Student teaching and a little pot roast? hmm

As the week rounds out this weekend I'm looking back on my week and saying PHEW! I spent this week helping finish up the semester and getting my stuff ready for the new semester. It looks like I will be teaching Speech/Drama, Lit 1, and Lit 3 (2 regular classes and 1 TAG class!). I can't say that I'm not excited because I'm SO excited, especially to teaching Speech/Drama and the TAG class.

Meanwhile I'm still working on the baby quilt I decided last weekend I was going to make. I'm going to attempt to get the patchwork sewn up tomorrow. Looks like another trip to get the batting, how did I forget that? It's okay though because I need to decide on the color for the back too. Hmm, decisions, decisions...

It's been such a hectic week for me that I've barely talked to A either. Come to find out he's been just as busy at work. I miss him a lot. Some days it's easier than others, but I try not to think about it or I try to keep myself busy. I wish he was here to smack everyone who has baby fever. I told the bestie earlier tonight that all this baby fever makes a person scared to have sex! She laughed at me, but my point was people are constantly down my throat about having kids. I would bet that a more than a dozen people asked me when I got back from Cali if I had a ring or if we were going to have a baby. All I could do was stand there stunned, really people? Give me some time to readjust to being in a relationship, would ya? A and I joke about this stuff between, but that's us. Maybe me being so busy here will make people shut up about it for awhile.

Now for the meat and potatoes, literally...

Apple and Onion Beef Pot Roast
(This is a new recipe that I found today, kind of out of my comfort zone with apples and onions, but I'm trying it anyway.)

Ingredients:1 boneless beef sirloin tip roast (3 lbs), cut in half
1 cup water
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 large tart apple, quartered
1 large onion, sliced
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
1/8 teaspoon browning sauce

Directions:

In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, brown roast on all sides. Transfer to a 5-quart slow cooker.

Add water to the skillet, stirring to loosen any browned bits; pour over roast. Sprinkle with seasoned salt, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder. Top with apple and onion.

Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until the meat is tender.

Remove roast and onion; let stand for 15 minutes before slicing. Strain cooking liquid into a saucepan, discarding apple.

Bring liquid to a boil; cook until reduced to 2 cups, about 15 minutes.

Combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; stir in browning sauce. Stir into cooking liquid. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Serve over beef and onion.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving (3 ounces cooked beef with 3 tablespoons gravy) equals 173 calories, 6 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 69 mg cholesterol, 262 mg sodium, 4 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 25 g protein.

RESULTS!!!

The recipes doesn't call for veggies, but I always add carrots. Later I added potatoes too.

 This was right before I sliced potatoes.

End result...it wasn't too bad. The apples I was unsure of, but it added a little flavor. Normally, I think pot roast is bland and kind of tasteless.  With the apples there was just a tiny bit off sweetness that made this taste delicious!