Experimental Pot Roast

Ok, here's the story. I can never find a recipe that doesn't seem too excessive when I'm using my crockpot. I want them to be REALLY simple. A quick look at the ingredients kinda shows you how I think when I'm doing this stuff. So I tried my own. It is, as follows:

1 2.5 lb pot roast
1 lb bag of pre-pealed baby carrots
8 medium red potatoes
1 package Lipton Onion soup mix
1 package brown gravy mix
1 6 oz. can of tomato paste
20 shakes of small Johnny's Seasoning Salt
1 shake of cayenne pepper

Put the pot roast in the bottom of the crockpot, add water to crockpot until there roughly 1 inch or so in the bottom. Dump both the package of Onion soup mix, and the package of brown gravy mix onto the roast. Add the tomato paste to the water. I didn't worry about mixing it. Wash and cut the potatoes into bite size pieces, add both the potatoes and carrots to the crockpot, placing them on and around the roast. I put the potatoes on top of the carrots, I'm don't think it makes that much of a difference how you do it though. Shake the Johnny's Seasoning salt over the whole thing, make sure to evenly cover the potatoes. Shake the cayenne pepper on while you're at it.

Cook on low for 8+ hours. Should serve about 6.

I'm not certain on the details on making sure your roast is cooked, but I do know it needs to get to a pretty high temperature all the way through for a certain amount of time. Make sure to check it through the center before you eat it. If it's still red, cook it some more. :)

You probably don't need the pepper, but I like the stuff. Keep in mind, if you like black pepper, don't add it until you're almost done cooking. It tends to get bitter if cooked too long.

Heathfest '07

We had a good time last night at Stacy's. I think I embarrassed myself at one point. I should try not to do that again. Anyway, here's the pic. I've a self timer on there. Go figure.

Easy Crockpot Chili

I always forget to write this recipe down. I never stick to it exactly, but it works. It's the first recipe I was able to get from my mother after my venture into bachelorhood. :)

Here's what you'll need.

1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pound hamburger
1 chopped onion

3 cans of beans
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can water
1 cup salsa
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon red pepper

Fry up the garlic, meat, and onion. Drain off the excess water and fat, and add to crockpot.

Add everything else to the crockpot.

Keep in mind that this isn't an exact recipe. When I say 'can', I mean your average 14-16 oz. can found in the grocery store. Also, it doesn't really matter what kinds of beans you use. I generally use pinto, black, and kidney beans; one can of each. But you can easily use three cans of pinto beans if you like.

I've found it works better if you leave it for about four hours or so if cooking it on high. If you set it to low, you can let it cook all night. You'll know it's ready when the onions aren't crunchy anymore.

Arizona Strong Beer and Ale Festival

Not much to say, the pictures should speak for themselves. Man am I worn out. :)

Almost Forgot - Casio Exilim EX-Z70

Look at that, I mention that I get a new toy, and don't even show what it is. Shame on this guy.

In my search for a good digital camera I did as usual, a routine of internet research and price comparisons. There's a lot of good cameras out there, but I had some pretty specific ideas. I wanted something easy to use, that used Secure Digital memory, had a long battery life, and looked cool. What I ended up finding was the Casio Exilim EX-Z70. It sports a slick black aluminum casing, has a sweet feature called "best shot" which takes the guesswork out of your camera settings, and uses SD memory. A perfect match. I used it these past to days with no hassle at all. You can see the quality of picture from my previous two posts.

Here's some pictures I snagged from Digitalcamerareview.com. Go figure, they have pretty good reviews as well.

I look good in costume - Arizona Renaissance Festival

Yesterday was one for the books. I think I actually wore myself out. Breakfast from 08:00 to 09:00, Renfest from 10:30 to 18:00, house party from 20:00 to 01:00 or so. Yup.

Breakfast was good, except for a mention from Marc about certain strange things found on the internet. Normally this wouldn't be a problem except that a friend of mine from work had stopped by, with his wife. Marc, if you're reading this, yeah.. We need different breakfast conversation. :)

Renfest was the fun part. Went there with Curtis and my other friend Marc. Good times, I'll post pictures from that. I really enjoy Renfest, but I must admit, I had ulterior motives for going. A pretty girl I know was working there. I like her, and I'm mostly sure she like me. Puts me in a good mood she does.

House party was pretty good, not huge, which is good. It was more of a house 'de-virginizing' party. Breaking her in for when we decide to have a big time get together. I'm thinking my next party will be a 'super hero' themed shenanigan. We'll see. Oh, and the pretty girl showed for the party too. Yay me. :)

Abajian Invasion

Good times. We celebrated my roommate Gabe's 30th birthday today at Prankster's. I'm completely dog tired, and have a full day ahead of me tomorrow. Here's the best pic of the night I think. Love ya man, Happy birthday!