{A Late} St. Patrick's Day Meal

Since we spent the actual St. Patrick's Day with Gary's family, I decided to make a traditional Corned Beef & Cabbage meal for us and my parents on Sunday evening.  One thing I love more than cooking is sharing it with my family & friends.

This is only the 2nd time I have made CB&C, so I am far from being an expert.  But if there's one thing I know, it's that cooking meat in beer in a crock pot will turn out to be a success 99% of the time!

~ First, I gathered my basic ingredients:

~ Add the CB to the crock pot and slowly pour the beer over

~ Add half of an onion, cut into 2 sections and a handful of garlic cloves

~ Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours

~With about an hour left, wash red potatoes {I figured about 2 per person, including lunch leftovers}

~ Cut potatoes into smaller pieces and add to a large pot with baby carrots. 

~ Take about 2 cups of liquid from crock pot to add to veggies {make sure to get some onion and garlic for an extra flavor boost}

~ With about 30 minutes left, add cabbage that has been cut into wedges to the veggie pot

~ Cook 20-30 minutes and serve!

We were soooo full from dinner.....

But there's ALWAYS room for dessert.....

Right????

Especially when the whipped cream had Bailey's in it!!

Saturday Recap - Will This Rain Ever End & Other Shenanigans

This is what the Central Valley has looked like most of the past 5 days....RAINY!!

We really need it considering the weather has been unusually warm for this time of year, but I am starting to feel like I need to break out my flannel shirts and rock out to Nirvana.

Friday night started and ended with dinner & a movie.  I made us a quick chicken avocado salad that we enjoyed while watching "Young Adult" with Carlize Theoron.  For some reason I thought it was a comedy, but it was pretty serious.  It was by the people that did "Juno" and I feel like the main character was almost a grown up version of Juno, and that did not really appeal to me.  After that, we were beyond tired and got into bed right about 10pm.

I slept until 7:40 Saturday morning, which was a pleasant surprise.  I was able to enjoy a cup of coffee while reading blogs and spending time on all my social media sites before cooking some almond meal pancakes for my breakfast.  After that I headed to the gym for some elliptical time.

It was my first time on an elliptical in some time and I feel I did really well.  After 35 minutes I did some upper body strength and ab work.

Then it was time to some home and get ready for dinner with some of Gary's family.  One of his aunts lives in Washington State, so whenever she comes to California, we all try to get together.  We met up at Golden Corral, a buffet style restaurant.  Overall, I was not too impressed.  Since changing the way we eat, Gary & I  rarely frequent buffets.  For the 2 of us we paid almost $30 and I came home hungry.  Yes, it was my choice to not eat that much, but all I could think when I got back in the food line was "what is REALLY in this food?"

That said, it was a WONDERFUL time out with our Irish family!!  And that is what was most important to Gary & I last night...reuniting with family that is so special to us.

After we got home, Gary was a great husband and danced in the rain with me for a minute or 2...I totally felt like I was in a Taylor Swift song!  HA HA HA

We weren't too tired, so we watched the Footloose remake.  I was honestly impressed...I went into it not expecting much, so maybe that is why it surpassed my expectations!  The original is still WAAAAY better!

All in all, it was a good St. Patrick's Day and I am hoping everyone out there had a fun and SAFE night!