French Dip Sandwiches

I found this recipe and tweaked it a bit.

1.5 - 2 lb. beef chuck roast (or other type of roast) trimmed

2.5 - 3 cups of water

3/4 cup soy sauce (low sodium is fine)

2-3 tbs. Worcestershire sauce

3 tsp. Italian seasoning blend

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 bay leaf

fresh ground black pepper - I just did about 10 grinds worth

1. Place roast in crock pot. Add all other ingredients.

2. Cover. Cook on high for about 5 hours. (I actually cooked it on high for 4 and then turned it to low for the last hour).

3. Remove meat from broth and shred. Keep warm.

4. Strain broth and skim off fat. Pour broth into small cups for dipping.

5. Serve beef on hoagie or french rolls.

As seen on Ali E's blog and Cathy Z's blog this week. A cool concept to document Today.

TODAY
June 23rd, 2009

Outside my window... Mostly cloudy and hot. Already in the 90's. 

I am thinking...about what I need to get done today vs. what I want to do.

I am thankful for... Right now I am thankful that the girls are playing nicely and quietly together.

From the kitchen... Just ate a bowl of Grape Nuts. Tonight will either be salmon patties or tacos.

I am wearing...khaki capri pants and a t-shirt. no shoes.

I am creating... haven't created much lately. I do feel the siren call of my scrapbook supplies. Maybe I'll create a page today! 

I am going... to start the laundry, fold the laundry and entertain kids. At some point I should get on the treadmill.....

I am reading... Firefly Lane. Only on chapter 3 though. Need to sit down and put some time into this one. It looks very good. 

I am hoping...that Irelyn loses her fear of the water very soon. She wasn't as apprehensive about swim lessons today, but still not ready to jump in or put her head under the water. Baby steps.

I am hearing...Lizzie breathing softly.

Around the house...clutter, pet hair, kid's toys on the floor. 

One of my favorite things...staying cool inside when it is almost 100 degrees outside.

A few plans for the rest of the week... more housework, swim lessons for Irelyn every day, some play dates for the kids, a sleep-over on Friday, and finding a place for our beach vacation later this summer.

Even though I failed to complete the LOAD challenge in May, I still got a lot done and I wanted to share some of the layouts I did. Congrats to all who finished the challenge!

Prompt was to create a page with an imperfect element - on purpose.

Prompt: create a page about the future.

Prompt: make a page with flowers on it.

Prompt: Do whatever you want today.

Prompt: use a sketch

I was able to complete 19 pages in May. Of course, I haven't done a thing since. Soon...............

I'm still going strong with my picture of the day project. I'm very behind on my journaling and about a month behind on printing out photos, but at least I'm still taking that picture a day!

June 1: Award program for Kindergarten. Georgia received an award for excellent behavior and then a special award for being the best speller in the class!

June 2: Spent the morning at the Pediatrician's office. Irelyn had been running a fever and complaining that her ear hurt. Sure enough, she had an ear infection!

June 4: Georgia's last day of Kindergarten!!

June5: Irelyn decided she didn't want to sleep with "pink blanket" or her "baby" pillow any more (well at least for this night). She piled them up in a chair and they were still like this in the morning. It was a short-lived decision and pink blanket was back in her bed the next night.

June 6: Georgia's friend Elizabeth had her 7th birthday party at a bowling alley. Fun!

June 7: Lunch at the Acropolis. Yum, yum! The girls tried the tiro salata dip and loved it as much as R and I do.

June 8: Day 1 of VBS! Both girls had a lot of fun "sailing with the savior" this week. 9-12 everyday was a nice break for me, too.

June 9: Just me with my hair wrapped up after a shower.

June 10: The damage to the bottom of our garage door. Lizzie escaped her crate one day while we were gone. I came home to find the door shredded and the curtain by the front door torn up. R had to zip tie the crate together so she couldn't bang out of it again.

June 11: We were supposed to leave today for our trip to Georgia, but I woke up with Vertigo and was unable to make the trip. I spent most of the day lying in bed.

June 12: Feeling a bit better. We had to go out to eat dinner since we hadn't planned on being home for the weekend and there was no food in the house. Girls making a wish by throwing coins into the water by the California Pizza Kitchen.

June 13: Spent the afternoon at Sarasota Jungle Gardens. Here are Georgia, Irelyn and R feeding the flamingos.

June 14: Addictive game. Great to play when you are bored.

June 15: R sporting his new flip-flops!

June 16: Pumping gas. Not fun, but has to be done.

June 17: Stocked up on soap at the Bath & Body Works sale.

June 18: Irelyn taking a bubble bath by herself. She rarely gets to bathe alone, much less take a bubble bath. Georgia and R were at MOSI for a Father's Day event this evening so I decided to give Irelyn a treat.

June 19: The girls hugging their cousin Holt visiting from Georgia.

June 20: Georgia taking lessons at the local skating rink on Saturday morning.

I made half the recipe and it yielded 30 cookies (using a tablespoon sized scoop).

Here is the full recipe:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

3 cups quick-cooking oats (I used organic old-fashioned oats)

1 8oz. pkg. Heath Bits toffee bits

optional - 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes (I did not use this because R hates coconut)

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheet

2. Beat butter, eggs, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; beat until blended. Stir in oats, toffee bits and coconut with spoon.

3. Drop cookie dough by rounded teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen.

These turned out very well. Crispy on the edges, chewy in the center. Nice combination of flavors. Yummy!

Since our trip to Georgia was canceled due to an episode of Vertigo, and I was finally feeling better on Saturday to get out of the house, we decided to get a taste of "old Florida" and head down to the Sarasota Jungle Gardens. What a fun, educational place! They have reptile shows, birds of prey & critters show, and a parrot show. We enjoyed all three shows, but the parrot show was really fun because of the roller skating parrot and the unicycle riding cockatoo! The highlight of the day for R and the girls was feeding the flamingos - they will eat right out of your hands!

They have a "jungle trail" that winds around the park where you see all sorts of birds, monkeys, lemurs, etc... Definitely worth the trip and we spent about 4 hours there.