It's a Roast!

Hey there folks - it's been a couple weeks, but it's been busy! So, to kick start my blogging again, I'll fulfill the request of my friends, Amanda and Kevin Kohler, to give my "recipe" for a roast. (You can check out Amanda's blog - which is much cooler and way more interesting than my blog - here.) No worries, I'll be blogging about how life's going in the coming days, but until then...It's a Roast!

It all starts with a crockpot. Not the most glamorous or trendy of all kitchen utensils, but definitely a tried and true tool for any "real," non-Martha Stewart/Good Housekeeping, working girl. ;)

Then, you've got a roast! This is a sirloin tip roast (Brad and I invested in a quarter of a buffalo last fall and are still not through all of it.) My favorite roasts to use are arm roasts or rump roasts - both of which are a little more tender. 

 

I believe that it's pretty stinkin' hard to mess up a roast. So, the instructions may seem short and simple, but that's because it's all I do for one. I always wake up, throw the roast in the crock pot. Then I peel some potatoes, chop an onion in half and throw those around or on top of the roast. I pour about 1 Tbs of "kitchen bouquet" (which is a browning, seasoning liquid) in about 2 cups of water and then pour that over the top. Note: You don't NEED the kitchen bouquet stuff, it's just something my mom always used from my childhood, so I use it too. Also, for added flavor, I sometimes cut little slits into the roast and stick peeled garlic cloves down into it (as seen in the top left picture below).

I throw in a little salt and pepper and WABAM! The prep work is done. I turn it on high until I leave for work (about 2 hours) and then bring it down to low until I get home (6-8 hours).
After you pull the roast out of the crockpot, you have the option of making the drippings into gravy (which I prefer, but my waistline doesn't, so we rarely do it). Just pour it into a saucepan, bring to a boil and thicken with a mixture of cold water and cornstarch. Yummy!

Oh and this may seem a might bit stalker-ish for Amanda and Kevin, but when I was over at their house the other night, they had the most delicious looking dinner. So, without asking for the recipe or looking it up online, I tried to recreate it...I mean, the entire meal, asparagus and couscous too. :) It was great! And Brad really liked it as well. Neither of us had had couscous before and we both REALLY enjoyed it. We'll make it again!

Jesus Juking

Jon Acuff

I was recently introduced to a blog written by Jon Acuff called "Stuff Christians Like." That blog actually sparked him to write a book by the same title - basically just poking fun at all the stupid, stereotypical things that Christians do. He, himself, is actually a Christian, so no one needs to go egging his door. Also, he is the right hand man to Dave Ramsey (famed author of "Financial Peace University").

Anyways, one of his blog posts, which you can find HERE is called "The Jesus Juke." With most of his blog posts, I laugh - but man, I LAUGHED when I read this one. I think Jesus Juking is something we're all a little guilty of and quite frankly, need to stop doing... So, what is Jesus Juking, you may ask? Well, you are more than welcome to read Jon's full definition, but I'll pull out the one paragraph that says it all.

"Like a football player juking you at the last second and going a different direction, the Jesus Juke is when someone takes what is clearly a joke filled conversation and completely reverses direction into something serious and holy."

I'll be honest - on many occasions, I have nearly drop-kicked anyone who Jesus Jukes me. It is annoying and rude and like Jon said, kind of like Debbie Downer off of SNL....waaaah waaaaaaaaaah! And now, a recent example from my life:

Recently, a couple of colleagues and myself were in my office joking about something...I can't even recall what it was. Anyways, we were all laughing and having a good conversation, when an older gentleman stopped in and said, "If only the plight of the lost souls were this funny, then maybe we'd have all your guys' attention to do ministry." WHOA! I think people are way too intense - WAY too intense. I know God has a sense of humor and I know that He appreciates when those He loves can laugh and enjoy life.

I really like Jon's 3 "things to know" about the practice of Jesus Juking...
1) It generates shame.
2) It never leads to good conversation.
3) I've never met someone who was juked to Jesus.

Anyways, please read his article - it's so funny and so true and he explains it all in much further detail. I hope you all can enjoy his blog as much as I have!