beef with gravy, cream, and noodles

a three pound pot roast makes a lot of meat for two people. after eating leftovers for lunch a couple times, we were both getting bored with the same meal, and were struggling to think of good ways to use up the leftovers. until i thought about beef stroganoff and how good the leftover pot roast and gravy would be over egg noodles. add a healthy dash of cream and we had a great meal to use up the last of our roast and gravy. jason preferred this to the pot roast!

ina's company pot roast

in all the years i've daydreamed about being an adult, i never pictured myself making a pot roast. it seemed way too grown up for me. which is crazy. since there are few things better than beef that's been slow roasted in vegetables and wine for hours. this is what sunday meals should be made of.

gingerbread waffles of insane greatness

most weekend mornings start with a bowl of cereal or some fruit and yogurt. occasionally we'll have breakfast tacos or a pancake or two, but our waffle iron only comes out once or twice a year. maybe i should change that.

slow cooker chili

one of my unofficial new year's resolutions is to spend less time cooking. sound counter-intuitive? i'm all for spending hours in the kitchen, on occasion, to make great food, but during the week, i want good food, fast. a typical workday for us means we leave the house at 7:30 and get home by 6:30. and the days we stop at the gym after work, it's more like 7:30. the last thing i want to do is spend 45 minutes cooking on a monday night. which is why i'm on the lookout for shortcuts.

and a slow cooker is one of the best kept secrets (ok, maybe you already know how much of a time saver they are, and i'm finally jumping on the band wagon). i've heard it a million times from friends, family, and coworkers, but it's taken me a couple meals to really understand how great it is to spend 15 or less minutes preparing dinner. i love it. so much so, that i've added a slow cooker tag to my recipes so you can get to all of them even easier. even though there are only a few posted now, i hope to continue using mine about once a week.

have a great slow cooker recipe?? leave a link in the comments!

beer battered haddock

since announcing to our friends, family and coworkers in december that i'm pregnant, there's three questions that everyone asks. do you know if it's a boy or girl - are you going to find out? how are you feeling? and have you had any weird cravings?

no, we don't know if it's a boy or girl and aren't sure if we will find out. i've been feeling a lot like myself - just in different clothes and working on gaining weight this time of year while everyone else is focused on losing it. and i haven't really had any weird cravings. unless sour cream and onion potato chips and fried fish sandwiches count.