I was so happy to see the sun yesterday. Even though it was only in the low 20’s, somehow when its that cold and sunny, I think spring is right around the corner. Sadly, we still have ice and snow on the ground, and I think we have some snow in the forecast later this week. 
Saturday night I decided to make a pot roast. I chopped the veggies, seasoned and coated the roast in flour, then spent about 20 minutes searing the outside before putting it in the oven to cook for two hours.
It looks good, right? But it tasted like ass. The meat was touch, the gravy was funky, even the oven fries had no taste. I barely ate half before calling it quits. Tony always wonders why I get upset when a meal doesn’t turn out, but I have high expectations of my food, and when it doesn’t work out the way I want to, I naturally get pissed.
Yesterday was a new day though, and our squirrel Lyle is becoming more and more friendly. I swear if I let him, he would eat a peanut out of my hands.
We throw the peanuts on the table on our front deck. We now have about three regular squirrels.
So I am at the back of the house on our computer, when I see Lyle jump into our Weber grill! Once he left, I went to check it out and sure enough, he’s found a hiding spot for his nuts!
Tony and I went out to lunch and then grocery shopping. It’s pretty hilarious if you watched us shop together. Tony takes the basket and walks the aisles, and I am like the energizer bunny going to get ingredients and meeting up with him – but it works for us!
So my main focus was to redeem myself from the previous nights dinner. Our store and beef shanks on sale, so I decided to make my version of osso bucco.
Osso Bucco
- 2 beef shanks (mine were 1.5 pounds together)
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup red wine
- 2 cups beef broth
Heat a large stock pot with the olive oil over medium high heat. Salt and pepper the beef shank and dredge in flour. Sear both sides – about six minutes total. Remove from the pan. Add in the carrots, garlic and tomato past and cook, using a wooden spoon to get the browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Add the wine, and add back in the beef shanks. Pour in the beef broth and reduce the heat to low, and simmer for two hours.
On the side I made creamy polenta – 1 cup of polenta to 4 cups water. Bring the water to a boil, then add the polenta and stir, making sure it doesn’t clump up. Reduce the heat to low, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Remove from heat, add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1/3 cup shaved Parmesan cheese.
It’s a really inexpensive meat too – each package was only $2.19, and neither of us even ate half of our shank, we could have easily split one. I am going to try to incorporate the leftover meat into a Thai soup later in the week.
I used cheap wine too and it worked really well – only $3.49 for this bottle!
This turned out great – the meat was tender, the gravy was delicious. This made A LOT of polenta, but I have an idea for a polenta breakfast cake in my head for later this week – who knows, it might work!
I have to give Chobani a shout out – they sent me a case of their two new flavors, pear and banana. I’ve had the pear one, but not the banana one – I think my boss will love a strawberry banana parfait this week. 
I am happy to report that I worked out two of the three days for Lori’s Heart Healthy Weekend. Friday I swam, and Saturday I went to the gym and did a hill climb on the treadmill for 45 minutes – thanks for the motivation to move over the weekend Lori!
Off to put my shit together for the day – are you lucky enough to have today off?
And in case you are wondering what the blog title means, Tony and I always find different ways to say I love you. Yesterday I was in the kitchen and he came in and shouted “I Can’t Quit You!” and then just left the room – I laughed so hard! I can’t quit you either Tony!
Make it a great day!
haha, the squirrel hiding his nuts in the grill is funny! I’m so tired of cold I don’t know what to do…and we have been without heat for several days which SUCKS. Hopefully the stupid part came in today. And I love polenta!
I’ve actually never had Osso Bucco and have never made it because I thought I had to use veal! Going to give this one a try. THanks!
It’s funny, because I never knew that osso bucco was made with veal – ha!
Ha ha, I love it, I am totally going to get that started with Glenn and use that exact phrase. I’ll tell you what he makes of it
Both of those new chobani flavors look dee-licious. I’ll keep a look out at my grocers for them. My favorite has been the pineapple. I want to try the chocolate, but I am afraid I would be disappointed because I’d expect chocolate pudding
I hate to admit this, but I watched about 30 seconds of the gay cowboys in the mountains movie, and one of those guys said it to the other guy. I don’t hate that I watched a few seconds of the cowboys movie, I regret Biz thinking I made it up!
I had no idea that was from Broke Back Mountain – ha! I still love it though Tony! And Marie, I am loving Emry’s videos! Tell her to keep up the good work!
Aww man, that’s a bummer about the pot roast. It looks really yummy though!! I’m one of the few people who had to go to work today. I wish I was still asleep in bed though!
I know, right? It only took me like 20 minutes to drive into work today, so that’s a plus!
Never made osso bucca with beef, but it looks good. I wonder what went wrong with the roast? I’m with you though, I get pissed off when things only turn out so-so—they need to be perfectly aligned with my vision and expectations to be good.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the new yogurt flavors. Have you ever tried the Chobani kids brand? I picked up two– the chocolate chips and the orange cream on sale and I did like them, although they were a bit sweet. More of a dessert than a breakfast item in my book.
I haven’t seen the kids brand yet – is that the new “Bite?” Holy shizz, I cannot wait to make your tomato soup with puff pastry – it looked amazeballs!
You and Tony are adorable! I love that
. Those fries look SO good…can’t believe they didn’t turn out- bummer!! Glad the second meal was a success. The new chobani flavors rock. I’m obsessed with the banana
I am going to be making banana granola pancakes tomorrow with the banana flavor – I’ll post the recipe Wednesday if it works out.
I don’t blame you for getting upset about a meal coming out bad. Wasted time and money!
Thank you – I had plans with the leftover meat, but it was wasted.
Thanks again for hosting the heart health weekend this past weekend – it got me to the gym on a Saturday!
I hate it when a recipe doesn’t turn out! The osso bucco looks amazing though. Love your squirrel friends and it’s so cute that he hit his peanuts on your grill.
If we let him, I think our friend Lyle the squirrel would come in our house – he nearly took a peanut out of my hand, but then Tony reminded me of a little thing called rabies, and I took my hand back!
Tony is definitely a character
I have to say I hate when something doesn’t turn out the way I want it to!
I am so proud of you walking in those cold temps Suzi – inspirational!!
I love that you named the squirrel Lyle. And that he hides his nuts on your grill. Cute!! I get grumpy when a meal I make doesn’t turn out either. I can totally relate. Have a wonderful Monday Vat.
Loved seeing your ferry pictures from Victoria – one day I’ll make it to your neck of the woods – we will be thrifting fools together!
Oh my gosh, that squirrel is too cute! Love his nut-storage plan…maybe he wants you to grill them for him?
That new Chobani looks great, I’ll have to be on the lookout!
I am laughing so hard over ihere. I can just picture big’ol bear of a man Tony walking in the kitchen, yelling that and leaving. OMGosh that is hysterical. And timed so perfectly. I love it. And I love you guys. I like having friends that are in love like us. You guys get IT, as do we. SO FUN. And ask Tony if he minds if I do that to Pooldad one day. I KNOW he’ll laugh too. [I don't know Biz. Is there enough emphasis in that paragraph? I don't think I used enough capital letters to get my point across. What do you think? ::sarcastic drip:: giggle]
Had to skip the Osso Busco recipe. Sigh. Don’t cook with alcohol. And all the really good stews, soups and sauces have it. Ah well, hope it was yummy nummy.
Hugs to you my friend. Love, Skip
I would love for you to shout that out to Pooldad! You guys will laugh til you pee your pants!
Haha Tony kills me. I bet you were rolling! The banana Chobani sounds so good! It’s actually warm down here in central il today…but we have rain coming through and snow later in the week as well. I’m ready for spring too!!!
I love your squirrel and that you named him-BWAH! Maybe he’ll turn into a house pet?
Your osso bucco looks outstanding, you really redeemed yourself! I wish I had today off but I volunteered to work today. It’s better overall but still, an extra day would have been nice. And Biz, I can’t quit you! 
Thanks V! Hey, do you get extra pay then?? Hope so! Loved your key lime pie – I had no idea it was a no bake pie either!
My husband looooooves Osso Busco. I should be a good wife and try this one out!
Your ‘i love you’ story made me laugh. I do something similar with my oldest. We always come up with the oddest questions….’would you still love me if I smelled really bad?’ ‘would you still love me if I didn’t have teeth?’ ‘would you still love me if I was just a stump and you had to carry me around?’
The answer is typically, yes.
Courtney, that is too cute. Can’t wait to try your buffalo chicken pizza – I heart anything buffalo!
I am not lucky enough to have today off
Your Osso Bucco looks amazing.
Love the story behind the title of this post. Too cute.
I”m the same way about getting upset when a meal doesn’t work out. Bob doesn’t quite understand . . . it’s because I put a lot of time and effort into making our food, so it’s frustrating when it seems as if it’s all for nothing. I say “it seems” because I know there’s probably a learning experience of some sort I can take from it . . . but still.
But still is right – hope you had today off to enjoy the temps before the rain came in!
Maybe Lyle is trying to tell you something? I’m thinking he wants them roasted or Bizified!
So John, would Bizified mean spicy??!! Hope you are liking your new job!
I am dying for that beet hummus recipe. (Sorry, I am being annoying about that!) Lyle is so cute and sorry about your pot roast, but the osso bucco sounds delicious!
http://mybizzykitchen.com/2010/04/18/bsi-beets/
Here you go . . . I’ll leave the link on your blog too
Lyle is killing me with his cuteness! He’s like the Easter Bunny, hiding his treasures like that.
I loved your AIM post today Shelley – you should be so proud of how far you’ve come – and tell Jeff congrats on his half!! Is it me, or does he wear a lot of yellow shirts??!!
He does wear a lot of yellow/neon green shirts – they are best for running in the dark, which is when he does most of his running. Plus it makes him pretty easy to pick out in a race, lol!
I get the same way about my meals that don’t turn out. It’s such a huge bummer! Not only are your expectations let down, but you also have to sit and eat a crappy meal! Or waste money!
Be careful with Lyle! We had a squirrel in Orland that I named “Nutsack” and he was always out on our patio, I threw scraps out there and would watch from the window and snap pics. Well….. Nutsack bored into our shed roof, which rotted out parts of it. We had to replace and reshingle it when we were trying to sell. And once we got inside one of the shed walls had to be replaced b/c he at through that. He also ate through the electrical wire for the light in there too. AND had babies in there. I had to put them in a box with a warm hot water bottle until they were rescued. So… moral of the story. They’re cute- but can also cause a LOT of damage.
Okay first of all Christina, the fact that you named the squirrel Nutsack is killing me! But seriously, thanks for the heads up, I never thought about that!
I am loving all your pictures on facebook – you are so creative!
I have high expectations for my meals,too, and really don’t like it if things don’t work out as I had planned. Glad the osso bucco was a success!
It sounds like we shop in similar ways…
Have a great week!
oh that osso bucco looks so good. i’ve never tried it, i need to put it on the list! the squirrels are so cute, i love the little hiding spot.
you and tony are adorable. my hubby and i are always trying to think of the most unflattering nicknames for each other. things like love chunks and honey muffin top. the latest was love butter. not exactly appealing but it makes us laugh!
Tony’s comment made me smile.
I hate it too when a recipe/meal doesn’t turns out to what I expected. It ruins my meal too.
Glad Sunday’s dinner was much better.
My boyfriend & I joking say “I tolerate you” instead of “I love you” all the time. I can’t even remember why we started it, but it’s become our thing.