Scrumdillylish Beef Stew

The stew we had tonight was soooo good. I kinda winged it combined w/ an online recipe and it's the best beef stew I've ever had. I think I've made it too peppery in the past but the sauce in this is so DELISH that you'll wanna drink it! Don't leave out the cooking wine b/c it makes it!

-1 1/2 lb beef cut in 1 inch pieces
-1 onion cut really small (I only had 1/2 red and 1/2 white so I combined and they were good)
-4 carrots-sliced/diced/however you like em but not too small
-4 small-med. potatoes-cut in bigger chunks and don't cut too small or will get mushy
-1 carton mushrooms-cut in bigger pieces
-1/4 tsp pepper
-1/4 tsp salt
-1 tsp paprika
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp garlic
-1 tsp worcestershire
-1-1 1/2 cup red cooking wine (this is KEY b/c it gives GREAT flavor)
-1 1/2-2 cups beef broth (or bouillon cubes w/ water)--depending on how soupy you like it--maybe start w/ 1 1/2 and work way up

-Toss beef in flour, salt and pepper.
-Brown beef in olive oil in pan
-Put broth, cooking wine, garlic, paprika, worcestershire in crockpot.
-Add vegetables and beef to crockpot and stir.
-cooked on low for 5ish hours and was perfecto!

Beef and Vegetable Soup

This recipe is from "America's Test Kitchen" and it is yummy!

1 pound sirloin tip steaks, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 Tbs. soy sauce

1 t vegetable oil

1 pound mushrooms, chopped

1 onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 Tbs. tomato paste

1 medium garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup red wine

4 cups beef broth

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

4 medium carrots, peeled & cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 medium ribs celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 bay leaf

1 Tbs. unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup water

2 Tbs. minced fresh parsley leaves

1. Combine beef and soy sauce in medium bowl; set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Heat oil in large dutch oven (I used a large pot) just until smoking. Add

mushrooms and onion; cook, stirring frequently, until onion pieces are

brown and bits form on pan bottom, 8-12 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

3. Add beef to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates and meat starts to brown, 6-8 minutes. Add tomato paste and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add red wine, scraping bottom of pot with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits, and cook until syrupy, 1-2 ,minutes.

4. Add beef broth, chicken broth, carrots, celery, bay leaf, and browned mushrooms and onion; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until vegetables and meat are tender, 25-30 minutes. While soup is simmering, sprinkle gelatin over cold water (1/2 cup) and let stand.

5. When soup is finished, turn off heat. Remove bay leaf. Add gelatin mixture and stir until dissolved. Stir in parsley; adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, serve.

Rice Lasagna

This recipe intrigued me as my family loves lasagna, however, I don't always have lasagna noodles on hand, but always have rice in my pantry.

1 bag Success® White or Brown Rice
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 lb lean ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat 13 x 9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
Prepare rice according to package directions. Cool slightly. Combine rice, eggs and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese in medium bowl. Mix well; set aside. Combine 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, Mozzarella cheese and cottage cheese in separate bowl. Mix well; set aside. Spray large nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Add meat and brown over medium heat; drain off excess fat. Add spaghetti sauce and garlic powder; continue cooking until thoroughly heated. Spoon one-half of rice mixture into baking dish. Cover with one-half of cheese mixture. Top with one-half of meat sauce. Repeat layers. Top with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

I prepared my rice in our rice cooker (one cup dry rice to two cups of water for this recipe). The dish was great the first night and super reheated too!

Taco Soup

I thought for sure I had seen this recipe on here before, with a picture too. But unless my brain is truly gone, I cannot find it.

So here is the Taco Soup recipe of Inger's, that I made for Sunday lunch yesterday.

1-2 pounds ground beef ( I used 2lbs.)
1 small onion chopped (me no use)
1 small can of diced green chilies undrained
1 can of hominy--14.5 oz can undrained
1 can kidney beans--15 oz can undrained
1 can pinto beans--15 oz can undrained
3 cans stewed tomatoes--15oz undrained
1 tsp salt (Yikes, I forgot to add this--it tasted fine.)
1 1/2 water(Yikes, I forgot to add this too--maybe that is why mine was more like a chili??? Still good!)
1 Pkg taco mix
1 Pkg ranch dressing mix

Brown beef with onions and green chilies. Stir and add salt. Place in larger stock pot and add remaining ingredients. Simmer 30 minutes. (I added mine to a crock pot on low for about 4-5 hours.) Top with cheese, and sour cream if desired. Serve with corn bread or hint of lime Tostitos. Yummy!

Mom's Stomboli Sandwiches

I grew up eating these sandwiches and they are so easy but yummy.

1 lb. beef
1/2 c. tomato sauce
1/2 c. ketchup
2 tsp. parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp. basil
1 onion
salt and pepper

Onion rolls
Mozarella cheese slices

Brown meat and chopped onion. Drain and add other ingredients. Simmer for 10 min. Spoon onto ONION ROLLS (very important). Place slice of mozarella on filling. Wrap sandwiches in foil and heat at 350 for 15 min.

Hamburger Pie Casserole

Ladies, I understand if the sound of this recipe doesn't immediately rank on the top of your list for pallet pleasing dishes that you would like to try. However, if you have a "meat 'n tatahs" man in your house, this dish will be one sure way to his heart. My husband grew up on this dish and I'll admit it's grown on me. It's a perfect testosterone combination of meat, tatahs AND greens. It's pretty kid friendly as well. The best part of all is it's SOOOOOOOOOO easy peasy.

HAMBURGER PIE CASSEROLE (Minnesota lingo for this recipe is "hamburger hot dish")
-1 or 2 lbs. ground beef (I use ground turkey)
-1 can green beans (french style is best)
-1 can tomato sauce (I used tomato soup)
-2 c. instant mashed potatoes
-2- c. shredded cheese

Brown and drain ground beef. Layer in large casserole. Drain can of green beans and put on hamburger. Add layer of tomato sauce. Then layer of mashed potatoes. Top with layer of shredded cheese. Feel free to sprinkle a little paprika across the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Crescent Taco Pie

This recipe is nothing fancy but it was sooooo easy and a BIG hit w/ the man of the house. It is very kid friendly as well. I tried to make it healthy by using extra lean ground turkey, reduced sodium taco seasoning, reduced fat crescent rolls and lite sour cream. For people w/ larger families, you may want to double it b/c there is just 1/4 of it left after our little family of 3 had our way w/ it.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 package taco seasoning mix
1/2 cup water
1 can crescent dinner rolls
1 1/2 cup corn chips; crushed
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese; shredded

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375~. Brown ground beef and drain. Stir in seasoning mix and water; simmer 5 minutes. Separate crescent dough into 8 triangles and press into ungreased pie pan to form a pie crust. Sprinkle 1 cup corn chips over bottom of crust. Spoon meat mixture over crust and corn chips. Spread sour cream over meat mixture. Cover with cheese. Sprinkle on remaining corn chips. Bake 20-25 minutes.

Crockpot London Broil

This is a different and great recipe to make a YUMMY, tender roast. Goes great when served w/ egg noodles or rice! Also even better when you add more mushrooms. Sorry I didn't take a picture but take my word for it...it'll be a hit.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 1/2 pounds London broil
small jar (4 to 6 ounces) of mushrooms, drained
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 pkg dry onion soup mix

Preparation:
Mix together flour, ground black pepper, and paprika; rub London broil with mixture then put in crockpot. In a bowl, combine mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup, tomato soup, and onion soup mix; pour over meat. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours, or HIGH for 4 to 5 hours.