Meat!

Happy New Year!  :-) 

I hope you're having a good 2012 and working on whatever your resolutions may be.  I made a few resolutions and I'm doing my best...

1. Read at least 20 books this year. 
2. Learn how to cook meat.
3. Paint my kitchen yellow.

So far I've read one book: The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson.  It's the second book in the Milennium series and I thought it was better than the first.  I technically finished the first book in 2012, but I'm not counting it because I started it last year.  :-p  Any book recommendations for me?  I've got a new Kindle that's itching for books! 

Meat, in general, intimidates me when it's in a large chunk.  I'm not afraid of ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken because it's all ground up already!  I am now equipped with a nice meat thermometer and so my mission begins. 

Today I made two things... first, Meatball Mushroom Soup, which turned out more like a thick stew.  Meatballs don't scare me because they are little... so I started off kind of small.  Mmm...  

 

Carrots are bleeding!  (They didn't stand a chance.)

Meatball Mushroom Soup

So, I'm pretty sure that this was super thick because I didn't follow the recipe.  I added more rice, barley, and noodles than it called for because I thought, 'How can that be enough?!'  Well, it was enough.  Don't get me wrong... the thickness was delicious.  Just not what I was expecting.  I think this was also the first time I've ever knowingly eaten barley.  What an odd consistency! 

The second thing I made today was Dijon Beef and Mushrooms... which was supposed to be more of a stew-like substance and turned into soup!  For this recipe, I cut up my first hunk of steak meat ever.  *That link is not the exact recipe (which I can't find), but it gives you a general idea. 

Hunk of meat!

Mess of stuff in the crockpot...

Four hours later... it's like soup!

Dijon Beef and Mushrooms

It was so saucy, I decided to serve it over brown rice.  The recipe I used came out of a Skinny Slow Cooker magazine that I got at the grocery store the other day.  I'm excited to start using my crockpots more... I love crockpot cooking!  <3

Oh!  As far as painting my kitchen yellow goes, it will happen.  Just not yet.  Life's been a little busy lately.  In a good way!  :-)