Beef Stew from...you guessed it Our Best Bites.

Sunday Beef Stew

I like to save recipes I find from other blogs here so I can remember to try them out.

Recipe from Our Best Bites

1 1/2-2 lb. lean stew beef, cut into even smaller bite-sized pieces (just pull out a pair of kitchen shears and cut anything that looks like you'd need to use a knife and fork on)

4-5 medium red potatoes, chopped

4-5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped

2 onions, chopped

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

2 12-oz. cans or 3 c. vegetable juice cocktail (like V8 or even Bloody Mary mix)

1 10-oz. can condensed tomato soup

10 oz. water (just use the can from the tomato soup to measure)

1 tsp. basil

2 beef bouillon cubes (or 2 tsp. beef base)

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Now...this is super tricky. Preheat oven to 350. Combine ingredients in a large oven-safe pot that comes with an oven-safe lid.


Cook in heated oven for 3 hours. Remove from oven and serve. Awesome, huh?

You can also cook this in your slow cooker on low for 9-10 hours (or until vegetables and meat are tender) or on high for 5-6.

Serve with a loaf of French bread or homemade rolls and some honey butter.

Be sure to stick with us over the next few weeks because we have some fabulous Thanksgiving ideas coming up! Have a great weekend!

2 soups I want to try

We really like soup at our house. A blogger I follow just posted these two and I want to try them. They are: Baked Potato Soup and White Chicken Chili (for the crockpot!)
In case she decides to remove them from her site, I am copying them below: (Literally cut and paste...see her site for more!)

BAKED POTATO SOUP

• 3 lbs baked potatoes (=6 baker potatoes)
• 1 T. butter
• 1 1/2 c. onion
• 2 T. minced garlic
• 1 14 oz. can chicken broth
• 3 c. milk
• 1 T. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper

Melt butter in pan and saute onions & garlic about 10 minutes until soft, but not brown.
Add 2/3 of the potatoes--mashed.
Add broth, milk, salt & pepper
Bring to simmer, stirring occasionally
Cut up remaining potatoes into small cubes and add to soup--stirring gently.

Top with sour cream, cheese, green onions and bacon.

I usually just use dried onions because I'm too lazy to cut up a real onion most of the time. Same with the garlic. I usually use the bottled stuff.

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

• 2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth
• 3-4 chicken breasts, trimmed of fat
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 cans great northern beans
• 1 can white shoepeg corn
• 3 Tbsp lime juice
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Add chicken, broth, cumin, oregano, garlic, salt, and red pepper to slow cooker. Cover and let cook for about 6-8 hours on low or until chicken falls apart. Shred the chicken with two forks. Drain and rinse the beans and corn and add them to the slow cooker. Add chopped cilantro and lime juice to slow cooker. Put cover back on and let cook for 30 more minutes until heated through.

We topped it with cheese and tortilla chips. We also did tortillas the next night. It kind of resembles more of a tortilla soup vs. a chili. Whatever you want to call it though--it is divine.

Hot Potato Salad

I was reading a post on the Make and Takes blog about this Hot Potato Salad on French Knots blog. I think I will try it for the MOM picnic coming up June 27th. Maybe even Bart would eat it.

Recipe copied straight from French Knots, so yes, I am plagiarizing...but why retype it? And since I am telling you where it came from and I left a comment telling her I did it, maybe it makes me not so bad, right?

Hot Potato Salad:

• 5-7 medium size potatoes ~ chopped and cooked
  
• 8-10 links of sausage or slices of bacon ~ cooked

Sauce:

• 4 green onions diced ~ green and white parts
• 3/4 cup real mayonnaise
  
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 package hidden valley ranch dry mix
  
• 2 tablespoons fat/grease from sausage or bacon

Dice and boil potatoes.
dice and chop green onions
combine green onions, ranch, mayonnaise, sour cream and fat
After mixing sauce add potatoes and sausage. Pour into a 9 by 13 pan and cook uncovered at 375 degrees for 35 - 45 minutes - until dish is cooked through. Serve Immediately. This dish is also great the day after -just reheat in the microwave.

I will let you all know how it goes at the MOM picnic.
tHIS STUFF WAS GREAT! i LOVE IT.

Cheeseburger Soup

1/2 lb. ground beef
3/4 c. chopped onion
3/4 c. shredded (or chopped up, whatever) carrots
3/4 c. chopped celery
1 tea. each dried basil and parsley flakes
4 T butter, divided
3 c. chicken broth (I just use water and chicken bouillon cubes)
4 c. diced peeled potatoes (if the family is lucky...usually I don't peel them)
1/4 c. flour
1/2 lb. American cheese, cubed (though I usually just buy the not wrapped kind in the sandwich aisle and layer them on top of the soup when needed)
1 1/2 c. milk
3/4 tea. salt
1/2 tea. pepper
1/4 c. sour cream

In a big pot, brown beef, drain and set aside. In the same pan, saute' onions, carrots, celery, basil, and parsley in 1 tablespoon of butter until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add broth, potatoes, and beef; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10-12 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt the remaining butter. Add flour; cook and stir about two minutes or so, making a roux. Add to soup; bring to boil. Cook and stir 2 minutes . Reduce heat to low. Add cheese, milk, and salt and pepper. Cook and stir until cheese melts (do not boil). Remove from heat; blend in sour cream.

Melissa B's WW Potato Soup

Hey, it is a pack of hash brown, white gravy mix and chicken bouillion. I use like 6 cups of water, let it boil with about 7 bouillion cubes. Then stir the gravy mix in about 1/2 cup cold water and pour it and the hash browns in until it is done! Enjoy! Melissa