Saturday, January 31, 2015

Easiest Roast Meat Meal, Ever... Beef or Pork Roast, Delicious and an Under $10 Meal #PulledPork #Ramen #SausageBites! #Ham



Roast Pork, Pulled Pork, Roast Beef  
You can make it all the same way, is beyond delicious!


It's soo crazy easy to make THE best Roast Pork or Beef, ever .... I just took this one out the oven, lol - 2:12am - sounds a little crazy, but I'm always up really late, and I wanted to cook the meat, tonight, so I'm freed up for tomorrow, can just relax, people can have whatever they like, no work, tomorrow (happens to be the Superbowl - lol!)...


Every so often, like today, WalMart will have a great deal on their gigantor Pork Roasts, and today they were $1.77/lb - a great price in Canada... in the States, you'll almost always get great prices like that... 

So just rinse the meat, line the pan with tin foil, for super easy cleaning, if you like, place the meat in the middle of the pan, and we love to cook potatoes around the meat - just pierce the potato skins, so easy, sprinkle on some Montreal Steak Spice and some Seasoning Salt (or whatever your favorite rub is...), I run the whole pan under the water, so, add about half an inch to an inch of water, depending on the size of the piece of meat - this one was huuge... cover with tin foil, pop in the oven for about 6 hours (again, depends on the size of the meat!), take the tin foil off for the last hour, to crisp the fat on the top - ah'yum! 

Then take two forks, and pull the meat, for Pulled Pork - so easy! 

And the potatoes are gonna be soo delicious, because they'll absorb all the flavor from the meat - so yum! 

And soo easy and delicious!


Just take two forks, remove any fat (yick!), cut the crispy fat on the top - lots of people loove that, then you just work with the forks, literally pull the meat apart - perfect for Sliders, Sandwiches, we put some in baggies, freeze it and use it in new meals... yum! So easy and practical, too! : )


This is the Easy Schmeasy Pork Roast with Potatoes - yum! 


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So, I used to teach cooking at the High School level, right, and I have a teenage son, right now, so whenever I am cooking something I want him to know how to cook for himself when he's older, I call him through to the kitchen, quickly show him how to make it, and it drives me up the wall that this kind of basic, home-style, budget-wise cooking isn't being taught to all high school kids... if they really wanted to combat obesity, and health issues in adults, they would teach all children healthy foods to cook and eat, and all within a reasonable, normal, budget.  and it doesn't matter how much money anyone has, on either side of the scale, or anywhere in between, it's important to understand that you can eat fabulous meals on any budget, and how to turn one meal into another, for the next day - a new look at leftovers, right? lol!

This Roast Pork or Roast Beef meal couldn't be any easier, and it might be a little different from your Mom's, depending on whether or not you liked your Mom's Roast Beef (I didn't, so I never made it, before I figured out my own way to cook it, so it's delicious, and not dry... ).

And this is the Roast Beef version - I just buy whatever cut of meat looks good at the store... and you don't have to go expensive, because it will all be delicious - get whichever cut you like : )

The key is to put the meat in the middle of a large pan - I use the 9" X 13" pan for the smaller cuts of meat, and the large Roasting Pan for the larger pieces... and just pop in whatever size of potatoes you like - we are very, very fond of the regular large potatoes, now, since they are insanely delicious when you make them this way, in with the meat.... but the baby potatoes are cute, and they are always welcome at the dinner table, am I right? lol! 



If I am making the meat for a Steak Pie, which we are all very fond of, and I have my own recipe for that, not the traditional British Steak Pie, which has kidneys in it (yuuuck!!  Kidneys - eeewwww! hahaha!), I just make the meat the same way, now, and I put the potatoes in this way, now, too... is so incredibly easy, and always insanely delicious.  I'll link you to my recipe for Steak Pie in a minute... on with this recipe, for now : )



So you rinse the meat and put it in the center of your pan, no need to grease the pan, or anything, just place it right in there, wash the potatoes and place them around the meat - don't worry about making too many potatoes, I have another little recipe for what to do with any extras, should you end up with any - lol!  



Sometimes I'll open and pour a little package of Onion Soup mix over the meat - I've already just popped the meat in the oven, and is too big a hassle to bring it back out to put some Rosemary over it, but if I had thought of that before starting to write this page, I totally would have added in some Rosemary - just sprinkle it on - no need to measure, you'll know when it's the right amount... just a nice little sprinkle of Rosemary, if you like.  



Then you can either pour boiling water over the meat and potatoes, or just hot water from the tap is fine - nothing too fancy, this is a very quick and easy prep for this meal... go about halfway up the pan with the water - you're going to be cooking this meal for hours - is a great meal to cook on a cold day, or a day you're going to stay in and read, binge watch your fave shows on TV, or playing games, 'n whatnot... a stay-at-home day - we happen to loove stay-at-home days - today I'm reading Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, by David Sedaris - hilarious - he's sooo funny - love David Sedaris : )  I love David Sedaris' sister, Amy Sedaris, too - soo funny!  One of my favorite lines in the book, so far, is David Sedaris' description of his grandmother, when he says she's like the human equivalent of a storm cloud - hahahahaha!  What a great analogy, right?  How accurate is that for some people??  o you ahve anyone who immediately comes to mind? lol!  Me, too - a dew, actually - lol! Anyway, this is a fantastic meal to make while you're having a great time doing whatever it is you love to do around the house, and you're in no hurry to have your meal, right away.... this is a slow-cook meal, for sures.







Make your meat a little tent with tin foil - make sure it's all neatly folded around the sides, so the heat won't escape.  And use your oven mitts to lift up the corner of the tin foil when it's done, 3 - 6 hours later, depending on the size of the meat (go 8 hours, if it's a large roast beef), so you don't get a steam burn - it'll be all very steamy when you first open it up.



When the meat comes out the oven, use two forks to pull it apart - pulled meat - and do that right in the pan, so all the juices will be in the meat - yum!  You're'a gonna love this, is so tasty!  And That's the Puff Pastry I serve with this meal when I'm making the Roast Beef with sausages (then I just add a large package of sausages, rinse and put right in with the roast beef, rinse a package or two of sliced mushrooms, a package, package and a half of onion soup mix, the potatoes, the water.. you get the idea - and the whole thing is pulled apart, meat-wise, not the potatoes - lol!)  I'll do a page on how to make the Puff Pastry, too...




Here it is without a lot of extra water - was good, but not as good, you know?  I like the meat better, pulled, not sliced, but make it the way you like it, best...



And here it is - this is the Beef Roast version, since the Pork Roast is still in the oven, right now - that's for dinner, tonight - lol - and then for lunch, tomorrow - yum!!  And I know what you're thinking, "Uh, Ailsa, I don't see any veggies on yer plate" (I'm sorry I have given you my younger sister's voice in that line - hahahaha!)... aren't potatoes technically a vegetable??  And isn't butter a vegetable, too? hahahah!  No, me know, and we had a quick discussion before that particular meal, and everyone was okay with skipping the veggies on that dinner - dat okay, we'll eat veggies or have some fruit, later, is no biggie.  Wait, is the Puff Pastry considered a vegetable, in some cultures?  No?  Okay.  I feel like you might be wrong on that... we'll agree to disagree, since Puff Pastry is crazy-delicious with this meal - hahaha!



These are the delicious Potato Rounds you can make, should you actually have any of the roasted potatoes left over from your Roast Meat Meal... my son, Aidan, loves those large roasted potatoes, so much, he eats the leftover ones like apples, whch is remarkable, since he never ate potatoes, any way we cooked them, before - in fact, before we discovered this delicious way of cooking potatoes, we'd only had them, I dunno, maybe once or twice a year, and now I'm more likely to pick some up once a month, or so... maybe not that often, but, you get the idea... we've added potatoes to our diet, and they're yum! lol!



Just slice the leftover roasted potatoes, pour olive oil n the cookie sheet, flip over the potatoes so they're all covered in the olive oil, sprinkle with a little seasoning salt, pop in the oven, turn over in the middle of cooking them, let them get nice and crisp on the outside - yum!  These are so good : )

Well, now I'm hungry, for God's Sake - haha!  Will go and have a wee schnack, a wee schneister, as my Dad would say : )  Maybe some Jelly Babies - they're a vegetable, right?  Yeah, I thought so, too.  Just checking... I know it's important to be factual. Okay, happy Eating!!  Oh, and if you have a lot left over, you can easily freeze this, if the meat was fresh, which is most likely would be : )

Happy Eating, Happy Cooking, Happy Life!!  Ailsa : )



Heyyoo!!  Here's a wee add-on... today I'm making a pork roast with BBQ sauce - yum, smells delicious... and I'll have it in the oven for about 7 hours, then the meat will just pull apart, will be BBQ Pulled Pork - yum!  Or, I might slice this pork roast.. will see how it looks when it comes out  Happy Eating! : )

 This is the GIANT pan - the turkey roaster - that's how much pulled pork this makes - so great! Especially if you're doing Paleo, or trying to do The Paleo Diet - or Keto - it's great to have a lot of meat on hand, so we package it up into baggies, and pop them in the freezer for another day : )

 I like to serve the Roast Pork or Roast Beef with Puff Pastry - yum! 

 See how many bags of pulled pork this roast pork made? That's soo much meat, and a whole lot of great meals! 

 Just flatten them out, pop them in the freezer. : )

 This is one of our fave meals - we really, really love it - lol! Is very simple, but sometimes simple is juuust what you're looking for, you know? 

  Boil the water, break 3 packages of Ramen (Mr. Noodles, whatever you call it - I call it Mr. Schnoodles, for fun - haha!), put the noodles in a medium bowl, put about half of the baggie of pulled pork on top of the noodles, pour the boiling water over it all , pop in the microwave for 3 minutes, take out and add 3 large teaspoons of Chicken OXO (I don't really like the flavor that comes with it, but if you do, no worries, just use that...), then I cut some Green Onions into it, and some nice parsley - yum!

 Oh, and check it - I'm growing my own Green Onions - lol! You know when you open the fridge, there's an onion you had forgotten all about, and it's just packing it's bags, getting ready to leave? Ha! That joke always makes me laugh - lol! 

Anyway, if you ever have any onions or potatoes that have started to sprout some roots, or just go ahead and plant the onion, root side down, like a bulb, and it'll just start growing, then you can just trim it any time you need some nice fresh Green Onions - great idea, right? I'm so excited about that! 

And if you just leave the onion, or the potatoes, they'll just keep growing, nice vines from the potatoes, gorgeous big blossoms from the onions - is a fun thing to do with the kids, too : ) 

  See where I've cut them off for my soup? Yum! 


This is so cool - let's say you've now been binge watching your fave shows, and you STILL have 4 more seasons left of your brand new-to-you show, soo you don't want to get up off the couch, but, also, you know you should probably get you' some groceries?

Problem - Solution! lol! 

Check and see if your area is covered by either VONS or Safeway... they cover some of the same areas, and some different areas - does that make sense? lol!

I loove this Delivery Service for Groceries and whatever you might need, right to your door, just in general, but what a great idea in bad weather, no more stooopid traffic, or if you're not feeling up to going out to the store, or you just don't feeeel like going out to the store...or if you're like me, and get so caught up in whatever you're working on, and don't want to stop just 'for food' - haha! And no need for Taxis, if you need to take a cab to the grocery store...that's a huge savings, right there, right?

Wow, Grocery Delivery Service - that's fantastico!! Yippee!!  Hello, Future - you look great! : )




I think this is such an amazing new service for your groceries - and anything you ever need from the grocery store - if you've ever had a time when you had a tiny baby, or you're super-busy (same thing - hahaha! All the New Moms will be laughing, now - lol!)..but if you're busy at work, or busy at home, or traffic, or you're busy binge-watching your favorite shows - hahahahaha! This might be the new wave of the future, right? Ordering your groceries online?

And I would imagine you would save a lot of money, since you would just buy what you actually need... might really work for dieting, too, since, well, if we're in the store, and be 'we', I mean 'me'...anyway, let's say I've got my grocery list, then I'm at the store, and I think, you know what, I'll just nick down the Candy Aisle, see if Chocolate is on sale (see how much I like Sale Chocolate - hahaha! Is it tastier, or just less expensive?? We'll never know! It's all gone, now - hahaha!)

Not that you couldn't just 'browse' for that, anyway... right? Me thinkin', now, o' course, where is the Sale Chocolate, online?? hahaha! But let's say you're you, and not me, and you have a LOT more self control than maybe ME do... so you order all the things you really wanted, and not just a whole cart full o' Wunderbars, on sale... hahahaha! Wouldn't THAT be fun - just a cartful of Sale Chocolate?? haha! Okay, clearly, me needs a treat! lol! : ) #SaleChocolate! Ha!

Shop Gifts Under $10 from See's Candies!Create your own Custom Chocolate Mix at See's Candies!  Okay, this is MY kind o' Luxury Reward - me always 'reward' mah'self wit' da delicious chocolates! hahaha!  I loove Sees Candies - soo deeelish! The Walnut Squares (#43 - is it bad for me to know the number?? hahahahaha!) (I've got your number..oooh, is it #43??  I hope so! lol!) Ooh, and I see that Sees has a sale, right now, Take $4 off of $20? Yahoo! Sale Chocolate - yes, please! haha! Yum! Don't mind if ah' do...lol! : )

And now for some food for the soul! : )

Oh, and if you have been in here and have read a fair bit of my stuff, you will know that I love, love, love, Louise Hay, and can't get enough of her books - amazing, change-your-life books - Louise Hay is brilliant!  And I love her! I think you will, too : )




  And here's the book I'm reading, right now - Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, by David Sedaris - soo funny!  I highly recommend it : )  Happy Reading, too! lol! Ailsa : )


 Wow, lookie what me juuust discovered - my son will only eat the schnausages when they're cooked in my fave Steak Pie, but I really love sausages, and we just bought the Pork Roast, too, so that was already gonna be in the oven - anyway, I thought, how could I make this sausage more kid-friendly? Lots of parents have to figure out stuff like this - what will the whole family like, right?

So, I just cut the sausages with my kitchen scissors, into bits - you know, just about every half inch, or so - just eyeball it, nothing fancy...

And put them on a cookie tray covered in tin foil, spread out pretty evenly, sprinkled a little of our favorite Montreal Steak Spice, popped them in the oven with the Roast Pork (that takes a good 6 hours, then it'll just fall apart, then we'll have a little bit for fun, freeze the rest in little baggies, perfect for adding to other pasta meals, or our fave soups...)

So we just took the little schnausages out the oven, and omg, they are beyond delicious!

They would make a fantastic snack for Game Day, any party, or just for having handy in the freezer, fully cooked, that way, you can just take some out as you need them.

Oh, and here's a little trick I just figured out (maybe the rest of the world already knew this, but is new-to-me - lol!) - anyway, I put the fully cooked Taco Meat in a giant baggie, then after about half an hour, or so, I squished the meat all around in the bag, to loosen it, and then prolly did that one more time, until it was completely frozen, then we were able to take out even little bits of meat at a time, fully cooked - was soo functional, and really easy : )

Ooh, did you see Chef Adam Perry Lang, on Jimmy Kimmel Live, making that massive roast? It was a'huuuge! But I've never seen anyone brush on a mix of Mustard and Worcestershire Sauce (I had to google that spelling, rather than stand up and go look at the bottle in the fridge - bah'hahaha! Whatevs! Me a li'l lazy, sometimes! haha!)  anyway, i'm definitely gonna try that, with the next giant Ham that I make...

Meanwhile, here's how I normally make a giant ham, and my favorite Ham is the Old Fashioned Ham with the bone in - it's harder to find, these days, for some reason, but, by far, my favorite meat - Yum! Perfect, every time!

Let me go grab the pics for you... be right back (BRB! lol!)

How lovely and colorful is this meal? Yum, was soo deeelish, to - super easy, you'd be surprised how easy most meals are - it's just knowing a few little kitchen tricks, and you can cook anything to perfection - or, so it's just delicious - perfection is a li'l annoying - haha!


Oh, and, yes, I do use a knife, as well - haha! Reminds me of Mr. Fox - and dat make'a me laugh - Google it, watch it, you'll laugh, too! : )

See the mac 'n cheese with the broccoli? That's craaazy easy... just a box of off brand macaroni and cheese (Kraft Dinner and anything from the Walmart brands don't seem to work, but the macaroni and cheese from Shopper's Drug Mart (in Canada), or the Superstore, they work perfectly (dammit, there's that word, again...)

So you just follow the directions on the box to microwave the macaroni and cheese, but place the broccoli florets on top of the water and pasta, cover and cook for 7 minutes, add the butter or margarine (I use butter) and a little bit of milk, mix in the powdered cheese ("Cheese" haha!), and, voila, everybody loves it, especially with the ham, since ham and cheese always go so nicely, together #BFFs lol!

 For the record, this is a GIANT plate - from Costco - where else - lol! ; )

It's a million times easier to just pull the meat with two forks, rather than slicing the meat - any roast, your turkey, anything at all - and, frankly, I like the meat better, this way - is way easier to bag it up and pop it in the freezer for new-to-you meals, later, and everyone just loves it, sooo,why hassle with the slicing, right? Try it, see how you like it, too : )

 Can you see the Peach Juice in the picture? Hello, Professional Quality - haha! Whatevs, it's the point that's the most important - hopefully! : ) 

Normally, I would've used Pineapple Juice, and placed the Pineapple Rings all over the ham, but, they didn't have any tinned pineapple at the first store we went to, and, frankly (have I already said that, too?? Wordsmith, ovah' here... haha!), I completely forgot about the pineapple in the next store, because I was so excited about getting their Nanaimo Bars - yum! A li'l Canadian delicacy! I'll figure out the easiest way to make Nanaimo Bars, and post the recipe - will have to think about that one!


So you're just gonna rinse the meat, of course, I line the inside of the pan, as well, for much easier clean up... place the ham in the pan, pour over the juice, sprinkle with Montreal Steak Spice, put some potatoes all around the meat - whatever will fit, add some water to the pan - about one inch 1"

Make your ham a little tin foil tent, pop in the oven for about 6 hours, done! Yum! 



But now that I see Jimmy Kimmel brushing the Mustard and Worcestershire Sauce over the meat, I wanna try that, too! That looked delicious, and who doesn't love a little mustard on their ham sammich, eh? Well now I'm hungry! lol! 


Oh, and see the smashed potato? Omg, we're all in love with these crazy little potatoes... just wash them, pierce the skin, put them all around whatever roast meat yo're making, you smash them (gently) right on the plate, add butter or gravy - whatever you like, is healthy because you're eating the potato peel, and super easy to make, because, no peeling the potatoes! Yay! And, Yum!! 

Bon Apetit!! 

Ailsa : )

Ooh, is almost Black Friday, then Cyber Monday, and then the Holidays! Yippee! Great deals for you!

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

#TheBachelor #ChrisSoules with #JimmyKimmel - soo funny! Best couple to ever come out of the Bachelor?? lol!

A Bachelor needs to be clean. (Or, alternatively, is this how you get on the Bachelor? I guess we'll never know...)


Okay, so this picture just makes me laugh - loove Jimmy Kimmel, is endlessly funny, and Jimmy Kimmel was hilarious on The Bachelor with Chris Soules, Prince Farming.... omg, made me laugh so hard.... and these girls, they just break me up.

So, the craziest girl, so far, is the craziest virgin, ever - let's call her CV, Craziest Virgin, since, clearly, what a nut.  One of my favourite parts with the CV is when she's talking about herself, and is it just her, or does she look juust like Kim Kardashian?  How about Khloe Kardashian?  Kourtney?  How about the headgear, that crazy headpiece she's wearing in her hair - hahaha!  I mean, it did work for Cleopatra, and Khloe tried to give it a comeback on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, which I have been watching over the holidays, when they had the Keeping Up With the Kardashians marathon, so of course I DVR'd them all... I am endlessly fascinated with how Kim Kardashian has magically changed in every possible way, purely naturally, for sures no plastic surgery involved, just all natural changes as you get older... spread a little here, tuck a little there, and everyone's noses change with time... it just happens, like magic.  And that very same magic for the little CV on the Bachelor, too... what luck! And it hasn't gone to her head, at all, soooo, wow, that's amazing (insert $1 here - lol!).

And I really, really loved what the littlest (and oldest - is she really 26??) CV was doing during the Rose Ceremony - hilarious, this nutjob... she was soo mad, because she had already TOLD the Bachelor Chris to make sure she got her rose at the beginning of the Rose Ceremony... so it's not like she didn't TELL him what he had to do... hahaha!  Will be fun to see how long she lasts... plus, I really liked that hot tub scene - hahaha!  These loonies.... aaawkward!  And Jillian, I think it is, the gym girl?  she gives normal gym girls a bad name... yikes!  That's scary.  A little extra testosterone goin' on there, me tinks... lol!

(Oh, and just to be clear, it's the way this horrible girl uses her virginity as her calling card that bothers me so much, since virginity, in and of itself, is a great thing... but to use it to 'catch a man' - yuck.  Archaic.  And gross. This poor kid needs a good dose of self esteem - you know when she drops her wine glass after the Hot Tub Invasion - unsuccessful - and she she looks back at her new-found friends, throws her arms up in the air, in the classic, 'See, can you see what a loser?' pose - no, this kid needs some help, so she can see herself in a better light.. and quit putting herself on a little platter - eeeewwww, so gross - and that bellybutton ring is so out-there - reeks of desperation... just her use of it, not in general...usually, the bellybutton ring is a sign of confidence, and often not virginity... man, I've never used the word virginity so much in my whole life, and for all the wrong reasons - lol!) 






I loved Jimmy Kimmel on the Bachelor, tonight - oh, man, so funny.. I loved this scene, where Jimmy Kimmel says to The Bachelor Chris Soules to get in there to the Rose Ceremony, but speak as if he's a better speaker... funny... made me laugh : )




Don't these guys look like the happiest pals, ever?  Finally, a fabulous and lasting match on The Bachelor! True Love at last! lol!

So that bit at the end is always so sad, these poor souls, so to speak, not Chris Soules, just the girls who've just been sent home, the girls who didn't get a rose... when they leave and sound soo sad, like they'll never find someone.. so, please-oh-please, if you ever feel that way, read some beautiful Louise L. Hay books, you will love them all, she will make you feel so great about yourself, which will in itself, change your whole life, and how you deal with everyone and everything in your life, but here's some nice wee affirmations you can say to bring more love into your life, and you might like to try these:

"I attract loving people into my life"

"I attract loving experiences into my life"

Oh, and I notice that all the teachers are gone, now, right? lol!  Well, he doesn't feel like learning any lessons - hahaha!  And I don't think Chris the Bachelor is the one who is doing all the kissing, now - it sure seemed, tonight, that he was more of a kissing recipient, right?  Man, those ladies (and I use 'ladies' pretty loosely - lol!) are soo aggressive.. they for sures want their shot at the Bachelor - haha!  Eeeewww... and that poor little young one - holy schmokes, it looks like she can barely wrap her head around why The Bachelor Chris is even kissing other girls... what is that all about?  Aren't they married, yet? lol!  Poor kid.

Ooh, but I did like Becca, so finally I have a front-runner... she seems pretty, smart, a nice girl, not crazy... so now we get to find out if Chris likes Crazy, or will turn out to choose a good girl... and maybe the baby-voice girl, the wedding crasher girl, maybe she'll watch the show and learn how to lower her voice by an octave, or so... what on earth?  A baby voice?  Maybe she doesn't know what her voice sounds like...

And if you have a child and you want them to have a lower voice, not such a high-pitched voice, you just say the words for them, in the voice you would like them to have, and they will repeat after you - is a great way to moderate your child's voice, and give them positive phrases at the same time ... is a very effective technique, particularly useful around the 3 year old stage... prolly works for adults, too - lol!

Hope you have tons of fabulous love in your life!! Ailsa : )





I gotta get in and get a New Years creative, but this should be fine... and I love You Can Heal Your Life, I Can Do It, The Power is Within You, Meditations for Life (maybe it's Daily Meditations for Life?), all by Louise L. Hay - really, don't let the titles bother you, the content is amazing - you will love it, all so lovely : )

And my other page about Louise L. Hay... just loove Louise!