Beef Stew

Beef Stew is one of my comfort foods.  I absolutely love it and it has been my mission to find the best beef stew recipe.  I don't know if this is the BEST recipe for beef stew out there but it comes pretty darn close!  I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:
6ox of thick sliced bacon, chopped into 1/4" wide strips
Olive oil
2- 2 1/2 pounds of boneless beef chuck or quality stew meat trimmed and cut into 1"pieces
1/4 cup flour (all purpose)
2 cups of red wine
1 lb sliced mushrooms
4 large carrots peeled and cut into 1/2" thick pieces
1 medium onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBSP tomato paste
4 cups low sodium beef broth
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme
1 lb fingerling potatoes, halved or quartered

Instructions:
In a large, oven poof pot, sauté
bacon over medium heat until golden brown and fat is released.  Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon pieces to a separate bowl.  While bacon is cooking, place stewed meat into a large mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle beef with 1/4 cup flour and evenly coat the beef.  Transfer beef in batches into the hot bacon fat and cook over medium to medium high heat until beef is browned and then transfer the beef to the bowl with the bacon.  Add 2 cups of red wine to the pot and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom to deglaze the pot.  Add sliced mushrooms and simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes.  Return beef and bacon to the pot.  Meanwhile, heat a non-stick skillet over medium high heat and add 2 TBS of olive oil.  Sauté the carrots, onions and garlic for about 4 minutes then add 1 TSP of tomato paste and sauté another minute.  Transfer the veggies to the soup pot.  Stir to combine and bring to a low boil.  Add potatoes making sure they are submerged in liquid then cover and transfer to a 325 degree over and cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Chili

Nothing is better than a bowl of soup on a cold winter's day!  I have tried thousands of chili recipes and I think this one is my favorite.  Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef, turkey or venison

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 yellow or white onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

2 jalapeño peppers, finely chopped (optional)

3 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

46-oz. can tomato juice

28-oz. can diced tomatoes

15-oz. can tomato sauce

16-oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

16-oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Shredded cheese and sour cream, for topping

Instructions:

In a large skillet, cook ground meat over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Transfer the meat to a bowl. Drain excess grease from skillet, but do not clean.

Add the olive oil to the skillet. Add the onion, green pepper, garlic, parsley and jalapeño peppers (if using) and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and fragrant (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and add the chili powder, cumin, sugar, oregano, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Stir until combined.

If cooking the chili stovetop, add the cooked meat back to the skillet. If using a slow cooker, add meat-veggie mixture to the slow cooker. Add the tomato juice, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans and pinto beans to either the skillet or slow cooker, depending on which you are using. On stovetop, bring to a boil, dial back to medium-low and simmer for 2 hours. In slow cooker, cook on low for 7 to 8 hours. Serve warm with cheese and sour cream.

Creamy White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

1 TBS Olive Oil
1 Pound Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast halves, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 Onion chopped
2 Cloves garlic chopped
2- 15.5oz Cans great Northern Beans rinsed and drained
1- 14.4 oz can chicken broth
2- 4oz cans diced green chilies
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground oregano
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can white shoe peg corn
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
4 oz pkg cream cheese

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Cook and stir chicken, onion and garlic in hot oil until no longer pink in the center and juices run clear.  (10-15 min) Mix Great Northern Beans, corn, chicken broth, green chilies, salt, cumin, black pepper, cayenne pepper into chicken mixture and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until flavors have blended. (about 30 min)  Remove chili from heat and add sour cream, heavy cream and cream cheese until incorporated.  Turn heat back to low and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until cream cheese has melted.


Crock Pot Version:

Add uncut chicken breasts, chilies, onion, garlic, salt, cumin, pepper, cayenne pepper to crock pot. Stir to coat chicken.  Cover with chicken broth and cook on low for 6 hours.  Shred the chicken into bite size pieces and add beans,corn, and cream cheese and continue cooking about 30 minutes,  Add heavy cream and sour cream and stir till incorporated.  .

Broccoli Salad

In honor of St. Patty's Day, I'm posting a green recipe :)  It is so easy to make and you will not be disappointed.  I make it all the time when going to dinner at a friends house or having friends over.  I get requests to make this all of the time!!

2-3 heads of fresh broccoli
1 red onion
1/2 lb bacon
1 cup cheddar cheese
3/4 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup craisens
1 cup mayo
1/2 cup white sugar
2 TBS white wine vinegar

Directions

1. Place bacon in a deep skillet and cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Cool and crumble.
2. Cut the broccoli into bite-size pieces and cut the onion into thin bite-size slices. Combine with the bacon, craisins, your favorite nuts and mix well.
3. To prepare the dressing, mix the mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar together until smooth. Stir into the salad, let chill and serve.

Strawberry-Orange Salad

School has started back and summer seems to be coming to an end.  Boo!!  I absolutely love salads in the summer and this one is probably my favorite summer salad. I could seriously eat it every day!!

Ingredients: 
Spinach
Strawberries
Mandarin Oranges
Pine nuts or Almonds or any other nut of choice :)
Monterrey Jack Cheese

Dressing: 

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 cup canola oil

 Mix up dressing and pour on top of salad right before you are ready to serve.  Enjoy!

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

I am a busy mom of 3.  I absolutely LOVE to cook but there are days when I definitely want something easy.  Many nights, we have some sort of sport or event.  On these nights, I throw this together in the crockpot before I leave in the morning and when I get home, dinner is just about finished.  This is probably our most used recipe around our house.  Our kids love it and it is oh so easy and delicious!!!


Chicken Tortilla Soup

Place in crock pot for 4-6 hours:

4 chix breasts

24 oz. chix broth

1 can mexicorn

4 oz. rotel
1 pkg. taco seasoning

1 can cream of potato soup

2 tsp cilantro

30 min. before serving: remove chix breasts and shred and place back in crock pot. add 8 oz. cream cheese. when you serve: put fritos in bottom of bowl, pour soup on top of fritos, top w/more cilantro and shredded cheese!

Oriental Salad

2 packages of oriental flavor ramen noodles broken up (take out the flavor packets cause you will use the for the dressing)
1 package of broccolli slaw
small package of chopped walnuts or sliced almonds
1/2 package of craisens

Mis all together. Mix up the dressing which is: 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 seasoning packets out of the ramen noodles. Mix together and pour on top of the claw mixture.

Homemade Salad Dressing

If you are looking to make a quick salad dressing that is oh so yummy then this is the one for you. I love it on spinach salad but you can use it on anything. I have a couple of different salads I use it with....Spinach Salad with Strawberries and Mandarin Oranges or just as simple as Spinach salad with some cranberries, walnuts, and feta cheese. You can play it up however you like!

1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 apple cidar vinegar, 1/2 cup oil, 3/4 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp of salt, and and 1/8 tsp pepper. Mix altogether and pour on salad. Yummy!!

Happy Cooking!!