Crock Pot Pepper Steak

Good Tuesday morning!

Well, school started back today. The hustle and bustle of the Christmas season is now being replaced with the hustle and bustle of the school schedule, basketball games, dance lessons, guitar lessons, etc., etc., etc. We've enjoyed our time off very much... and we wouldn't mind a few more days, but that isn't going to happen. I will have to say not starting back on a Monday is very nice though. I think Monday gets a bad rap most of the time, always being the first day back to work or the first day back to school after a good weekend. But yesterday, Monday, was a very good day.

Before we get to our recipe today, I wanted to talk a minute about the roles we play in our lives (or the hats we wear -- I've heard it described both ways). At this time, I wear the hats of wife, mother, daughter, sister, granddaughter, sister-in-law, aunt, daughter-in-law, niece and most recently, great-aunt. Personally, I'm liking the great-aunt label. For one thing, I've already been declared a success. (For some reason, I'm "great," and the baby's only one. He doesn't even know how "great" I am yet!)

If we look at all our roles as women, it's a little overwhelming. I would like to be known as a "great" wife, a "great" mother, a "great" daughter, etc., but earning the titles to those roles takes a great deal of work, time and commitment. I don't mind though. If I think something is important enough, I definitely will try to do the work, take the time and make the commitment... the commitment to try to be "great" in all my roles... not just my role as Matthew's great-aunt.

My nephew, Zac, is ten years old and is a great lover of all pies made of pumpkin. It's his favorite. It is the one dessert we have at any family gathering simply because Zac loves pumpkin pies. I baked the pumpkin pie on the sophistimom blog a few weeks back, and took one to Zac. He wasn't home at the time, so when I handed it to my sister I said, "Tell Zac I made this for him."

She laughed and said, "Oh, you want the credit, right?"

"Yes, I want the credit. I want him to know I made it just for him, and I took the time to bring it to his house." You see I want to be Zac's "great" aunt, too.

Beverly, my sister, thinks I just want to be his favorite aunt. In actuality, I am his only aunt. There is no competition. I'm it! However, I want to do the work, take the time and make the commitment because he's worth it. (If Katie and Brad are reading this, you know you're worth it, too!)

Talking about our roles (especially as women) always reminds me of the Proverbs 31 woman. I have to be honest and say she hasn't always been my favorite sermon topic. She's very intimidating... and her energy level is... well, let's just say when I was 12 I didn't have her energy level. But I admire her greatly, too. My Bible has a description of the Proverbs 31 woman I'd like to share with you.

"A wife of noble character wears many faces and fills many roles... roles that can change with the seasons of her life. In essence, she draws her strength from the Lord to lay down her life for those she loves. Her children adore her. Her husband cherishes her company, trusts her judgment and brags about her to all his friends. She will be remembered -- long after she is gone -- not as a woman who beautifully knit a sweater or successfully balanced a budget, but as a woman who sought the Lord first of all."

It's hard being "great" in all the roles we have. I'm going to fail time and time again, but my family is worth the work, time and commitment... and the key is in the above paragraph. It calls the Proverbs 31 woman "a woman who sought the Lord first of all." God, family, others.

This is a little something an elderly woman at our church shared with me many years ago. She asked me what day my birthday fell on (which is the 26th). She told me to look up Proverbs 31:26 and that would be "my" verse. My verse is, "She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue." WOW! I like my verse. Roxie's birthday falls on the 25th. Her verse is, "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." WOW! I like her verse, too.

I asked the woman about the people whose birthdays fall on days 1 through 9. (The Proverbs 31 woman verses begin with verse 10.) She just shrugged. "My birthday is on the 30th, so it never has bothered me." I thought that was funny, but all the same, my sympathy goes out to all those women with birthdays on days 1 through 9.

Here's your easy recipe. Roxie made it for us last night for supper... her last day off from school and she cooked supper! She's a "great" daughter!

Crock Pot Pepper Steak

You will need the following:

6 eye of round steaks
2 jars Heinz Beef Gravy (in a jar)
1 small package of mushrooms (sliced OR whole)
1 package McCormick's Beef Stew Seasoning (in an envelope)
1 yellow bell pepper (cut into strips -- no seeds)
1 red bell pepper (same as above)
1 green bell pepper (same as above)

Actually, I use four peppers (two red, one yellow, one green). Just use two of your favorite and one each of the other two.

1. Mix 1 jar of the gravy and seasoning in the bottom of the crock pot.

2. Put the eye of round steaks on top of the gravy. Salt and pepper.

3. Add the pepper strips and the mushrooms.

4. Pour second jar of gravy on top.

5. Cook on high for four to five hours (or until meat falls apart on the fork -- very tender).

6. Serve over a bed of white rice.

That's it. Easy AND delicious.

You should only have to add one thing to the meal vegetable-wise because you have the peppers and mushrooms for those in your family who will eat them. Also, the rice is delicious with the pepper gravy. NOTE: Even though all of my kids do not eat the mushrooms and peppers, they all LOVE the flavor of the steak.

Tune in tomorrow for a fun kid date. It will be a surprise for your little one... as well as you! Talk to you Wednesday.