Elizabeth's failed attempt on the short ribs

My short rib attempt was a failure...

I realized that I failed for the following four reasons: (1) time, (2) money, (3) ingredients, (4) knowledge.

TIME - I feel like I have no time when it comes to cooking...and typically spend about 30 minutes total in the kitchen preparing and cleaning up food. Between working 9 hours a day and sleeping 10 hours - the remaining 5 are typically spent with reality TV and at the gym. I thought by making these on a Sunday I would devote more time...and I tried...I really tried...but I am lazy and so opted for cutting out most of the time intensive steps and just throwing everything in a crock pot, crossing my fingers, and hoping it would turn out ok.

MONEY - holy cow - fresh herbs are an arm and a leg. I opted for dried. Wine...just not in the budget. And I don't know if it is the local Winco or what, but the meat was really expensive. It cost us $15 bucks for 10 short ribs. That is a long cry from the typical 5 dollars a week we spend on meat (frozen chicken in a bag anyone?)

INGREDIENTS - The local grocery store did not have beef stock (I did beef broth...is that the same thing?), leeks, fennel, or fresh herbs.

KNOWLEDGE - Matt, who does most of the cooking these days, read the recipe and said it was way too complex for him. I couldn't seem to figure it out either. Ina will be so disappointed that her "easy" category of recipes had us both scratching heads and pretty much clueless...

Elizabeth's made up version of Ina Garten's short ribs:

(1) Brown short ribs in oil in a frying pan
(2) place carrots, celery, onion, garlic in crock pot. Pour in some orange juice (I didnt have any grape juice or wine)
(3) Place short ribs over veggies. Throw in some salt, pepper, dried rosemary and thyme. Add a can of beef broth. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.

I took the juice from the meat and made a simple gravy and served it all with mashed potatoes and fruit.

Matt's consensus: "This just tastes like meat"
My consensus: It was way too fatty.

Lesson learned: Follow the recipe and find the right ingredients. Sorry Erin - I am hoping I fair better in the baking section...I seem to have a bit more propensity for that since the kitchenaide does most of the work.