Beef Stew

On May 8th, I made a crock pot meal.  In the weeks since, food has not been my friend and I've been avoiding it at all costs (that's not always a good thing.)  Thomas loved it and I may have loved it at a different time...

1/4 c flour
1 lb stew meat
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 can diced tomatoes in juice (don't drain)
3 potatoes, diced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped onion
celery [didn't use]
1 garlic clove [didn't have, used garlic powder]
1 tsp dried thyme leaves [or Italian Seasoning]
chopped carrots

Combine 1/4 cup flour, salt, pepper in a resealable plastic food storage bag.  Add beef, close bag, and shake bag to coat the beef.  Place floured-covered stew meat in the crock pot. Add remaining ingredients.  Stir and cook on low for 8-12 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.

Before serving, turn slow cooker to high, combine a little flour (about 1 T) and water (about 2 T) and stir until a smooth paste.  Stir into the stew as as a thickener, cover and cook until desired consistency.

Recipe adapted from: Fix It Quick™ Favorite Name Brand™: Slow Cooker. "The Best Beef Stew".  Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International, 2004. 112.

Beef Stroganoff

Yesterday we were watching Zonya Health Bites (on KBYU), where her featured recipe was crock-pot beef stroganoff.  Thomas commented that he wanted that for dinner.  He went to the grocery store to get some beef.  He cut up the roast and an onion.  We followed the recipe, except I only added one cup of light sour cream at the end.  It was pretty good, a little bland, but a filling meal.  I know that I've been making too many meatless meals when Thomas craves meat!

1 can cream of mushroom soup (healthy request)
1 can beef broth (reduced sodium)
1 can (4 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained
3 T cornstarch
3/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/3 cup Marsala wine (optional)
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
Stir together in a slow cooker.

1 large onion, diced
2.5 lbs lean top round or sirloin steak, well trimmed of fat, cubed
Add into the soup mixture

Cook on high for four to five hours or on low for nine to ten hours.

About 20 minutes before serving
*stir 1-1/2 cups of light sour cream in the slow cooker
*boil water, cook 12 oz. whole wheat pasta
     *add frozen vegetables about five minutes before pasta is finished
Drain cooked pasta and vegetables, plate beef stroganoff on top
{I found salt and pepper is needed, especially if you didn't add salt in the slow cooker.}

Source: www.zonya.com. Lickety-Split Meals. "Beef Stroganoff over Noodles." http://www.zonya.com/pdf/recipes/Beef_Stroganoff.pdf

Becky's Classic Crock Pot Chili

Double batch of chili!

Perfect comfort food.  Healthy.  A good toddler food.  Fast and easy, you just need at least three hours for the crockpot to do its thing.  I'm talking 'bout my own spin on veggie chili.  We love this chili!

Recipe to make a DOUBLE batch of crock pot chili:

2 cans of diced tomatoes
4 cans of beans, garbanzo; black; kidney (drained and rinsed)
1 can corn (drained)
1 cup (or more) frozen green beans
2 or 3 T chili powder
1 T Italian seasoning
2 tsp (to taste) garlic powder
2 tsp (to taste) onion powder
1 tsp sugar
others: black pepper, chopped onion, dried instant onions

Stir all contents together in a crock pot (slow cooker).  Place lid on and leave cooking on low for 5 hours or on high for about 3 hours.  After served in individual bowls, top with cheese, sour cream or anything hot and spicy!

Yum!

My First Roast!

Yesterday, I woke up at 7:20 to get my first pot roast started.  I washed off the eye of roast and patted it dry-- (the best recommendation is using chuck eye). I heated up the skillet with olive oil while I rubbed kosher salt, black pepper and garlic powder on my roast.  By the time that was finished, the skillet was nice and hot, ready for the meat.  It sizzled.  For about 10 minutes, I seared the meat until it was brown.  It already smelled delicious.  Then I transferred my roast to the crock pot for 10 hours.  I poured a can of French Onion Soup over it.  The crock pot's setting was on low.  Around noon, I turned it over, so I put the setting up to high for a half hour to get the heat going again.  Around 3:30, I chopped up some red potatoes and added them to the pot.  At 6:00 everything was done; the potatoes and roast were moist and tender.  After moving the meat and potatoes to another dish, I poured in some flour (that's right-- I didn't measure!), whisked it, and turned the crock pot to high.  Not the smartest thing to do because the crock pot takes a while to boil.  I placed the meat and potatoes dish in the oven in the meantime.  After the wait, we had some good gravy!  Yum!  That is the story of cooking my first pot roast.  And it was easier than I thought it would be!

The finished product

The presentation

Thomas' plate, he added a lot of gravy to his

My plate

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I made this Pot Roast recipe three times since this post.  I even made it twice in January (2011), the third time adding Italian Seasoning and not much garlic powder at all (Jan 16th), but the fourth time making it on Friday the 28th, I couldn't find French Onion Soup in the pantry or storage.  So I combined a can of beef broth and a can of Cream of Mushroom Soup with Roasted Garlic.  No onion flavor this time.  It was very good!  Not as tender, but it didn't stay in the crock pot nearly as long as usual (about 7-1/2 hours).

A Slooow Cooked Dinner

This is the second crock pot recipe I've made in a six month period. The first was chili, and on Friday night I tried my hand at chicken. Really easy, very tender, lots of flavor and Thomas-approved! We put this on a bed of rice (tends to be our favorite) and I ground black pepper on top instead of cheese.

Campbell's Lemon Chicken (Fix it Quick: Favorite Brand Name, 2004)
2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) CAMPBELL'S Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup or 98% Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 cup cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
8 large carrots, thickly sliced (about 6 cups)
8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts halves (about 2 pounds)
8 cups hot cooked egg noodles
Grated Parmesan cheese

Combine the first six ingredients in a slow cooker then add the chicken.  Stir to cover chicken with the soup mixture.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours or until chicken is done.  Excellent with egg noodles or rice and sprinkle with cheese or top with salt and pepper.  Yield 8

Crockpot Chili Success

Since the last post, we have made the chili recipe (no meat) twice, and both times it has been delicious!

Double-Hearty, Double-Quick Veggie Chili

Crockpot Chili! This recipe is from Fix It Quick Favorite Brand Name Slow Cooker book. It's an easy recipe, but obviously from the picture I didn't have all the ingredients, thus did my own thing, so it turned out to be less veggie and con carne. But it's delicious!
***
2 cans (15 1/2 ounces each) dark kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 package (16 ounces) frozen bell pepper stir-fry mixture or 2 bell peppers, chopped
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with peppers, celery and onions
3 tablespoons chili pepper or to taste
2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
sour cream
chopped cilantro leaves

1. In colander, combine beans, frozen pepper mixture and corn. Run under cold water until beans are well rinsed. Shake off excess water and place in slow cooker. If using fresh bell peppers, add 1 small onion, chopped.
2. Add tomatoes, chili powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin and sugar. Cover, cook on HIGH 3 hours or on LOW 5 hours.
3. Stir in salt, remaining 1/2 teaspoon cumin and olive oil. Serve with sour cream and cilantro.
Makes 4 to 6 servings
***
Kitchen Hint: On preparation for crockpot cooking...
"Keep perishable foods, such as meats, poultry,
fish, and vegetables, refrigerated until preparation
and cooking time. If you opt to cut up vegetables or
meats the night before you're planning to cook them,
be sure to package each different item separately
and store in the refrigerator."
(http://www.momsmenu.com/cgi-bin/tips.cgi?display:1097851649-15434.txt)