Crockpot Beef Stew

Beef Stew

     Well I'm on Fall break. At least that's what my students are calling it. The kids get the whole week off and us teachers are doing training and conferences the first part of the week. I was wise and scheduled all my conferences today for the morning so I had the afternoon to work on lesson plans. So now I'm all ready with my lessons for next week and I can relax and just chill for the next 4 days.

     I've got a lot of plans for the next 4 days. First off I'm planning on sleeping in a bit. I haven't slept in for quite some time now and I really need some extra Z's. In fact I so tired that I could probably take a nap right now, but I hate to waste any time with a nap.

     I also want to do some cake decorating this long weekend. I just bought some doll cake pans and I want to practice making some doll cakes. They should be pretty easy to do. I think I'm going to make a bride and some bridesmaids with a fall theme of course.

    One other thing that I want to do is some quilting. I've got a black and white quilt that is sandwiched and ready to be quilted. Now all I've got to do is sit down and do some serious quilting on it. It shouldn't take too long. In fact I should be able to get it done over the weekend if I do a little bit every day.

     While I'm doing all these things I'm thinking that making some meals in the crockpot is probably a must. I love when I can just throw everything in the crockpot and let it do its thing. This recipe that I'm sharing today is one of those perfect recipes for just that. I made this a couple weekends ago when I was on the run. I just put it all in the crockpot and went about my business and when dinner time came it was ready. It's a great fall/winter meal that everybody will love.

Crockpot Beef Stew
3 carrots, slice
2 potatoes, cubed
2 lbs stew meat, cut into bite size pieces
2 C water
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t garlic powder
1 bay leaf
1/4 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 t paprika
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, sliced

2T cornstarch
1/3 C cold water

Combine all ingredients in crockpot except cornstarch and 1/3 cup water. Mix well. Cover. Cook on low 8 hours. Once stew is cooked dissolve cornstarch and 1/3 cup water. Stir into meat mixture. Cook on High until thickened, about 10 minutes. (If you don't have cornstarch you can substitute 1/4 cup flour.)

    

Slow Cooker Potato & Ham Soup

Potato Ham Soup

     Everyone likes easy right? Well this recipe is super easy. My husband happen to make this soup a few weeks ago. He of course found the recipe in Simple and Delicious magazine. It was so good that I just had to share it with everyone. This recipe is basically a 2 step process. Can't much easier than that. In fact this recipe is just as easy as the recipe I posted for Wild rice soup in the crock pot. 

     This soup is so good it tastes like it took a ton of work to make, but it really doesn't. It also only takes 7 ingredients to make. Most everything I already had at home to make this. The recipe did call for deli ham, but we had left over ham, so that's what was used. It also called for a package of frozen shredded hash browns, thawed. Now my husband went and bought some, but I would have just peeled and shredded some potatoes using my saladshooter.

      It smelled so good and tasted even better. The day he made this and I came home from work and the wonderful smell just hypnotized me. I immediately walked over to the crock pot to check it out. He served this soup up with a some fresh french bread (courtesy of the bakery) and it was a wonderful meal.

     This recipe is a keeper for sure!

Slow Cooker Potato & Ham Soup
1carton (32 oz) chicken broth
1 pkg. (30 oz) frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4t pepper
4 oz cream cheese, softened and cubed
1 C cubed deli ham
1 can (5 oz) evaporated milk
sour cream and chopped green onions, optional

1. In a 4 or 5 quart slow cooker, combine broth, potatoes, onion and pepper. Cook, covered, on low 6-8 hours.
2. Mash potatoes to desired consistency. Whisk in cream cheese until melted. Stir in ham and evaporated milk. Cook, covered, 15-20 minutes longer or until heated through. Serve soup with sour cream and green onions if desired.

Recipe from Taste of Home Simple and Delicious

Queso Chili

Queso Chili

     January has proven to be a month that just isn't going to budge on the idea of warmer weather. It doesn't seem to matter where one lives in the U.S. it is cold. Not just a little cold, but a deep freeze cold. The wind chill here has been in the -40's. Not fun!

     School has already been cancelled 3 days because of the extreme wind chills. I'm wondering if we will be closed again on Monday and Tuesday too. The wind chills are suppose to be worse than the last few days when school was cancelled. At this rate we'll be making time up in June. Something I'm not too happy about.

     Since it's been so cold out I've had to make some chili to warm us up some. In fact I've made this particular chili 2 times now.  My husband says that it tasted better the second time I made it, but I didn't do anything different from the first time. I guess it just must have been that he was more in the mood for chili the second time I made it. My son absolutely loved it both times. I like it because it's a little different from your average chili and you just throw everything in the crockpot. So simple.

     So make yourself a big pot of chili tonight. I know that the old month of January will cooperate with giving us cold winds and temperatures and this dish will warm you up . Enjoy!

Queso Chii
1 lb of Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 lb ground beef, browned
1 C frozen corn
1-15 oz can of kidney beans, undrained
2-14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1- 4oz can of green chilies
1 package of taco seasoning mix
Corn chips

Combine Velveeta cheese, ground beef, corn, beans, diced tomatoes, green chilies and taco mix in a crockpot.
Cover and cook on high for 3 hours.
Serve in a bowl with crushed corn chips on top if desired.

    

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Chicken And Wild Rice Soup

     Happy New Year!!!

     Well another year is behind us and we are looking at a new year. Time to reevaluate our life and try and make some changes that are for the better. Some of us want to make changes to exercise more, or to just exercise period. Some of us want to save more money and spend less, simplifying our lives. And then some of us want to eat better. So many resolutions. Hopefully some of the things we want to change will become a reality.

     I really want to eat better and save some money so I can go on a trip somewhere. Not that I haven't done these things before, but I just want to make a point of really watching what I eat and making sure I put money aside every paycheck so I can afford to go on a nice trip this year. 

     As far as exercise goes, I'm going to make sure that I go to the gym 3 times a week and really work out. No more wimpy exercising. I'm going to make sure I work out for at least 30 minutes when I do go to the gym. Plus I'm going to make sure I do yoga once a week. It's so easy to get out of the habit of regular exercise.

    So to start my better eating I've made a Chicken and Wild Rice soup recipe that I think you're going to love. It is made in the crockpot, which makes it super easy. I wasn't so sure how the wild rice would cook, but it was very easy. It doesn't take much to whip this soup up and my family liked it better than my usual wild rice soup.

So here's to a New Year! Hope you all have a wonderful 2014!

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

8 C of chicken broth

1 C uncooked wild rice

1 T olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 rods of celery, sliced

2 carrots, shredded

1/2 t pepper

2 C cooked, diced chicken

1 stick of butter, melted

1/2 C flour

2 C half and half

2 t parsley 

Siracha sauce, if desired

Add chicken broth and rice to crockpot and turn on high. In a frying pan add olive oil and heat on medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrots and saute until cooked. Add the pepper to the vegetables.  Add to the rice and broth mixture. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.

Cook the chicken. ( I took 3 chicken breasts and boiled them until done. About 20-30 minutes). Cut chicken up into bite size pieces and put in the refrigerator for later.

In a small sauce pan melt butter. Add the flour and stir completely in. Then slowly add the half and half, mixing well. Add this to the crockpot mixture along with the chicken and the parsley. Mix well.

Let soup cook for another 20-30 minutes and serve.

Add Siracha sauce to individual bowls if desired.

Adapted from Simply This and that