A Simple Request

Do me a favor and eat something healthy today.

In the last year, two men in our family have had a total of five stints placed. Both of these men under the age of 60.

It's the food. It's too much of the bad stuff and not enough of the good. We all know the formula -- eat less and better, and move more -- but it can be so hard to live it. But small changes in your day will make all the difference.

• Choose an apple instead of cookies.
• Drink an extra glass of water today.
• Eat one instead of three -- whatever "it" is.
• Bake or grill instead of fry.
• Don't drown it in cheese.
• Walk around the block. Again.
  

I love these men, both of them, and I want them around for many more years. You too!

Eating Locally

We have some friends who are venturing out with family to start a new business, Summerlin Farms. They offer locally grown, pasture-raised beef from just down the highway in Thorndale, Texas. Cole and I got to make our first purchase from them over the weekend, and I cooked up our first meal from our purchase this evening. The Pike's Peak roast to be exact.

Here's what our first local-beef dinner looked like:

Pike's Peak roast (ours was 2.25 pounds)
1 large yellow onion
1 bottle of pale ale (I used Sam Adams, but I imagine it wouldn't matter)
1 bay leaf
salt
pepper

I chopped the onion into large chunks and put half of the chunks into the slow cooker. I then salted and peppered the roast and put it on top of onions. I topped it with the remainder of onions and slowly poured the beer and dropped a bay leaf in, just for fun. I simmered on low heat in the slow cooker for six hours.

Delicious! It actually reminded me of the Sunday-afternoon roasts we used to have at Gran's house. Those came from the cows that Grandad raised, and there was such a natural and delicious flavor. Same with this first cut of beef we've tried from Summerlin Farms.

The only thing missing from tonight's roast was the buckshot.