Homemade Beef Stew

This is a dish that we love to make all the time.  Its super easy at the crockpot does most of the work.

2 pounds of beef stew meat

3 large cooking potatoes

6-8 carrots

1 onion

3 cans of tomato soup

seasonings: we use curry powder, worchershire sauce, itialian seasioning, season salt, and pepper

Start off with browning the meat on the stove while you peel and cut the potatoes into quarters or eigths.  Place the potatoes into the crockpot.  Then chop the onion to size desired and add to the crockpot.  We like big chunks of onion so that is usually what size I chop it to.  Peel and cut carrots into rounds and add to crock pot.  Once the meat is browned add it and all juices from the pan to the crockpot and stir everything together.  Add 2 cans of tomato soup and 1 can of water then seasionings to your liking.  Turn on the crockpot and let it cook for 6 hours.  While it cooks stir occasionally and if need be add water to prevent it from buring.  About an hour before its done add the 3rd can of soup and taste to see if it needs more seasonings. 

Once its cooked for 6 hours dish and serve with some rolls or bread and butter on the side.  The leftovers are super yummy and best if reheated on the stove. 

 The chopped potatoes

 Browning the meat, I usually add some worchershire sauce here so that my meat is super tender later.

 The chopped up onion with potatoes

 The carrots with everything else.

The meat topped before mixing it all together.

 My favorite seasonings to use while making this.

With 2 of the 3 cans of soup.  I forgot to take a picture of the dish completely cooked, but will take one when I re-heat some later on today for our lunch.  This meal gives us several days of lunches after having it for dinner which is a great way to save on money and groceries.

Tips on Gardening and Food Storage

Today at church there was a site given for great tips on how to do a good food storage as well as gardening tips.  The site is http://www.providentliving.org/  It is run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and since they have been doing both for over 100 years I know that the knowledge and resourses are incredible for what we can do.  Just even for us, we can do a garden in a planterbox, which will make Jay thrilled to be able to do something like that.  The tips on food storage are very informative and something that we can use to improve our own food storage here at home.

Honey Teriyaki Chicken

This is something new we tried tonight for dinner.  Just kind of threw it together and it turned out great.  Even the kids ate it.

Chicken Breasts (as many as you need)
Honey (about 1-2 Tablespoons)
Teriyaki Sauce (we do the Kikiolmon Lower Sodium Teriyaki sauce)

Thaw the chicken breasts and place in a dish.  Pour over chicken the teriyaki sauce to your liking then top with honey.  Let sit for 30 min - 1 hour turning over once and doing the same thing to that side with the teriyaki sauce and honey.  Grill chicken and when fully cooked pour honey over it.  Serve with white rice and steamed veggies.

Chicken Taco's

2 grilled chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 box of Rice a Roni's Spanish Rice
Grated cheese
Lettus
Onions
Salsa
soft shell flour tortilla shells

Season 2 chicken breasts and then grill them.  Make a box of Rice a Roni's Spanish rice.  Prep the side ingredients as needed.  Once the chicken is cooked throughly cut into small chunks.  Layer chicken, cheese, lettus, onions, salsa, and rice in the taco shell.  Enjoy. 

Total cook/prep time: 30 min

My kids will eat them this way and love them.  They are a super quick and cheep meal for those nights when you are limited on time.

Fruit Salad

Since it is summer time I thought I would share a favorite in our house, fruit salad.

Watermelon, choped into squares
grapes
Apples, chopped and sliced
pineapple (I usually use a can of dole chuncks, but fresh works too)
1 can of mandrin oranges
Optional: mango, plums

Mix the frut together and serve.  Super easy and really tasty.  The kids will even eat it for lunch and snacks for days on end.

Chocolate Layer Dessert

So of reciently I've been on the go making things for different BBQs and Potlucks that the kids and I've been going to. I made a dessert for our last one and since it is super yummy I decided to post it on my blog.

Graham Cracker crust mix
8 oz of Cream Cheese
1 small box chocolate pudding
1 small box of white choloate pudding (or vanilla) (You can also do a large box of chocolate pudding instead of two small ones)
1 cup of powdered sugar
3-4 cups of Milk
12 oz cool whip

Make the crust. While it cools take the cream cheese and let it sit at room temp to get it ready for the next part of the process. When it is at room temp cut it into chunks and place in mixing bowl. Mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar until smooth. Then add about half of the container of cool whip to it. Once that is fully mixed together place on top of cooled crust. Then make the pudding according to box intructions using the milk. Let the pudding set up some before adding it to the top of the the cream cheese layer. Let it set up fully in the fridge overnight. Then serve and enjoy. You can add cool whip to the top of the dessert or eat it like it is. Both taste great.

The crust in the pan cooling.

Cream cheese mixture

Topped on the crust.

The final product!

Using leftovers

There are those times in our house that we have leftover chicken. Well for those times here is a very simple and easy meal that uses those leftovers and creats a meal that even kids will eat.

Take the leftover chicken and cut it into small chunks. Heat in pan and then add in bbq sauce. While that warms up I add in some honey for extra flavor. While this continues to heat up I steam some veggies and make pasta, mashed potatoes, or rice. Serve and enjoy. This meal takes about 20 min from start to finish.

The final look of the meal

My kids enjoying their dinner