Two'fer Sunday

It's been a busy week. B and I thought perhaps we'd be able to get into a routine last week (after him being gone for work the week before), but alas, no. Life happens that way, doesn't it? Sometimes it's good things, such as uncles coming to town for work and taking us to dinner. Sometimes it's exhausting days at work and a complete lack of interest in cooking a fancy dinner. Either way, it adds up to no routine and, consequently, no blog posts. So, sorry about that.

After spending all day yesterday in pre-marital counseling, you better believe I was planning something easy for dinner tonight, something that would allow me to sleep in until 10:30 and then take a nap later in the afternoon. Also, I wanted something to take advantage of this lovely fall weather we are FINALLY having. Corned beef brisket and veggies in the Crock Pot seemed just the thing.

I saw the recipe in a cookbook of my coworker's, and it was supposed to be made with cabbage. However, I thought cabbage in the Crock Pot would probably just get slimy and mushy. I decided to put the potatoes and carrots and onions in the Crock Pot, but roast the cabbage. So I have two recipes for you: beef brisket with vegetables, and roasted cabbage. Check out the recipe for cabbage here, or see them both below with my modifications.

And when I say check them out, I mean it. They were delicious. It was the perfect hearty, homey meal to end a busy weekend. The beef was cooked perfectly, and the veggies were melt-in-your-mouth tender. The cabbage was crispy on the edges and tender and chewy in the center, and it was all ridiculously delicious. It's also man-approved - B ate this up like crazy. The flavor was delicious, and we have tons of leftovers for lunch this week. Major food win here, y'all. If you're looking for something to make to celebrate the arrival of fall, look no further!

Crock Pot Corned Beef and Vegetables

Ingredients:

• Cured corned beef brisket with spice packet (original recipe called for a 3.75-pounder; we used a 2.25-pounder, mostly because it was the smallest we could find)
• 3 medium white onions, quartered (original called for 10 small boiling onions...since we didn't know what those were, we passed on that)
• 1 bag baby carrots (original called for 10 regular carrots)
• 5 red potatoes, sliced to suit your size (ours were huge)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 12-ounce bottle of amber beer
• 3 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard
• 2 large garlic cloves, crushed

Directions:
Place onions, carrots, potatoes and bay leaves in the bottom of a Crock Pot. Place brisket on top of vegetables.
Combine spice packet from brisket, beer, mustard, and garlic in a bowl.
Stir well and pour over brisket.
Cook on high setting for an hour, then switch to low for 6 hours.

Roasted Cabbage

Ingredients:
1 head green cabbage
1-2 lemons
olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450.
Cut head of cabbage into eighths.
Place on foil-covered baking sheet.
Drizzle generously with olive oil. Squeeze juice of lemons over cabbage.
Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
Roast for 15 minutes on one side. Flip cabbage and roast 15 minutes on the other.
Enjoy!