Beef Stew

This stew was one of the first recipes that I ever made by myself (other than scrambled eggs and boxed cakes). I based it on a recipe I found online and then adapted it for what I had in my pantry. I have now made this stew many times and it is one of my favorite winter meals. The stew is warm, hearty, and rich in flavor! 

To make 2-3 serving of this beef stew you will need:

• 2 Tbs VEGETABLE OIL
• 1 lb. BEEF STEW MEAT (could also use chuck roast and cut it into 1 inch cubes)
• 1 ONION, chopped 
• 3 GARLIC cloves, minced
• 1 Tbs TOMATO PASTE
• 3 cups BEEF STOCK
• 2 BAY LEAVES
• 1/2 tsp SUGAR
• 1/4 tsp PEPPER
• 1/4 tsp ALLSPICE
• 1/4 tsp PAPRIKA
• 1 Tbs WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE
• 3-4 CARROTS, chopped
• 1 lb. POTATOES, peeled and cubed 
• 1-2 cups WATER

Pour the vegetable oil into a large pot over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, brown the beef in the oil. 

When the beef is browned, but not necessarily cooked through (it will continue to cook throughout the rest of the preparation) stir in the onion, garlic, and tomato paste.

Next, stir in the beef stock, bay leaves, sugar, pepper, allspice, paprika, and Worcestershire sauce. Cover and allow the stew to simmer for about 1 & 1/2 hours.

Add the carrots and potatoes. If the liquid does not mostly cover the meat and vegetables, add 1-2 cups of water. Then simmer for another 30 minutes.

(Not enough liquid!)

(Perfect!)

Once the carrots and potatoes are tender, taste the broth and season as needed. Remove the bay leaves and serve! 

The beef tastes tender and juicy while to potatoes are soft and flavorful! This is a great comfort dish!



I am already looking forward to making this again!

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Beef Stew

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs VEGETABLE OIL
• 1 lb. BEEF STEW MEAT (could also use chuck roast and cut it into 1 inch cubes)
• 1 ONION, chopped 
• 3 GARLIC cloves, minced
• 1 Tbs TOMATO PASTE
• 3 cups BEEF STOCK
• 2 BAY LEAVES
• 1/2 tsp SUGAR
• 1/4 tsp PEPPER
• 1/4 tsp ALLSPICE
• 1/4 tsp PAPRIKA
• 1 Tbs WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE
• 3-4 CARROTS, chopped
• 1 lb. POTATOES, peeled and cubed 
• 1-2 cups WATER

Directions:

1. Pour the vegetable oil into a large pot over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, brown the beef in the oil. 
2. When the beef is browned, but not necessarily cooked through (it will continue to cook throughout the rest of the preparation) stir in the onion, garlic, and tomato paste.
3. Next, stir in the beef stock, bay leaves, sugar, pepper, allspice, paprika, and Worcestershire sauce. Cover and allow the stew to simmer for about 1 & 1/2 hours.
4. Add the carrots and potatoes. If the liquid does not mostly cover the meat and vegetables, add 1-2 cups of water. Then simmer for another 30 minutes.
5. Once the carrots and potatoes are tender, taste the broth and season as needed. Remove the bay leaves and serve! 

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The recipe I based this one on was Paula's: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/old-time-beef-stew-recipe/index.html

Baked Vegetable Chips

I love this recipe because it allows me to eat chips without feeling quite so guilty. You can take just about any root vegetable, slice it thin, and then bake it until it's crispy! 

Pick one or more of the following:

• BEET
• BUTTERNUT SQUASH (my second favorite!)
• KALE
• PARSNIP
• POTATO
• SWEET POTATO (my favorite!)

You will also need:

• OLIVE OIL
• SALT

Start off by peeling your vegetables. Then, use a mandolin or a sharp knife to cut your vegetable of choice into 1/8th to 1/16th inch thick slices (or as thin as you can get them). 

Next, soak the slices in a bowl of water for about an hour. This will help the chips crisp up by removing some of the excess starch. 

Sweet Potato

After an hour, drain the water...

Beets & Butternut Squash

...and lay the slices out on a paper towel to dry. Sprinkle some salt onto the slices while they dry to help pull the water out. Pat dry with another paper towel. While the chips are drying, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. 

Once the chips are relatively dry place them onto a baking sheet and drizzle on some of the olive oil. Make sure that none of the chips are touching. (I sprinkled a little cinnamon on the sweet potato chips)

Sweet Potato

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the chips are crispy. How thin you slice the chips will determine how long they will need to actually bake.

Butternut Squash

Once the chips are out of the oven, sprinkle with a little bit of salt or other spices and eat up!

Butternut Squash & Parsnips

These chips are best eaten fresh. You could prepare them ahead of time, but make sure not to bake them until the day you plan to eat them!

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Baked Vegetable Chips

Ingredients:

Pick one or more of the following:

• BEET
• BUTTERNUT SQUASH (my second favorite!)
• KALE
• PARSNIP
• POTATO
• SWEET POTATO (my favorite!)

You will also need:

• OLIVE OIL
• SALT

Directions:

1. Start off by peeling your vegetables. 
2. Use a mandolin or a sharp knife to cut your vegetable of choice into 1/8th to 1/16th inch thick slices (or as thin as you can get them). 
3. Soak the slices in a bowl of water for about an hour. This will help the chips crisp up by removing some of the excess starch. 
4. After an hour, drain the water and lay the slices out on a paper towel to dry. Sprinkle some salt onto the slices while they dry to help pull the water out. Pat dry with another paper towel. While the chips are drying, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. 
5. Once the chips are relatively dry place them onto a baking sheet and drizzle on some of the olive oil. Make sure that none of the chips are touching. 
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the chips are crispy. How thin you slice the chips will determine how long they will need to actually bake. 
7. Once the chips are out of the oven, sprinkle with a little bit of salt or other spices and eat up! 
• Note: These chips are best eaten fresh. You could prepare them ahead of time, but make sure not to bake them until the day you plan to eat them!

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Potato Soup

One of my favorite things is a warm bowl of potato soup on a cold day and this recipe really hits the spot! I took my grandma's recipe and tweaked it a little bit to add a more flavor. 

For this soup you will need (It will make about 6-7 servings):

• 6 small POTATOES
• 2 CARROTS
• 1 ONION
• 6 slices BACON
• 1 cup MILK
• 2 Tbs FLOUR
• 2 Tbs BUTTER
• 1/3 cup CHEDDAR CHEESE, freshly shredded
• 1/2 tsp SALT
• 1/4 tsp PEPPER
• 1/4 tsp GARLIC POWDER
• 1 Tbs DRIED PARSLEY

Fill a large pot half way to the top with water and bring it to a boil. While the water is heating up, peel and chop the potatoes and carrots into bite sized pieces. Then dice the onion. 

Once the water has come to a boil throw the potatoes, carrots, and onion into the pot and cook until tender.

In a skillet cook up the 6 strips of bacon. Once cooked, crumble the bacon into small pieces and set aside.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small sauce pan and then whisk in 2 tablespoons flour. Then add 1 cup milk all at once. Continue whisking on low temperature until mixture is smooth. Once smooth, stir in the freshly shredded cheddar cheese. Then take about 1/2 cup of the potato water out of the large pot, and stir it into the milk and cheese mixture.

After the ingredients in the small saucepan are well incorporated, mix the contents into the large pot with the potatoes and potato water. Then add the spices and 2/3 of the crumbled bacon.

Serve hot! Top with shredded cheese and some of the remaining crumbled bacon! 

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Potato Soup

Ingredients:

• 6 small POTATOES
• 2 CARROTS
• 1 ONION
• 6 slices BACON
• 1 cup MILK
• 2 Tbs FLOUR
• 2 Tbs BUTTER
• 1/3 cup CHEDDAR CHEESE, freshly shredded
• 1/2 tsp SALT
• 1/4 tsp PEPPER
• 1/4 tsp GARLIC POWDER
• 1 Tbs DRIED PARSLEY

Directions:

1. Fill a large pot half way to the top with water and bring it to a boil. 
2. While the water is heating up, peel and chop the potatoes and carrots into bite sized pieces. Then dice the onion. 
3. Once the water has come to a boil throw the potatoes, carrots, and onion into the pot and cook until tender.
4. In a skillet cook up the 6 strips of bacon. Once cooked, crumble the bacon into small pieces and set aside.
5. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small sauce pan and then whisk in 2 tablespoons flour. Then add 1 cup milk all at once. Continue whisking on low temperature until mixture is smooth. Once smooth, stir in the freshly shredded cheddar cheese. Then take about 1/2 cup of the potato water out of the large pot, and stir it into the milk and cheese mixture.
6. After the ingredients in the small saucepan are well incorporated, mix the contents into the large pot with the potatoes and potato water. Then add the spices and 2/3 of the crumbled bacon.
7. Serve hot! Top with shredded cheese and some of the remaining crumbled bacon! 

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Rib Eye Steak- Dry Rub

My husband and I have been craving a steak for awhile, so this week we broke down and got ourselves some steak! My parents are pros at cooking steak on the stove rather than outside on the grill (though, they can grill a mean steak as well!) so we decided to give it a shot instead of going out to a restaurant!

For our steak we decided to use my mom's dry rub recipe. It is has a sweet flavor from the brown sugar, a kick of spice from the red pepper flakes, but also has a smoky flavor from the paprika! It is basically delicious!

To make the steak and the dry rub we used:

• 1 RIB-EYE STEAK
• 1 Tbs SALT
• 1 Tbs BROWN SUGAR
• 1/2 tsp GARLIC POWDER
• 1 tsp PAPRIKA
• 1/2 tsp RED PEPPER FLAKES
• VEGETABLE OIL

To make the rub, simply combine the salt, brown sugar, garlic powder, paprika, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. (My family has been known to 'accidentally' spill a little bit of extra red pepper flakes to give it more of a kick.)

After all of the ingredients are mixed well, rub the mixture all over the steaks. (We ended up having a little bit of the rub left over.)

When you are ready to cook your steak, heat some vegetable oil in a skillet or grill pan. (We used a cast iron skillet, but I think it made it a little difficult to control the temperature so we will probably use our grill pan next time.) Make sure that the oil is hot enough so that it sizzles when you put the steak into the pan. We cooked our steak for about 3-4 minutes on each side on medium-high temperature in order to get a good sear on both sides. We then cheated and cut into the middle to see how cooked it was... seeing that is was still a little rare, we turned the heat down to medium-low and continued cooking for a few minutes until it was somewhere between medium rare and medium.

Once we were happy with the cook on the steak we pulled it off the heat and prepared to start eating! In the picture below you can see how juicy it was! We also cooked up some broccoli and potatoes to go with our steak. Can't have steak without potatoes, right?!

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Rib Eye Steak- Dry Rub

Ingredients:

• 1 RIB-EYE STEAK
• 1 Tbs SALT
• 1 Tbs BROWN SUGAR
• 1/2 tsp GARLIC POWDER
• 1 tsp PAPRIKA
• 1/2 tsp RED PEPPER FLAKES
• VEGETABLE OIL

Directions:

1. To make the rub, simply combine the salt, brown sugar, garlic powder, paprika, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. (My family has been known to 'accidentally' spill a little bit of extra red pepper flakes to give it more of a kick.)
2. After all of the ingredients are mixed well, rub the mixture all over the steaks. (We ended up having a little bit of the rub left over.)
3. When you are ready to cook your steak, heat some vegetable oil in a skillet or grill pan. Make sure that the oil is hot enough so that it sizzles when you put the steak into the pan. 
4. We cooked our steak for about 3-4 minutes on each side on medium-high temperature in order to get a good sear on both sides. We then cheated and cut into the middle to see how cooked it was... seeing that is was still a little rare, we turned the heat down to medium-low and continued cooking for a few minutes until it was somewhere between medium rare and medium.
5. Once we were happy with the cook on the steak we pulled it off the heat and prepared to start eating! 

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Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

These are a great if you are looking for something new to try with potatoes! The following recipe will make enough of the oil & spice mixture to cover a 3 lb. bag of potatoes.

What you will need is:

• 3 lb. bag BABY YUKON GOLD POTATOES (3 lb. bag will yield about 8 servings, so adjust the number of potatoes by how many people you are actually serving)
• 1/3 cup OLIVE OIL
• 4 tsp SALT
• 2 tsp PEPPER
• 2 Tbs finely chopped ROSEMARY (if you don't like rosemary or don't have any on hand, try a different spice!)

Start preheating your oven to 425 degrees F. While the oven is preheating, cut the bottom off each potato to allow it to sit on the counter rather than roll around. Next, cut slices in the potato about 1/8 inches apart. Be careful not to cut all the way through the potato, but allow about 1/4 inch at the bottom to hold the potato together.

Tip: Place the potato in a shallow spoon to hold it in place, but also to make it easier to cut the slices without cutting all the way through the potato.

Once all of the potatoes have been sliced, mix the oil, salt, pepper, and 1 Tbs rosemary in a bowl and then toss the potatoes in with the oil and spices. Make sure to get a good coating of oil and spices over all of the potatoes and into the slits.

Next, place the potatoes on a cookie sheet cut side up. Bake the potatoes for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through and the slices are crisp on top!

After taking the potatoes out of the oven sprinkle the remaining 1 Tbs of rosemary on top and serve!

The website where I found this recipe is: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/rosemary-roasted-potatoes-recipe2/index.html

Baked Salmon & Potatoes with a Mustard Sauce

If you like salmon and you like mustard, then you will like this recipe! (Even if you don't like salmon, the sauce is really good on the potatoes too!)

For two people you will need:

• 3-4 NEW POTATOES (depending on size and how much you like potatoes)
• 4 oz. BUTTON MUSHROOMS (you can leave these out if you are like my husband and don’t like mushrooms, or you can make them anyway and just let your wife eat your share)
• 2 SALMON FILLETS
• 3 Tbs. OLIVE OIL
• 1 Tbs. RED WINE VINEGAR
• 1 Tbs. DIJON MUSTARD
• 1 tsp. HONEY
• 2 Tbs. FRESH FLAT LEAF PARSLEY (chopped)
• SALT
• PEPPER

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. 

Toss the potatoes and mushrooms in 1 Tbs. olive oil and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast on a rimmed baking sheet for about 20 minutes (toss once) until the potatoes start to get soft. 

Push the potatoes and mushrooms to the side of the sheet and place the salmon fillets in the opening. Season the salmon with salt and pepper. 

Roast until everything is cooked through and tender, about 10-15 minutes.

While everything is cooking whisk together 2 Tbs. olive oil, the vinegar, mustard, honey, parsley, and 1/4 tsp. of both salt and pepper. Brush/drizzle the sauce over the salmon and vegetables before serving. (You may have more sauce than you need so be careful not to drown your dinner in it!)

Here is an old picture, not as pretty but still delicious!

The website where I found this recipe is: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/roasted-salmon-potatoes-mushrooms-00000000012567/index.html