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Today I cooked something I’ve never cooked before. The classic pot roast. I probably haven’t even eaten one since I was a kid. The fact is that as a child I hated to chew. Pot roast is one of those meats that just takes awhile to chew before it goes down the hatch. As a kid you don’t want to waste your time chewing. I remember trying to chew it as much as I felt I could and then swallowing the rest with the aid of a huge gulp of water. I also think I hid a few bits in a napkin a time or two.

So while I have the patience now to chew my food, I’m not sure the classic pot roast was worth the effort. First I had to dethaw it because I tend to freeze any meat I know I’m not cooking that very night. Second I had to do 30 minutes of cooking before the big 2-hour simmer. You really have to think ahead when it comes to pot roast. It just wasn’t *that* great.

To top it all off, it was one of those meals Ella just didn’t want to eat. It wasn’t a pretty site. I was prepared to bake some delicious cookies but when Ella refused to play by the usual dinner rules (a couple of bites of everything) I took the cookies off the proverbial table and tears ensued. I can’t wait until she grows out of this picky pre-schooler eating phase. I’m a picky adult eater, so maybe I should just give up? I’m mom though, and I’ve got to try and get her to try new things.

Tomorrow night is frozen pizza I think. Easy peasy. Tuesday night is dinner at the Olive Garden for my nephew’s 11th birthday. Amazing… he’s survived to 11!!!

I forgot to post last Friday (it’s Sunday) that my shoes arrived. Are they not darling?! It snowed this weekend though so I’ve had to resort to wearing more sensible shoes. I did wear them around the house on Friday and they are surprisingly comfy. Can’t wait for the imclement weather to go away so I can wear them some more.

I haven’t done this recipe in awhile, but it is so good. Even Ella gobbles it up, though she tends to leave a lot of meat on the bone, just concentrating on the “chips”. I must have explained 5 times they weren’t chips, but cereal (the “fried” part of the chicken).

I did take a wack at gravy. I didn’t have meat drippings. I just had chicken stock, poultry seasoning, and flour. I think poultry seasoning has sage in it because the gravy had a strong sage flavor to it. All in all the meal was a hit. Isaac was working though, so it was just Ella and I. Isaac ate up the leftovers today for lunch.

Guess I forgot to mention this was last night’s meal. Tonight we had marinated salmon, rice, and caesar salad. Another oldy but goody.

This evening after dinner Isaac and Ella worked on a ginger bread house. It has to last for what, 15 days? Isaac must’ve eaten half the candy. I yelled at him, but he kept on doing it. Men, I tell ya. They don’t listen.

Check out more pictures from the making of the ginger bread house >

Yesterday (Sunday the 7th of December) the Louies went and saw Dan Zanes & Friends do their Holiday Show at the Moore Theater in Seattle. It was funtastic!!!!

I’m sure I’m not alone in that aside from “The Big Meal” there hasn’t been a lot of cooking going on lately. It’s back to Monday though and after the slide in to leftovers and eating out it’s time to cook again. I did make the weekly trip to Fred Meyer yesterday to buy groceries for several meals (except I want to make fried chicken - albeit Weight Watchers variety — and they seemed to be out of chicken legs… um, what?!).

I want to divert for a minute and just mention that nearly everything I make comes out of a Weight Watchers cook book or from Cooking Light magazine, so at least when I’m cooking it’s a healthy low-calorie, low-fat meal. It’s the snacking and eating out that’s getting me.

So what was new with today’s meal? Not much. I’ve only ever used Cloves one other time, so it was good make use of that jar of spice again. I also don’t do a lot of cooking with fruits and this used orange juice, pineapple juice, orange marmalade, and pineapple slices.

It was good! Paired with rolls and corn. Ella even loved it. Ate tons of ham. She’ll be thirsty here in a bit.

Totally off the topic of food, but on to another favorite topic of mine. The Friday after Halloween I ruined one of my favorite pairs of shoes by stepping on to a grassy hill that had turned mud. These shoes are covered in fabric (a lace-like fabric, no less) and I’m counting this as a loss. I did take them to a dry cleaner today not really expecting they could help me (they can’t). They were Steve Maddens. All my best shoes are Steve Maddens. So the last 5 days or so I’ve gotten emails from Steve Madden about a sale. A lot of the shoes after discounts are upwards of 50% off. So I started looking around today (the emails finally got to me). I found a totally cute pair of shoes that will replace the ones I ruined. I’m stoked. Their red. Look at the pic! How cute are those???