Chili

Chili

Sometimes, you need to work with the ingredients at hand!  Like these days when a quick trip to the grocery store is just not in the cards... whenever.  Planning ahead and purchasing needed groceries for 8- 10 days is a new norm for us.  It is working, though.  Sometimes, an ingredient is not in the fridge, so it is just skipped or substituted.  That was the case with Friday night's dinner. 

Chili "did its thing" in my Slow Cooker.  It cooked itself!  The ingredients were in the cooking pot simmering.  Usually, I use Ground Turkey when making Chili, but we enjoyed it with Ground Beef.  There was no Green Pepper to be found in my fridge, so half of the Diced Tomatoes were placed in the Slow Cooker's pot, first.  Then, the browned Ground Beef was added in.

Chili is so delicious any time of year with Ground Turkey or Ground Beef.  After dinner the extra portions were placed in a freezer container ready to be defrosted/ enjoyed at a later date.  It is so easy to prepare in a Slow Cooker! 

My complete Directions for Chili are here!    

There were a couple of changes when preparing it, but two things did not change.  We had the rye bread. We also added a dollop of Sour Cream on top of our serving of Chili.  It was so good!

Enjoy!
Yummy!

           

Beefy Asparagus

Beefy Asparagus

There was a definite chill in the air yesterday.  Opening the fridge door before dinner suddenly I saw a container of cooked rice & asparagus.  Now, these could very easily be labelled leftovers from tasty dinners earlier in the week.  To me, they were the beginning of preparing last night's dinner. 

Asparagus is a treat at this time of year & we always enjoy it when it is available.  Rice is plain delicious!  Add in Plum Tomatoes, Tomato Sauce, browned ground beef & suddenly I was heading to my Spice Rack.  While preparing this colorful dish, it smelled so good!  The grains of Rice became nestled between pieces of Asparagus & Tomatoes.  Before I knew it dinner was ready.  Beefy Asparagus tasted so good!

Beefy Asparagus

Ingredients:

3/4 lb. Ground Beef or Ground Turkey - browned
about 1 and 3/4 cups cooked Rice
6- 7 cooked Asparagus stalks, cut into pieces
(1) can (15- 20 ounces) Plum Tomatoes, drained- cut into quarters.
(1) can (15 ounces) Tomato Sauce
1/4 teaspoon Oregano
1/4 teaspoon Basil
1/8 teaspoon Garlic Powder

Method:

1. Brown Ground Beef or Ground Turkey.  Drain.
2. In Dutch Oven or large pot combine all ingredients.
3. Heat about 25- 30 minutes, stirring often.
4. Enjoy!

Serve with Feta Cheese sprinkled on top!

What looked like leftovers in my fridge suddenly became a delicious dinner- served along with a fruit salad!  Try it, you'll like it- if you like Asparagus!

Enjoy!
Yummy!

   

Super Bowl Food

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Super Bowl Sunday is 2 days away! The Patriots are in it, yes! I'm looking forward to a great game & great commercials! This is a Sunday afternoon/ evening when a yummy easy to make dinner works well.  Yes, there's the option of ordering "take- out", but that is not really necessary.

Take a look at my snowflake "Word Cloud"!  You know those interesting designs that are filled with words.  You see them in magazines & advertising.  I filled my Word Cloud with easy to make recipes.  If you move your cursor over the name of any recipe,  it gets larger.  Click on the recipe & you'll see my blog post containing the recipe. There are many choices of very tasty dinners! Some are for Slow Cookers/ Crock Pots!  Choose your fave to make on Sunday.  Put the ingredients on your grocery list!  Cooking with no fuss before the Super Bowl!  What will you be cooking???

Enjoy!
Yummy!

Go Patriots!!!

~Slow Cooker Beef Stew~

~Slow Cooker Beef Stew~
(reheating in a sauce pot)

Oh, it sure is frigid outside!  It's the time of year when our treadmill & I bond!  Well, this time of year & also when we have a heat wave during the HHH weather.  It's also the time of year when a bowl of steaming hearty Beef Stew tastes so good.  Beef Stew is one of those easy prep meals for my Slow Cooker.  Everything goes in the Slow Cooker's pot & a few hours later a scrumptious healthy colorful dinner is ready- without much fuss.

My Slow Cooker's cooking pot has a nonstick coating, but I always spray the cooking pot with PAM.  Then, Carrots are placed on the bottom with the cut up chunks of Beef placed on top.

This tasty easy dinner is always enjoyed the first evening & any extra portions can be placed in the freezer.  After the stew has cooled, individual portions are packaged in Ziploc Freezer Containers, labelled & frozen for a "take out" meal after a busy day when there's no time to cook dinner!  It can be defrosted/ reheated in a sauce pot along with about 4- 6 ounces of water.  Defrosting overnight in the fridge works great, also!   

~Slow Cooker Beef Stew~ 

Ingredients:
1 lb. Baby Carrots
about 1 lb. Beef Stewing Meat
(1) 16 oz. pkg. defrosted Mixed Veggies
1/2 teaspoon Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Basil
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder (optional)
chopped Onions
chopped Parsley
(1) Potato
(1) 14 oz. can diced Tomatoes
28 oz. Tomato Sauce
 
Method: 

1.  Spray Slow Cooker's pot with PAM. 
2.  Rinse 1 lb. Baby Carrots in cold water.  Place on bottom of pot.
3.  Rinse about 1 lb. Beef Stewing Meat under cold water.  Cut in chunks and place on Carrots.
4.  Add (1) 16 oz. pkg. defrosted Mixed Veggies on top.
5.  Sprinkle on Oregano and Basil.
6.  Add Garlic Powder (optional).
7.  Add desired amount of chopped Onions and Parsley. (I use 1 teaspoon of each, dehydrated.)
8.  Wash (1) Potato and cut into small chunks.  Add on top.
9.  Place (1) 14 oz. can diced Tomatoes on top.
10. Top with 28 oz. Tomato Sauce.
11.  Set Temperature on High for 3 Hours.  Reduce to Medium for 1 Hour. With my West Bend Slow Cooker I set to #5 and then reduce to #3 and 1/2.

**Sometimes I add 2 Bay Leaves before adding the Tomato Sauce.

The weekend is a great time to use your Slow Cooker/ Crock Pot to prepare Beef Stew!  Have you tried it yet?  Tastes so good on a chilly day.  Perfect for tonight, it's snowing!

Enjoy!
Yummy!

         

~Effortless Entrees~

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At this time of year we've all been preparing for the holidays!  Every day is filled with hustle & bustle.  Grocery shopping and shopping for gifts, visiting friends, baking & rechecking travel plans, in addition to working is only a part of a busy week.  Nutritious, tasty dinners that are easy to prepare are welcomed at the end of a busy day.

On this blog I've posted some yummy entrees that are found in the snowflake above.  Many of the recipes are prepared in a Slow Cooker/ Crock Pot.  Click on any entree in the snowflake & the post & recipe is at your fingertips.

Enjoy!
Yummy!