Beef Quinoa Stew

Sometimes a recipe comes to me quite by mistake. I stick something in the crockpot and when I test it out half way through the cooking process, I think, "wow, this could really be good in THIS." That is when a recipe is born. And not only was it born, but it was devoured. Mostly by the adults, but the kids tolerated it. See it has the two deadly sins.

Mushrooms and Onions

At least the kids think so anyway. But we all know better.

So here is the fabulous recipe that I will surely make again and again.

And again.

Put the following ingredients in a gallon sized ziplock bag and seal:
2 pounds beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut into thin slices (about 1/2 inch thick and 3 inches long)
1 large onion, chopped
1 pound mushrooms trimmed and quartered

Write on the outside of this bag: Low 8 hrs - high 6. Add second bag at hour 4.

In another gallon sized ziplock add the following:

16oz mixed frozen veggies (carrots, corn, beans, etc)
15oz canned diced potatoes (or fresh, make sure they are diced small)
1.5 cups of Quinoa
1  teaspoons of pepper

On the outside of this bag, write: Add to crockpot at hour 4 with 4-5 cups of beef broth.

This soup is hearty and seriously delicious. If you use a low sodium beef broth, be sure to add some salt, but I didn't and it didn't need any.

Beef Stroganoff

I absolutely love beef. However, it doesn't love me. It's so sad. I just end up turning it into dust, usually. The last recipe was a beef recipe that turned out rather nicely, so when tonight's dinner defrosted in the frig (From the freezer - 24 hours of defrost) I had high hopes for another savory keeper!

And a keeper it is! Hurrah!

What I like about this recipe is that it's pretty simple for the freezer. Trim your meat, throw your veggies and broth in, then seal and freeze!

Now when I found this recipe, I was a little worried about the post prep, after the crockpot. I don't like dirtying pans in addition to a crockpot not to mention it looked like it had a lot of steps to get to the sauce, so I almost didn't make it. I'm glad I took a chance. Just one extra pot. Then back in the crock.

So here we go. 

For freezer - Ingredients in your ziplock:
2 pounds beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut into slices
1 large onion, chopped
1 pound cut mushrooms
1 cup beef broth
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper

I know what you are thinking, "Really, that is it?" And yes, that is it. And let me just say right now, before I made the sauce this had an AMAZING flavor and I could have eaten the whole crock without the noff.

Once your ziplock is sealed stick it in your freezer with the following label:

Cook on high 4 hours or low 6 

Needed for day of prep:
4 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour (I used quinoa flour)
Broth ladled out of the crockpot2 cups sour cream
1-3 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
Salt Pepper to taste

After the meat is done: Melt butter in sauce pan. Add flour. mix well. Add broth and mix well. Bring to boil just for a second, add sour cream and Dijon. Salt and Pepper to taste. Add to crock and turn crock to warm until you are ready to eat.

Serve over a starch. We will use quinoa or corn noodles. Oh so good. Sooo good. I'm so glad I made a second meal of this. So glad.

Stork Meal 4: Italian Beef

My sister is not a red meat fan. She used to be, but something about this pregnancy has turned red  meat into a not so pleasant time in the bathroom. So when I make things for her, I try really hard to keep the red meat out.

However, this was one of those meals that she was willing to try because it sounded so good (like I said, she used to be a red meat fan).

It's a take on the classic French Dip sandwich but its more chunky and made in the crockpot. It's such a simple recipe that I feel bad for making a whole post about it! But, I will. Because it's good.

The recipe is as follows...

3-5 pounds of Beef
2 dry Italian seasoning packets
2 cans of beef broth.

Sound easy?

It's just that easy.

When I buy my beef, I choose a different cut every time. Reason, I'm looking for the meat with the most marbling. That means there are white lines of fat running through the meat. So sometimes I pick a rump. Sometimes I pick bottom round or a chuck roast. I just look for those fat lines and go from there. DON'T GET an expensive cut of meat. Because you are going to slow cook this all day, you don't want something fancy it will just fall to bits. And you don't want that.

For freezing, just combine everything in a gallon zipper bag and seal. Place inside another zipper bag for safety.

To cook, put everything in the crockpot and cook on high 5 hours or low 10 hours. Because it's beef, the desired doneness is up to you. About 45 minutes before I want to serve, I take the meat out and slice it (or shred it if it shreds) then throw it back into the crockpot on warm. I allow it to sit and soak until time to eat.

Serve over hoagie rolls like a french dip sandwich, or serve like an open faced sandwich. Serve with extra juice from the crock.

Sister had seconds.

To see the other Stork Meals, click here.