Hello, dears! Well, here it is: The Easiest Recipe. I mean it. Hands down so easy even I couldn’t possibly mess this one up. There are only two ingredients you need. Tell me you can get any easier than that. Of course, this is a blog, and well if I want this to be found in a search I have to find ways to fill this article. I do not know how I am going to do this except to tell you, that even with all of the cooking and the success with the meals, I still do not like cooking, it is still one of those tasks I just do not like. This, of course, followed closely by how I do not like housework. Now, it’s important to understand that because one does not like cooking, one must still do the task in a palatable manner in order to see that everyone does not mutiny.

So first a little background. There was a roast in my freezer, actually two of them, and of course, I had forgotten to take them out of the freezer. Well, this poses all kinds of problems for timing and some of you are probably chuckling at what should have been well planned in advance. All I can say in my defense is that when one hates to cook all the planning in the world can be for naught because one even avoids the planning of a meal if at all possible. It’s like knowing that I need to plan for it for shopping purposes, but then forgetting it later on. After all, forgetting is easy. Cooking not so much. At least for me.

So when I discovered that there was no other choice for dinner I decided it was time to use this recipe. There is very little prep work involved, which is, of course, a very big plus for me! It’s like that old saying, “Keep It Simple, Stupid.”

That might be all the padding this article can take, so I will get on with the point of my story. Oh, real quick, though, I also wanted to mention that I found I had a gallon of frozen kale and was able to use another recipe from Ms. Peg Bracken. I made her Spinach Surprise substituting kale for spinach! Both turned out well, and the kids actually wanted more. So I will also be sharing the vegetable recipe with this too. So today you get two recipes for the reading of one. Can’t beat that, can you?

Sweep Steak*

Serves 4-6
2-3 pound round steak or pot roast

1 package of an onion-soup mix (the dry type)

Now what you are going to do is place the roast on a piece of aluminum foil big enough to wrap the roast all nice and cozy. Before you wrap the aluminum foil around the roast open the dry onion soup mix (scissors might be important for this). You don’t need to wrap it too tight though, because maybe an hour before the roast is finished you might want to add potatoes and carrots before continuing on with the cooking. I didn’t have potatoes or carrots at the time, which is why I decided on the Spinach Surprise. Anyway, if you remembered to have a thawed roast early enough, you can pop this in the oven wrapped in foil at 200 for nine hours. Or you can cook it at 300 for 3 hours.

By the way, here is the recipe for Spinach Surprise (or Kale).
4 Servings
1 package of frozen chopped Spinach

¼ cup chopped onion

4 Tablespoons butter

Pinch of salt

½ cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vinegar

Substituting Kale for the spinach is the same amount equivalent to the frozen spinach. First, you will have to cook the spinach with the onion. Then you will add the drained spinach and onion to melted butter and stir it all around. Then add the salt and sour cream still stirring and mixing it all together. Lastly, stir in the vinegar and serve while it is hot.

I also had some garlic toast on hand and cooked that up to go with the meal and it was very good. Not a drop was leftover. I do have to double recipes around my home, that’s because I feed a small army to include two teenaged boys. I think that when boys become teens they develop a hollow leg. They are almost always hungry, they sometimes remind me of that video game Pac-Man.

Anyway, as I said, there were no leftovers of anything and there was still room for dessert,

Stay tuned for the next installment of the journey through time and cookbook, where our intrepid, cranky housewife gains a better appreciation for simplicity in cooking. Have we settled on the fact she may never love cooking? Is there a cure for this malaise? In the meantime, be “Flamazing” friends and let me know what you think of this simple meal.

**Bracken, P. (1960). The I hate to cook book. (pg. 5). New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.