Supper on the Fly

I had an incredibly fun weekend, (supper with friends and Emily Osment Concert with my girls), which when you work full time, translates into not quite all the necessities for the coming week being accomplished.

Our Saturday morning routine of chores was adhered to so the house should hold up for most of the week....but the oh-s0-necessary weekly restocking of fridge and cupboards did not happen.

I didn't PLAN on making my family of 6 go without nourishment, it sort of just happened.

Actually, I think I can place some of the blame on Missy Maria's winter boot's zipper deciding to break, (requiring my one window of opportunity for hunting and gathering food for the week, to be spent hunting for a pair of winter boots that my 11 year old would feel were worthy of being called her own)....that, and the fact that my dear friend Rhonda introduced me to a new blog.

Now that I think of it, it really all started with another friend (Cheryl), ooohing and awing over an absolutely delicious looking recipe she had just made.

This was relayed to me through her cousin, my friend, Rhonda, who then introduced me to the blog from which said yummy recipe was gleaned.

I spent more time than I care to admit enjoying the fantastic recipes, photography....and the unbelievably romantic love story of this "Pioneer Woman".

Monday morning reared it's ugly head and all children, (and adults) in our house were a little slow getting going after our fun weekend and late, (for the girls) concert night. All so very worth it though, as the girls got their custom made t-shirts autographed by and pictures taken with Miss Emily Osment. They were very sleepy but very happy!

Sorry, blame my rambling on my sleep deprived-over-stimulated mind.

Back to trying to plan dinner while running late, after having failed to acquire the necessities of a meal...FOOD...let alone the actual Planning of the week's menu!

As I scrambled to get out the door, I took a fleeting look in my kitchen freezer, (absolutely no time left to run down to the well stocked deep freeze). There, tucked in the back was an eye of round beef. Not terribly promising. Eye of round is one of those cheap cuts of meat that budget wise is a great idea....but when it comes to palatability and ability to even chew...well, it can be an absolute nightmare.

I grabbed it and threw it in the sink to thaw, thinking I could at least test out one of my Christmas presents, (Kitchen Aid Meat grinder attachment). Eye of round may not make a great roast or steak but it makes very lean, cheap ground beef.

As I ran to my room to retrieve my purse, hollering at children to get a move on as I did, I had a brain wave: "throw the frozen chunk of meat in the crock-pot with BBQ sauce". I am picturing pulled pork as I have these thoughts. In literally 5 minutes, the roast was in the pot with 2 partial bottles of 2 different BBQ sauces, cranked to hi, lid on, a quick prayer for a miracle and the thought that if it didn't work out, we were not really any further behind my unplanned meal for the night.

As Mark chauffeured me to school with a minute to spare, I remembered the frozen, chopped onion I kept in the freezer and asked him to throw it in when he went back to get the kids.

Because I had visions of the house burning down, (due to the ancient crock-pot) I prayed prayers that our beloved pets would escape unharmed through out the day. On entering the driveway after work, I was relieved to see that the house was intact and Ohhhhh the smells that greeted me as I unlocked the door!

I added some chopped green pepper from the freezer and some chopped garlic...one more hour and VOILA! Tough eye of round was now moist and tender enough to be pulled apart by 2 forks.

Next, I grabbed a Beautiful Calabrese bread I had frozen from a wonderful new bakery Hubby and I discovered in Kingston. Sliced it in 1/2 horizontally, piled it full of the pulled Beef and sprinkled

the whole thing with shredded cheddar.

Five minutes under the broiler, some green beans on the side....and Ummm.

Supper was enjoyed by all 6 members of the family, (an absolute miracle when we have anything but homemade Burgers), I came off looking like I'd actually planned the whole thing and wasn't just flying by the seat of my pants...and the Piers Family has survived another day without starvation! WHEW!!!

OH! There was even enough left over for 2 or 3 to have for their lunch tomorrow...all from 5 minutes of desperation!

WOW! I really have spent too much time on this lady's blog...taking pictures of food, (guess I should check out her photography tips) and writing about the development of a new family favorite as if it were an adventure story....sigh, I am a hopeless romantic at heart.

In case any of you local ladies are inspired to try this or something similar, Eye of Round is on sale this week for $2.00 or less a pound at 2 of our grocery stores.