Guinness Stew

Several years ago, I spent three days in downtown Minneapolis for a banking class. While it was work related, it was also a mini-vacation for Mom! I had a big bed all to myself. I could watch whatever I wanted on TV. I got to sample different restaurants for dinner.

On my last day, I stopped back at a restaurant that my co-worker and I had stopped at for cocktails after our first day of classes. It was an Irish pub that had a great roof-top terrace and lawn bowling square. We sipped cocktails while watching people in their business attire juggle pints of Guinness and the required lawn ball. I really have no idea what they are actually called-we just had fun watching.

On this last day, I sat outside in front of the restaurant on a small patio having a late lunch before heading home. I chose the Guinness Beef Stew. I am not a fan of Guinness for drinking, as I prefer lighter beers to drink, but that stew was out of this world! Chunks of beef, bright orange carrot rounds, and small Irish potatoes swimming together in the most flavorful broth I had ever tasted.

The menu didn't give away much on what was in it, other than the main ingredients you could see. I saw a recipe several years ago that was for a different type of stew, but used the process for the beef and it really made it terrific.



Guinness Beef Stew

4 strips of bacon
1 TBSP oil
2 pounds beef stew meat (I sometimes use a nice sirloin cut up)
1/2 of a large onion, diced
1-2 TBSP flour
1 bottle of Guinness beer **
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup red wine
2 cups beef stock
2 TBSP brown sugar
2 tsp Balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Old World seasoning (Penzeys-it has bay leaf, rosemary, dill, thyme, savory, etc)
salt and pepper, to taste
10 small Irish or red potatoes, cooked

In a Dutch oven heat the oil. Fry the bacon to lightly crisp and remove from pot. In the bacon renderings and oil, fry the stew meat that has been blotted dry to sear the outside. Do this in at least two batches so as not to crowd the beef. Remove beef to a plate or bowl. Saute onions in remaining dripping for about 4 to 5 minutes, being careful to not let them burn or get too much color. Stir flour into the onion mixture and stir for 2 minutes to get a nice roux. Pour a small amount of beer into pan to deglaze and help the roux not to burn. Return the stew meat to the pan and use a scissors to snip the bacon into bite size pieces right into the pot. Stir the rest of the ingredients in, except the potatoes. Simmer over low heat for 1-1/2 hours. Stir the cooked potatoes into the stew and simmer for another hour.

Serve with the Beer Bread from last post.

**Notes: I had bought a large single bottle of beer from the liquor store since I'm not a fan of drinking the Guinness. I cannot remember the exact size, but around 24 to 26 ounces. I poured 12 ounces of it into a glass measure and let sit to come to room temperature for the bread. The balance I used for the stew.

I also have been trying to use up my canned goods, so I used two cans of small Irish potatoes for the fresh cooked ones. The only thing I will do different if I use canned spuds again is to fry them in a little oil and beer to put a little color on them.

The bacon: I had cooked up a pound the night before and saved the renderings in a glass cup. I slowly melted that with just a small amount of oil since the recipe I found for the different meat stew only used the renderings from the four slices of bacon, and I had about double that from the pound of bacon.

Tart and Tangy Meatballs

It was a beautiful fall weekend here in Minnesota the past couple of days. We had planned a party at our house with some of our work friends. I made a few dishes, salads and a dessert and asked everyone to bring something to pass. The crowd enjoyed all the food and it tasted even better sitting outside next to a fire.
I was introduced to these meatballs by my Mother-in-law. I was pretty skeptical as I'm not a fan of sauerkraut. The first time I made sauerkraut and sausage for Dude, I had to leave the room and let him eat alone. Because I trust her, and truthfully still think I need to impress her after 22 years, I tried them. They are the bomb. A little sweet, a little tangy and a little tart.

Mom Lee's Meatballs

2 pounds ground chuck

1/2 package onion soup mix

1 cup cracker crumbs

3 eggs

1 can whole cranberries

1 small can sauerkraut, drained

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup barbeque sauce, your favorite

Mix the ground chuck, onion soup mis, cracker crumbs and eggs gently with hands until incorporated. Form into small balls and lay them in a 9x13 baking dish. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Mix together rest of ingredients to form sauce. Pour over meatballs, making sure to get sauce on all of them. Bake at 325 for 1 hour.

I cheated and used some store bought meatballs only because I was making 2 salads, deviled eggs, a hot sandwich (which will be on here soon) and some bars. I needed a shortcut and I like a certain brand which were a BOGO sale item about 2 weeks ago. Tasted good but the homemade ones taste even better.

Fall is here. I'm loving it. I didn't love getting out of bed at 2:00 AM because I was so cold from being out by the fire until midnight. I went and soaked in the tub for about half an hour, until my feet and hands were no longer ice cubes. 8 hours later I woke up.....with freezing feet again! I think I caught poor blood circulation from my honey....he blames me for his allergies he never had before we met, so I think it is only fair that he be blamed for my foot-pops. Just sayin'

Another sad note, great to leave you with I know. Our friends who are going through the divorce-I wrote about that a couple months ago. Her nephew died in his sleep on Thursday night. He was only 32 and the autopsy showed nothing conclusive so it may take up to a month to find out what happened. I just don't know how much more this poor woman can take. And since we all know the "death happens in 3's" I'm seriously willing the phone not to ring. I'm sure it works, right?

I just wanna be a sheep, baa baa baa baa

Okay, it is a totally corny lead in, but the only thing I could think of with Shepard's was either Christmas, or my favorite song the little kids sing in church each year. Just the little voices singing "I just wanna be a sheep, baa baa baa baa" makes me smile every time I hear it.

It was my first day off after my three day weekend, and it is usually a wash out as I'm so tired I just sleep and sleep....and then feel like I have accomplished nothing and then stress out about getting everything done the next day so I can go back to work. I am not trying to complain about working, it is just after a 12 hour overnight, your body just can't bounce back to a normal schedule. I woke up at 11 and decided it was waaaaay too early to get up (since I could barely keep my eyes open long enough to look at the clock) and slept another 2 hours. And then laid back down to take a quick nap. And then I needed a plan for dinner. Since Dude is on light duty, he is working in the office during the day while he recoups. I found a recipe on my desk for Shepard's Pie and saw I had most of the ingredients, so made it up as I went along.

Shepard's Pie (Based on Kraft's recipe)

1 pound ground beef

2 pounds potatoes, cut up to cook and mash

2 cloves garlic, peeled, but whole

3 ounces Philly cream cheese, room temp

1/4 cup heavy cream, warmed

1 cup shredded Cheddar Jack cheese, divided

1 cup beef gravy

1 small can corn

1 small shallot, chopped

1 small carrot, diced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brown ground beef with shallot. Stir in carrot and simmer a few minutes. While ground beef is browning, put spuds in pan of cold water; add the garlic cloves. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes until fork tender. Add brown gravy and corn to beef and simmer over low heat while mashing the potatoes. I took the cloves of garlic out then mashed since DQ isn't a big fan of garlic. The potatoes had a nice, light garlic flavor. Mash the potatoes with the warmed cream, then beat in the cream cheese and a 1/4 cup of shredded cheese. The spuds will be a little stiff. Pour the hamburger mixture into a 9x9 glass pan. Spoon spuds onto the top of the beef mixture, and spread out to cover the beef, edge to edge. Sprinkle on remaining cheese and place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Turn broiler on low (if you have a broiler function in the oven rather than a separate drawer) and brown the cheese. If not, just leave in the oven a few extra minutes so it is browned and bubbly.

I think I could be a sheep if my Shepard made this for me......

A swing.........and a miss!

As I continue with the Pantry Challenge, I am...., well, challenged. I didn't sleep much yesterday because I had therapy for my elbow and had to get up early. After therapy I went to the travel agent to start planning me and Dude's 20th anniversary trip to Iceland. Found out that Iceland is closed right now and not taking reservations. Hmmm, really? So the agent will call me in a couple weeks when they are back in business. Dude and I were alone last night so we went and grabbed some dinner and went to Menard's to pick up some stuff for my new scrap room. We found carpet, some trim pieces and a new light fixture. Now he is getting ready to paint the ceiling. We went to bed last night at 7:30 because we were so exhausted. Sleeping while it is dark outside is a weird concept to us! He woke up at midnight and I woke up at 3. Now at 11 PM I am ready for bed again. After napping this afternoon I asked what he wanted for dinner. After explaining that I didn't have any T-bones in the the freezer, I made him go down to the freezer and just pick something out. He pulled out what I thought was a pork roast, but after cooking we came to the conclusion it was some kind of beef......thing. I thawed it, marinated it in olive oil, apple cider, rosemary, thyme and a little ginger and Tuscan Sunset blend. I put it in the oven with some onions that were sprinkled with some olive oil and some of the same herbs used in the marinade, I placed it in a 325 degree oven for about an hour and a half. I made a package of angel hair pasta and herb boxed side dish. Yeah. The meat must have been old as it was dry and tasteless. The pasta was good, but I was totally disappointed by the meat. I guess this is what the challenge is all about, right?

We are thinking we might do homemade soup tomorrow, but we will see. I have a coupon for Michael's and have a list of things that I need to pick up. It is also the big game between the Vikings and the Saints for a spot in the Superbowl!! Dude doesn't like football, but I kind of do, so I think I may have to watch. Normally we go for motor sports, but I love high school football and always watched the Vikings with my Dad growing up. I remember him in his skivvies (underwear) and t-shirt yelling at the Fran Tarkenton about the ball and Mom telling him if he knew so much, maybe he should go coach them. Ahhhh, good times, good times. Let's go Purple-make us proud!

Short Ribs

While stalking, er I mean while reading through my reader list, I found a recipe for ribs in a red wine sauce that I wanted to try. I took ribs out and put in the fridge to make a little later in the day and then Dude asked if I wanted to go out for dinner and a movie. Heck yeah! I wish I would have brought my camera with because seriously? Best burger I ever had. I think I have mentioned that we like to eat at Rudy's Redeye Grill, which is part of Axl's Charhouse here in Minnesota. They have awesome steaks and prime rib and pasta, and well everything we have ever had there is good. My favorite cocktail is also from there-the Flirtini. I have that recipe under drinks in my recipe labels. And if you make these cocktails in pitcher form (which we do) stop at one pitcher. Trust me on this. I didn't learn the first time we made two. I learned the second time. But the burgers were phenomenal. I don't know if they ground up Bessie right there in the kitchen, but they were juicy and full of flavor and HUGE! So the ribs took a back seat. When I went to make the ribs the next day, I didn't do it with the red wine as it only takes about a cup of wine and we had to work the next two days and I didn't want the wine sitting in the fridge that long before I could drink the rest of it. I used beef stock instead. It went together so fast. I chopped an onion into quarters, cut 3 stalks of celery into three piece, took a handful of mini carrots (since those where the only ones in the crisper drawer) and put in the bottom of the Crock Pot. I rubbed the patted dry ribs with one of my favorite blends from Penzey's that consisted of paprika, onion, celery, arrowroot, sugar, garlic, black pepper, parsley, dill seed, caraway, turmeric, dill weed, bay leaf, thyme, savory, basil, marjoram and rosemary. Holy cow there is a lot packed in that jar! It is called Beef Roast seasoning and we use it all the time. I placed the ribs on the top of the veggies and poured the beef stock around the sides of the meat, put her on low and went to bed. 8 hours later dinner was ready. I strained the juices into a pan, mixed some Wondra flour with cold beef stock and whisked into the hot juices and made some pan gravy. Delish!

This is a new tablecloth I got from my Mom. I will have to do a post on the fun things I got. A resident in her apartment building (she calls 'the Home') had passed away and Mom offered to help her husband clean out some stuff. He told her she could take what she wanted and the rest was going off to Goodwill I believe. She took several tablecloths (I collect old ones), a stockinette cover for a rolling pin still in the original box, and a cookie press. I was excited about the cookie press (spelled Cooky on the box) since I have never made Spritz cookies and I know Dude likes those. There were several recipe booklets, receipts dated 1941, and some cool round recipe cards that came off of the lids of Spry shortening. I want to find a cool frame and hang them in my kitchen. I think when we move to town in a few years, I will do a retro themed kitchen!

Pan roasted Steaks

Sizzle, sizzle.

Can I have a show of hands of those who love the smell of onions browning in butter? Holy Flying Fig Newtons, I love that smell. Nothing makes my stomach growl more than that smell. Since it was cold and rainy, I didn't want to fire up the grill to cook steaks. I have seen the chefs on TV cook them on the stove top and then finish in the oven. All I can taste in my memory were those old cheap round steaks that grandma would fry in a skillet and that strange flavor I associated with the frying pan. I thought I would give it a go-round.


Pan Roasted Steaks

2 Rib eye steaks
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 TBSP butter
1 TBSP oil
steak seasoning
salt and pepper
1 bag refrigerated red potatoes

Heat cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Melt butter and place onions in the pans. Brown onions 6 to 7 minutes. Add the oil. Sprinkle the room temperature steaks with steak seasoning, a little salt and pepper. Place seasoned side down and season the top side. After a nice sear has formed on bottom of steak, flip over. Add bag of potatoes to pan. Cook about 6 to 8 minutes, getting some color on the potatoes. Flip the spuds and brown up other side for a few minutes. Have oven preheat to 400 degrees F. Place skillet in oven to finish cooking. Time will depend on how done you like your steaks. I left mine in about 12 minutes or so and they were just a little over medium. Still pink but not mooing.

Suffice it to say we scarfed these bad boys down quick!

Here is Tofu. She is like most cats and loves to get into things-bags, boxes, laundry baskets, lunch boxes. Here she is after I had gone grocery shopping. She climbed in the insulated bag and decided to take a little nap. Have I mentioned how weird she is?

Tomorrow is set for the double crusted layered apple pie that Cathy posted a few days ago. I don't know that I have ever had that many compliments on a treat ever. Be warned-my photography and presentation are nothing like Cathy's!

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatballs

Last January (or February), Cathy over at Noble Pig ran a contest for Superbowl party food. I love bacon cheeseburgers, so I came up with a recipe to try. My kids liked it, but they were a little dry. Drama Queen has been begging for them again so I decided to make some to take to my friend's house for our monthly movie night. I made some changes, including the cheese. I was thinking of using a big ball of mozzarella and cutting hunks off of it, but then I saw Ciliegine cheese in the deli. It is small balls of mozzarella, about the size of cherry tomatoes. Then I turned on Food Network and saw Big Daddy's house-and he was making the same thing! Great minds think alike, but it honestly freaked me out a bit! I didn't see the whole episode so I'm not sure what he put in the meatballs, but they looked good with the spaghetti at the end of the show.

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatballs

3 pounds ground beef

3 slices of bacon, cut in half lengthwise, then into small pieces

2 eggs

1/4 cup ketchup

2 TBSP Dijon mustard

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp grill seasoning-I used a blend from Penzey's, but grill seasoning would come close

1 container of Ciliegine

Break up ground beef in a bowl. Sprinkle with bacon pieces. In small bowl, combine ketchup, and Dijon mustard. Pour over meat mixture and gently squeeze the ingredients together so you don't overwork your meat. Sprinkle seasonings over, and squeeze another couple times. Take a palmful of meat and flatten out, place a mozzarella ball in the center and wrap the meat around cheese. I got 20 meatballs out of my three pounds of meat. They are big, maybe the size of a lime. Line two cookie sheets with foil, then top with a rack. I used two cooling racks as they fit the pans best. Bake at 375 degrees F for 35 to 38 minutes.

I put some away plain for my daughter, but the rest went into a crock pot with some spaghetti sauce and just warmed them together. You could serve with spaghetti or pile in a hoagie bun for a meatball sandwich. Smother them with sauce, onions and peppers and a little cheese on top, and pop in the oven for a few minutes to melt cheese and warm all the ingredients.

Dude seemed to like them too!

A meatloaf redeux

While shopping the other morning after work, we saw that the butcher was in at 6:30 stocking the meat case. Dude walked over to the counter and found some smoked sausage and I saw he had fresh ground chuck. Since Hermit Crab has her wisdom teeth pulled last week, she hasn't had "real" food so I thought I would make some meatloaf for her. I tweaked what I usually do tonight because I was feeling plucky. Or something.

Meatloaf Re-mix

1 pound ground beef

1 cup stuffing mix mixed with 1/2 cup beef broth, let stand 15 minutes

1 shallot, zested on microplane

2 slices Prosciutto, finely chopped up

spices of your choosing-I used a hamburger spice and a Penzey's salt blend

1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choosing

Crumble beef into a bowl. After the stuffing has rehydrated, dump on top of beef. Zest the shallot on top. Toss in Prosciutto and cheese. Work gently with your hands. Form into an oval shape and place on rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. Let stand to firm.

I made this tonight (this morning) so she can have some tomorrow for lunch and we can bring some to work tomorrow. It always tastes better the next day!

Country Bob's and what it means to me

I so tried to come up with some fantastic way to try this product. Fact is, I decided to just try it in it's simplest form to see what I could tell about the flavor.

First up is chicken. I had a couple problems here. I had marinaded the chicken pieces and was going to throw it on the grill. I had failed to look outside very closely. I was surprised that Dorothy and Toto didn't end up in my backyard. Scratch the grill. In all my genius, I decided to brown it up in my saute pan then bake it in the oven. Let's just say that the sugars in the sauce didn't like the 2 TBSP of oil in the pan. Mad a freaking mess all over my stovetop-which I had just cleaned. It looked very pretty coming out of the oven. However, since I made it in the oven the skin was not as crisp as I would have liked and I only eat my skin if it is fried or crispy from the grill. It was hard to judge the flavor since it was pretty much on the outside of the bird. The chicken was very juicy, so it may have helped that.

Here is our complete dinner: chicken, steamed new potatoes and ciabatta bread

Tonight I made plain ole hamburgers for the grill. I mixed in about a quarter cup of bread crumbs, four tablespoons of Country Bob's All purpose seasoning, a twist or two of salt and some shallot salt. Made up my patties and put 'em on the grill. The flavor was bumped up a bit and they were very juicy. I couldn't really put my finger on a distinct taste. My husband said it reminded him of a steak sauce flavor. I don't know about that, but they were very tasty and I gulped my burger down in about 6 bites!

I was cleaning out my email and found this one from my stepmom Sue. She is the one who drew my header picture for me. Over the years she has drawn us some beautiful pictures; one of our girls that is at the head of our stairs so everyone who walks in can see it, a picture of my dog Mandy, a picture of our dog Gusty, and a beautiful picture of a pail of pansies that she took a picture of on my deck and did it in chalk. I have it hanging in my scrap room so I can look at it and get cheered up when I hit a scrapblock. Anyways, here is what she said about my blog.

Hi Tami,
Just read your whole blog and really, it is AMAZING! It is almost like a magazine! The photos of the food, from prep to finished product are so neat and informative.......too bad regular mags don't do that. I bet you have many, many blogettes...how fun. How neat to read all the interesting things and photos of you and everybody.........very cool. (That bar recipe DOES look awfully good! (If I made that I would have to grab a WHOLE BOTTLE OF INSULIN! Ha!) Anyway, very impressive and thank you for saying the nice things about the butter dish drawing. Glad that worked out okay.
You know, I tell your Dad once in a while, when we're out with people, and I pull him aside and say "if I didn't know you, I'd want to............", and after reading your blog, the thought went through my mind, "I'll bet that people who read this really are impressed and want to write to her!" so........"if I didn't know you, I'd want to after reading all of that......................!" Love, Sue (The letter you wrote to Ally is wonderful........)

Isn't that sweet? It made me cry. She is a special lady and I'm very blessed to have her in my life.

I am baking some banana bread muffins (already posted that) but I made a few changes to my recipe. I melted butter to stir in the end and dissolved some espresso powder in some water and used that for part of the milk. It smells delicious in the oven, so I will see what the family says tomorrow (um, later today). Remember when I said I had organized the freezer? Found some rhubarb that I froze last summer, so I found a recipe for rhubarb bread that I will make after the banana muffins. I also have a pot roast to throw in the crock so the kids can eat and we will have lunch ready for work tonight.

I hope everyone has a joyous Easter. Give thanks for the good blessings in your life. I give thanks for all of you who visit here.

Mother of the Year

Oil Change-check

Grocery store-check

Laundry-check *and still in progress

Dreadlocks taken out-check

Nap-check

Wake up at 6:17..........and realize you forgot to pick up Drama Queen at 6 from Driver's Ed...oh crap, oh crap, where are my pants, why can't I find them? I left them on the bench, where is the phone? Call....voicemail picks up, crap. Yell "I'm coming" into voicemail as I'm running out the door with one eye open, mismatched shoes and the pants from the dirty clothes pile. Cue my ringtone with said daughter telling me "....I called Pat since you forgot to come get me and we are almost home". Hang head in shame and turn the car around. Thank God for my friend Pat.

Guess I'm not getting that Mother of the Year award again this year.

Plus, while I took a nap and left dinner in the oven-for 2 hours too long, I was concerned. It looked a little overdone, but was still very tasty.

I had just made a pot roast a few days ago, but I'm still getting used to my new Crock Pot and it didn't cook like it did in my old one. Today I found some nice pot roasts on sale and picked up a couple. I used my clay cookers and it turned out great. It looks a little 'charred' but it tasted really good. Since I overslept, forgot child, and was barely awake, side dishes were, gasp! instant potatoes and stuffing. No one complained and Drama Queen ate like she hadn't see food in 3 months. When making this observation she just jammed that knife further in my back with "well, you don't cook for us as much as you did when you worked days".

Can someone pull that out for me?

Since I totally blew my day with the nap and now feel like I have cotton balls for eyes, my planned masterpieces will have to wait for tomorrow-after we finish cleaning the house. Dude went a little crazy and broke out the vacuum and while I did laundry he rearranged the living room. Holy smokes-you know it is bad when he volunteers to vacuum.

Oh, and here is another question: what do I do with kumquats? You know how you always hear you shouldn't shop when you are hungry? Apparently you shouldn't shop when you haven't slept in 19 hours either. They looked like adorable little oranges-and I have no idea what to do. Do I peel them and eat them? Any help you can give this Horrible Mommy would be great.

Maybe I should make her a cake.......

Meatloaf soup

For the last two weeks, I have been feeling.....blecky. Runs the gamut of stomach ache, to chills, to nauseous. Just not on my A game. After a wonderful night with our friends, I came home still not feeling well. Sunday was a waste of a day. I kept walking around the house picking up some laundry, then sitting down. Did some dishes, sat down. Took a nap, sat down-tired from the nap you know? The hubs went in for OT and I totally slept through him leaving, so he was on his own for dinner. I did notice the hot dogs and buns were missing, so that must have been in the lunch box. As I was perusing the fridge-which I had just cleaned out Saturday morning-there wasn't much in there. Eggs, cheese, milk, condiments, OJ, kids' leftovers, some veggies at the end of their lives, and a 2 pound chub of ground beef I had gotten on sale on Thursday. Normally I buy 80/20 because I like a little fat to keep burgers and meatloaf moist, but it was a good deal so I picked up the 93/7. As I was staring at it, I kept asking myself "what can I do with you, my little chub-o-beef?" I'm usually not one to just make up a dish. You would never guess by looking at my tornado-went-through-the-house-and-no one-wants-to-help-me-clean-it house, but I'm a little anal in the kitchen. I need a plan. A recipe. Some direction. Oh sure, I have jazzed up a recipe with another spice, or swapped out an ingredient that I know the family won't like-but never just made something up. I thought of all the awesome blogs I read and how these creations just seem to flow forth from them. What would they do? Probably come up with something so I awesome I would just drop my jaw. That didn't happen here, but it was actually quite good and didn't scare me away from trying to make something else up in the future. Here is what came about. Since I just did this on the fly, I don't really have concrete measurements, but I will guesstimate.




Meatloaf soup

2 pounds ground beef

1 cup chicken flavored stuffing mix, crushed

1 box plus one can beef broth (can not shown)

2 carrots

2 stalks celery

grated onion, about 3 tablespoons

1 red pepper

ketchup and mustard (not shown)

pasta of your choice-this was the hardest for me: pasta or potatoes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grind up your stuffing mix in blender. Pour crumbs into a bowl. Cover with about 1/2 cup of beef broth. Add about 2 TBSP ketchup and mustard. Stir to combine. Break meat into clumps and drop in bowl. Grate about 3 TBSP of onion over the top and grate half a carrot into bowl also.

Using hands, fold all ingredients in to incorporate.

Using a small cookie scoop, make uniform meatballs and place on cookie sheet. I got about 28 meatballs. Roast in oven for 25 minutes. Rotate pans from upper to lower racks about halfway through cooking time.

While meatballs are baking, slice up the carrots, celery and pepper and drop into a Dutch oven with a little butter and oil.

Stir occasionally so veggies will soften.

When meatballs are done, pour remaining broth from can and the full box into the Dutch oven. Carefully move the meatballs from the cookie sheet to the pot. I saved about 8 meatballs for my daughter in case she wasn't feeling adventurous. Simmer on stove for about 40 minutes. Stir in pasta of your choice. I used the small rings that you normally use for salads. I let it go about another 15 to 20 minutes. The rings got much bigger than I expected and soaked up a lot of the broth, so next time I need to use less (I think I poured in about a two thirds cup of rings). Serve with some nice crusty bread which I didn't have any of.

Result? Pretty good. I think it needed more seasoning. I did throw a little salt and pepper in after putting meatballs in the soup. I wanted to make it first without seasoning since there are seasonings in the stuffing mix and didn't want them to be overwhelming in case I guessed wrong. Maybe a little cheese or bacon in the meatballs? The meatballs stayed very tender.

Oh, I called it meatloaf soup since I put all the ingredients in the meatballs that I normally put in my meatloaf.

Off to frost a cake-nothing homemade, just out of the Pillsbury box. But yellow cake and chocolate frosting might make me feel better! Then off to work. Long week this week, so will probably cook on Weds and Thurs this week to get some stuff up.

More snow coming. I just want to wear short sleeves and put on my flip flops and wash my car. Sigh.

What's for dinner?

I hate those words more than any other in the English language. I love to cook, really I do. But sometimes I just hate it. It is as if I have to think of one more thing to feed my family, my head will just pop off my shoulders and explode into a frightening mess. And given the people I live with, the mess would still be there in two weeks. We are still trying to find our way with our odd work schedule. I admit that the kids don't have a hot, home cooked meal every day. I also think that at 18 and almost 16 and having been schooled for the past 13 and 11 years, they know how to read. No one ever taught me how to cook. My Mom was a good cook; I'm sure she still is, but she is single and lives on disability so her meals are just for her and usually involve veggies, cereal, an occasional chicken breast and coffee. She never offered to show me how to cook. I was the youngest and I was about 7 when my Mom went back to work-she was a SAHM after having me. When she started working, she worked the afternoon shift. My next older(est?) sibling is B. She is 5 years older than I. She picked up the cooking duty from my Mom. She still loves to cook and has entered local cook offs in her town. I don't know if B learned from Mom or by watching Mom, but she learned how to cook. She also learned that A) you can break Pyrex, B) always screw the lid on tightly to the syrup dispenser when bringing it into the living room where Mom and Dad just put new carpeting a couple weeks before (and that syrup doesn't come out of carpeting) and C) your little sister may look dumb, but even she knows that eggplant doesn't taste like spaghetti and it ain't going on my plate. Our parents got divorced, I stayed with my Dad, B went to college-then came back to take care of Mom (that is a whole different story) and I had to learn a thing or two about food. My Dad cooks; he is a good cook too. However, after a divorce he had a few other things on his mind-like that God awful t-shirt bought and thought was funny that said "Vasectomy-all of the juice and none of the seed". Swear to God-I was thoroughly embarrassed. Suffice it say, I spent a good deal of time at home alone with a cupboard and hunger. And then weight gain. I had a panache for chocolate chip cookies. The lesson here is that I learned. Through trial and error. Through hunger. Through enough messes in the garbage can. I'm not a great cook-although when Drama Queen is sucking up she tells me I could beat up Rachael, Sandra, Giada, Ina and Paula. I'm a good cook. I'm a tired cook lately. I spent some time by myself today shopping-retail therapy is good. Nothing really fun, other than a pair of short brown boots that look kickass on, but some kitchen stuff and bathroom stuff. As I was driving away from Kohl's, still excited about my new yellow towels and candle and place mats, it hit me. Dinner. Okay, turn left up here into Cub and think of something. Fast. Easy. Fast. I thought fajitas would be good. Then thinking oh man, I have to slice up beef or chicken and cook it. Then the angels started singing in my ear "Look over there Tami, in that refrigerated case. See for yourself, dinner can be quick tonight". Now, I'm not really big on convenience food, but sometimes I really just can't bear the thought of an hour over the stove (since I haven't figured out how to be more prepared). There, in that refrigerated case.......sliced, cooked chicken and beef! Woo hoo! I could have dinner on the table in about 15 minutes. Grabbed a package of each, some tortillas, a pepper, some onions, a flavor packet and some Pepsi and chocolate cuz the little bee-atches at home found my secret stash and all you women out there know-at 1 o'clock in the morning after all the darlings are in bed, the hubby is doing his thing, and you are jonesing for some chocolate.......and you find it gone? I just about woke each of the them up to start yelling at them. But I didn't. I pouted. And hid chocolate in my dresser today.

Wow, it took me a long time to get to the food today.

Moo and Cluck Fajitas (or simply beef and chicken fajitas)

1 green bell pepper, cut into narrow strips

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced (the Dude wanted these instead of a regular onion)

1 package each Tyson precooked and presliced beef and chicken

1 packet fajita seasoning

Oil

Pour about 1 TBSP oil-I used veggie-into a large skillet. Heat on medium-high heat. Carefully drop onions and peppers into oil and stir around. You don't want to let them sit in one spot too long or they might burn.

After they soften up, about 4 to 5 minutes, stir in beef and chicken. Pour in contents of seasoning packet along with water called for. Simmer for a few minutes longer, until all is heated through. Pile on tortillas and top with cheese. Serve alongside some fresh guacamole.

Funny story. I was at McDonald's many years ago and for a short time they had chicken fajitas on the menu. I was behind this older couple and he ordered a cheeseburger and fry and she orders a fa-jeye-tah. The poor pimply faced teenager had no idea what she meant. She said it twice and then pointed at the menu on the wall.

As it is almost 1:30AM and I'm starving, I am off to heat up the Lil Smokies I was suppose to bring to church today and have a Pacifico beer in honor of our best friends Corey and JoAnn who in exactly 12 hours will be having Pacifico's poolside in Mexico without us this year. Waaaa! It was either pay for Hermit Crab's graduation party or go to Mexico. She won. We don't get to go back until 2012. Next trip is for our 20th anniversary next year (Iceland) and then Drama Queen graduates (God willing) and then, yea! Mexico! Carlos, please be waiting with my Mai Tai and I'll be sure to bring the Ritz Bitz crackers for you-if the salmonella thing is over with.

Oh, and my sister B dropping the syrup on the new carpet (on Christmas morning and Mom and Dad let us eat pancakes while opening presents)? Nothing compared to when I tipped over the full bottle of nail polish remover on Mom's brand new coffee table that she had saved several months' salary to pay for. I honestly thought that they were going to kill me. They didn't, but boy were they pissed. I have kids now. Paybacks are a bitch.

Cola Beef in Crock

About a month ago I made an awesome dinner. A round steak and a can of Coke. I had seen a recipe somewhere for a pot roast with cola in it, so I thought, hey I'll try that with the round steak. It was awesome! The flavor was unbelievable. I tried it a few weeks ago with a different cut of meat. Ugh. It was terrible. We often grocery shop at 6 in the morning on our way home from work, and the other morning we stopped to get our weekly groceries and the meat manager was already in. First I asked for Round steak-nope, they don't carry it anymore as there wasn't a big demand. What? Then they had in house chicken on sale. Nope. They ran out. The poor man felt so sorry that he couldn't help me with anything on my list that he went and got some Gold-N-Plump chicken and gave it to me for the sale price of the in-house brand. That was nice. So as we are perusing the meat aisle (the butcher we normally go to unfortunately wasn't open yet or else we shop there) I thought I would pick up the boneless chuck steak and try that. It was good and tender, but a lot drier than the round steak was. That confused me as there some nice marbling in the chuck steak. I apologize for the bad after photo-it looked good in the viewfinder and when uploaded it is blurry. This is simple and I really recommend the round steak as it turned out the best.

Cola Beef in Crock

2-1 plus pound boneless chuck steak (or 2 pound round steak)

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

seasoning-I picked Penzey's beef roast seasoning

1 can cola-I had Pepsi on hand

butter (not shown)

Melt butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook for several minutes. We are just getting them soft. Is there any smell better than onions frying in butter? Oh my goodness, I love it.

Transfer the onions to the slow cooker. Place meat in pan to get a nice sear and some color on it.

Place meat on top of onions in slow cooker and then pour can of room temp cola on top.

Cover and cook on low for about 6 to 7 hours. Serve with your favorite side dishes.

Tonight, since I have caught the Dude's righteous cold, I made nothing. The teenage girls that were here earlier tasted tested a recipe that I did for the Noble Pig's Super Bowl challenge. They said it was good, but when one left she said it was a little dry-oh crap! One of the girls is still here spending the night-no school as it is end of quarter, did eat a nice helping of this, while my daughter ate a bowl of cereal.

And not that I should since I have felt like poopy, I did open a new wine tonight. I know this isn't a wine glass, but we got these in Mexico last February and they just make me smile when I take them out of the hutch that I decided to use it tonight. The wine isn't bad. A little on the sweet side, which I like, plus you can chill it. I have a thing about beverages, well food too, but with beverages they either should be hot or cold. Not room temp. I think that is part of the problem with me and most red wines, other than being so tannin-esque(?) it makes my butt pucker. I need them cold and they should usually be served at room temp. I am a rebel though. If you see me with a red that should be room temp, you'll see an ice cube in my glass. Don't judge people, it is just how I get through the day.

Might that be a Meatloaf?

Today I am posting my meatloaf. I had a hard time with meatloaf when we first got married as I grew up on the kind that had the ketchup over the top. Mom made good meatloaf. The hubby on the other hand was not a fan of the 'frosting'. I tried and tried recipes to make us both happy. This one is very loosely based on one I read in the Kraft magazine that comes out every couple of months. About the only thing I used from that recipe is the 'bread' portion as a binder. Today I made it a little different than normal. I usually use a mixture of beef and pork, today I used beef and turkey. They had a coupon sale at the store so for 68 cents, so I thought I would try that instead of the standard. I also use a cookie sheet instead of a loaf pan as I like it to get nice and brown around all the sides.

Meatloaf

1 pound ground chuck

1 pound ground turkey (or seasoned pork, like I normally use)

1 cup boxed stuffing mix for chicken

1 egg

chicken stock

ketchup

garlic salt and shallot salt (the kids don't like pieces of onion and garlic, but like the flavor)

Preheat oven to 350. Place one cup of stuffing mix in a bowl. Pour about 1/4 cup chicken broth over it and stir. You need it to have enough liquid so it soaks up into the stuffing and it becomes soft. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. While this is sitting, place beef and turkey into a large bowl. Sprinkle with the garlic and shallot salt, or use the actual whole form ingredients. I would say one clove and one small onion, finely chopped. After the stuffing has soaked up the liquid, top the meat mixture with the stuffing. Mix with your hands-the best tools you have in your kitchen.

Squeeze together just a little, as you need to mix in rest of ingredients. You just need to distribute the stuffing mix through the meat. In a bowl, beat egg. Stir in Worcestershire sauce. I use about 1 TBSP, but I know some people don't like it. You can leave it out, but I think it adds good flavor. Also stir in about 3 TBSP ketchup. After mixing this together, stir into the meat/stuffing mixture. Use your CLEAN hands again to mix. Be careful not to over mix or the meatloaf will be tough. Pour out mixture onto a cookie sheet. Using hands, shape into a loaf shape.

Place in oven and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Let rest after cooking before cutting. It will help the loaf keep it's shape and also the juices stay in. I will usually just turn off the oven after about 45 minutes and leave in the oven while I prepare the rest of the meal. I liked the way this one turned out. I was worried about the turkey drying out too much, but it was really good. Nice and tender and not dry at all. The herbs in the stuffing mix add a wonderful flavor to the loaf and it looks pretty with herbs studding the loaf. That didn't reproduce well in the photo.

It makes a large loaf so enough for leftovers the next day or two. The weather here in Minnesota is going to get very bitterly cold this week, so some nice warm meat will taste great. Is spring here yet?

Baby it's cold outside

Today it is beef stew to warm our cold bellies here in MN. It is a nice place to live; we have amazing lakes and forests, campgrounds and outdoor activities, along with more hip things like theater, great museums and many venues for live music. It gets cold in the winter. I think there is a misconception as to how cold. Many joke that we are the icebox of the USA, but it isn't below freezing everyday from October to May. I remember the first few years we were married we barely had any snow and a lot of our friends were selling their sleds (snowmobiles for those in the south). Our oldest was born at the end of February and I have videos of us out in the driveway moving the street rods around and we have on jeans and sweatshirts. And then there is this winter. It has been cold and snowy and I have been miserable. Could it be age that is making us less appreciative of the changing seasons? I always loved the changing seasons. I don't mind the snow except when I have to drive in it because everyone seems to forget how to drive in it. Now the hubby and I look at each other as we leave for work each day and ask "and we live here why?" But soon, the robins will return and the crocuses and tulips will start to emerge, the grass will be green..........and then the mosquitoes come!!

Okay, on to the beef stew. I'm not a big fan of pre-cut stew meat. It is expensive and I often need to buy two packages for our family. I usually find a larger cut of sirloin and cut it myself. It has more flavor as I leave some fat on for just that reason. I don't know if I can call it stew as it doesn't get really thick, so maybe beef soup?

Beef Stew:
1-3 pound loin steak, cut in 1 inch cubes
1-1/2 to 2 pounds red potatoes, cut so all are approximately the same size
4 carrots, peeled and chunked
3 stalks celery, washed and cut in pieces
1 onion, sliced in rings
Worcestershire sauce, depends on how much you like it
tomato paste
salt and pepper
1 box of beef stock (not pictured as I already put it in the slow cooker)
spices-I use whatever sounds and smells good on that day. I love Penzey Spices as they taste wonderful, and have a lot of blends, so I can use one jar but have many flavors. I used Beef Roast and Chicago Steak Seasoning for today

Cut beef into similar size pieces, around an inch square. Sprinkle seasonings on cubes. Fire up a hot skillet. Place beef, seasoned side down and sprinkle with seasonings on top. Add some Worcestershire sauce to pan; it will give the meat a nice deep color. While meat is browning, peel and cut veggies. In slow cooker, pour in a box of beef stock and some tomato paste. I use the tube stuff for things like this when I don't need a whole small can. Stir in about 3 TBSP of the paste into the stock. Place onions and potatoes on bottom of the slow cooker, then toss the carrots and celery on top of those. I like the potatoes on the bottom as they take longer to cook. When meat is browned, place on top of veggies. Sprinkle the top with more Worcestershire sauce and the seasonings, salt and pepper. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours. I like to serve with a nice crusty loaf of bread. Since we don't have an oven at work, I had to settle for Italian bread toasted with some butter.



Warm for belly. Tasty for the belly. Maybe I should have stuck my cold fingers in the bowl? Nah, probably not-that is what the Dude's for, warming my cold appendages!