What does a roast and smoothie have in common?

Nothing, except I'm writing about them together in this post - oh, and that I served carrots with both. So, after yesterday's womp-womp-womp post about how I've let the baby become the world's most adorable leech, I felt something lighthearted was in order for today. You guessed it, more food talk. Who knew?

A friend the hubs' and mine (and I? and mine? is that right? I really do have a degree in English, sometimes I just do my own thing...). Anyway...this dude we know has been nagging me to try making a roast in the slow cooker using tomato sauce (vs. the water and dry onion soup that I usually use). Since I've been rather bored with our current meal rotation, I decided to try this tomato-y roast and hope for the best. (I'm not the worlds biggest tomato fan). Apparently, we've been missing out! I threw a delicious chuck roast (sprinkled with seasoned salt) in the crockpot with carrots and chopped onions, on high for five hours (the roast was still a little frozen when I threw it in). During the last hour or hour and a half of cook-time, I tossed in two sliced zucchinis (skin on). If you add them in the beginning, they'll be destroyed. Trust me, I've done it (a lot more than once).

We had leftover brown rice on the side (the tomato-y sauce is used to gravy-up the rice). This meal is clean if you eat red meat and use a clean pasta sauce (no artificial ingredients - try an organic one!); if not, that's the only questionable part. It was SO delicious. Husband, kid, and nagging friend-approved. :)

And because I'm still pacing around on a weight-loss plateau, I figured it woudn't hurt to ramp up the fruit and veggie consumption. I knew my Ninja blender could juice, but I hadn't put it to the test yet. I threw a bunch of mixed frozen fruit, spinach, and carrots in a Ninja cup. I drizzled honey on top and added unsweetened vanilla almond milk (that's not entirely clean, I guess, but close enough for me). It was pretty ugly, but eating raw spinach, carrots and frozen fruit never tasted so good! I made one again the next day, too. You should totally try this recipe - especially if you aren't a veggie fan. This is a good way to get a couple servings in in a somewhat unconventional way.

Happy Thursday everyone, enjoy! :)