Roasted Beets and Carrots with Goat Cheese Dressing

Found this gem in Food & Wine magazine.
The reason you're getting a picture of the magazine is I did not separate everything out and the beets pretty much dyed the whole dish purple and it's not looking so appetizing!
But it was still so tasty!
And I have to say this post goes out to Sarah, my friend who has a love affair with beets just like me!

*I have amended a few things from the original recipe.





1 bunch golden beets with tops
1 bunch red beets with tops
3 T. EVOO
3 large garlic cloves, halved
Salt and Pepper
1 bunch carrots
1 T. sherry vinegar
1 large shallot, minced
1 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 425º. Peel the beets and cut them into 1 in wedges. Discard the tough stems and coarsely chop the leaves. Slice the carrots into 1 in pieces.
Coat each vegetable separately (to keep the beets from dying everything) with evoo salt and pepper and lay out on a baking sheet. Add 2 halves of garlic to each section of veggies on the sheet.
Roast for about 40 minutes in the oven.
In a small bowl whisk the vinegar and 1 T. evoo, season with S&P and add in the goat cheese.
In a skillet heat the remaining evoo and saute the shallot and beet leaves until tender, about 6 minutes. Season with S&P.
The recipe says to combine everything together and toss once or twice. I would still say just layer everything and drizzle the dressing on top - or have each person drizzle on their portion.

Enjoy!

This Year

I've resolved in 2012 to cut my cost of living as much as possible.
So I wanted to show you what I call my Do It Yo' Self Shelf!
I can't really say I did it myself, I should say it was "Dad can you come over and hang a shelf for me?"... But who's keeping track of that!?

I wanted some Pottery Barn shelves that were super expensive (to me) for Christmas and I didn't get them. So after contemplating do I really want to spend money to have particle board shipped to me from China..? I thought NO!
So I went in our shed and found an old piece of molding from the old kitchen before we renovated.
Here is the before and after.
It's not the straightest piece of wood but it is centered over the TV I promise!
Dad threw it up with a few screws and then I was able to set a few things that had basically been sitting on the floor for months!I'm still going to paint it, but it does have quite the rustic charm right now!
Total cost of the project? $0
LOVE THIS!

I'm doing several other things - if anyone is interested...
We've cancelled our cable, re-financed the house, cancelled our cleaning service (this gives me lots of apprehension but I'm determined I can clean this place like those amazing women!)
We're eating in more, using cash for all food purchases, and I really hope to grow some of our own food this year!
And I also recommend this book. I've enjoyed it so far, lots of good cost cutting ideas! And I checked it out from the library - even better!
I also wanted to tell you about the prints up there.
Toomer's Corner after Auburn won the National Championship.A silhouette of Greer that a good friend gave to me for Greer's first birthday. I get teary almost every time I look at it. Sweetest present ever for a new mommy!Print from a thrift store that I just love.