Last week I found a recipe that required my crockpot AND beer. What could possibly go wrong?

Ugh. It was so bland! First, I needed parsnips but couldn’t find them, and I didn’t know what they were anyway. So I’m on my phone at Publix looking up pictures of the elusive veggie, only to find out it’s an uptight carrot. I’m not a huge fan of carrots, so I opted for mushrooms instead.

And maybe that was the problem? Do parsnips have an incredible taste that I missed out on? Who knows. But all was not lost…

I was able to get 3 separate meals from this brisket. THREE! I was determined, because I just cooked 3 pounds of meat and wasn’t about to let that money go to waste. But I also wasn’t about to eat flavorless crap either. Read on for the recipes…

• Slow-cooker beef brisket with beer (bleh)
• Brisket fajitas (yum!)
• Philly cheesesteak sandwiches (easy! fast! good!)

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I don’t have a lot of notes on this dish, because I followed the directions exactly. And it came out delicious!

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Why should you make this dish? Sure, it’s delicious and somewhat healthy. But let’s get serious. Here are the real reasons to make it:

• watching 1 cup of Arborio rice soak up 3 cups of liquid is better than watching old reruns of Mr. Wizard’s World
• all the stirring and chopping builds up your arm muscles
• your mom never let you throw a pile of leaves into a pot and cook them
• it’s meat, veggies, and carbs in one dish (who needs sides?)
• saying “risotto” makes you feel like a real chef
• nothing fills you up quicker than rice so this meal can go a long ways

This is yet another great recipe from Martha Stewart. It was really easy to make, and I found all the ingredients at my local Publix. Click the link to view the recipe. Enjoy!

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Since football season is upon us, I have started making one of my all time favorite snacks – Velveeta and Rotel cheese dip (do I hear angels singing?). There’s nothing like watching SEC football while chowing down on corn chips and cheese. This stuff is so good it makes me cheer for Bama. Well, as long as they aren’t playing LSU or Auburn. It’s not good enough to make me cheer for Tennessee, but I digress.

Anywho, so when I saw a recipe that started with the word VELVEETA (seriously, do you hear angels singing?), I had to try it. It’s super easy to make, the ingredients are cheap, and it tastes good. And kids can easily help with this recipe (oh yes, I went there – straight to the baby train).

As usual, I made a few notes to make my cooking experience easier next time:

• Buy a pre-chopped onion – Yes, it’s more expensive than buying an onion and chopping it myself, but it’s still cheaper than Roger hauling my hiny to the hospital after I slightly nick my finger with a knife and then pass out from the sliver of blood that appears, trip over a cat on the way down, and hit my head on the counter. Plus, I’m pretty sure blood doesn’t go with anything – even Velveeta. Pre-chopped onions – another reason I love Publix, and until I actually attend one of their knife skills classes, I’ll continue to buy these. It’s not that I can’t chop veggies. I just have a bad history with onions. OK? Stop judging me.
• Velveeta is fun for everyone! – If your kid is old enough to use a knife, let them cut up the Velveeta. It’s soft enough to use a butter knife, so it’s pretty kid friendly. If they’re too young to use a knife, then they can throw carefully place the chunks of cheese into the pot for you. Now, where is my mommy blog license?
• Brand names are for suckers – Because this recipe is from Kraft’s magazine, they pimp all of their products in the ingredients. Hey, it’s just good ol fashioned marketing. But I used grocery store brands for all of it (except the Velveeta – there is NO SUBSTITUTE – angels don’t sing for regular old “cheese product”), and it tasted fine.
• Take your aggression out on the taters – Frozen hashbrowns are frozen. Yes, I see how obvious that is now, but I wasn’t thinking about that before. And the taters don’t come in a bag of just 4 cups, so I had to break them up somehow. I threw them in the microwave for 1 minute and then took my knife to them like an ice pick. It was like experiencing a whole new kind of frozen treat. The taters broke apart with ease, and I had a strange sense to smile and say muhahahah. But moving on.
• Sour cream could add some flavor – Nothing exciting about this statement. But I think adding a dollup of sour cream to each serving could be quite tasty. (Did I just say “dollup”? I’m delirious from the Velveeta.)

Check out the recipe below and enjoy!

Ingredients

Tonight I cooked Lighter Sesame Noodles from Everyday Food. The recipe called for several ingredients that had me wondering if this meal was too adventurous for me. I’ve never whisked peanut butter with garlic, for example. But the meal was pretty good and looks pretty too.

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