Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Crockpot Beef Stew

2 lb. lean beef stew meat in 1 inch cubes
1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 c. beef broth
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. paprika
4 carrots in 1/2 inch slices
3 potatoes, diced
2 onions, chopped
1 stalk celery, sliced

Place meat in crockpot. Add flour, salt and pepper. Stir to coat meat. Add remaining ingredients, stir well. Cover and cook on low 10 to 12 hours or on high 4 to 6 hours. Stir thoroughly before serving. Remove bay leaf.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Frugal Fabulous Taco Soup

Brown ground beef and drain. 

Add to crockpot on low with 1 can of black beans, 1 can of red kidney beans, 1 cup of frozen corn (tastes better than canned), 1 can of rotel and 2 cans of crushed tomato's (the fire roasted with garlic). I blend the tomato cans together in the blender, I don't like big chunky tomato stuff. Then I add 1 packet of taco seasoning and 1 packet of ranch dressing seasoning and finally 1 1/2 cups of water.

Cook in the crockpot for about 4 hours. 

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients
  • 1 quart Whole Milk
  • 1 cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 2 packages Active Dry Yeast
  • 8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
  • 1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
  • 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
  • Plenty Of Melted Butter
  • 2 cups Sugar
  • Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon
  • _____
  • MAPLE FROSTING:
  • 1 bag Powdered Sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
  • ½ cups Milk
  • ¼ cups Melted Butter
  • ¼ cups Brewed Coffee
  • ⅛ teaspoons Salt
Preparation Instructions

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. “Scald” the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).

When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 400 degrees (see note below) until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.

Note: My rolls don’t work for me at 400 degrees anymore. I now bake them at 375 degrees.


Thursday, December 3, 2009

Green Bean Bundles

Ingredients:
2 or 3 cans of whole green beans
Bacon slices
1 stick of butter
1 cup of brown sugar
tsp of garlic salt

Wrap a handful of green beans in half a slice of bacon. That makes one bundle - keep going for as many bundles as you would like to have. Melt a stick of butter and stir in one cup of brown sugar (more or less depending on how sweet you would like it). Add a teaspoon of garlic salt. Pour over bundles. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Then put under the broiler for 4-5 minutes at the end.