

I have been baking goodies for a sweet family for quite a while now.  They’re just the kind of family you love to love on.  Since we were in the hospital for so long, they were long over due for some goodies.

I found this Funfetti Whoopie Pie recipe on Pinterest and knew these would be in my baking future.  Anything Funfetti is a definite yes in my book.  I’m also very intrigued when a baker claims something to the be the “best”, so when I saw the icing recipe was “The Best Ever Buttercream Frosting” I just had to give it a try.  If you want me to try a recipe just claim it’s the best and I’ll do it.  I just have to find out if it really is the best.

I started looking at the recipe for the cookie part of the whoopie pies and honestly, I’m sure they are absolutely delicious, but today I just needed something quick and I remembered the Easy Whoopie Pie recipe I so adore and have made a million times.  So I made an adjustment to the easy recipe to fit my Funfetti desire.

Here’s what you need:  2 boxes of Funfetti cake mix, 4 eggs and 1 1/4 cups Crisco.  I dumped everything in my Kitchen Aid and let it do the work for me.  God bless the Kitchen Aid mixer. (Thanks Carol.)

I continued to follow the Easy Whoopie Pie recipe, by using a tablespoon to measure out each cookie size, but dipped them in sprinkles as well.  Bake them at 375 for 10 minutes on parchment paper.

And if you ask me, I will always tell you that Mr. Sprinkles are the best sprinkles in town.  I get mine at Kroger, but they are not on the baking aisle…they are on the ice cream aisle with the other ice cream toppings.  They are the BEST sprinkles…I promise.

Then I tested out the “Best Ever Buttercream Frosting” and I am happy to report this icing is pretty dang good.  It’s delicious and fluffy and oddly enough, it was even awesome right out of the refrigerator too.  And it was easy to make…no strange ingredients that are hard to find, just everyday items.  I give it a big A+.

They’re like Funfetti heaven and you should probably make some today…and share with a friend.  A big Funfetti success…I may have eaten one…or three.  Make them & enjoy.

Happy Tuesday!

Filed Under: family Tagged With: , 2 Comments
August 30, 2012 By 9 Comments

Sweet Heart

Thank you so so much for all the sweet comments and emails and FB messages you sent on behalf of Amon.  I cannot express how much your prayers and thoughts for him mean to our family.  Please know that when I type “Thank you” I really and truly mean it.  And thank you for sharing Amon’s story…the more praying, the better.

And you can still enter to win the 11×14 Hold Onto Hope canvas…either scroll to the post below or CLICK HERE to enter.  Giveaway ends Friday and I will post the winner Saturday.

I wish everyone could meet Amon in person…and I had more questions yesterday on how to pronounce his name than anything…funny huh?  You say it Long A-mun.  Amon.  Anyways…he is seriously the sweetest little thing and happy as all get out.  My sweet heart…for sure.  We have just fallen so hard for him.

Lots of you also wanted to know how he was doing.  Well we have had quite a few doctors appointments since arriving home and had another one today.  Amon is a bit sick…ear infection & fever and is an anesthesia risk with the congestion he has at this point.  What that means is if they were to do surgery today, they wouldn’t do it due to how congested he is.  So we are now home bound with no visitors…trying to get him better asap in preparation for surgery and trying to limit the amount of germs he is exposed to.  Other than that he is awesome.  He’s eating and sleeping and pooping and peeing…just your everyday baby, but with a special little heart.

So thank you for praying for him and if you don’t mind, please continue to do so.  I feel like we’re in the semi home stretch…less than 2 weeks away from surgery and even though I’m a bit on the terrified side, I also realize he needs this surgery and therefore I’m ready for it to be done and over with.  Just having to let God have this one…big time…and pray that congestion away 🙂

In other random Kelley news…I wanted to prove to you that we Kelleys do not live on sweets alone.  Here is some proof.

And to completely negate those fruits & veggies, I wanted to share this truly incredible Thin Mint Brownie recipe.  I do not like texting language, but OMG!  This is crazy good.  You must make this…today.  And I doubled the recipe because I bought a 9×13 brownie mix…it doubles fantasticly.

I also realized I had never shared maybe one of my most favorite recipes EVER from our family Hall Cookbook.  Ham & Cheese Poppyseed Sandwiches by my Aunt Tootsie.

I make these all the time coupled with some pasta salad, raw veggies and fruit.  I like to use the whole wheat kaiser rolls or my favorite…ciabatta bread…it is the best.  And we switch it up with turkey or ham or we’ve even been known to get a little crazy and use a little of both.  Make these for dinner tonight and thank my Aunt Tootsie afterwards.

I have been enjoying my days when it’s just the boys at home.  They are so crazy and fun and unpredictable and yet, so predictable sometimes.

Huddy has been a drawing and cutting fool lately.  He is really getting the hang of drawing actual things…like this tiger.

Cutting paper may be his next favorite thing to super heros.  I’m trying to teach him to use the whole sheet of paper because right now, at the end of the day our bathroom trash can looks like this.  EVERYDAY.

And yesterday Sol fell asleep on the steps…and this was after nap.

Huddy made Amon a hat this week too.  I take it off of Amon periodically and it never fails…a few minutes later he is amazingly wearing his “hat” again thanks to a sweet big brother.  Amon was crying one day and Huddy said, “I think he just wants his hat.”  Yes Huddy, that’s it.  Amon just wants his hat 🙂

I’ve been missing Harper during the day, but she has been having the best time at school.  And we LOVE her teacher.  She is incredibly wonderful.  And the other day Harper got a Role Model award and seriously, you would have thought she won the lottery.  She hopped right in the van and it was the first thing out of her mouth.  She was so proud…and I was too.

Since we are home bound now, I have been running all my errands at night.  Last night while out I discovered that Hobby Lobby is in full on Christmas mode already.  Seriously?!?  We’re talking aisles and aisles and aisles of Christmas stuff is already out and ready to go home with you…in August.  I think it happens earlier and earlier every year.

Well there you have it.  A random Kelley family post including some Amon heart info, wee Kelley shenanigans, new recipes and even an update on Hobby Lobbys Christmas paraphernalia.  Hope you enjoyed!

Happy Thursday!

Filed Under: art, family, giveaway, heart, recipes Tagged With: , , , , 9 Comments
June 12, 2012 By 16 Comments

Maybe The Weirdest Recipe Ever

My Aunt Linda & Uncle Tom are still in town and we have been spending everyday with them…soaking them up.  My kids have missed their Grammy like crazy and Aunt Linda or Nina, has been a breath of fresh air.  She invests in them.  I love it.  It is soooo Mom…it must be a Hall gene.

So while Aunt Linda is in town we have done a bit of baking and cooking.  I am a HUGE fan of our family cookbook…The Dining Halls…From Our Halls To Yours.  It has the most amazing recipes, from the most amazing women.  All our Hall Family recipes collected together in one book.  The other night Aunt Linda said she was going to make Aunt Lynda Lee’s chocolate cobbler recipe and Aunt Martha wanted to watch it go down 🙂  I thought, “Hmmmm, this may make a good blog post.”  And sure enough…I thought it was blog worthy because it is in fact the weirdest recipe I have ever seen.  The end result…well it’s just heavenly…for reals.

Let the weirdness begin…oh and bear with my late night camera lighting…

Melt 1 1/2 sticks of butter in a 9×13 pan.  Aunt Linda did this by putting the 9×13 pan on one of the stove eyes and turning it on low.  It melted while we got the rest of the recipe together.  She’s a pretty smart lady.

Mix together in a bowl 1 1/2 cups self rising flower,

1 1/4 cups sugar,

1 3/4 T. cocoa,

2 tsp. vanilla,

and 3/4 cup milk.

Stir all those ingredients together.

By now the butter in your 9×13 pan should have melted.

Then pour the batter into the butter pan.  DO NOT STIR.

Then mix 1 1/2 cups sugar and a 1/2 cup cocoa in another bowl.  Stir together and sprinkle over the batter in the dish.  DO NOT STIR.

And if all that “DO NOT STIR” stuff wasn’t weird enough…then you poor 2 cups boiling water into the pan.  And…you guessed it…DO NOT STIR.

Put the pan in the over at 350 degrees and cook for 30 minutes.

30 minutes later…you have chocolate heaven in a 9×13 pan.  This stuff is crazy good.

We ate ours in cups with vanilla ice cream.  Don’t be hatin’ 🙂

Here is the full recipe…straight from The Dining Halls.  Thanks Aunt Lynda Lee for sharing.

And this is why I should always have my camera with me.  My Aunt Martha was getting a kick out of a can of Flarp…it makes really funny fart noises…if you were wondering what Flarp was.

Then my Aunt Tootsie called to talk to my Aunt Linda.  Yes…yes, that is in fact my Aunt Martha making fart noises into the phone for her sister to hear.  I suppose fart noises are the bridge between all ages 🙂

Happy Tuesday!

PS:  Keep forgetting, but check our my friend Carol’s blog over at Love With Abandon.

They are working on raising money to host two sweet kiddos this summer from Lativa.  Think about helping them out…and I think they are having a giveaway soon too.

Oh and speaking of giveaway…maybe the coolest giveaway ever on my site is going to start this Wednesday.  It involves 6 art pieces, 10 keyfobs, 2 sets of anchor stationary and 2 Hall cookbooks…oh and 6 different winners.  I’m pretty stoked.


Filed Under: recipes Tagged With: 16 Comments