Beer Mushroom Roast

Food for thought:
One of my favorite books of the Bible to read is Ephesians because it constantly reminds me of why I believe the Bible, believe Jesus is Lord and follow Him.  This morning I was reading from Chapter 2 and was overwhelmed by these verses as usual.  I know I don't often post much scripture or information about my faith on here but I had to share these verses.  Today I am making a point to take some time to pray for anyone who reads this blog.  If you have a specific prayer request feel free to leave it in the comments below and I will pray for that also.  As for the verse, here it is.  A better testimony of God's love for me (and you) than I could ever write myself.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Ephesians 2:1-8

Now on to the recipe.  Last summer my husband and I went to Savannah, Ga and ate at a British pub.  It was a fun little place and had some great food.  My husband ordered bangers and mash, which basically is the British way of saying sausage and potatoes.  I am not a fan of sausage (the idea of how it is made honestly grosses me out sometimes) but I decided to try a bite.  The gravy on the meal was AMAZING!!!!  I asked the waiter about it and he said it was made with Guinness beer.  Since then I've been wanting to try to recreate the taste of that gravy and last night I did!  This was a great recipe that was extremely easy (needed now as I don't have much time with the new baby).  I hope you enjoy it!!!




Beer Mushroom RoastBeer Mushroom Roast
Ingredients:
1 bottom round roast of beef
1 container of sliced mushrooms (I just used sliced white but baby bella mushrooms would give a meatier taste to your gravy)
1 sweet onion (I used vidalia because we have a lot in Florida right now)
2 cups vegetable broth (I always use kitchen basics because it does't have added sugar and preservatives)
1 bottle of beer (any kind I used a pale brew beer but I think the Guinness would have been a dark brew - clearly I don't know about beer)
salt
pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground sage
5 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced in half

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cut 10 slits in roast and insert 1/2 a clove of garlic in each slit

Salt and pepper bottom round roast liberally
Mix together thyme, basil, oregano, crushed red pepper, and sage and press onto sides of roast
Slice onions place a layer of onions on the bottom of a roasting pan and place roast on top
Sprinkle mushrooms on top
Pour bottle of beer and 2 cups of vegetable broth on top (*you could use beef broth but my grocery store only had vegetable or chicken)
Cook in oven for 2 hours
Remove from oven
In a small pan on stove melt 2 tbs of butter
Add 2 tbsp of flour and make a roux (like making the starting point for gravy)
Cook until golden whisking constantly
Add roux to the pan juices and stir to combine
Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes more.  I allowed mine to sit for 30 minutes just to cool down (it was still very hot when we ate it) and to allow the gravy to thicken.
Slice and serve with gravy on top!It is so good!!!  The beer adds a tangy wheaty taste to the gravy that is just to die for and just so you know all the alcohol does cook off so this is a safe recipe for kids.  

Enjoy your weekend!  I know I will be enjoying mine with my two favorite boys!

Mexican corn

I haven't written a recipe in a while on here for several reasons. One being teaching was just overwhelming and all my free time was spent grading papers. The second (and most important reason) is we adopted a little baby boy. He is now just over a month old and incredibly precious yet doing a fabulous job of keeping us up at night. That being said I definitely haven't had time to write recipes on here. However, today I threw a side dish together quickly and it turned out amazing so I knew I had to share. I apologize for the lack of picture!!! I usually make a variation of this recipe with corn on the cob but had a bag of frozen corn in the freezer so decided to try this instead.

Mexican Corn (off the cob)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup water
2 tsp chili powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients except for the Parmesan cheese in a small sauce pan. Cook on medium high stirring occasionally until all water has evaporated and corn is thoroughly heated.
Remove from heat and add Parmesan cheese stir until conbined.
This is all I did because it was a last minute recipe that I threw together. However next time I will probably add some green chilis or diced red peppers the top it all off with some cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
Enjoy and happy cinco de mayo!!!!

Clean Pumpkin Protein Bread

A month ago I decided to eliminate all artificial sweetener from my diet in an effort to relieve stomach aches that I constantly had.  I immediately saw an improvement.  After eliminating this I decided to continue trying to clean up my diet.  I started by contacting a friend who works with the wellness department at a local hospital and she recommended eating clean.  After looking more into this I started reading Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Recharged book.  I have to say this has helped me so much (eat clean website)!  It has allowed me to start eliminating things that really do not add any nutritional value to my diet including white flour and sugar.  Along with this it encourages you to eat 5 - 6 small meals a day rather than 3 larger ones.  If you are looking for something that is less of a weight loss plan and more of a healthy eating plan this is a great one to look into.  While making these changes I also have started changing some recipes that are tried and true recipes to be clean.  This one is a fall favorite that I've made clean by adding protein to the mix and eliminating the white flour and sugar.  It does still have a large amount of oil in it but I haven't yet figured out a good way to cut back on that without affecting the texture of the bread (applesauce made it spongy).  Enjoy a healthy recipe for fall!

Pumpkin Protein Bread
Ingredients:
1 cup of oil (whatever kind you would prefer as long as it is a mild oil)
3 eggs (or 5 egg whites)
1 cup of pure honey
1 1/2 cups of canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie)
2 tsp vanilla
3 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ginger
3 cups of whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 scoops protein powder (I used vanilla flavored)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees
In the bowl of a mixer mix together all "wet" ingredients

In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined
Pour into 2 large loaf pans that have been sprayed with non-stick spray
Cook 45 minutes at 325 degrees or until toothpick inserted comes out clean
Let rest on counter in pan about 10 minutes
Flip out onto wire rack to cool
Cool before cutting (if you can resist)

Cooking with oils

Today I read a great article about cooking with oil and wanted to pass on a few notes.

Vegetable oil- any oil that comes from a plant and can be a combination of more than 1 oil. This should have a neutral taste which is why it works great for cakes. Common flavorless vegetable oils include safflower and canola.

Less common:

Sesame oil - very deep flavor of sesame. Use for stir frying or frying. This is my newest favorite. I actually use sesame chili oil in a white wine vinegar marinade for veggies on the grill. 1/8 tsp is enough to add a good punch of flavor with a nice kick to it.

Linseed oil - earthy flavor. Use for dressings.

Squash seed oil- tastes like roasted squash. Best used to finish a dish like fish at the end right before serving.

Rice bran oil - newer oil that has a mild flavor and claims to help lower cholesterol great as a substitute for vegetable oils (see common types above).

More common:

Olive oil- neutral flavor that can be slightly bitter. Best when used for dips, dressings, or to finish a dish (aka spaghetti sauce).

Coconut- slightly sweet and tropical taste (given that it is from coconuts). Works great as a substitute for butter.

Nut oils- very rich earthy tastes. Great for a stand alone garnish on salad or veggies.

Peanut oil - slight peanut taste (not very recognizable). Commonly used for frying or stir frying, very popular with deep fried turkeys at thanksgiving.

Avocado oil - kind of nutty similar taste to peanut oil. Use as you would olive oil, great plus it offers some of the same good benefits as olive oil does.

Next time you're finishing a dish or making a dressing why not add another layer with a new oil? Part of the fun of cooking is experimenting with something new!

Happy cooking,
Court