Day 1 of Spring Cleaning

Today was day 1 of spring cleaning of our apartment.  We are hoping that we will be able to finish tomorrow since John has final exams all this week and I will be busy packing and preparing for our trip back home to visit family.  I don't know what prompted us to spring clean this weekend, but it seemed like a good one to get it done since next weekend we'll be back home, the next weekend after that we'll be heading back to Denver, the weekend after that the in-laws come to visit us, then the next weekend is Easter, and then the weekend after that will probably be warm enough for us to start going and doing things outdoors or camping on the weekends, so spring cleaning won't be a priority.  So, yeah, I guess today was a good day to start spring cleaning.  It was a nice day outside so we were able to have our patio door open with just the screen and let the breeze into the apartment.  John and I worked as a team to try and clean as much as we could around the house that doesn't usually get attention and Johnny played his usual role of playing and making messes in the wake of whatever we just finished cleaning.  Typical little boy.

Since we didn't do much of anything exciting today, I decided to post some pictures I took yesterday instead.  They are just photos of Johnny eating ice cream (it is kind of hard to tell, but he is devouring a fudge bar) on his dad and making a huge mess as usual.  The last picture of him is after ice cream sitting on his dad's lap watching "The Neverending Story" on the computer/Netflix Instant Watch.  Johnny was enthralled with the movie and pretty much sat and watched it intently from start to finish on his dad's lap - it was adorable (and out of character for our little energizer bunny). :)

 

  

 

I also thought I would share one of our favorite recipes as well. This recipe makes an extremely tender and flavorful roast - we love it!  It is so so so easy to make too.  Enjoy. :)

3 Envelope Roast

2 - 3 lb beef round roast (remove any netting)

garlic powder

black pepper

parsley flakes

1 envelope dry ranch dressing mix

1 envelope dry Italian dressing mix

1 envelope dry Brown gravy mix

1 cup water

vegetables (carrots, celery, red potatoes) 

Night before season a 2 -3 lb beef round roast with garlic powder, pepper, and parsley flakes (we usually forget to do it the night before and instead just season it with these things when we season it with everything else before putting in the slow cooker - it is still very delicious!)

Next morning put the roast in the slow cooker.  

Sprinkle contents of 1 envelope of dry Italian dressing mix, 1 envelope dry ranch dressing mix, and 1 envelope dry Brown gravy mix over the roast.

Pour 1 cup of water over the roast. 

Put chopped veggies - carrots, celery, red potatoes around the edges of the slow cooker and not on the roast itself. 

Cook on LOW 7-8 hrs or HIGH 4-5 hrs.

The longer it cooks, the more tender it is, so don't worry about cooking too long.

 ***If you are watching your salt/sodium intake, only use 1/2 of the dry Italian dressing mix.