Classic Beef Stew

Happy Tuesday, Kitschies!  It was a busy day yesterday - finished the majority of my Christmas shopping (it's amazing what a difference shopping alone on a Monday morning can make), made a slow cooker dinner (not this one), got my new stove and finished all the laundry!  Now the fun of wrapping can begin.  Blech.

The weather is cooling down quite a bit (a damned lot) and that means it's time to drag out the slow cooker.  I try to use the slow cooker at least once a week during the winter.  I come home to a cooked meal and, more often than not, we have leftovers for the next day.  I was looking for something new to try and I found this recipe at Real Simple during one of my hunts.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew
4 lbs bottom round, well trimmed and cut to 2-inch pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup olive oil
2 large onions, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 6-oz can tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
1 lb potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 lb peeled baby carrots
2 cups beef broth
1 Tbsp Kosher salt
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 cup frozen peas, thawed

Coat the beef in the flour. Heat a few tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the meat, a few pieces at a time, adding more oil as necessary. Transfer to a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker.

Add the onions to the skillet and cook over medium heat until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and coat the onions; transfer to the cooker. 

Pour the wine into the skillet and scrape up any browned bits; add to the cooker. Stir in the potatoes, carrots, broth, salt, thyme, and bay leaf.

Cover and cook on low heat for 7 1/2 hours, or on high for 4 hours. Add the peas and heat through.

NOTES:  I reduced this recipe, basically, by half and still had PLENTY.   I didn't measure out the carrots or the peas - just added what looked like enough.  And I didn't thaw the peas - I just adjusted the heat to high and cooked for about 30 minutes.

As with most stews, this was better the second time around.  I may or may not have added a little more wine than the recipe called for.  I remember Nate ate this, but I don't remember if Mason did (he's been *super* picky about eating lately). 

Do you have a favorite go-to slow cooker recipe for when the weather turns chilly?

Easy Cheesy

Good day, Kitschies!  I hope you enjoyed Easter without too much of a sugar coma.  I have some great pics from Easter but I've been super duper busy and haven't had time to do much of anything other than the necessities (at home AND at work), so I'll post Easter pics soon. 

I've been a bad blogger the last couple days...but I have a good reason for that.  My co-worker is out for the next 2 weeks (!) to spend time with her daughter, SIL and her brand new grandson!  I'm so excited for her but that means I'm by myself at work to cover both docs and to say that it gets busy is an understatement.  So, if I'm not commenting on your blog as often as usual, of if you don't see as many posts from me as usual, don't think I've ran away.  I will check blogs as time permits and I will squeeze in a post as often as I can. 

It's lunchtime here at the clinic and it's pretty quiet.  I can smell lunch in the break room (thank jeebus for drug reps) and instead of sitting back there and chatting it up, I decided I'd sit here with you and share a recipe with you.

I don't know if you've seen these at the grocery store, but every time I go down the spice aisle, I stop by the McCormick Recipe Inspiration section.  I have a lot of spices, but I don't have them all.  And I don't want to buy an entire new spice for one recipe.  That's where these little kits come in handy.  Each pack has pre-measured, individually packaged spices in the amounts specific to the recipe which is included on a recipe card on the back.  Simple, right?  Right.  I picked up this pack months ago, I just never have the recipe on hand to share with you.  I finally found it online, so now I can!

Quesadilla Casserole 
by McCormick Recipe Inspirations
2 tsp chili powder*
1 tsp ground cumin*
1 tsp minced garlic*
1/2 tsp dried oregano*
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes*
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup onion, chopped
16 oz tomato sauce
15 oz can pinto beans, drained
8.75 oz can corn, drained
4.5 oz chopped green chile, drained
6 flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

*included with pack

Brown beef and onion in large skillet on med-high heat; drain. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn and green chiles; mix well. Stir in all of the spices except Red Pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes. Add Red Pepper to taste, if desired.

Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking dish sprayed with no-stick cooking spray. Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed. Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef mixture and cheese.

Bake at 350F for 15 minutes or until heated through. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

NOTES:  I didn't have pinto beans on hand so I used black beans instead.  

Pre-measured and just what I needed for this recipe.  Just be sure to look at all the needed added ingredients - I usually forget to look and end up making a run for the store when I should be making dinner!

It *looks* good, but it was a little bland for my taste.  I'll definitely be adding some more spices when I make this again.  My Mom says it's because I live in New Mexico now and have singed off all my taste buds with all the green chile we eat.  LOL  And if I remember correctly, Nate ate his helping...don't remember if Mason did, or even if he was eating table foods at this point.  Either way, I will be making this again.  It's fast and it tastes pretty good (with added spices, of course). 

OK...gotta get back to work.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.  As a parting gift...THIS is what I'm listening to at work at the moment.  Love this song...fast forward to a little after a minute to really get in to it.

Did Somebody Say Ranch?

Holy shitballs, people!  What the heck happened to the day?!  It was super chaotic today.  First, my cell phone beeped at 6:10 this morning.  It was my co-worker telling me she wasn't coming in because she's sick.  Not a big deal; I'd rather her stay home with her sickness than share it with me.  Second, I get to work and I hear that one of the other medical assistants isn't coming in because she had to take her daughter to the doctor.  Nice.  So, I'm short-handed on my end of the world and now the *other* end of the world is minus an MA.  Luckily there was somebody else to cover because I was really busy with my two docs.  THIRD...the powers that be (read: the docs) decided to fire one of the front desk girls and we had a replacement starting this morning.  This means the front desk is doubly short-handed because one regular is gone and the other regular has to train the noob.  *sigh*  And add in there one of the new practitioners coming down to my station every 30 minutes to tell me about something he wants me to do with his EMR form (I told him he's not allowed to come to my part of the world anymore - he's used all his passes for the week.  Somehow I don't think that matters).  This was all before lunch.  Somehow, it all kept flowing and I got a lunch.  A 45-minute lunch!  The afternoon was much better but at that point, I realized I forgot my flash drive with all my blog pics.  Can I go home yet?  I finished out the afternoon and got out only 15 minutes later than usual.  The boys were pretty quiet on the way home, which is good because I am exhausted!  So, here I am...it's 8:15.  The boys are bathed and in bed.  The hubs has gone to Planet Ego.  My nails are done.  Glee was a repeat.  I have to do a load of laundry and finish this post.  And then...I don't care if it's before 9...I'm going to bed. 

Enough of that.  On to the food!

A couple weeks ago, the hubs decided that he wanted to try a new recipe.  The hubs is really a good cook.  He just doesn't like to make things that require a recipe.  So I was pretty excited when he said HE wanted to try something new.  He went digging through a bunch of my recipe books, stickied the pages he was interested in, and then passed them over to me for my opinion.  You know...as long as he wants to make dinner and it doesn't contain fish or lamb, it's all good with me.  We both agreed on a promising looking recipe from Best Burgers, a recipe book we got who knows when.  I don't know if we've ever used a recipe out of it...until now.

Ranch Burger
1 1/4 lbs lean ground beef
3/4 cup prepared Ranch dressing
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup minced onion
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

In a large bowl, combine beef, salad dressing, bread crumbs, onion, salt and pepper.  Shape into 6 patties.  Grill over medium-hot coals 5-6 minutes until no longer pink in center (160*).  Place on sesame seed buns with lettuce, tomato and red onion slices, if desired.  Serve with a generous amount of additional Ranch dressing.

Choppin' the onions.  I don't know what it is, but the hubs has a *thing* for red onion.  I'm not complaining, but that's the first thing he grabs for when I tell him I need an onion.

The mix.  Bread crumbs, Ranch dressing and onions.  I don't have anything against bread crumbs, but they don't belong in a burger.  They just don't.

The blob 'o meat.  When I saw this, all I could think of is this...

Meatwad a la Aqua Team Hunger Force.  No, I've never watched it, but there was a time when his image was inescapable on the internets.

All prettily shaped in to patties.  3 adult-size and 2 little kid-size. 

I don't know if it was the dressing, but these got the Cajun treatment.  And for once, it wasn't me who burned the chicken.

The finished product.  Isn't it pretty?  We had some spicy fried onion petals for added spiciness (we also added a piece of pepper jack to the adult burgers).

Now...as I was saying...bread crumbs do not belong in a burger.  Meatballs?  Sure.  Meatloaf?  Sometimes.  Burgers?  Never.  The bread crumbs made the burgers all mushy and more like a big flattened meatball than a burger.  Next time I'll opt out of the bread crumbs and change the prepared Ranch dressing for Ranch seasoning...the kind in a packet.  Overall, I wasn't too impressed with the flavor of these.  Or the consistency.  On a scale of 1 to 5, I'd give these a 2, but with a few changes, these could be 4-star burgers!

Have you ever tried a recipe that looked good on paper but ended up being less than stellar?  Do you rely on recipes or do you wing it?  I'm definitely a recipe kind of gal.  It takes me a LONG time to be comfortable enough with a recipe before I try to mix things up.

Dinner in a Flash

Good evening, Kitschies!  We've made it through another day and now I'm tired.  I stayed up too late playing Rock Band (by myself) last night and now I'm having to prop my eyelids up with toothpicks.  It wasn't an overly busy day at work; I think it's the time change.  And staying up til midnight probably didn't help.  So, the goal tonight is to do this post, clean the kitchen and settle down to watch some TV.  The house is nice and quiet so I hope to get it all finished by 10.  *fingers crossed*

Tonight I have a great quick recipe to share with you.  We usually have all these ingredients on hand and it really is a quick fix, so we have it kinda frequently.  The came from Campbell's Quick and Easy Recipes - I picked it up a LONG time ago with a gift card from my grandparents.  Funny I can't remember exactly when I got the book, but I remember how I got it.  Strange how our memories are so selective. 

Quick and Easy Stir-Fry
1 lb boneless beef sirloin or top round steak, 3/4" thick
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups fresh broccoli flowerets
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (about 4 oz)
2 large green onions, cut diagonally into 2" pieces (about 1/2 cup)
1 can (10.5 oz) mushroom gravy
1 Tbsp soy sauce
4 cups hot cooked rice

Slice beef across the grain into thin strips.

In 10-inch skillet or wok over medium-high heat, in 1 Tbsp hot oil, stir-fry half of the beef until browned.  Remove; set aside.  Repeat with remaining beef.

Reduce heat to medium.  In same skillet, in remaining 1 Tbsp hot oil, stir-fry broccoli, mushrooms and green onions until vegetables are tender-crisp.

Stir in gravy and soy sauce.  Heat to boiling.  Return beef to skillet.  Reduce heat to low.  Heat through, stirring occasionally.  Serve over rice. 

NOTE:  To make slicing easier, I always throw the meat in the freezer for about an hour.  I know that the use of gravy in this sounds strange, but combined with the soy sauce, it's a pretty good sauce for this dish.

I love fresh veggies!  If I could afford it, we'd have more fresh veggies than anything else for our meals. 

If I remember correctly, Mason ate this without any complaint (normal for him) and Nate complained and whined for at least 10 minutes, finally gave up and tried it and actually decided he liked it (also normal for him).  Both the hubs and I ate ours and liked  it (normal for us - LOL).

Well...it's me against the clock tonight!  I'm off to clean the kitchen.  Wish me luck of getting in to bed before 10.

A Bowl of Yum

So Happy It's Thursday!  It's been a crazy drama-filled week so far here at the clinic.  But, I made another Thin Mint cake for one of the docs today, so today is already a better day.  It's definitely quieter here today!  I am sooo far behind in prepping pics for the blog, so I had to go waaaay back to find something to post today.  But just because I had to scrape the bottom doesn't mean the recipe isn't good!

This is one of my all-time favorite slow cooker recipes.  It's super easy to put together, we usually have all the ingredients on hand and it reheats really well.  Oh, and the boys eat it, so that's an added bonus.

Vegetable Beef Soup
1 lb ground beef
1 14 oz can beef broth
1 1/2 cup water
1 10 oz package frozen mixed vegetables
1 14.5 oz can tomatoes
1 10.75 oz can condensed tomato soup
1 Tbsp dried onion
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Brown the meat and drain the fat.  Add all ingredients in slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours.

So yum!!  I think I'm going to stop by the store during lunch to pick up the ingredients so I can have this tomorrow night. 

Well, I'm off to lunch.  I hope the doc gets here soon because I'm going to dive in to that cake if he doesn't hurry!  And I know other people in the office wouldn't be far behind!  Sorry this post is so short - getting behind on the pic prepping is not a good thing.

Slow Cooker = Comfort Food

Happy Tuesday!  I have an unexpected day at home and I'm going to do what I can to keep myself busy but not do any real work around the house.  HA!  Most of the US is being blasted by a very cold front, and central NM is so not used to being this cold (with wind chill, weather.com says it's -4*).  The roads are an icy mess.  I live west of the Rio Grande and because of that, I really only have 3 major routes over the river in to Albuquerque.  Most of us here in the great Southwest don't know the first thing about driving at all in snow or ice, so those 3 routes were basically closed this morning (multiple wrecks, general idiots and the like).  I was on my way in and contemplating how I was going to make it to work when my cell rang.  It was my co-worker telling me that the doc said I should just stay home because it's too dangerous.  You don't have to tell me twice!  The only bummer is that it's my co-worker's birthday and I made her a red velvet cake.  I promised her I wouldn't eat it, but I see it staring at me behind me on the table.  I think I'm going to have to find a hiding place for the cake...

Since it's so frackin cold out today, I thought I'd share a great slow cooker comfort food recipe with you.  It may not be *the* healthiest recipe in all the world, but when it's cold outside, who wants food that's *good* for you?  *shudder*  This recipe comes from my slow cooker bible: Fix It and Forget It (if I can find it).  Bring on the meat and potatoes!!

Ground Beef Casserole 
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
6-8 potatoes, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
14.5 oz can cut green beans with juice
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper
10 3/4 oz can cream of mushroom soup

Crumble uncooked ground beef in bottom of slow cooker.  Add potatoes, onion, salt and pepper.  Pour beans over all.  Spread can of mushroom soup over bans.

Cover.  Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Variation: Brown the beef before putting in the slow cooker.  Mix half a soup can of water with the mushroom soup before placing over beans.

NOTES:  I used the variation.  I just couldn't bring myself to put raw hamburger in the bottom of the slow cooker. 

It's not much to look at, but I liked this, and so did the hubs.  I think next time, though, I'll spice up the beef a bit when I cook it and maybe use a roasted garlic cream of mushroom soup. 

Well...I'm off to do...something.  LOL  I have lots of pics to prep for the blog, and I have a giveaway to put together and photograph, too.  Maybe, if you're lucky, you'll get a bonus post from me later today.  Where ever you are, stay warm!  How's the weather in your area today?

The Start of Something Better

Good morning, Kitschies!  I woke up a little late this morning and hit the ground running.  I managed to make it to work with a little time to spare which gave me some uninterrupted time to work on a form for one of the docs!  It's been a pretty productive morning.  AND...the mail just came bearing pretty gifts for me.  Not a bad day so far.

I don't know if I mentioned it here on my blog, but I have a plan (not a resolution because I don't *do* resolutions) to better myself: mind, body and spirit this year.  Part of that means eating better and eating less.  Less what?  Junk, carbs, food in general.  But you wouldn't know it from my food posts since Christmas (cherry pie, monkey bread, macaroons and the like).  Would you believe that I made all of that (and more) between Thanksgiving and New Years?  *sigh*  As a result, my waistline expanded - and not in a cute "I'm pregnant" kind of way.  LOL  So, I'm going to make a conscious effort to bring more nutritious food to the table.  Don't get me wrong...there will be an occasional cookie or cake, but not near as many as I've posted over the last couple of months.

This brings me to today's recipe.  I remember my mom making this for us when I was growing up and I loved it.  When I make it, we end up eating at least half of it - and that's before the kids get in to it.   I got this recipe off the back of the Bisquick box, but Betty Crocker online has a bunch of variations of this tried and true recipe.


Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie
1 lb lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Original Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray.

In 10-inch skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in salt. Spread in pie plate. Sprinkle with cheese.

In small bowl, stir remaining ingredients with fork or wire whisk until blended. Pour into pie plate.

Bake about 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

NOTES:  I don't use a whole onion.  I did once and it was WAY too onion-y for me.  

I consider this kinda healthy.  It all depends on your ingredient choices.  Use lean ground beef (93/7), 2% milk and reduced fat Bisquick.  

Everybody in the pool!  Or...if you want to fatten this up a bit, you could always add crumbled, cooked bacon.  Cuz everything's better with bacon, right?  Right.

Toasty!  The cheese came out perfectly golden this time.  I usually end up with crispy cheese - especially around the edges.  

Serve with some steamed veggies and you've got a pretty good meal!  One that my kids will eat, too.  Seeing this pics makes me wish I had this for lunch today.

If you have any "healthy" recipes or any vegan recipes, I'd love to give them a try!  You can drop me a line through my email: megharmeyer at gmail dot com.  Or, if there's a good recipe/foodie blog you think I'd like, please leave me the link! 

Monday Meltdown

Monday, Monday.  Can't trust that day!  Ain't it the truth?  (Mini rant/meltdown warning)  Another holiday has come and gone and the stores are already gearing up for Christmas.  Whatever happened to Thanksgiving?  You'd think the grocery stores would be pushing that holiday since it's so centered around food, but no.  They go for the more commercial holiday.  I understand, from a marketing standpoint, but come on!  Let me get through one holiday before you start shoving another down my throat.  I like Christmas, but I don't like hearing about it before the dang time change!  What set this all off?  The radio station I listen to on the way in to work in the morning was playing Christmas music in the background.  Bah humbug!

Ahem.  OK.  I'm done with that.  It's funny because this recipe reminds me of winter.  Or colder weather, anyway.  Pasta was on the menu for the night but I wanted something different.  So I went on a search.  I started at Kraft Recipes, entered in the key ingredients, and ended up on this recipe.


Penne Pasta Skillet

1 lb. ground beef

1 jar  (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce

2 cups water

3 cups  penne pasta or other small shaped pasta, uncooked

1 cup KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese 

 

BROWN meat in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain.

ADD spaghetti sauce and water; mix well. Stir in pasta. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium; cover. Simmer 16 to 18 min. or until pasta is tender; stir.
 
TOP with mozzarella; cover. Cook 1 min. or until cheese is melted.
 

NOTES:  I had rotini on hand and it worked just fine.  I also didn't have any Mozzarella, so I used a cheddar/Jack blend and it was yum!  Oh, and I added half a beef smoked sausage (we usually do that in our pasta).

I was afraid that the rotini would be tough, but it was perfect.  I don't usually like pasta leftovers, but I didn't mind this one.  And even both boys liked this.  Usually Nate will hem and haw about "I don't want to eat this", but he dug right in.

 

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  We usually go to my MIL's house, but this year we decided to keep it simple and just have a little family Thanksgiving.  I'm thinking about doing a small turkey with the usual trimmings.  But, if you have any suggestions for the main course, I'd definitely be up for something new.  What do you usually have for Turkey Day?

 

We had a good time trick-or-treating.  Well, the boys did. :)  Nate got a TON of candy!  Mason went along for the walk and calmed down after we were out and about with everybody.  He was NOT happy with being in his costume.  LOL  I will post some pics later in the week. 

One more thing!!  Zoya is having a BOGO sale this week only.  Why do things like this have to always come around when I don't have the money?  Anyway...check it out.  If you haven't used Zoya before, you're in for a treat.  This is my absolute favorite nail color company.  SOOO many awesome colors.  Awesome formula.  Check out the link above for the BOGO code.

A cow of a different color

Happy Tuesday, Kitschies!  I'm waiting around for the doc to finish with the last patient of the morning so I can go to lunch.  I'm HUNGRY!  Making this post probably won't help the hunger much because these burgers were GOOOD, but it'll give me something to do other than pace up and down the halls waiting for her to finish up.  LOL

I was not planning on doing two recipe posts back to back, but apparently I have some pictures to edit because I know I have two manis I have yet to post.  I thought I had loaded up my flashdrive on Sunday night or Monday morning, but I guess not.  Guess I know what I'll be doing tonight after my workout.  Anyway...doesn't matter.  I have a good recipe for you, so it's a win-win.

Cumin Corn Burgers 

1 lb ground beef
3 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp cumin seeds
1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat grill to high heat.  In a large bowl, combine beef, ground cumin, cumin seeds, corn, and salt and pepper. Mix together and form into patties.  Lightly oil grate, and place patties onto grill. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until cooked through. 

NOTES:  I didn't change any ingredients with this recipe.  I didn't grill these over high heat, but I did oil the grate.  We topped ours with American cheese and I used regular yellow mustard on top.  These were so good!!  I was afraid the cumin flavor was going to be too strong, especially with both ground and whole seeds, but the taste was really more of an afterthought than a slap in the face.

 

Formed patties.  I could've made 4 out of the pound of ground beef, but we like our burgers big.  The smaller third patty was devoured by the hubs the next day for lunch.  He said it made good leftovers.

 The hubs also said there needs to be more pictures of the chef on my blog.  I don't necessarily agree, but this picture wasn't half bad.  LOL

The finished product.  I toasted buns to go with this - which is a good thing because they would've gotten kinda soggy.  These burgers are so juicy.  Now that I think about it, I think I might try Mexicorn next time.

And one more pic for good measure.  I think I've got to work on presentation.  This one looks a little lacking.  But lacking what?  I have no idea.  LOL


In other news...PHD announced her weekly challenge this morning.  She usually posts them on Monday morning so every time I checked Blogger yesterday, I was disappointed to not see the post.  She posted this morning and, like every week, I got excited (how pathetic am I?)!  This is perfect because I've been wanting to do a French mani look - now I get to!  Oh, and if you haven't had a chance to check out last week's challenge gallery (nature), HERE'S a link.  Great submissions - as always!  AND...if you haven't heard, I'm hosting a giveaway of a $40 CSN Stores gift card.  Entries are open until August 21st, but enter now so you don't forget (I usually forget).  AANNDD...I'm planning a giveaway for when I hit 100 followers...so invite your friends and get my followers up - I'm almost there (I'm at 96)!  

Thanks for stopping by today.  I know your time is precious and I appreciate all people who come by and I really love the people who comment on my posts.  You girls keep me going!!  Remember to check back in tomorrow for Workout Wednesday!  


Listening to: If You Don't Know Me By Now by Seal
Mood: HUNGRY
 

The definition of delicious

Friday, Friday, FriDAY!  WOOT!!  The weekend is finally *almost* here.  I've got a good weekend lined up.  Tonight we're sans 4-year-old so we're actually going OUT to eat!  It's only to pizza, but can I tell you?  It'll be so nice to have a meal without having to worry about how Mr Nate is going to act!  It'll even be partially quiet because we'll just have Mason with us and he's always happy.  And if you're feeding him - even better!  On Saturday we're having our besties over for game night - that's ALWAYS a good time.  Sunday is time to get caught up on all the chores and such around the house.  It's work, but it's at home so it's not a big deal.  Now all I have to do is get through the rest of the work day - about 4 1/2 hours.  I can DO it!

Today I bring you a recipe I snagged from From the Kitchen of Mrs. Bettie Rocker.  This is the awesome!!  The hubs called it MAGIC.  The hubs doesn't ever complain about the food I make, but he'll be sure to tell me when he likes something.  So for him to say this was magic, that's saying a lot!

Basil Serloin with Potatoes

8oz beef sirloin steak, cubed (3/4 inch)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tsp dried basil
3/4 tsp seasoned salt
2 tsp olive oil
1/2  medium green bell pepper, cut into wedges
1 tsp all-purpose flour
8 oz. new red potatoes, thinly sliced
1 large tomato, coarsely chopped
1 small onion, cut into 1inch wedges
1/2 can low sodium chicken broth

Combine steak, garlic, basil and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Heat oil in large non stick skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, cook steak and bell pepper 3-5 minutes or until browned and steak is medium rare, stirring once or twice. Remove from skillet.

Whisk flour into remaining oil in skillet over medium high heat. Add all remaining ingredients. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook 8-10 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring once or twice. Add beef and bell pepper, cook 2 minutes or until hot.

NOTES:  I doubled this recipe because I couldn't find a pack of serloin that was smaller than a pound.  But, boy am I glad I did.  This was so good - we almost ate the entire dish because it was so good!

This was so well seasoned.  It smelled delicious as soon as it started cooking.  If only this were smell-o-vision!  I don't usually care for green bell peppers, but I make an exception for this!

And then you throw in the potatoes, tomatoes and onions with chicken broth - YUM!!!  Just seeing these pictures reminds me how drool-worthy this recipe is.

This picture does not do this recipe justice.  I know I keep saying this, but this was SOOOO good.  I'll definitely be making this one again very soon.  Seriously.  It's a wonder that Mrs Bettie Rocker doesn't weigh 300 pounds.  Between this AND her awesome desserts?  Just kill me now!!

So - GO!  Go to the store NOW to get all you need to make this!  You will NOT be disappointed.

Listening to: Makes Me Wonder by Maroon 5
Mood: TGIF

Cue Garfield

Ah...Tuesday evening, Kitschies. What are you doing tonight? I'm trying not to melt and I'm arguing with my nail polish. Why? No. I'm not insane. I'm having a creative block that was induced by PHD's latest weekly challenge. I know I'll have a breakthrough at some point, but right now, I'm arguing with my brain and my polish because it is just not coming out the way it's *supposed* to. Do you ever have moments like that? Maybe it's my brain telling me I need to sit this one out. But I refuse!

Enough of that. Time to let things be for a bit. On to the post at hand. The hubs and I usually like to plan out our menu for the week so we can try to prevent multiple trips to the grocery store. Last week, he asked me what my favorite pasta is. That's easy: lasagna. Specifically, MY lasagna. But, HELLO!?! It's flipping hot! The last thing I want to do is spend a bunch of time in the kitchen in front of a hot stove/oven. But that's exactly what I did. It ended up being a good thing because we had a bunch of leftovers and that means I didn't have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen putting something else together! I don't remember where I found this recipe, but I have yet to try any other lasagna recipe.

Lasagna with Meat Sauce

8 oz lasagna noodles
2 Tbsp salt for cooking noodles
1 Tbsp olive oil
16 oz low fat ricotta cheese
8 oz sliced Mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Sauce
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground chuck or round
1 large can (28 oz) tomatoes
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
2 tsp salt
pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp dried basil
1 bay leaf
2 cups water

Start sauce about 30-45 minutes in advance (or the day before).

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onions are soft; add ground beef and brown. Pour off excess fat. Add remaining sauce ingredients; stir well. Simmer slowly, uncovered, for 1 hour.

Cook noodles in boiling water with 2 Tbsp salt for about 25 minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Drain; add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Arrange noodles in a shallow 2 1/2 qt baking dish. Make 3 layers each of noodles, ricotta cheese, Mozzarella cheese, meat sauce and Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered at 325* for 45 minutes.

NOTES: I use a 9x13x2 glass baking dish. This really seems to be the perfect size. I always spray the bottom of the baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. I don't know if any of you have any helpful tips to spread the ricotta cheese, but I usually just use my fingers and glop it on and then try to spread it out as evenly as I can. It comes out ok in the end, but it sure is a pain in the butt. This was enough to feed both the hubs and I for at least 3 meals.

See...so hot in the house - you can see the steam in the picture!

Ready for the oven.

Fresh out of the oven

Ready to enjoy!

I have a question for you, my beautiful readers. When you have a case of creative block, what do you do to unblock? When you have a great idea in your head but it just doesn't come out right, what do you do? Do you just keep at it, hoping that it'll work itself out or do you do it once, realize it's not working and then move on? Where do you go, what do you do, for inspiration? Do you have a sure-fire, go-to thing that always inspires you?

Listening to: Spotlight (Twilight Mix) by Mute Math
Mood: frustrated

Slow Cooker + Beef = YUM!

Happy Sunday, Kitschies! I hope you had a better weekend than I did. My (almost) 4-year-old is being a holy terror and at this rate, he'll be lucky to see his 4th birthday. *sigh* People tell me it gets better, but the only light I see at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. This is a recurring theme in my house lately and it's getting rather old.

It's been pretty hot here the last couple weeks - Summer has arrived! On hot days like this, I like to use the slow cooker because it goes all day and dinner is ready when I get home. No, or very little, use of the stove/oven required. Plus, I'm greeted with a great smelling house when I finally make it home. This is the first time we've tried this recipe, and it'll definitely be a regular repeat in the future.

Slow Cooker Beef & Mushroom Stew

1 1/2 lb beef bottom round roast or chuck pot roast, cut into 1-inch pieces
ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 (10.5 oz) can condensed French Onion soup
1 cup dry red wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp Italian seasoning, crushed
10 oz mushrooms, cut in half
3 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 cup frozen whole small white onions
1/4 cup water

Season the beef with the black pepper. Coat the beef with 2 tablespoons flour. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until well browned, stirring often.

Stir the beef, soup, wine, garlic, Italian seasoning, mushrooms, carrots and onions in a 3 1/2-quart slow cooker.

Cover and cook on LOW for 10 to 11 hours* or until the beef is fork-tender.

Stir the remaining flour and water in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth. Stir the flour mixture in the cooker. Increase the heat to HIGH. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the mixture boils and thickens.

NOTES: I used cubed stew meat instead of cutting up a roast. I didn't realize the recipe called for whole mushrooms, so I just used pre-sliced - I don't know there would've been much difference. I guess it all depends on how you like your mushrooms. I couldn't find frozen whole small white onions, but I did find cocktail onions. I measured them out and put them in the freezer overnight. The one thing I liked about the cocktail onions is they have a little tang to them because they're marinated.

Coming attractions: Banana muffins, apple crisp, a couple manis and some goodies in the mail! Stay tuned!!

Listening to: The Cleveland Show (meh)
Mood: sore

Summer's calling!!

Good afternoon, Kitschies! We're officially in to a new week and it's been good so far. However, it IS just Tuesday, so who knows what's really in store for us.

I don't know about you, but it feels like the new year was just last month yet it was over 6 months ago!!! Time is moving much, much to quickly for my liking. However, to help make it slow down, we like to do some grilling outside, preferably with friends and/or family. The weather this last weekend was beautiful and it's been pretty darn nice the last couple of days. See, the thing about New Mexico weather is if you don't like it, wait a few minutes and it'll change. I hope this pattern doesn't change for a while because when it does, that means it's gonna get HOT! Today a patient of mine told me today is the "official" start of monsoon season. What does that mean? Afternoon thundershowers! It's crazy though, because it could be pouring rain one minute and then five minutes later it doesn't even look like it rained. It's nice because it usually cools off the afternoon, but it also can trigger flash floods - not good. Anyway...in light of the upcoming summer, I bring you a recipe/marinade for my favorite cut of meat: tri tip!

If you don't live in California, you probably have never hear of it. Tri tip is a cut of beef from the bottom sirloin. It's a small triangular muscle that usually comes in 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 pounds. Relatively lower in fat, it makes a very good roast and an excellent grilling meat. In my family, we usually use a dry rub and grill it on a gas grill until medium-rare. Now that I live in New Mexico, that cut of meat has been impossible to find. Luckily, my parents come to visit once or twice a year and they're nice enough to stock us up with plenty of tri tip to get us through to their next visit. I know I said that it usually comes in 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 pound portions, but the stuff my parents got me is bigger than that!! One portion easily feeds four adults. Like I said, we usually use a dry rub on tri tip, but I was in search of a marinade to use this time. This is what I found.

Easy Grilled Tri Tip

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp water
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
salt & pepper to taste
4 pounds beef tri tip, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices

Marinate for at least 4 hours, flipping every so often for even coverage

In a large, non-reactive bowl, blend the soy sauce, olive oil, water, garlic, and pepper. Place the beef tri tip in the marinade. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 4 hours.

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil grate.

Grill the beef slices 3 to 5 minutes per side, or to desired doneness. Discard remaining marinade.

The finished product served with my "potato pack" and El Pinto salsa

NOTES: I think I used a little more than 2 cloves of garlic (we LOVE garlic). You don't necessarily have to oil the grate - I've never had a problem with tri tip sticking to the grate. However, when we do need to oil the grate, we use Pam for Grilling. It's good stuffs! Non-reactive bowl means either glass or plastic. You can either cook the whole thing, which is what we usually do, or you can cut the slab up in to individual steaks. I don't know why, but we always serve this with salsa. Our salsa of choice is El Pinto medium salsa. Before New Mexico, I never knew what salsa really was. I will never NOT get El Pinto salsa, even if I move out of the Land of Enchantment. My Dad usually grabs a jar or two to take back to Cali because you can't find it in the stores there anymore.

This is what I had for dinner - the hubs doesn't like artichokes so I had one all to myself...soooo good!!!

In addition to tri tip, I usually serve my "potato pack". I call it that because when it was just the hubs and I, I would wrap the cut up potatoes in a little foil pack to throw in the oven. Now that we make more (we probably eat more than we should), we've outgrown the "pack" and use a 9 x 13 glass dish. This is just a basic recipe and that's what I like about it. You can mix up the spices depending on what you're serving it with.

Megan's Potato Pack

3 medium potatoes, washed and cubed
small-medium yellow onion, peeled and chunked
olive oil
minced garlic
garlic salt
Italian seasoning
fresh ground pepper
butter (the real stuff)

Wash and cube the potatoes and onion. Place in gallon zipper bag. Add oil, spices and seasonings to taste. Shake to mix. Pour in 9 x 13 glass baking dish. Cube up about 1 Tbsp butter and place all over potatoes. Cover with foil. Place in 350-400* oven for 45-60 minutes, mixing at 30 minutes.

Cubed potatoes and onion

Combine in 9 x 13 glass baking dish

The finished product!

Oh...and I had another Freecycle trade today. MUCH better than the first one - be sure to look for that post coming up in the next couple of days. And while we're on the topic of polish...I am (impatiently!) waiting for my Zoya Polish Exchange package - they charged my account Friday so it should be here any day now!!!

Listening to: Thinking About You by Norah Jones
Mood: good!

Beef - it's what's for dinner

Good morning, Kitschies!

It's Tuesday. It feels like Sunday. And I have the WHOLE week off!! I'm enjoying my visit with my family and am looking forward to some alone time with the hubs for our 6th wedding anniversary later this week. I hope everybody had a good 3-day weekend. We've been eating our way through our visit (as always) but my mom always says that calories don't count between family and friends. Yea!! Speaking of calories...I made Toffee Bread Pudding from Polishing Off's blog last night for my dad's birthday. OMG YUMMM!! My sister, who doesn't usually like bread pudding, even had a serving of it. We have a *little* bit left but I'm sure it won't make it through lunch.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. I love my slow cooker. It's so nice to get it all set up before I leave for work and then come home to a great smelling house. And it's extra nice to not have to do much to complete the meal. Here's one of my favorite beef recipes for the slow cooker.

Steak & Mushrooms

1 pound boneless beef round steak (about 1" thick)
2 medium onions, sliced
2 4.5 oz whole mushrooms, drained
1 12 oz jar beef gravy
1/4 cup dry red wine



Cut meat in to four servings. Place onion slices on bottom of slow cooker. Arrange mushrooms over onions and then add beef. Stir together wine and gravy. Pour over meat. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours.



NOTES: I usually use sliced mushrooms for this recipe. I never realized the recipe even called for whole mushrooms until I made it this last time. I think I actually like it better with sliced mushrooms. For the dry red wine, I usually use cab, but you can use whatever red cooking wine you have on hand.

Thank you for everybody who has voted in my poll. Looks like I'll be ordering Charla for sure, in addition to Ki and Yasmeen. Happi and Ibiza are tied for 3rd...I'm no good at breaking ties so I might just have to give in and order both! And that's just fine with me. :) And a big thank you to Libby's Pink Vanity! I won her 50 follower giveaway. If you haven't checked out her blog before, I recommend that you do. She does some great posts and is really good about updating everybody on giveaways on the blogs she follows.

Listening to: Moon Over Bourbon Street by Sting (very groovy, man)
Mood: relaxed