Simply Homemade~ Beef Stew

This is one of my family's absolute favorite winter time meals and one I grew up on as a kid.  It's so easy, requires few ingredients, and the best part- it is a slow cooker meal that require no attention all day until about 30 minutes before you are ready for dinner.  It takes about 4 hours on high or 6 on low. I make this on nights we have sports, Scouts, or drama classes.  Last night I made it for my husband and daughters so they could eat while I was at my Brownie meeting.  I made a bowl for myself when I got home and it was perfect for warming me up after being out in the cold.

Ingredients:

1lb stew beef

1 medium onion diced

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4-6 carrots, sliced

4 stalks celery, sliced

3-4 medium potatoes, chopped.  

1/4 cup flour 

water

Salt and pepper to taste

I didn't include a picture of the raw stew beef because raw stew beef is unappetizing.

Directions:

1. Heat about a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large skillet.  Add your diced onions and your stew  beef.  Season with salt and pepper and let cook until the meat is browned on the outside and the onions are translucent.

2. While the meat and onions are browning, prepare your carrots and celery and place them in the bottom of your slow cooker.  Don't cut the potatoes- those get added later in the cooking process.

3. Once the meat is browned, cover with water.  This will help to de-glaze the pan, and to make a a broth for the stew.  Let cook until it starts to simmer.  

4. Pour the stew beef, onions, and water into the slow cooker.  Add additional water if needed to make sure all the meat and veggies are covered.  Season with additional salt and pepper.  Let cook  for 4 hours to 6 hours.

5. About 30 minutes before you are ready to eat, add in your peeled and diced potatoes.  The smaller the pieces, the faster they will cook.  Once you can break them up with a fork, they are done.  

6.  Thicken the stew by combining flour and water to make a paste and adding that to your stew.  You can make this as thick or as thin as you like.  We prefer ours thicker than soup so I usually use about a 1/4 cup flour mixed with roughly 1/2 cup water and whisked into a smooth consistency.  Make sure there are no lumps in your paste. (You could also use cornstarch instead of flour, I have  used it for this before)

  Add it to your stew and stir well.

You will need to add more salt, especially since you do not use a premade broth.  Potatoes absorb salt, and every time I make this we have to add more salt. Just be careful not to add too much.

We serve this with crusty bread and salad.  It feeds a family of 5 easily with leftovers for the next day. I can't wait for lunch today!

What is one of your favorite winter time soups?   

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

If you've been following previous posts or my Facebook page, you know that earlier this week my slow cooker died on me, in the middle of making dinner! My husband knows that it is my favorite kitchen appliance (aside from my coffee/cappuccino maker) and that I needed a new one ASAP. A busy Mom of 3 cannot live without a slow cooker (at least this one can't!) I use it at least once a week, especially in the Fall and Winter months.

Since I had this shiny new Crock Pot to try out, I decided to try out a brand new recipe in it for dinner the other night. (After all, who can resist trying out a brand new kitchen gadget?)
I am always on the search for new slow cooker recipes, and came across this site in my search. From here I found a recipe for a super easy BBQ chicken. The only problem, I didn't have all the ingredients on hand. So I decided to use what I did have, items that I felt were similar and would have the same results.

Ingredients:
4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups Barbecue sauce (I use Sweet Baby Rays because it's the best!)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp.smoked sea salt
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder


Directions:
Wash the chicken. I ALWAYS wash chicken before I use it.
Mix together the barbecue sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, sea salt, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder.


Place the chicken in the slow cooker and pour the barbecue sauce mixture over it.


Set the slow cooker on low for 4-5 hours and let it cook.

I served this with my (Almost) homemade baked beans and Trader Joes Organic Foursome vegetable medley. Next time I might make up a skillet cornbread to go with it too!

I actually left this in the slow cooker for longer than intended. We had to run out to do a couple very quick errands last night before dinner and got stuck in traffic for an hour! But I am happy to say it was still very good, and had not dried out at all. It just didn't leave me any extra time to take a good picture of the finished product.

So this is what you get. I had cut my daughters' meat on my plate first, not thinking about needing to take a picture. So it's an embarrassingly bad photo, but I promise it was DELICIOUS!


Here are a couple of my other slow cooker recipes with many more to come soon!:
Slow Cooker Cinnamon Applesauce

Coffee Braised Pot Roast

Slow Cooker Cinnamon Applesauce

Every season seems to have it's signature fruit or vegetable, that one food that says to us that season is here. For me, Fall's signature fruit is the Apple. I know apples are available all year long, but we don't really use them in cooking in other months like we do in the Fall. The beginning of Fall is the start of tons of tasty apple dishes- apple pie, apple crumble, pork chops with apples, baked apples, and my daughter's favorite- Homemade Apple Sauce. I am sure I will have several apple recipes to share with you over the coming month, but I thought I'd start with this one.

Last week our CSA came with a huge bag of fresh apples. I had so many (because I had also grabbed some from Trader Joes when I was there) that I needed something to do with them. My oldest asked me if I would make my cinnamon applesauce so ,of course, I did. It's so easy, and is a recipe you can definitely play around with.

Ingredients:
8 large Apples of your choice. (I used Fuji and Pink Ladies this time)
1/4-1/2 cup Water
3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar (Less if you want to cut down on the sweetness)
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice (if you want a stronger flavor)


Directions:
Peel, core, and slice all your apples. Place them in the slow cooker.



Pour in the water



Add in the brown sugar



Cinnamon




Pumpkin Pie Spice



Gently stir the apple to distribute the spices. Set Slow Cooker to low for 8 hours.


Once the apples are soft, mash them with a potato masher. If they mash easier, set to warm and serve when ready. If they don't mash easily, let cook until the apples are cooked down.





We served this warm with a roasted chicken and veggies. My daughters love it, and prefer it warm. You can also eat it cold, of course. If you like less of a cinnamon flavor, just decrease the amount you put in. It's totally up to you as to how you want this to taste.

What's one of your favorite Fall foods?

Coffee Braised Pot Roast with Roasted Veggies

My husband and I have recently started buying our beef from a private farm in West Virginia. The beef is organic, free range, grass fed beef but since it's from a private farmer and not once of these larger farms the price is excellent. And the quality- it's the best beef I have ever had in my life! I will never buy beef from a grocery store again. This time around we split a whole cow with my parents so I currently have a deep freezer full to the top of several different cuts of beef.

Tonight I wanted to make a roast, but I never make just plain pot roast. I have a few different recipes I love ( I will share them all) but I think this is one of the best. I got it from Eating Well Magazine and it's definitely one we will be making again. The special ingredient is 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee. Since we always make coffee in the morning, this is something I always have on hand.

Ingredients:

1 arm roast ( you could use a chuck roast too)
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
2-4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water



1.Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook, turning from time to time, until well browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Place in slow cooker



2. Add onions to the pans, reduce heat to medium and cook until softened and golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and thyme; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in coffee and vinegar. Bring to a simmer. Pour over the meat in the slow cooker.



3. Set slow cooker on high for 4 hours.

4. To make gravy- bring juices from beef to a boil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Add the cornstarch mixture and cook, whisking, until the gravy thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Add salt and pepper if desired. You can strain out the onions if you want.



For variety I served this with Roasted Carrots and Cauliflower with Thyme, Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary, and a cucumber and tomato salad with a balsamic and olive oil dressing.
Carrots and cauliflower:
toss cut carrots and cauliflower with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, salt, pepper, and dried Thyme. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray and spread veggies out on sheet. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until the veggies start to brown slightly.
Red potatoes:
cut potatoes into chunks, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and either dried or fresh Rosemary. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 30-35 minutes.



(A side note for Moms- my kids both cleaned their plates tonight and even the 4 year old asked for a second helping of the meat and cauliflower so that makes this a kid friendly recipe in my book!)