Beef Stew 2.0

You thought I forgot about this huh!

Well I did!

I tweaked my beef stew recipe and it is so much better. It has a much richer flavor. I always felt stew 1.0 was missing something but couldn't put a finger on it. This recipe doesn't make very much (as its just me, husband, a three year old and a two year old). For the four of us it made enough for three adult servings and two child servings with a wee bit leftover. It doubles nicely, just get a bigger pot.

1 lb stew meat
1/8 c flour
2 Tbsp oil
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 large potato, peeled and cubed (about 1 in cube)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp each minced garlic, oregano, and parsley
1/2 tsp bay leaves dried
1 packet brown gravy mix
Chicken stock
Water

In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Roll stew meat in flour and brown in oil with garlic. Add carrots, celery, potatoes and tomatoes (with juice). Cover half with water and half with chicken stock (just until it covers the veggies and meat). Stir in salt, pepper, oregano, parsley, bay leaves and Worcestershire sauce. Increase temp to medium high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add gravy packet and stir to dissolve (you can also dissolve it in water beforehand to make sure it doesn't clump). Simmer another 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened and potatoes are soft.

Hope I still have people that poke around to see this :) ill try not to forget you again little blog.

Bye Bye Miss American Pie

American as apple pie. I never really thought apple pie was the symbol of American cuisine mostly because there are better things to attribute to American food.

Like cheese.

Just kidding. American cheese is gross.

We've moved by the way. I am no longer freezing in Idaho! I'm roasting in Arizona! Sigh. From one extreme to the other.

When we moved in, we found out our oven's temperature gauge had been mangled by the previous tenant in an effort to get a new oven. I didn't know this. I went to make a sour cream pound cake and preheated the oven to 350. About thirty minutes later, the preheating light was still on.

Thinking it had to be preheated by now, I went to open the door. It burned my hand. The handle was so hot I had to use an oven mitt just to open the thing! I put the cake in and set the timer for ten minutes to come check on it. After two minutes I got the feeling I needed to check.

Two minutes and the sides were burned and the top was browned. This cake was supposed to take an HOUR to bake!

Long story somewhat shorter we got a new oven after a month of waiting.

To inaugurate our sparkling new appliance, I decided to make apple pie. I got the recipe from AllRecipes.com and tweaked it based on the reviews.

Speaking of reviews this recipe had over 4000! AND it was still FIVE STARS! I couldn't believe it.

Apple Pie

Two 9 inch pie crusts (I used the refrigerated ones from the grocery store)
6 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1/4 c water
1/2 c butter
1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
4 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Unroll pie crust into bottom of pie dish. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add flour to create a paste. Add both sugars, water, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Stir occasionally and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer. Add apple slices and toss to coat. Spoon apples into crust, reserving some of the syrup for the top. Place top crust and seal edges. The original recipe said to lattice the top crust. Im lazy. I just put it on top and cut a few slits for venting. Brush remaining syrup mixture on top crust. Cover a baking sheet with foil and put pie on top. This catches any spills and makes for easy clean up. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour.

The inside will be REALLY runny if you eat it fresh from the oven. Plus it will be like eating a mouthful of lava. I let it rest for a few hours and cool. It was perfect. The apples were soft and flavorful. The syrup mixture turned into a buttery caramel sauce and the cinnamon and nutmeg added that familiar homemade comfort. I have yet to try it a la mode, but there's still over half the pie left and a half gallon of blue bell vanilla ice cream in my freezer.

Husband, who doesn't like pie or cooked fruit said "That's actually pretty good. The crust isn't crusty and dry. It soaked up the sauce stuff." As someone who DOES like (more like adore) pie, I couldn't believe the texture and flavor! I'm not a big apple pie fan, but this was decadent. Rich but not overpowering. I will definitely make this a repeater!

Wontons

I had a neighbor that made the most incredible cream cheese wontons. She also made some pretty awesome egg rolls.

But she moved.

And I cried.

So I decided to try to recreate her wontons and did a pretty good job.

Cream Cheese Wontons

Ingredients:
2 packages cream cheese softened
1 package wonton wrappers
2 tsp garlic powder
Vegetable oil for frying

Mix cream cheese and garlic powder in bowl. Drop a tablespoon size glob into the middle of a wonton wrapper and fold according to package directions. Heat oil in a deep skillet or in a deep fryer. Drop wontons into oil 3 or 4 at a time and fry until light golden. Drain on a paper towel.

Idaho Broil

I tried a new recipe last night for London Broil.

It was terrible.

I'm sure the recipe would have been fine if my oven wasn't completely stupid.  Most ovens I've seen have the normal temperature settings and then a broil setting.  If you were lucky it had a self cleaning or a "warm" setting.

My oven is an over achiever. 

It not only has ALL these things, it's broiler has TWO settings. HI broil and LO broil.

Recipes do not support my broiler operating system.

This is where I have to guess.  I tried HI broil first and after about 3 minutes I noticed smoke coming out of my oven.

awesome.

I opened the door to find my roasting pan warped, smoking, and utterly ruined.  We hurriedly ripped open all the doors and windows so our super sensitive smoke alarms wouldn't go off and cause my children to start screaming at the "beep beeps".

I should have stuck with my tried and true recipe for this sometimes difficult cut of meat.

Beef with Asparagus

1 lb London Broil
Dried Rosemary
4 Tbsp butter
6 cloves garlic (minced)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 bunch asparagus
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt n Peppa
Garlic Powder

MEAT: Start by making cross cuts 1/8 inch deep and 1 inch apart on both sides of the meat, creating a diamond pattern.  Next, melt the butter in the microwave with the minced garlic and rosemary.  Season meat with Salt n Peppa and rub butter mixture on both sides, making sure to get into the cuts.  In a heavy skillet (I use cast iron), heat vegetable oil over medium high heat until hot.  Add meat and cook 5-7 minutes on each side.  If you don't like how pink it is, just cook a little longer.  Remove from pan, cover with foil and let it rest for 5 minutes.  Slice against the grain into thin slices.

ASPARAGUS: Wanna see something easy?  Trim ends off asparagus (super easy, just hold it in the middle and bend. It will break where it's supposed to! MAGIC!) and place on a foil lined baking sheet. drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Place in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes (depending on thickness of asparagus).  That's it.

Serve 'em side by side with some fresh fruit salad or mashed potatoes or wild rice.

Bazinga.

♥ K8

Thanksgiving Chicken

I want Thanksgiving.  Now.  In May.  But turkey is so expensive outside that magical November-January window!  So I made do with what I had.  Chicken.  It's close right?  White poultry meat...without the coma after! 

My mom has a fantastic recipe for the best turkey ever.  Maybe it's because I grew up on it, but it doesn't feel like Thanksgiving if I'm eating a turkey NOT made with her recipe.  Like it's not really turkey...more like one of those tofu turkeys or something.

Thanksgiving Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (approx. 5 oz each)
1 stick butter
Rosemary (I only have dried on hand)
Sage
Thyme
2 cloves Garlic (powder or fresh minced)
Salt n Peppa

Preheat oven to 375.  In a microwave safe dish place butter on its side and cover the top of it with the spices (I just eyeballed it so I don't have exact measurements sorry!).  Microwave for 1 minute until butter is melted and the spices are smelling divine.  Place your chicken breasts in an ungreased 9x13 dish.  Spoon, brush, or pour butter mixture over chicken and place in the oven for 30-45 minutes depending on thickness of chicken.  Baste with pan juices every 10 minutes or so.  My house smelled like Thanksgiving.  My mouth tasted sorta like Thanksgiving, but without the crispy skin and amazing side dishes only my mom can perfectly recreate (except sweet potatoes).

This Thanksgiving we'll be somewhere and most likely unable to go home for Thanksgiving.  So I'll be calling my mom for all her recipes in an effort to recreate the cherished meal only her hand has truly mastered.  

Sorry, no picture. I ate it too fast.

♥ K8

Pinterest Popcorn

First off I would like to say...

WHAT HAPPENED TO BLOGGER IN THE LAST MONTH SINCE I POSTED?!

Second, I found an amazing recipe for popcorn on Pinterest.

A recent facebook status said something about Pinterest and I commented with

"Pinterest, the only place you can find the motivation and inspiration to work out and be fit...and the foods to destroy it."

So true.  You can find ANYTHING in this world on Pinterest.  Inspirational quotes that touch your heart when you're having a bad day.  The perfect color scheme for your imaginary wedding.  A picture of a woman with rock hard abs and buns that could cure cancer.  And this.

Marshmallow Caramel Popcorn

source: Pinterest

1 bag popcorn, popped (I used Butter Lovers for extra fat, I mean deliciousness)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows (or 9-10 big marshmallows)

You put the sugar and the butter into a microwave safe container and microwave for aboot a minute and a half til the butter is all melty and the sugar is thinking "hey I like this butter guy...maybe we should mix it up".  Not a sugar psychic? That's ok, I'm sure you have other talents. Stir it all up and then add the marshmallows and microwave for another minute.  Have you ever microwaved a marshmallow?  It's insane.  They grow.  Make sure your microwave safe container is larger than a 2 cup capacity measuring cup or you WILL end up with marshmallow goo all over your microwave {not that I have experience in this}.  Stir it all together until the marshmallows are completely melted and you have something similar to the stuff you dump into rice crispies for rice crispy treats.  You remember that popcorn?  Yeah buddy.  Dump the marshmallow mixture on top.  Get one of those rubber spatulas and SCRAAAAAAAPE the sides so you get every last gooey drop in there.  Mix it all together until well coated and spread on wax paper to cool.  Or do what I did and just eat it warm.  I found it much better warm.

Pinterest, you're such a cruel mistress to those of us who are trying to be healthier.

♥ K8

Aw now that's just cute!

I've seen these around on Pinterest, but I don't like most meatloaf recipes.

Mostly because they call for bread crumbs and I don't like the way they turn out.

When I found my staple meatloaf recipe from Paula Deen on Food Network, I was in love.

So I made these using my meatloaf recipe I posted HERE and they turned out SO cute!

(and SO good)

Meatloaf "Cupcakes"
(made 10 "cupcakes")

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup dry oatmeal
1 egg slightly beaten
Salt and Peppa

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together until well combined. using a regular size muffin tin, throw a glob of meatloaf mixture into the..."divets"...I guess? I don't know what to call them. Press the mixture into a bowl shape about 1/4 inch thick on the side and bottom. Repeat with remaining mixture in the other "divets". Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.


Whip up a batch of mashed potatoes (I used instant) and spoon into the bowls of the meatloaf cups. Top with gravy (mine came from a packet) and serve!

Peaches loved eating her Hamburger Cake and Husband filled his with ketchup, mustard, easy cheez (barf) and lettuce to make a little cheeseburger. We served them up with the remaining mashed potatoes and gravy and some sauteed spinach (washed baby spinach sauteed in olive oil with a little minced garlic until wilted).

♥K8