First of all, Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!!

disclaimer: this is NOT a cooking blog!

I have made a lot of changes in my life in the past year and one of those big changes is that I have started eating healthier (local foods and organic stuff) and cooking more for myself instead of eating out as much.

One reason why I like cooking more is because I really love cooking for Nick. He is a great cook himself and we love to cook together. He encourages me a lot and he actually likes the food I make. Who knew cooking was so much fun?!

So I decided to take on something that seemed so intimidating to make: pot roast. Nick loves comfort foods like that so I thought if I can do a pot roast then he will definitely think I'm awesome.

So I asked for some suggestions on facebook and I got a lot of great ideas. I decided to go with a very loosely translated version of Ina Garten's Company Pot Roast. Ina Garten, also known as The Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network, is one of my favorite tv chefs. She is so down to earth and I love how she is always cooking for friends. Food is only good when it's shared! I have never followed a tv chef's recipe ... and to be honest I really didn't follow it this time ... but it definitely gave me some guidance.

I live right behind the Three Rivers Market which is SO wonderful and convenient. The food is a little more expensive that what you might find at your local Food City or Kroger ... but over the past year I have found so many reasons why supporting local farmers and eating organic foods is worth the extra money spent. I could get on a soap box about this but I won't.

The only thing I didn't purchase at Three Rivers was the great big hunk of beef. I found that one at Earthfare.

Here is all of my yummy stuff ...

Prepping the food is the fun part. I chopped my first garlic clove. I actually chopped five garlic cloves for this recipe.

Here is a little collage of the ingredients. These weren't the only ingredients that I used. There were also onions, leeks, red wine, and that might be all. But I was so messed up after chopping those onions I had to take break and I forgot to photograph them! I hate chopping onions!

The recipe also called for a fresh couple sticks of thyme. My market was out of the fresh ones but they have this really awesome wall full of herbs and spices. So that jar of green stuff you see at the bottom of this collage is thyme.

Oh - special thanks to my friend/office manager/personal assistant/ everything awesome person Sarah who loaned me her crock pot.

Mom, I want a crock pot for Easter - since my birthday isn't until September - I need one before that! (omg I'm going to be 29!)

I did find some fresh rosemary and I put A LOT of this in the pot because it was so pretty. I don't recommend adding extra of something just because its pretty. The rosemary kind of made the meat taste like flowers. It was still good ... but a little less rosemary would've been better.

Here are some happy mouths ... my favorite men: my step dad Bobby and my sweetheart Nick.

Emma like the mashed potatoes that I made with garlic and chives.

We ended the night with a little dancing.

Oh and let me just make a mention ... the best way to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day is by visiting MagPies (just down the street here) and buying some Green Velvet Cupcakes - cream cheese icing. Hello!!!!

d e l i c i o u s !

And finally ... Don't forget to wish Sadie a Happy Birthday! Today she turned SEVEN!!!