Crock-Pot Beef Roast

First let me apologize that I forgot to take a picture of this.  Second, this dish is a staple in my house and my extremely picky 7 year old claims this as her favorite dish!

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 lb. beef roast (any variety)
• 1/2 cup homemade onion soup mix (recipe to follow)
• 1/4 ground flaxseed
• 4 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1 cup baby carrots or carrots cut into larger size chunks
• 2 stalks celery, large dice

Make It:

1. Place all ingredients in crock pot and cover with water, enough to barely cover.  
2. Cook on low for 8 hours.
3. If you want gravy you can place the cooking liquid in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Then stir in a small amount of cornstarch slurry (water with a little corn starch stirred in).  Reduce heat and simmer until desired thickness.

Onion Soup Mix
Combine the following ingredients in an air tight container.

• 2/3 dry onions
• 1 T onion powder
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. sugar
• 1 t. dry garlic or garlic powder
• 1 t. dried parsley

Perfectly Cooked, Hard-Boiled Eggs - Power Food!

For the month of February, one commitment to health that I added is to buy only fresh, local eggs.  This means I know where the chickens are from, how they are fed and I know exactly how fresh the eggs are!
Eggs are a very nutritious food!

• Rich in vitamin B choline which helps your body produce healthy nerves and cells and can reduce chronic inflammation.
• They are packed with protein which is essential for good health.  Protein builds muscles, boosts your immune system and makes healthy hair and nails.
• Some studies have shown that eggs can actually help increase weight loss when dieting.
• They are jam packed with lutein and zeaxanthin which protects your eyes from sun damage and those free-radicals that we discussed previously.
• Can help keep cholesterol levels in a healthy range.
• Some studies have shown that the choline in eggs can even help prevent breast cancer.

Eggs are incredibly versatile!  If you say that you do not like eggs, I bet that if you experimented enough you would find some way that you like them!  Quiche, casseroles, scrambled, fried, omelet, hard boiled, soft boiled ... the list goes on!
My favorite is a hard boiled egg sprinkled with just a touch of salt and pepper.  Maybe it's just me, but I have seen A LOT of people who can not make a well cooked, hard boiled egg.  The egg should not be runny at all, that is soft boiled.  The yolk should not have that weird, greenish tinge, that means it's overcooked.  The shell should be easy to peel away.  The membrane should peel away with the shell with out taking chunks of the white with it.  I am here to help!

1. Start by placing your eggs in a pot and cover them with cold water.
2. When your water comes to a rapid boil, cover the pot and remove it from the heat.
3. Let the eggs sit for 20 minutes.  Do not remove the lid!  The residual heat of the water will gently cook the eggs to perfection!
4. After 20 minutes, drain away the hot water.  Watch out for steam ... it can burn you!
5. Next,shake the eggs around in the pot to get the shells cracked and cover with cold water.  Let sit for a few minutes and peel! 

References:
LiveStrong
Women's Health

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Dear Readers, thank you so much for your interest!!  I hope that by reading my blog, I can inspire you to examine your own health and take steps to make it better!  I also hope that by blogging about my venture, my readers will keep me accountable so that I can not just give up and revert back to old habits!
I recently met a beautiful woman named Slava who writes a blog about my hometown.  She has the same ideas about health, wellness and educating consumers as I do!  I want to share her blog with you as a compliment to mine!  While I will be sharing with you little facts that I learn, changes that I make and recipes that I come up with, she will share important information that you may not have thought about before. Make sure to add her to your list!!
Re-Discover Washington - Health and Wellness