Food for your Itty Bitty: Mexican Pot Roast

I have been racking my brain on what to cook for Delilah. She is eating so well and I want to keep introducing her to foods and flavors. I have decided to not really modify what I cook, cook how I usually do. But when it is time to eat, adapt her plate in order for it to be edible for her. This roast I made is the perfect example of that. I used Mexican flavors and the only thing that I really changed, was using refried black beans instead of whole. And I took out the cayenne pepper that I would have usually used as well! But she loved it! Beef and all :)

I love cooking roasts. They are super easy and are done when I am good and ready! I usually give about 3 hours of cooking time, ours are no more than 2 pounds, and I literally throw it in there mid afternoon and pull it out right before we eat.

Start by preheating your oven to 350.

Season meat with whichever taco seasoning you like. I use cumin, chili powder, onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper.

I like using the same pan I brown in to cook in the oven, so I am using my trusty cast iron skillet for this. While you are seasoning the meat, turn burner on high and let the pan hear up. Once it is hot, put in your meat and start browning it up.

I guess it would help to put in oil ;)

Brown both sides and then add a can of salsa or in this instance, a can of Rotel, and add a little water until it goes up halfway. You do not want to have your steak swimming in liquid, that would be bad. 

Cover up with aluminum foil, or a lid if you have one, and stick it in the oven to cook for a few hours. I am not to technical on my time, so I usually leave it in there a few hours, or until we are ready to eat. The longer it cooks the more tender it gets, so no worries!

Pull the roast out and the way I test for doneness, is get a fork and pick a spot, twirl the fork around, and if meat easily twirls with the fork, it's done!

I served the roast with tortillas, refried black beans, and rice. A little habanero salsa and sour cream and you are good!

For Delilah, I combined the rice and beans into little balls so it was easier for her to pick up. I tore up tortilla into tiny pieces, and cut the roast into even tinier pieces! It was a hit!

Mexican Pot Roast

1-2 lb roast of your choice

Mexican seasonings (Cumin, Chili Powder, Onion powder, Garlic powder)

1 tablespoon oil

Jar of Salsa/ Can of Rotel

Water

Preheat oven to 350

Season roast with seasonings, don't be shy!

Put cast iron, or oven safe pan, over high heat and brown the roast on both sides.

Put the salsa or Rotel in the pan with enough water to come up the middle of the roast. Cover and bake in oven for 3 hours or so.

Can of Refried Black Beans

Heat before serving

Refrigerated Tortillas

Brown up before serving (These are the only tortillas I buy now, they are so good!)

Rice

1 cup rice

2 cups chicken stock

1 teaspoon tomato bullion 

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 tablespoon butter

Melt butter and brown rice slightly for 5 minutes. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cover and lower heat to low, simmer for 20 minutes. Once water is evaporated, turn off heat and let sit until ready to serve.

Shred up roast and place in tortillas and make a yummy taco! Use whatever fixins you love!

***We had leftover with the roast the next night. I reheated the meat in a little chicken broth. Made some mashed potatoes, and broccoli and cheese. It was yummy twice!

Worst. Cold. Ever.

This week I think I have literally had the worst cold of my life. I could really use a new head at this point. My ears, throat, nose, hair, everything hurts and is clogged up. 

I was using Baby Aquaphor because the tissue I was using was tearing up my nose. I decided to give Delilah's Boogie Wipes a whirl to see if they really do help.

What a difference! I am now a Boogie Wipe believer! I have been using the Boogie Mist as well and it is really working numbers too. 

Fingers crossed that Delilah doesn't get the cold, I am pretty sure though she is the one that gave it to me. She is finally clear of her ear infection, yay!

Fingers, toes, and arms crossed that my husband doesn't get it.

Food for your Itty Bitty: Chicken Fried Steak

I wanted to try out the ghee recipe that turned out so well, on some chicken fried steak. I will not be frying chicken, due to the fact that it would cost about a million dollars. Im kidding, but it would cost a lot! I used about a quarter cup or so, until the bottom of the pan had a layer of liquid. It turned out really good, especially paired with some skillet potatoes and gravy!

There she is! It required a little elbow grease (pun intended) to get out of the jar once it's been refrigerated. I was going to work out my arms anyways today.

I mentioned before that my life usually runs in 15 minute increments, if it can't be done in 15 minutes, it's not happening. So, I was able to cut up the round steak into pieces and put them in an egg wash. They then went into the fridge to hang out while I chased Delilah out of the pantry and take the unknown object out of her mouth.

 I usually season my flour with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Today's batch was special because my husband brought home some of this crazy stuff, so I decided to give it a whirl.

The things my husband brings home.

Dredge your steak into the flour while your oil is heating over med high heat. To test if it's ready, pinch some of the flour in the grease, if it bubbles, it's ready!

Let the steak fry up for about 5 minutes or so, when it looks golden, flip it! If your wondering why my round steak looks funny, it is because we are lucky enough to get out beef from my husband's mom's farm. Not sure why I didn't say mother-in-law, moving along. We cut it up ourselves, so I am able to choose how big or small the pieces are. 

Spice Jar

Once the steaks are browned on both sides, takes about 10 minutes, take them out and salt those puppies up. I have mine on a cooling rack today because I made this while Delilah was napping and these will find themselves in the oven to be reheated.

Now, for the gravy!

Milk Glass

Use the flour from earlier and some milk. You will also need a little water too. 

I had to empty out some oil, you want about 2 tablespoons in the pan. Put burner to low and sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of flour. Stir around and cook for about 3 minutes.

 Slowly add the milk and stir really well. You, at this point could use a whisk, I prefer a wooden spatula, the way my momma does it. Don't worry if it is a little lumpy, do the best you can and remember there are delicious crispy bits from the steak!

Add all of your milk and start adding water until you reach your desired consistency. I have found out people get very serious about their gravy, I like mine a little runny and my husband likes his super thick. A family divided!

Ours:

I made a quick pea salad and skillet potatoes, yum!

(For the salad you literally throw peas, sweet pickle relish, cheese, purple onion, and mayo together.)

I know what you are thinking, chicken fried steak for the itty bitty? Nope! Not yet! But I couldn't let her sit and watch us eat, so we improvised ;)

Hers:

Cannelloni Beans with Gravy! 

She got some peas and potatoes as well.

Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy

Round Steak

1 egg

1/2 cup Milk

1 cup Flour

1 teaspoon Garlic powder

1 teaspoon Onion powder

Any crazy seasoning your special person decided to bring home

salt and pepper

Oil for frying

Coat the round steak in egg and milk mixture. 

Place in flour and coat the steak, shake of extra flour.

Heat oil in frying pan on med high heat, there should be enough to coat the bottom. Place the steaks in the oil and fry for about 5 minutes per side. Until they are golden and cooked through.

2 tablespoons Oil

2 tablespoons reserved flour

1/2 cup Milk

1/2 cup water

Heat oil on low heat and stir in flour. Cook for about 5 minutes, until flour starts bubbling. Slowly add in milk and stir. Start adding water until desired consistency is met. Add a little at a time to avoid super runny gravy. Taste for seasoning.

Nursery Tour

In the beginning I had Delilah's nursery picture perfect. Everything had a place and nothing was touched. Now, it is a different story. I have moved just about everything around in her room in order to keep certain objects out of her sticky little hands.

This nursery was something I put a lot of thought into, yet it was the least stressful part of getting ready for baby. I remember sitting in the rocker a week before my induction crying as I was looking around the room. Tears of joy, excitement, fear, and accomplishment. And also a little pain, due to the fact that my ankles resembled those of an elephant.

I made quite a bit of the decorations, I could not find myself spending $90 on the crib skirt that I fell in love with, so I made her's for $10.

Jenny Lind crib

Curtains - World Market

Sheepskin rug - Antique dealer (Ikea sells similar)

Bird Mobile - homemade

Light Pendent - Ikea

Shelves and Changing table - Ikea

Growth Chart book - similar here

Wire Basket - Crate & Barrel
Changing Pad Cover - aden + anais
(this one is the permanent cover, however it was in the wash when I took the photos ;) )

Letter "D" - homemade

"You are such a Peach" and "Olive Juice" - homemade

Baby Bottle - vintage

Ladder - Ikea and homemade

Shelves - Ikea

Floor Puff - homemade

Sheep - Restoration Hardware Baby

 

Dresser - hand me down refurbished

Side table - Ikea

Mirrors - Target

Knobs - World Market

If I missed anything and you would like to know where something came from, please let me know and ask! 

Have a good day!

My Attempt at Ghee

I, by no means follow a Paleo diet. I do, however, try and limit the amount of processed food we eat. I try not to buy cans, boxes, or mixes. We have our fair share or Cheese and Shells, but for the most part I try to limit it. If it is something I can make, well I will make it. (I had a successful cream of mushroom remake, I will share later as well.)

I ran across a homemade ghee recipe through Nom Nom Paleo and it caught my attention. I love that website, it gives me dinner inspiration when I could not give a shit can't seem to think of what to cook. It didn't seem too difficult to make and I thought it would be something we would actually use. Vegatable oil is not the best and olive oil can get a little pricey as well as coconut oil. (I will have another post about coconut oil, which could quite possible be my favorite thing on this planet, I use it for just about everything. Everything.) 

Ghee has a very high cooking temperature, which is great for frying. And if I am successful at making a batch, I will use it for my everyday sautee/cooking purposes.

Here goes nothing…

Put butter in saucepan and melt over medium heat. I never stirred the butter, so no spoon. Once the butter has melted and starts to bubble, I reduced the heat to low. The recipe says it takes about 10 minutes of bubbling, but mine took a little longer, 20 minutes give or take. The butter goes through stages, it bubbles, foams, bubbles and then foams again.

(You can totally see the baby monitor in the first picture, its amazing what you can get done while they're napping!)

Once I started to see the edges brown, I called it a day and turned off the heat. Pour the ghee onto the cheesecloth into the bowl. In my case I used a large measuring cup. From there, pour into your container.

That's it! Tonight I cooked skillet potatoes in the ghee and it was delicious! I used about a tablespoon to fry them up and will definitely be using this recipe again!

I will be storing the ghee in the refrigerator. It will last about a month at room temperature, so I am figuring it will last at least that long, if not longer, in the fridge. I should probably look that up ;)

**The recipe call for grass fed butter, I could not find the time nor the energy to find the butter, so organic butter it is. I usually try to get all of my dairy organic, it can be pricey but it is something I am very picky about. 

Time, Where are You, dammit?

Me and my husband were talking last night after we put itty bitty to bed. He was finishing up some work and I was piddling on my iPad. He had a very concerned look on his face and he started talking about how we don't spend that much time together anymore. He acknowledged that between the baby, cooking, cleaning, and making lunches that, that doesn't leave much time for myself. Which he understands that I need to have. He very plainly stated, "I want to do something with you so you remember why you love me."

I have always said one of the most important parts in a relationship, besides communication, is remembering why you fell in love with that person. We all get stressed out, mad at the noises he makes while eating, irritated when the sheets are all twirled up on the bed, and overwhelmed by everyday responsibilities. But when it comes down to it, I chose Byron. I chose to be with him. I fell in love with him because of the way he made me laugh and how young and gentle his heart is. We would have nightly dance parties in our living room, wrestling matches in the kitchen, and explore new places. Obviously things change, more responsibilities add up, and having a baby makes your past life almost unrecognizable. Instead of thinking about what was, we need to think about what is now.

I need to take more time with my husband, even if it is a quick touch of our hands as we pass by each other in the house. Even though there are not enough hours in the day, I need to find time to do these small gestures so we both don't forget we are in a relationship and we are people who love each other. Balance is one of the hardest thing I have encountered in motherhood. It is a daily struggle and I'm sure it will always be. I need to be ok with knowing I am not going to get everything I need to get done. It does not make me a bad mom, a bad wife, or a bad person. As I was rocking and nursing Delilah I kept saying these statements over in my head, I needed to remind myself that I am good. That I am trying. That I have a husband who wants to spend more time with me. And that it is ok to need want time to myself.





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