Beef Provencal

Yumm…that is all I can say about this recipe. If you like beef stew you will LOVE this recipe. It was rated #1 in the Cooking Light magazine for their “Best Recipes of All Time” and let me tell you, there is a reason why. It was amazing, melt in your mouth beef. I hope you like it as much as we did!

Prep: 30-40 minutes

Cook: 5 hours on high

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 12 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups chopped carrot
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup lower-sodium beef broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• Dash of ground cloves
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups cooked medium egg noodles (about 4 cups uncooked noodles) (you can also serve over rice or mashed potatoes)
• *add any other veggies: celery, mushrooms, etc.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300°. Heat large pan over low heat, pour oil in, add garlic and cook for 5 minutes (stirring occasionally). Remove garlic with a slotted spoon and set aside. Increase the heat to medium-high heat and add beef to pan. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Brown meet on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove the beef from pan and set aside. Add wine to pan and bring to a boil. Add back in garlic, beef, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the next 9 ingredients through bay leaf and bring to a boil. Pour everything into slow cooker and cook on high for 5 hours. Discard the bay leaf and serve over noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes.

*(The original recipe says this can be made in a dutch oven and cooked for 2.5 hours at 300F, which I would actually prefer. I don’t have my dutch oven right now so I used the slow cooker method)

Happy Eating!

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Spicy Touchdown Chili

Last year I had two high school kids come to the door selling magazines. I subscribed to Taste of Home and, of course, I’m now obsessed. So many great recipes are shared from people all over the country…I love it! That being said, this spicy touchdown chili is now my favorite chili. I made a couple of changes, as noted below, and the chili was not very spicy. Next time I’ll probably add a couple more jalapenos and a little more chili powder just to spice it up.

Prep: 25 minutes (mainly just browning meat)

Cook: 4-5 hours on low

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork (original recipe calls for bulk pork sausage)
• 2 cans (16 ounces each) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cans (10 ounces each) diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, undrained
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with onions, undrained
• 1 can (12 ounces) beer
• 6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1.5 Tbsp chili powder (original recipe calls for 1/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup chopped jalapeno (original recipe calls for pickled jalapeno slices)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until no longer pink (drain if not using lean ground beef). Transfer to a 6-qt slow cooker. Next brown the pork in the same skillet the beef was in. Transfer to slow cooker. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook, covered, on low 4-5 hours.

Yield: 12 servings

Classic Tamale Pie

I had never had tamale pie before making this recipe…and boy was I missing out. Tamale pie is such an awesome comfort food and is sooo good. It’s quick to whip up too which is always a plus! I did not change anything about this recipe (since it was my first time making tamale pie). However, we did omit the black olives as someone…hmm hmm… who isn’t me, does not like black olives. And next time I will make a little less cornmeal which is reflected already in the recipe below. I got the recipe from this site: HERE

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cups cold water
• 1 cups yellow corn meal
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 tsps salt, divided
• 1 4oz can diced chiles
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce
• ¾ cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1 4oz can sliced black olives
• ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine cold water and the cornmeal in a bowl and set aside. Boil 2 cups of water in a saucepan on the stove, add 1 tsp salt, and then pour in cornmeal mixture. Cool slowly until all liquid is absorbed, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the green chilies. Spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and line the pan with the cornmeal mixture like a pie crust.

In a cast iron  skillet brown the beef, onions, and garlic over medium heat. When the meat is browned add the remaining 1 tsp salt, flour, and chili powder. Then add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, and black olives. Pour the meat mixture over the cornmeal in the baking dish. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Happy Eating 🙂

The Pioneer Woman’s Lasagna

My husband has many favorite foods, but one of his very favorites from his childhood is Stouffers Lasagna. Since I love to cook I wanted to make a homemade lasag (la-zag as we lovingly refer to it) that he would love as much or more than Stouffers. So who did I turn to? The Pioneer Woman of Course! This recipe is delicious. I did make a couple of my own changes. Her recipe is HERE.

Prep: about 15 minutes active and 45 minutes inactive

Cook: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 pound Ground Beef
• 1 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage (note: it must say HOT breakfast sausage. This is not too spicy and it is what adds so much flavor)
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 3 tomatoes chopped
• 2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
• 3 cups Lowfat Cottage Cheese
• 2 whole Beaten Eggs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
• 1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagna Noodles (I bought the ready to cook kind…super easy)
• *optional- add a layer of veggies (zucchini, squash, spinach)

Directions:

Brown the beef, breakfast sausage, and garlic in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add the tomatoes, stir. Add the tomato paste, parsley, and basil, and stir. Let sauce mixture simmer for about 45 minutes while you’re preparing the other ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350

In a bowl combine the cottage cheese, eggs, Parmesan, and more parsley. Spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Layer Lasagna noodles across the bottom. Top with cottage cheese mixture and then with a layer of Mozzarella.  Next layer about half the meat mixture  over the mozzarella. Repeat all of the layers one more time. After your second meat layer, sprinkle the top of the lasagna with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Enjoy 🙂

*This is a great meal to make ahead and freeze before baking as well.

Heidi’s Slow Cooker Carne Asada

My girlfriend Heidi gave me this recipe and I love it! It is super easy to throw together and extremely flavorful. I served it on tortillas with guacamole and romaine. Heidi suggested adding red onions and cilantro to the top too!

Prep: 12 minutes

Cook: about 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low

Ingredients:

• 2lbs carne asada meat
• 2 T cumin
• 2 T chili powder
• 2 t salt
• 2 t pepper
• 3 tomatoes
• 2 jalapeño
• 1 sweet onion
• 10.5 ounces of beef broth

Directions: Rinse meet, pat dry, and put in slow cooker. Combine spices and run over the meat. Chop tomatoes, jalapeno, and sweet onion and pour on top of the meat. Lastly, pour 10.5 ounces of beef broth over the top. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.

Serves: about 4 people

Happy Eating 🙂

Reuben Casserole

My mom was visiting recently and whipped up this little gem of a recipe. It is so very easy and so great on the taste buds. And since it has cheese, meat, and a lot of flavor I have a feeling it will just be a man pleasing recipe in general.

Prep: 5 minutes

Cook: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pastrami or corned beef
• 1/2 bottle thousand island dressing (the original recipe calls for a whole bottle but I think it’s great with half)
• 1 can sauerkraut (drained)
• 1/2 to 3/4 lb Swiss cheese
• about 6 pieces of rye bread or however much it takes to cover the casserole
• 4 Tb butter, melted

Directions:

Spray or butter a casserole dish lightly. Layer the bottom of the dish with pastrami or corned beef. Top with thousand island dressing, then layer with sauerkraut, then Swiss cheese and lastly with Rye Bread (lay full pieces of the rye bread across the top covering the rest of the casserole). Drizzle melted butter over the top. Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Yields: 8 or more

Enjoy 🙂

Slow Cooker Green Chile Flank Steak

So it will be good for me to tell you early on that I AM A PINTEREST ADDICT! And the main thing I pin is food. So many of the recipes you will see on my blog I have found on pinterest. That being said I got this recipe from: http://www.lifetimemoms.com/food-family-recipes/blog/flank-steak-recipe?cmpid=CNP_LTMAffil_ShannonShaffer

Even though the recipe has green chiles in it, we used half of the can, it was not spicy at all and just sooo deliciously flavorful! It has to be noted that my husband called this recipe “melt in your mouth flank steak” so needless to say it was a hit!

Prep: 15-20 minutes

Cook: 4-6 hours depending on whether you want it sliced or shredded

Ingredients:

• 1 Flank Steak –  about 1 3/4 lbs (cut in half)
• 1 small can of green chiles (we just used half)
• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of cumin
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1-2 cloves of garlic minced (depending on taste)

Directions:

In a small pan, brown flank steak in olive oil on both sides.

Add all ingredients to slow cooker.

Cook on low for 4-5 hours if you would like the steak sliced, cook 5-6 hours if you prefer it shredded. (Seriously can it get any easier? Gotta love this recipe!)

Yields: 8 servings

We had this flank steak with our favorite Summertime Mac & Cheese and Oven Roasted Broccoli (both on the blog). I was in the kitchen for awhile (on and off the last two hours before we ate) though so if you want something quick and easy I would do a side of bread and green beans or a salad.

My parents have their leftover flank steak on sourdough bread with dijon mustard the next day…I highly suggest trying this…it’s awesome!