Garlic-Sage-Marinated Beef Pot Roast

1 2-2 1/2 pound boneless beef chuck pot roast
3/4 cup dry red wine or tomato juice
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. snipped fresh sage or 1/2 tsp ground sage
10 cloves garlic, halved
2 tsp instant beef bouillon granules
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 1/4 lbs tiny new potatoes or 4 medium potatoes
4 medium carrots, cut into 2-in peices
2 small onions, cut into wedges
2 stalks celery, bias-sliced into 1-in. peices
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Trim fat from meat. Place meat in a plasic bag and set the bag into a shallow dish. For marinade, in a small bowl combine the red wine or tomato juice, tomato paste, sage, garlic, beef bouillon granules, and pepper. Pour over meat; seal bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 6-24 hours, turning bag occasionally. Drain meat, reserving the marinade.

In a Dutch oven brown the meat on both sides in hot oil. Drain fat. Pour the marinade over meat. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Remove a narrow strip of peel from around the center of each new potato. (or, peel and quarter each medium potato.) Add potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery to meat. Cover and simmer for 45 to 60 minutes or until meat and vegetables are tender, adding some water if necessary. Transfer meat and vegetables to a platter. Cover and keep warm while preparing gravy.

For gravy, measure pan juices; skim fat. If necessary, add water to equal 1 3/4 cups liquid; return to dutch oven. Combine the 1/2 cup water and flour; stir into juice. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for one minute more. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve gravy with meat and vegetables.

Makes 8 Servings

Nutrition Info per serving: 321 Calories, 29 g protein, 28 g carbohydrates, 8 g fat (3 g saturated), 78 mg cholesterol, 345 mg sodium

Notes: To make this a whole lot easier, use a crock pot! We put it on before church and let it go until about 4 pm and it was SO good! Put carrots and potatoes in about 45 minutes to an hour. We cooked them in a pot in the juices of the roast instead. I do want to try it the other way but I figure it's simliar. And if aren't sure what a dutch oven is, google it and click on images.

Ham, Spinach, and Mostaccioli Casserole

• 8 oz packaged dried mostaccioli, cut ziti, or elbow macaroni
• 3 tbsp margarine or butter
• 3 medium onions, cut into thin wedges, or 5 medium leeks, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme, crushed
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half, light cream, or milk
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups cubed fully cooked ham, or chicken
• 1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta; rinse with cold water. Drain again.

In a large saucepan melt margarine or butter. Add onions or leeks and garlic. Cover and cook about 5 minutes or until onions are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour, thyme, and pepper. Add half-and-half, light cream, or milk and the chicken broth all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Stir in pasta, ham, and spinach. Spoon mixture into a 3-quart casserole.

Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until heated through. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir gently before serving. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 388 calories, 18 g protein, 44 g carbohydrates, 16 g fat (6 g saturated), 42 mg cholesterol, 719 mg sodium.

Notes: Nurtritional information will vary depending on the ingredients you choose. Again, we do whole weat/grain pasta but opted for the half-and-half to make it more creamy. This is seriously a very yummy recipe! Prep time doesn't take long, I would say from start to finsh is about one hour, depending on how many interruptions you have! The kids loved this but would probably think it was better without the spinach. My husband couldn't stop eating it! I had this for leftovers the next day and it tasted just as good!