Recipe Friday – Beef Stew

With fall here and all the good hearty root vegetables coming into season, what better way to enjoy them then with a good wholesome beef stew. I love beef stew and usually this time of year I put my crockpot to good use and start fixing all kinds of stews, soups, even desserts. I think a lot of people believe fixing a good stew is hard. It’s not and honestly even if you use a regular pot to do this it still is not difficult. It’s just time consuming. That’s why I love my crock pot…it’s literally just dump and done 🙂    Hope you enjoy this!!

 

Beef Stew

Ingredients

•  2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
•  1/4 cup all-purpose flour
•  1/2 teaspoon salt
•  1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
•  1 clove garlic, minced
•  1 bay leaf
•  1 teaspoon paprika
•  1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
•  1 onion, chopped
•  1 1/2 cups beef broth
•  3 potatoes, diced
•  4 carrots, sliced
•  1 stalk celery, chopped

Directions

1. Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture.
2. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.
3. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

Recipe Friday – Busy Day Cake

I love cakes but sometimes I just don’t have the time to fix a cake. That’s where this recipe comes in. There are several varieties but I love the most basic of it because if you want to get a little fancy you can add almost anything to it. Enjoy

 

BUSY DAY CAKE (OLD-TIME)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1 eggs
• 1/2 c. shortening
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 c. nuts (optional)

 

Directions

1. Grease and lightly flour a 9 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.
2. In a small mixing bowl combine all ingredients.
3. Beat 2 minutes on medium speed. Turn into pan.
4. Bake in a pre-heated 375°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes or till done.
5. Cool.

8-9 servings

Sauce (for anything) – Vegetarian version

Awhile back I posted a recipe for a sauce that is pretty much my go to sauce when I need a quick dinner or even an everyday dinner. The only thing is, is that it is a meat sauce and I am trying to introduce my family to more vegetables. So through trial and error, I have come up with this recipe. It’s pretty simple and the whole family seems to like it. That’s a win win in my book  🙂

1 bell pepper

1 onion

4 cloves of garlic

2 tomatoes (I used romas but if you have beefsteak or any of the larger ones just use one)

1 8 ounce container of mushrooms

5 tbs of oil (to fry veg)

1 chili pepper (optional)

1 can of tomato paste (optional)

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp  basil

salt to taste

1. Chop onions, garlic tomatoes together add to skillet with oil. Add turmeric, basil, and salt. Fry till translucent.

 

2. add chopped bell peppers and chili pepper to skillet. Fry till translucent

3. chop mushrooms and add to skillet. cook till mushrooms are tender.

At this point, you can serve this over your choice of noodles or you can add the tomato paste. If the tomato paste is added you would need to add the tomato paste and about 3/4 cup of water. Simmer till it reaches the thickness you prefer.

I have served it both ways. I actually prefer without the tomato paste but the hubby and kids like it with…guess which usually happens…LOL!!

Hope you all enjoy!!

Fried Potatoes

Ok I know in the grand scheme of things this might not be the best snack food in the world. But to be honest compared to french fries that you get from a fast food joint I believe they are a bit healthier. I did not use any where near as much oil as a fast food place would and these are honest to goodness potatoes. Sometimes I wonder what you get outside.

8 small potatoes

3 leaves of basil (if dried use 1/4 tsp)

4 tbs of olive oil salt and pepper as desired

serves 4-6 as a snack

1. Peel, dice, and wash potatoes set aside  ( you can cut the potatoes how ever you wish. Sometimes I cut in French fry form also in slices too)

2. Add oil to skillet…turn on med. Wait till warms up

3. add salt to skillet while warming up

4. add potatoes to hot oil. Allow to brown on all sides till done.

      Enjoy!!

My son wanted some Banana Bread…

Actually I had plans to fix some due to I only had 3 bananas left and they were turning and my son asked me to fix some last night so I did. I got him involved with it too 🙂

This is the recipe I used with a few modifications:

Banana-Nut loaf:
2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of oil
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas cut up
2 tablespoons of milk
1/2 cup of walnuts or pecans

these are the modifications I did:
I left out the nuts due to not having the any in the cabinet
I added 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla

1. grease your 9 X 5 X 3 loaf pan

2. in a large mixing bowl put the flour

3 . in another bowl cream the oil and sugar and till sort of fluffy…add the eggs and vanilla

4. in another bowl put the cut up bananas and mash-up with fork….stir in the milk.

 (my son did that 😀  )

5. add the egg mixture and bananas alternately to the flour while mixing together until thoroughly mixed and has a smooth texture.

6. add nuts if you choose too

7. pour into pan

8. Bake in oven at 350 degrees 50 min to an hour

9. Enjoy 🙂

I always enjoyed banana bread as a kid and it’s not too bad of a snack when you consider the alternatives of all the junk food out there. Any ideas of what might be a good substitute for the nuts? Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!