Incredibly Easy Beef Stew

My sister gave me a great Crock Pot cookbook for Christmas, and tonight, i made "Easy Beef Stew" from it. And boy, was it easy! JD liked it so much he got 2 helpings. So, try it out.



1 1/2 to 2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes (i used a lot more bc i like potatoes)
4 cups baby carrots (i got a med-sized bag and used the whole thing)
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
2 8 oz cans of tomato sauce
salt & pepper to taste

i also added about 1/4 cup of water that i used to rinse the extra out of the tomato sauce cans. and i had 1/4 of a container of fresh chopped mushrooms in the fridge, so i added them in too. i used a LOT of salt and pepper bc from what i understand, when you cook something in the crock pot for that long, the seasonings get pretty lost...so, use a lot.

Combine all ingredients in crock pot, cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until veggies are tender.

this is really good with Jiffy Corn muffins.

Kay's Red Lentil Soup

Kay turned me on to this really amazing soup. it tastes almost more like chili. i put a dallop of sour cream on it too. i think it'd be good with some shredded grilled chicken on top too...

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup dried red lentils (they're the tiny orange color ones)
1 vegetable bouillon cube
3 cups water
1 cup Salsa- it can be store-bought or homemade, any variety you like
1 small can of corn kernels, drained, OR the kernels from one ear of corn
1 large tomato, diced
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. ground cumin

Put everything into a saucepan with a lid. Bring to a boil, stir & cover. Simmer on low for at least 35 minutes. The longer the better!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

...and yes, it's a yummy as it sounds...

1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup buttermilk (i just used milk tho)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup nuts if desired
a couple hands full of chocolate chips. probably about 1/2 to 3/4 cups

Move oven rack to low position so tops of pans will be in center of oven. heat to 350°. grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans.

Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. stir in eggs until well blended. add bananas, milk and vanilla. beat until smooth. sitr in flour, baking soda and salt just until moistened. stir in nuts and chips. Pour into pans.

Bake 8-inch loaves about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. cool about 2 hours before slicing. or, do like i did and burn your fingers while trying to pry it out of the pan straight from the oven, then spend 10 minutes scraping the bits out of the pan and eating them right away, thus scorching your tongue too.

Really Yummy Pot Roast

This was my first Pot Roast and man, is it good!

1 boneless beef chuck roast, 2 to 3 lbs.
4 cloves garlic, peeled and cut into slivers
4 stems fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups baby carrots
6 medium red potatoes, quartered
1 small can (6 oz.) V-8
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Cut five or six 1-inch deep slits in beef. Stuff slit with garlic and half the rosemary. Season beef with salt and pepper.

Place carrots and potatoes in bottom of slow cooker and top with the remaining rosemary. Lay beef on top of vegetables. Pour V-8 and Worcestershire sauce over beef and vegetables.

Cover and cook on low for about 5 hours. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

White Trash!

I was going to post the White Trash recipe here, but Kay did such a good job of 'step by stepping' it, that i'm just gonna link to her. after all, it's her recipe :)

Enjoy!!

AWESOME cooking videos

Martha turned me on to this cool cooking site that has videos of their recipes! whoa! and they're fun, not boring. So, check out this one for Rudolph Christmas Cookies. i bet you could change these up with Craisins and stuff too. FUN!

Katie's Famous Mac 'n Cheese Bites

Katie made these for her adorable baby boy's first birthday party, and man, were they yummy! Thought you might want to try as they make a good different appetizer/snack.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (Keep 1/2 cup of this set aside for the bread crumb mixture)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. (this is really important. definitely err on the side of overgreasing the pan, as they tend to stick to it) In a small bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, olive oil and reserved cheese; set aside.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook for about 8 minutes, it should still be a little bit firm. Remove from the heat, drain and return to the pan; stir in the butter and egg until pasta is evenly coated. Reserve 1/2 cup of sharp Cheddar cheese and stir the remaining Cheddar cheese, milk and mozzarella cheese, salt and pepper into the pasta. (Taste it before you spoon into the muffin tins to make sure that it's seasoned properly. I think that I used a little more salt)

Spoon into the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle the reserved cheese and bread crumb mixture over the tops. (I used mini muffin tins b/c I liked the shape better)

Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the topping is nicely browned. Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan. This will allow the cheese to set and they will hold their muffin shape.

The refrigerate and I've heard that they freeze well. To reheat, I just placed on a cookie sheet and warmed them up in a 350 degree oven.

Dr. Pepper Cake

My super cool neighbors brought me a mini-loaf of this awesome Dr.Pepper cake. They made it bc they had been to Dublin, TX where the original bottling plant for Dr. Pepper is. and i guess they got inspired. Anyway, it's moist and delicious!

(btw, i totally stole this recipe from another blog)

Ingredients: Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
1.5 cups mini marshmallow
3 Tbs. unsweetened coco powder
1 cup Dr. Pepper
2 eggs
1.5 cups buttermilk
1tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients: Icing
1/2 cup unsalted butter
6Tbs. Dr Pepper
3Tbs cocoa powder
1 pound icing sugar
1tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)

Method: Cake
1. Preheat the oven to 350F or 180C
2. Grease a 9x13 inch ( 23x33cm) pan
3. In a large bowl sift together the flour and baking soda, and then stir in the sugar. Set aside.
4. In a saucepan heat the butter, the marshmallow's, the cocoa and the Dr. Pepper. Stir constantly until the marshmallows and butter are melted. Do not allow to boil.
5. Pour the marshmallow mixture over the flour mixture. Mix well. and set aside.
6. In another bowl, beat the eggs until they are light and fluffy, stir in the buttermilk and vanilla extract.
7. Mix in the egg mixture with the flour mixture and mix until it is smooth.
8. Pour into the prepared pan.
9. Bake until the center of the cake springs back lightly when touched (around 50-55min).
10. Let the cake cool.

Method: Icing
1. In a saucepan combine the butter, Dr. Pepper and cocoa powder.
2. Bring to the boil over low heat, stirring constantly.
3. Remove the pan from the heat, gradually sift in the icing sugar until it is smooth, then fold in the vanilla extract and nuts.
Assembly
Put the warm icing on the cake.