{pioneer woman} beef stew

I was craving a nice Beef Stew. I haven't really ventured out for this much before. I found this recipe in one of my newer cookbooks. The Pioneer Woman always has wonderful recipes. The one is a keeper! Beef Stew recipe? Check!

THE PIONEER WOMAN'S BEEF STEW

Average beef stew is, well, average. But good beef stew is out of this world, as evidenced by the joy you'll experience while chowing down on this dang delicious version.

Ingredients:
3 T olive oil
1 T butter
2 pounds beef stew meat
1 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can or bottle of beer 14 oz beef broth
4 cups beef broth
1 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T tomato paste
1/2 t paprika
1 1/2 t. sugar
1/2 t. kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
4 new potatoes, quartered
4 carrots, unpeeled, roughly sliced
2 T all-purpose flour
minced parsley, for garnish (optional)
crusty bread, for serving

Directions:

1. Start by heating the olive oil and butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Throw in the stew meat and quickly brown it on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove the meat to a clean plate and set aside.
2. Throw the onion into the pot, then reduce the heat to low. Stir the onion around to cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Then throw in the garlic and stir it around to cook for a minute. Pour in all the beef broth, add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, paprika, sugar, salt and pepper.
3. Finally, return the meat to the pot, cover it, and simmer the stew over very low heat for 1.5 - 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender. If the liquid level gets too low, add 1-2 cups hot water as needed. 
4. Add the potatoes and carrots to the pot. Stir them in and continue simmering for 30 minutes more or until the vegetables are tender.
5. To thicken the stew, remove 1 cup of the cooking liquid and whisk in the flour. Pour the flour mixture into the pot and simmer for an additional 1- minutes, or until the stew is very thick. Add parsley at the end if desired.
6. Dish it up and serve it with crusty bread and a very, very hearty appetite.

Slight short-cut: This was my FIRST time making this stew (and it's a keeper!). I didn't read through the recipe closely enough. I didn't realize the meat had to simmer for 1.5+ hours, BEFORE I add the potatoes. Once I figured that out I finished dicing my potatoes, then put them in a bowl, covered them in cold water and put them in the fridge. I added then in @ Step 4. Magically, they only took about 20 minutes to cook and I didn't have to thicken the stew at all; adding the potatoes took care of it. Pretty nice! I think I'll do that same thing next time too. :) Beef stew may not LOOK very pretty, but MAN is it delicious!

Note: Stew freezes beautifully.

Moose Track Cookies

We were preparing for our summer vacation trip and I was looking for some "countdown to vacation" ideas. I found these Moose Track Cookies and thought they were pretty cute. I gave them a try, but I made my own variation. I combined this recipe and this recipe. Here's what I came up with.

MOOSE TRACK COOKIES
2 recipes combined by Me

TIP: When baking, it's important to lightly spoon the flour into the measuring cups and then level with a knife. It's particularly important in this recipe, directly scooping out the flour with a measuring cup will result in dry, crumbly dough.

Ingredients:
 1 c. real butter, no substitutes!
1 c. sugar
1 egg, extra large
1 1/2 t. almond extract (you could use vanilla instead- which I always use)
3 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 T. cocoa powder
1 t. butter, melted
Caramels, cut into small pieces (I used the Kraft caramel bites, like chocolate chip-sized)

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar until light & fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in egg and the extract and mix to incorporate.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined.
3. Divide the cookie dough into 2 parts. Mix the cocoa powder and butter. Add cocoa butter mixture for ONE of the cookie dough parts and mix in. Now chill your dough.
4. To make the chilling and cutting process easier, roll the dough 1/4" thick between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Lay the sheet of dough flat on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes or place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
5. Cut cookies in circles (I use one of my glass cups) and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. The cocoa sugar cookie dough should be cut with a smaller circle than the sugar cookie dough (I use a smaller glass cup). (The cocoa dough will be the hoof mark of the moose track cookie.) Cut the cocoa dough circles in half. Place about 4-5 caramel bits on top of the sugar cookie and press down slightly. Then, place the cocoa halves on top of the caramel bits.
6.  Bake in preheated 350* oven for 8-12 minutes on ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheet. For soft cookies, bake 8-10 minutes or until just set. For lightly crisp cookies, bake 10-13 minutes, or unti the edges are golden brown. If you're making large cookies, or ones with small parts or heavy frosting, you wil want to be careful because they might break when they're super soft,
7. When the desired doneness is reached, allow to cool on the pans for about 5 minutes and then transfer to the cooling racks and let the cookies cool completely. 

Yield: 3 dozen 2-3" cookies

{menu plan} September 2015

School is in session and we're getting back in the groove of things. I've been cooking up a storm! Find these yummy recipes here, or coming soon to this blog!

Cafe Rio chicken atop salad

Alice springs chicken

Zesty green beans

{our best bites} baked fish sticks *

Crockpot Mac and cheese

Paps baked chicken legs

Congo Bars

{our best bites} chicken Caesar salad *

Baked sweet potatoes *

Crockpot chicken teriyaki

Cauli Pizza

Herb roasted chicken

{our best bites} roasted red potatoes and Pearl onions

{our best bites} weeknight chili (found in their Savoring the Seasons cookbook)

{our best bites} pear pomegranate salad

Tangy hamburgers

Grilled chicken

Three cheese chicken and penne

Alice springs chicken

Wet enchiladas

{our best bites} streusel-topped pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (found in their Savoring the Seasons cookbook)

Crockpot chicken teriyaki

Priest Lake Lasagne

Apple Crisp

{our best bites} baked creamy chicken taquitos

Ham & cheese quiche

* new recipe coming soon

baked sweet potatoes

This recipe is hardly a recipe. It makes a easy, low-carb side for dinner, or a warm snack with a little sweetness.

BAKED SWEET POTATOES

Ingredients:
Sweet potatoes
cooking spray

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350*.
2. Wash your sweet potatoes. Poke them a few times with a fork. Place them in a baking dish that's been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Bake for 1.5 hours or until tender.
4. Cut in half to serve. Top with a little butter and/or brown sugar and cinnamon.

black raspberry jelly

Pap picked us a BUNCH of black raspberries from the back fencerow. Woohoo! We were OUT of our Black Raspberry Jelly. Look at my 2 cute helpers. :)

Levi washing the berries and putting them up to be mashed.

And here's one of my mashers. 

BLACK RASPBERRY JELLY
Recipe from Sandy Holmes

To make the *juice:
5 c. crushed black raspberries
2 c. water
2 T. lemon juice

To make the jelly:
3 1/2 c. *juice
2 T. lemon juice
1 box pectin
5 c. sugar
1/2 t. butter

Directions:

1. Fill water-bath canner half-full with water. Bring to a simmer.
2. Wash lids, screw bands and jars in hot soapy water. 
1. *I usually run my jars through the dishwasher. When they're finished in there, I put them on a cookie sheet and put them in my oven on WARM. This helps keep them warm until I'm ready to use them.
3. Wash berries and crush to get 5 cups crushed black raspberries.
4. Place crushed berries, water and lemon juice in a 5-8 quart sauce pot. Bring to a boil. 
5. Place 2-3 layers of damp cheesecloth of jelly bag in large bowl. Pour prepared fruit (from #4) into cheesecloth. Tie cheesecloth closed; hang and let drop into bowl until dripping stops (about 20+ minutes). Press gently.
6. Measure exactly 5 cups of sugar into a bowl. Set aside.
7. Measure 3 1/2 cups of your juice and place back in your big saucepot, along with the lemon juice, pectin, and butter. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.
8. Stir in sugar quickly. Return to a full rolling boil and boil EXACTLY 1 MINUTE, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam.
9. Remove jars from the oven. Ladle your jelly mixture quickly into your jars, filling to within 1/8" of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. Water must cover jars by 1-2"; add boiling water if necessary. Cover. Bring water to a gentle boil.
10. Process jars 10 minutes. Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration in necessary.) Let stand @ room temp for 24 hours. Store unopened jellies in cool, dry, dark place for up to 1 year. Refrigerated jellies should be used within 3 weeks.

{menu plan} August 2015

We're having a great summer. Trying to squeeze in a lot of fun with some yummy food. Here's what's been cookin' around here. Find these recipes on my Recipe Page.

Cafe rio pork atop salad

Priest Lake Lasagne

Crockpot French dip sandwiches 

Paps baked chicken legs

Roasted sweet potatoes

Taco soup

Crockpot chicken teriyaki

Slow-cooker Roast beef and mashed potatoes

Paleo Pork and sauerkraut

Crockpot Mac and cheese

All 30 parks! And prize day!

WE DID IT! WE DID ALL 30 PARKS THIS SUMMER! WOOHOO! What an accomplishment! Way to go US! (The drawing for the Grand Prize for completing all 30 parks isn't until October. If that should prove fruitful, I'll post something then.)

I had told the kids there would be a special prize if we could do all 30 parks this summer. The prize was...a trip to BUILD A BEAR WORKSHOP! "YES! Best Mom ever!" they chanted.

They picked out their new friends (complete with bubble gum smells for their bellies and sounds for their paws), helped fill them with fluff, and now they're giving them their first bath (which is actually a blow dry to fluff them up). They're pretty stoked!

All loaded up and on our way home with our new friends!

Alivia brought home Star. Isn't she perfectly Alivia? :)

Jackson brought home Spotty, this cute snow leopard, complete with Karate gear. Sweet!

And Levi brought home Toothless, complete with wings, and a saddle.

It was a great day! I was so happy to give them this reward after all their hard work at the parks this summer! Maybe we'll do it again next year too!