10: Pot-roasted steak with spinach and omelette (Page 367, AFJ)

This was a pretty scary task. The recipe was 2 pages long! Those who know me, will also know my attention span does not go that far. It's funny because I love to read. But ask me to read a joke or question that is 2 pages long and I will skip straight to the end just so I can get the punch line. So in order to accomplish this recipe I had to rewrite it into dot points first. Just like studying!

I think my pictures look just like the book, or close to anyway, But I had no idea what kind of string I was supposed to use in order to tie it all together so mine wasn't a perfect cylinder. But I will eventually figure it out. I really liked the tomato sauce, so much so that I wanted to drink it! It was that good. It was tomatoes, carrots and celery. Not my favourite vegies but somehow it worked. Good thing there is enough left over for tomorrow's meal.

This has been the only recipe I have attempted to take more than 30 minutes. The fact that I managed to pay attention for that long seems like an accomplishment. But in the end it was worth it because the steak was tender and sauce was the perfect blend of salty and sour since I don't really like that much salt.

Cooking time: 50 minutes
Taste: 5 stars (my favourite recipe so far)
Ease: 2 stars (It wasn't that difficult, it was just really messy to try and roll it up tight enough to tie up)

I went to the library after work today to pick up another cookbook I had on hold "Barefoot Contessa at home" by Ina Garten. I haven't actually reached the recipes and already I've learnt something new.

"When I lived in Washington D.C., I used to see cute young guys roaming around the Georgetown Safeway with a grocery cart and a cookbook, trying to shop for dinner. (For that reason, it was always considered the place to find a date for Saturday night.)"

Now there's a tip! Hahaha. Actually that wasn't what I was talking about. She gives some really useful tips on how to write a grocery list.

1. Make headings on the page: Dairy, Shelf goods, Meat & Fish, and Freezer
2. Go through each recipe and put the ingredients under the appropriate heading, if all else fails put it under Miscellaneous.
3. Write down how much you need, so you don't find that you needed the larger can when you thought you could save money by buying the smaller one. (I've never had this problem)
4. Take the list and a pen so you can cross things off (I always tell myself I need a pen when I am at the grocery store!!!)

These tips will definitely come in handy next weekend, especially if I remember a pen.

P.S. The steak isn't pink, that's ham!