Pot Roast!

Man, is it comfort food season, or what? I tell ya, all I want to do lately is cozy up with big bowls of slow-cooked deliciousness. One of my favorite comfort foods is Pot Roast; it's tender, flavorful and incredibly easy to make. This is great meal to make when you're having a lazy day at home, too, because it takes minimal effort, but tastes amazing. Sunday afternoon cooking at its best!

Let's get started!

Pot Roast- Makes about 8 servings (more or less depending on how big your appetite is!)

Ingredients:
- Salt
- Pepper
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- alb cut of beef pot roast
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
- 2 tsp chopped garlic
- 2 tsp mustard, preferably dijon
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, chopped
- 2 medium carrots cut into 1" pieces
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 bunch laminate kale, chopped.

1. Begin by liberally seasoning the pot roast with salt and pepper.

2. Then, in a large, heavy pot with a lid, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the roast and brown on all sides.

3. While the meat is browning, combine the vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, herbs, garlic, and mustard in a small bowl and mix together.

4. Once the meat has browned on all sides, pour the mixture over the meat, cover the pot tightly with a lid, and let simmer over low heat for 90 minutes while you go put up your feet and watch TV or something!

5. After 90 minutes, add the sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, and kale, being sure to arrange them evenly around the meat. Then return the lid to the pot and let simmer for 1 more hour. Go relax some more while that's cooking!

6. After that last hour of cooking/relaxing, pull the pot off the heat and check out that deliciousness! The meat should be stupid tender, and delicious as can be.

7. Once it's cooled a bit, pull the meat apart into smaller chunks and serve some of the meat and veggies over brown rice, mashed potatoes, or noodles!

And so, with minimal effort you've got a delicious home cooked meal perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon!

I hope you enjoy it!

XOXO

-Becca

Follow me on:

Bloglovin/Facebook/Instagram

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

Boy oh boy, I don't know about you guys, but lately, I've been wanting to eat all the cookies. That's right- all of them. I'm not sure why, really, but I don't think I care! Cookies are delicious, and I love them.

Well, this weekend I decided it was due time for me to bake a batch. I wanted something simple, rich, and delicious, so I decided on these super simple and tasty Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies. Yum!

Ya'll, these cookies are so simple to make. They only have 6 ingredients, and don't even require you to pull out a mixer to whip them up! I love them for the holidays because the chocolate peanut butter combination makes them a perfect comfort food, and they look extra fancy since they're dipped in delicious chocolate!

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies- Makes about 24 cookies

Ingredients:
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup sugar, plus another 1/4 cup or so for rolling
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla
- About 6 oz. good milk chocolate. I used Theo Chocolate Pure 45% Milk Chocolate. You could also use dark chocolate if that's more your cup of tea!

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and peanut butter. Use a wooden spoon to mix together until well combined.

3. Add the egg, baking powder, and vanilla, and stir until well combined.

4. Measure out 1 tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball.

5. Then, roll the ball of cookie dough in your extra sugar, and place it on your parchment lined cookie sheet.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until all the dough is used up. You'll want to place the balls of cookie dough 2" apart on your baking sheets.

7. Use a fork to press a set of lines into each cookie, then turn the fork 90° and press into each cookie again, forming a criss-cross pattern.

 8. Put your cookies in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Once they've baked, remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

9. Then, using a spatula, carefully transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely.

10. Once your cookies have cooled, melt your chocolate, and begin dipping your cookies! I dipped mine about half way, though you could do more or less as you prefer. Once you've dipped a cookie, lay it out on a piece of parchment.

11. Once the cookies are dipped and laid out on the parchment, let the chocolate set up and you're all done!

Look at those beauties! Crunchy, delicious peanut butter cookies dipped in luscious milk chocolate. Yum!

Serve these up with a glass of milk and you will be in heaven!

I hope you get a chance to try making these amazingly simple and amazingly delicious Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies this holiday season!

Til next time!

-Becca

Follow me on:

Bloglovin/Facebook/Instagram

DIY Gift Idea: Chamomile Mint Tea

Hi guys! Today I'm sharing a super quick and easy gift idea: Chamomile Mint Tea!

You may have picked up on it by now, but the bulk section at the grocery store is one of my very favorite things. Not only can you find super cheap grains, but you can also find spices and tea for a fraction of the cost you would pay for the pre-packaged versions.

I had been toying with the idea of making my own tea blend recently, and had been brainstorming lots of ideas. While rooibos chai is still in the back of my mind, I decided to whip up some Chamomile Mint tea. It's such a tasty tea that's perfect to curl up and relax with. I had fun blending it myself, partially because the ingredients are so lovely, but also because I could really fine tune the flavor to my liking!

I make it sound complicated, but it's the easiest thing in the world. The best part is, once you pack it up in cute little jars and tie it up with a bow, you've got a darling, inexpensive gift!

Here's how to make it!

Ingredients/Supplies:
- Dried Chamomile
- Dried Peppermint
- Small Jars
- Ribbon/Yarn

To get started, I made a couple of test batches to get the ratios right. I found that if I did two parts chamomile to one part peppermint, I got a great balance. Not so much mint that it overpowered the chamomile, but not so little that you couldn't taste it.

Once I got the flavor to my liking, I filled up a jar 3/4 of the way full with two parts chamomile and one part peppermint. I then closed up the jar, and gave it a few shakes to combine. The picture above shows the blend. Seriously, how pretty is that?

Next, pack the blend up into some cute little jars! I ended up filling 6 with the amount of ingredients that I bought.

Last, just tie on a little bow and you've got an adorable gift! If you wanted to really take it home, you could pair this gift with a super cute tea ball and you'd have an amazing stocking stuffer!

I hope you enjoyed this lovely, easy gift idea!

Til next time!

-Becca

Follow me on:

Bloglovin/Facebook/Instagram

Flavored Salt

Hey guys!

Today I'm excited to talk about Flavored Salt! I know, leave it to me to want to make salt all fancy. Well, making flavored salt is SO easy, that I'm going to share three different versions with you today: Sriracha Salt, Lemon Salt, and Balsamic Salt.

Any of these can be used in many different applications. You could toss them on homemade popcorn, use them as a finishing salt, or straight up cook with them! I'm imagining Sriracha Salt popcorn, truffles finished with Balsmaic Salt, and some tasty chicken seasoned with Lemon Salt. So good, right?

I'm not just excited about sharing this recipe/tutorial because it's delicious, I'm also excited because these flavored salts would make a really lovely homemade gift for the holidays! You could package up one flavor, or you could make people really swoon by giving all three as a set. Put these up in tiny little jars wrapped in ribbon, and boy have you got a gift!

Ok! Let's get started, shall we?

First up, Ingredients! Now, I made small batches of each of these, but it's super easy to scale up if you are making more.

Ingredients:

For Sriracha Salt:
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 3 tsp Sriracha

For Lemon Salt:
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 1 tsp fresh lemon zest
- 2 tsp lemon juice

For Balsamic Salt:
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.

2. Add the flavor to the salt and mix until well combined.

3. Spread the salt mixture out on your baking sheet. If you're making all three flavors in the amounts specified, you should be able to fit all three flavors on one sheet. If you're making a ton of each flavor, I would definitely recommend separate baking sheets.

4. Put the baking sheets in the oven, close the door immediately, and turn off the heat. Let sit in the oven for 2-3 hours, or until the salt is dry.

5. Once the salt is removed from the oven, use your hands (or a mortar and pestle if you're fancy!) to separate the clumps, and then put into small jars or airtight containers for storage.

Ta-da!!!! With approximately no effort, you've got yourself a set of delicious flavored salts! Seriously, how pretty do these look in these cute little glass containers?

Whether you're looking for a great homemade gift option, or just a tasty addition to your spice cabinet, I hope you get to try out some Flavored Salt soon!

Til next time!

-Becca

Follow me on:

Bloglovin/Facebook/Instagram