Mmmm Mmmm Monday: Beef Stew

With being a military family we move around ALOT. Two of my favorite things to do when we're sent to a new place is to try the local food and read books that are written either by a local author, or set in the place where I'm living. The best thing I've found when I read novels by Southern authors is that they sometimes include recipes in the back of their books. (Try books written by Dorothea Benton Frank or Mary Kay Andrews for some super yummy Southern comfort foods!). This beef stew recipe came from the back pages of The Fixer-Upper by Mary Kay Andrews...not only was it a great read, but it was a tasty recipe to boot!

Here's what you need:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
2 lbs stew meat
2-3 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 cups beef broth/beef stock
1 bay leaf
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
5 medium red potatoes, cut in eigths
1 cup chopped carrots
1 Tbsp Gravy Master (I used Kitchen Bouquet because that's all I could find at my grocery store)
2 Tbsp cooking sherry

Place flour and seasonings in a large ziploc bag; add meat and shake to coat. Heat oil in large Dutch oven; add meat and cook over medium heat until browned. Add broth and bay leaf and cover tightly. Reduce heat and simmer 1.5 hours or until meat is fork-tender. Add veggies and simmer another hour. When veggies are tender, remove both meat and veggies from the pot and whisk in Gravy Master and sherry. (If gravy needs thickening, add 2 Tbsp flour into 2 Tbsp water and whisk into gravy over medium heat.) Check seasonings and add more salt & pepper if necessary. Return meat & veggies to the gravy and heat through. Serve immediately and ENJOY!

Mmmm Mmmm Monday: After Church Pot Roast

This recipe is from one of the cookbooks that was put out by my school when I was growing up. I use this one alot in our house and it's always well recieved!

Here's what you need:
1 lg frozen pot roast (beef or pork)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can onion soup
1 can cream of celery soup

Put the frozen pot roast in a slow cooker/crockpot. Pour the cans of soup over the top; cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. The soups make a wonderful gravy to put on mashed potatoes. YUM!

Mmmm Mmmm Monday: Sloppy Joe Pot Roast

Yesterday I was getting ready to throw a pot roast in the crock pot when I realized that I didn't have the rest of the ingredients I needed (besides the roast itself). I swore I bought a bag of baby carrots and some dry onion soup. But all I found when I searched my fridge & pantry was an empty carrot bag (darn those veggie-loving children of mine!) and some ragtag items that I hadn't used for anything. So I decided to try it out and see what we came up with. We were all very pleased with the result. Super easy and soooo tasty! The gravy it made was so flavorful that we saved the excess in a container to use over mashed potatoes tonight!

Anyway, here's what you need:
3-3.5 lb beef roast (thawed)
1 packet of sloppy joe seasoning
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 tsp Italian seasoning
water (I filled one of the empty soup cans once and dumped it in)

Place your roast in the crockpot and add the seasonings. Pour the 2 cans of soup over the roast and along the sides. Add water and stir with the soup to make a thinner consistency. Cook on low about 6 hours. This will make your roast fall apart when you remove it from the crockpot. It was so incredibly delicious and tender!

You can definintely add potatoes, carrots, or celery...that would be superb! I wish I would've had more to toss in. But it's so good on it's own too!

Anyway, luckily this time my throw-it-all-together attitude paid off. Wouldn't it be great if that happened every time?

Mmmm Mmmm Monday: Philly Beef-Stuffed Sandwich

This is a goodie from Pampered Chef. They suggest you use their 15" round baking stone, but a pizza pan would work just as well. This recipe is great for parties and get-togethers!

Philly Beef-Stuffed Sandwich
1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
3/4 cup onion, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves, divided
2 pkgs (10 oz each) refrigerated pizza crust (in the tubes like Pillsbury rolls)
8 oz thinly sliced deli roast beef
8 oz thinly sliced America cheese
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 400*.
Heat oil in a 10" skillet over med-high heat until hot. Press garlic into pan. Add bell pepper, onion and 1/2 teaspoon oregano. Cook and stir 3-4 minutes or until veggies are crisp-tender. Remove pan from heat.
Unroll one pizza crust onto lightly floured surface. Roll dough out to 12"x9" rectangle. Cover with half the beef, cheese and veggie mixture, leaving 1/2 inch around edges of dough. Starting at the longest side of the rectangle, roll up dough (jelly roll style) and press seam together to seal. Repeat with the remaining crust and filling ingredients.
Place rolls, seam sides down, on baking stone/pan and join the edges together to form a ring, pressing edges together to seal.
In small bowl, combine egg white & water and brush onto the top of the ring. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon of oregano.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Mmmm Mmmm Monday (Yes, I'm a day late.): Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry

This was so yummy! All the kids loved it, which hardly ever happens in this house!

Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp. black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
2 lbs top sirloin, sliced 1/4 in thick
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 medium heads broccoli
2 tsp grated fresh gingerroot
Cooked white rice

In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, lemon juice, constarch, dark brown sugar, galic and pepper. Set aside.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add beef and stir-fry until almost cooked through (about 2 minutes). Transfer beef to a plate/bowl and cover to keep warm.

Heat remaining oil in the same skillet/wok used for the beef. Add onion and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Cut broccoli into florets (should make about 4 cups) and add to skillt with 1/3 cup water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes.

Return beef to skillet with soy sauce mixture, add ginger. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens (about 2 minutes). Serve hot over cooked white rice.

Mmmm Mmmm Monday: Pepper Beef Goulash

When I made this the other night, I varied just a bit from the recipe. I'll write down the recipe as it is on the card, and then I"ll add what I did differenty. That way, you can try it both ways and see which you like best!

Pepper Beef Goulash
1/2 cup water
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
2 tbsp cider vinegar*
1 envelope sloppy joe seasoning
2 to 2 and 1/4 lbs beef stew meat (3/4" cubes)
1 celery rib, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 medium green pepper, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
Hot cooked rice

In a 3 quart slow clooker, combine the water, tomatoe paste, vinegar and sloppy joe seasoning. Stir in the beef, celery and green pepper. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or until meat is tender.** Serve over rice.

Makes 4-5 servings.

*- I used Balsamic vinegar becuase that's all I had in the house. Hubby said it gave a really good flavor.
**- I checked my crockpot after an hour on high and the meat was almost completely cooked through already. I turned down the cooker to low, and checked again after a couple more hours. for the last hour of cooking, I turned it to warm, so as to not overcook the meat. I don't like meat that's tough to chew, and I was really worried that if I kept it on high the entire time, the meat would've been impossible to tear apart.