Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

My time off from school is coming to an end this weekend. For the past month I've kept myself busy baking tons of cookies for the holidays (some turning out better than others), as well as trying other recipes, and reading many books. So tonight I decided to make one last good home cooked meal for my family before classes start back up Monday and I once again fall off the face of the Earth.

As previously mentioned, my new obsession is Pintrest.com. This website has so many awesome ideas for anything from food to clothes to home decoration and everything in between. So I came across a blog titled "The Crockstar" featuring "The Absolute BEST Crockpot Beef Stroganoff Recipe, the Best." I'm not usually a fan of beef stroganoff but I had cubed stew meat in the freezer waiting for it's turn to be used, so I figured I'd give it a try. Boy, am I glad I did; it tasted fantastic!

Enjoy this fabulous recipe!

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

2 pounds cubed stew meat
2 cans Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup
1 largish onion diced (I used 2 onions- my family loves onions)
2-3-4 TBSP of Worcestershire (this stuff is so awesome I always add more)
1/2 cup water ( I substituted red wine - it adds such great flavor!)
8 oz of cream cheese
couple of dashes of Garlic Salt ( approx. 1 - 2 tsp.)
couple dashes of Hot Paprika (approx. 1 - 2 tsp. - optional but encouraged)

In the slow cooker stir in all the ingredients, except the meat AND the Cream Cheese, together. Once combined add the meat and mix together.

Cook on Low for 8 hours. Cut up the cream cheese into cubes just before serving and turn crockpot on high. Stir the cream cheese in until all combined. You might have to put the lid back on and leave for 10 minutes.

Serve over egg noodles.

Thanksgiving Dinner Sides

(photo by: Lara, author of "HowDoesShe.com" blog - http://www.howdoesshe.com/delicious-dinner-rolls follow the link to find a step-by-step picture process)

In addition to my fabulous juicy turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, I made my famous apple sausage stuffing and mashed potatoes to accompany it. I also tried a new dinner roll recipe found on pintrest.com (followed to blog called "HowDoesShe.com") along with some yummy roasted carrots (from "So Wonderful So Marvelous"). My hubby does not like cooked carrots; roasted carrots is the closest he'll come to eating any type of cooked carrot. Both recipes are keepers; I can't wait to make them again!

Dinner Rolls:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of milk
3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 egg
1 Tablespoon salt
2 Tablespoons yeast
2 cups of warm water
about 9-10 cups of all purpose flour
at least 1 cup of butter

Directions:

• Scald 1 1/2 cups of milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of butter, in a microwave safe bowl, for about 2 minutes. Cutting the butter into pieces helps it melt faster. There will probably be some little cubes of butter still floating in the hot mixture, they will melt.

• We are going to add yeast to this hot mixture, but it will be too hot to just dump the yeast straight in (it would kill it!). To cool it down stir in 1-2 cups of flour, then add 1 egg and 1 Tablespoon of salt, and leave it to cool for a couple of minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a measuring cup dissolve 2 Tablespoons of yeast in 2 cups of warm water and 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until it is bubbly.
• (Keep track of how much flour you are adding!!!)
• Make sure your milk mixture is just warm, not boiling and add the yeast mixture!
• Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in 9-10 cups of flour (counting the flour you have already added to cool it earlier). I would recommend only adding 2 cups at time and stirring in between. These rolls turn out so much better when they are mixed by hand.At the end the dough will be dense and sticky, and may be hard to stir, you can use your hands to incorporate the rest of the flour if needed. Be sure not to add too much flour.
• Then smooth the dough out and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave it in a warm place and let it raise.
• Let the dough raise until it has doubled in size.
• Cover your working space with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Dump your dough out and divide it into 4 balls. Eyeball the sizes, then lift them up and feel the weight of each ball. Try to make them even, but they don’t have to be perfect.
• Using one ball of dough at a time: roll the dough into a circle on a floured counter. Once it is rolled out spread the top with butter from edge to edge. You will use about 2 Tablespoons per circle of dough.
• Cut the dough into quarters using a pizza cutter.
• Then cut each quarter into 3 pieces. You should end up with 12 triangles from each circle of dough.
• Tuck the tail of the triangle under the roll and place it on the buttered cookie sheet. You will make 3 rows, with 8 rolls per row. This will give you 24 rolls per pan. Two balls of dough will fill 1 pan. You will get a total of 48 rolls!
• Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the pans of rolls in a warm place (on top of the oven if possible) to let them rise. Once they are touching and full in size, cook (one pan at a time) in the oven ’till they are golden brown. About 10 – 15 minutes, It may take longer depending on how hot your oven cooks. Keep a close eye on your first pan to get the right time for the second.
• While they are still hot and fresh out of the oven run a stick of butter over the tops of the rolls for a delicious buttery glaze.

Balsamic Honey Glazed Oven Roasted Baby Carrots

(Photo by: Michelle, author of "So Wonderful So Marvelous" blog - http://www.sowonderfulsomarvelous.com/2010/01/cooking-challenged.html)

Ingredients:

2lbs baby carrots
4 tbsp olive oil divided
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:

• Roast 2 pounds of baby carrots in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes with some seasoning (salt/pepper) and a little olive oil.
• Pull out of the oven and drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of honey, and about 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar.

• Pop them back into the oven for about 5 more minutes.

(photo by: *Huntergirl* from food.share.com)

I have a limited opportunity to try new recipes during my month long break from school. So I'm attempting to try a new recipe as often as possible; even if it means beginning at 11 o'clock at night. I made these tasty treats the night before Thanksgiving, so we'd have something yummy and quick to eat in the morning. They were delightful!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 1/2 tablespoons flour
• 5 tablespoons white sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons chopped pecans (toasted these briefly first on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees, for about 10 minutes. Just)
• 2 1/2 cups flour (I used half white, half whole wheat)
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease and flour 18 muffin cups.
3. FILLING: Beat cream cheese until soft.
4. Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar.
5. Beat until smooth.
6. Set aside.
7. STREUSEL TOPPING: Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans.
8. Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly.
9. Set aside.
10. MUFFIN BATTER: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
11. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and gradually incorporate eggs, pumpkin, olive oil and vanilla.
12. Beat together until smooth.
13. Fill cups with pumpkin mixture until they're about 1/2 full.
14. Carefully add one tbsp of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter.
15. If you're using paper cups, try to keep cream cheese from touching the paper.
16. Sprinkle on the streusel topping.
17. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Salisbury Steaks with Caramelized Onion Gravy

I found this recipe on my new favorite website Pintrest.com. If you follow the link, it directs you back to a blog called "One Perfect Bite.blogspot.com." I decided to make this for dinner tonight to avoid spending money eating out, like we regularly do on the weekends. The steaks were good but what made this recipe outstanding was the delicious caramelized onion gravy! I served my steaks with homemade mashed potatoes (always homemade - never from a box!), which went perfectly with the gravy.

Salisbury Steak with Caramelized Onion Gravy

Ingredients:
Onion Gravy
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups low-sodium beef broth
1/2 cup dry red wine (optional - but this is what gives the gravy it's phenomenal flavor!)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Salt and pepper
Meat Patties
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup cooked white rice (Substitute: I used 1/4 cup bread crumbs instead of cooked rice.)
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove minced garlic
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:
1) To make gravy: Heat butter in a large sauté pan. Add onions and cook over medium-high heat, until onions start to brown, stirring occasionally. When onions are slightly softened and turning a deep honey brown, add 1/4 cup broth. Reduce heat, cover and continue cooking, adding more broth as needed to prevent caramelized bits at the bottom of the pan from burning. It should take at least 25 to 30 minutes to properly caramelize onions. Stir in flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Add wine and reduce by half. Stir in remaining beef broth and tomato paste. Stir in cider vinegar. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low and keep warm.

2) To make patties: Mix ground beef, rice, egg yolk, salt, pepper, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, parsley and thyme in a bowl. Shape into 4 oval patties about 3/4-inch thick. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Sear patties about 3 minutes per side, or until a brown crust forms. Pour gravy over patties and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Serve warm with mashed potatoes or noodles. Yield: 4 Servings.

Goodbyes Are Hard

Goodbyes are not forever, Goodbyes are not the end. They simply mean: I'll miss you, until we meet again.

Another of my mom's cats died unexpectedly today, just a mere 3 months after the passing of my Cippy boy. Matisse was a very loveable girl, who's been with us since a month before my daughter was born (12 1/2 years ago). I still find it hard to believe. I wish I could have said goodbye. :'( I love you Matisse! I hope you and Cippy are playing together up there in Heaven!

Get Ready!

Wow, so I know it's been a while since I last posted anything. Aside from the sadness of losing my beloved kitty, I've been crazy busy with school! It's almost as if I fell into a black hole. Well get ready... my NLU classes end this week, and I have big plans for trying out a few new recipes I found while procrastinating on school work. I will still be working on my Children's Literature class through mid-December but since I dropped my hours at work down to 3 days a week, instead of 4, I wanted to do some fun things for myself and my family (who have probably forgotten who I am) during my month long break from school.

Recently a co-worker of mine introduced me to the addicting website, Pintrest.com. What a bad co-worker; doesn't she know about my procrastination problem? So as is my nature, I found myself frequently "taking a mental break" from my school work to check out this sight. I have a few recipes saved from this site, found and shared from other great blogs, that I really want to give a whirl. My tummy is growling just thinking of it! Not to mention with Thanksgiving coming up next week, I would like to find something new to make and serve for the holiday. Some recipes I found include some new cookies or treats I'd like to make for Christmas time.

Well, it should come as no surprise that I put off English homework to post this blog, so I'll be getting back to work now. But look for some new food posts in the very near future!

My baby boy Cippy-doodle

My long time friend and companion, Copper, was called home to God last night. He was one great cat. Someone who always showed you unconditional love. He joined our family in the winter of 1993. In the most recent years after I left home he still showed how happy he was to see me every time I visited. He will be deeply missed. I pray one day we will be reunited in Heaven. I found this lovely poem to remember him by. Saying goodbye was the hardest thing I've ever done.


I lost a special friend today
the kind you can't replace,
and looking at his empty bed
I still can see his face.

I know he's in a special place
our Lord has for such friends,
Where meadows, fields & flowers
help make them strong and whole again.

I know he's watching over me
He'll be with me when I cry,
So with one more kiss on his beloved head
I told my friend goodbye.