If I Can Do It So Can You

Well, I'm starting a series of posts called "If I Can Do It So Can You". In the series, I will attempt to do something I haven't done before. This can include anything from cooking to home repairs to anything else I can think of. My hope is to inspire some of you to try new things along with me. We can share our successes and failures together. Please feel free to post your comments. I'd love to hear from you :)

To start off, I have tried to cook a roast in my crock pot. Now to many of you, this may be no big deal, but I've never done it before. To be honest, cooking just isn't my thing. I would be perfectly happy eating out every day, but we all know that gets expensive very quickly. So I bought a roast from the grocery store and decided to try it out. The recipe I used was right out of the Rival Crock pot recipe book that came with the unit when I bought it years ago. It's listed below.

I purchased all the items the recipe called for for about $10. The roast was $5.66 for 2.71lb, potatoes for $2.99 for 10lb bag, carrots for $1.99 per bag, onion for $.49. That's less than it would cost for our family of 5 to go to a fast food restaurant nowadays.


Pot Roast of Beef
3 medium potatoes, thinly sliced
2 large carrots, thinly sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 to 4 pound brisket, rump roast or pot roast
1/2 cup water or beef broth

Put vegetables in bottom of Crock-Pot. Salt and pepper meat, then put in the pot. Add liquid. Cover, cook on Low 10 to 12 hours (High 5 to 6 hours). 12 to 14 servings.

Calories: 208 Protein: 28G Fat 7G Carb 7G Chol. 72mg Sod. 249mg

Grocery Shopping With Kids

Everyone has to go grocery shopping at some point and if you have kids you are eventually going to have to take them with you. This can be quite a headache because some kids just want to run wild up and down the aisles, get in and out of the shopping carts, add lots of items to the your basket, etc. Here are a couple things you can do to keep the kids occupied while you shop and make the trip more enjoyable for everyone.

First, give the kids a coupon or two and see if they can find the item for you. Unless the kids are older I don't recommend giving them all at once because they will end up dropped, ripped, lost or all three. When you start down a grocery aisle look through your coupons and give them to the child to find.

Second is grocery bingo. Using a word processing program create a table and plug in names of items you normally buy. For younger kids you can paste pictures of the items. This will keep the kids busy.

Finally, I'm a big fan of hand-held gaming systems. My 4 year old will play a game of her Nintendo DS while sitting in the front of the cart for about half the grocery shopping trip. Hey it's better than her running wild, asking 20 million questions, having to go potty, etc. Plus, if you limit the times your little one can use the system - the more they want to play it.

These are just a few suggestions that have worked for my family. Get your grocery shopping done without the headaches. Use your imagination and you're sure to find lots more ways to keep your kids occupied.

Feel free to add a comment with what you use to keep your kids busy while shopping.