Beef, its whats for dinner & lunch....easily

I adore my slow cooker (aka crock pot). It has a way of making comforting food easy & no stress.

This weekend I got some craving for a favorite meal & it was perfect since it was just too hot to cook since the AC went out (AGAIN!).

So I got the ingredients & when I woke up Sunday I started the dish.

You will need a pound (or more if you want more, this one is easy to play around with servings) of cubes of beef. Not CUBED BEEF but actual chunks of beef around 1 to 2 inches.

Also you need a packet of onion soup mix and a can of cream of something soup (take your pick I have tried them all & all are good).

Finally you need red wine. This is a good way to get rid of any cheap stuff you have been given as a gift or leftovers from the night before (do people have those?).

Plop the beef into the slow cooker, add the soup & soup mixes & pour on the wine. I used to think I needed to add a can full of wine, but I just add as much as covers the meat. This is the liquid it will be cooking in. YES this is going to make it taste LOVELY! Stir it all up well. Then turn the cooker on.

This will take around 6 hours depending on the size of the beef cubes & if you put it on high or low. Typically I will start on high then turn it down to low for the last few hours. If I make this on a workday, I just turn it to low & then 8 hours later I am greeted at the door by the smell of it beckoning me inside letting me know it is ready to eat. You will know its ready when the beef is easily smashed. It will basically fall apart.

NOW here is where I made my mistake. I forgot to check to see that I had rice in the house!

Typically I serve this over rice & the juice is a gravy to go along with the beef. I sprinkle a dash of fresh grounded pepper on mine, but its your bowl, your choice!

This time I tried it with spaghetti pasta since it was the only pasta in the house (& I was having a lazy, not about to get dressed & go to the store for rice kind of day!).

I had my doubts, but it was great!

So good I packed some for my lunch today! Even great reheated the day after.

Oh fall, I love thee & your Pumpkin Spice Lattes

I have returned to serenity.

By this I mean I can now get a Pumpkin Spice Latte with no problems. This makes me one happy girl! (& that is an understatement!)

I also have discovered that I can make them at home, perhaps.

Thanks to fellow blogger at a Year of Slow Cooking, for providing a recipe for this deliciously decadent divine piece of fall!

I plan on trying these this weekend with my parents!


THE recipe:
2 cups milk (I used 1%)
2 T canned pumpkin
2 T white sugar
2 T vanilla (not a typo. it asks for tablespoons)
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice OR 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cloves, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, and a teeny tiny pinch of ground ginger
1/2 cup brewed espresso or 3/4 cup strong brewed coffee

garnish with whipped cream (optional) (SHE SAYS OPTIONAL, I say go for it!!!)

This will make enough for 2 people to have a big mug with a bit leftover. If you are having friends over, adjust the recipe accordingly. I used a 4-quart crockpot, but as small as a 1.5 quart will work with these amounts.

Add the coffee/espresso and milk to the crockpot. Whisk in the pumpkin, spices, sugar, and vanilla.

Cover and cook on high for 2 hours if everything is cold. Whisk again.

Ladle into mugs, and garnish with whipped cream and additional cinnamon. I added a cinnamon stick to be fancy.

Balsamic Chicken Pasta Salad

I know, I know ... been a while. LOTS has happened, is happening...whatever. That is all for the other blogs. This one is all about the food.

Tonight I ventured back into balsamic territory.

With a recipe found at Blisstree.com for Balsamic Chicken Pasta Salad.

The picture alone had me drooling, so I sent it to a fellow foodie who made it & published her pictures on her blog, which made me crave it EVEN more! Lady gluten may hate you, but my stomach loves the encouragement!!! Seriously the asparagus addition, great call!

So here is my version of Balsamic Chicken Pasta Salad!

3 cups uncooked bowtie pasta
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken breast
1 10oz. container grape tomatoes, roasted lightly in oven under the broiler
handful of fresh brussel sprouts, sliced thin & roasted lightly
4 oz Gorgonzola cheese

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup minced fresh basil (or a handful as I call it!)
1/4 cup fresh spinach (again I like to just grab a bunch & rip it up a little)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tb brown sugar
1 tsp chopped garlic (I minced 4 cloves)
1/4 tsp garlic salt (dash to taste)
1/4 tsp pepper (dash to taste)
grated Parmesan cheese (tried a blend of asiago, parmesan and mozzarella)

Cook pasta, drain then rinse with cold water. In a large bowl, & I mean a big one!, combine the pasta, chicken, sprouts, tomatoes, and Gorgonzola cheese.

In a small saucepan, mix the oil, balsamic, brown sugar, basil, garlic, salt & pepper and warm over medium heat. Drizzle over the pasta mixture and toss. Top each serving with the Parmesan cheese to taste.It is heaven in a bowl!!!

Friday the 13th Dinner

Recently I have been really into balsamic glazes. A favorite dish I have been craving is one that has pasta with an alfredo sauce that is topped with pieces of steak that are glazed. Yumm!

I also have a wonderful inspirational friend who keeps making all this delicious stuff, some with balsamic glazes, yet she makes it ALL look so stylish & easy in her blog. So I thought, why not?

I used her measurements of equal parts balsamic vinegar & sugar. Sounds easy enough.



I also had some chicken on hand that was just craving to be roasted. I topped the breast with a mixture of various herbs & seasonings & butter... plus a tub of the garlic butter stuff that comes with pizzas! (also found this stuff is incredible with eggs!) Popped it in the oven at 375 while I made the glaze, steamed some broccoli & made some blue box mac & cheese (the man avoids veggies like the plague!).

Everything smelled heavenly! I was really getting into this dinner. Even decided I would forgo my usual shredded cheddar for the broccoli & try it with the glaze.

Unfortunately, I guess I don't know when to stop. I also think I might have had the heat turned up a tad too high, because I didn't get glaze - I GOT BALSAMIC CARAMEL!

Course I figured it out AFTER I drizzled it all over my plate! I went to sneak a taste & dip my finger into one of the splatters on the plate & IT WAS HARD! Ug. The taste also was slightly scorched.

So I live & learn & was grateful that I didn't drizzle it all over all the chicken!

So choke it up to learning my lesson, the full moon, Friday the 13th or whatever. I tried. I know I will try again & I'm happy I am finding the time to test a few new recipes.

Feel free to share any advice you have. I know I need all the help I can get for my next attempt! I WILL master the glaze! :)

Cheese Straws

Any Southerner has been to a party where they served Cheese Straws. For some reason the other day, I must have felt like a party because out of no where these lil tasty tid bits popped into my head.

Which made me wonder, why hadn't I tried to make them before?

Which lead to a search online for a recipe & a trip to get supplies. I found a simple sounding recipe at Recipe Source.

2 c  UNBLEACHED WHITE FLOUR
1/2 ts SALT
1 ts CAYENNE PEPPER
8 oz SHARP CHEDDAR CHEESE (GRATED
5 oz MARGARINE (MELTED)
1/4 c  FLOUR (FOR ROLLING DOUGH)
1 ts OIL (FOR BAKING SHEET)

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large bowl, mix
flour, salt, cayenne pepper, and cheese
thoroughly. Add melted margarine and mix.

Chill dough in refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Place dough on a large, floured board. Place
a large piece of waxed paper on top of dough
or use a heavily-floured rolling pin.

Roll dough to 1/4-inch thick. Remove wax paper.

Holding a fork upside down, draw the prongs
vertically along dough from top to bottom,
making ridges. With a wide, flat knife cut dough
into rectangular shapes 3 x 1 inch.

Oil a cookie sheet and place cut cheese on it.

Bake in 400 F oven for 10-12 minutes until
cheese straws look dry but not brown. Let cool.
Repeat procedure until all of dough is baked.

Serve at room temperature.

Course I don't tend to do much by the book
cooking wise, my Grandmother taught me
that sometimes recipes are just nice suggestions.

She also taught me to share (that way you
don't end up eating them all!). Since I was
planning on taking them into work, I made
this batch Gluten Free by using Bob's Red
Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour instead of
regular flour.
I also sort of eye balled the cayenne pepper
measurements.  I cut the "oil" for
the pan by using a cooking spray.
The mixture didn't seem like it was going to go
together at first.  Seemed like there was too much
of the dry ingredients and not enough wet to mix.
Thankfully I have experience with Sausage Cheese
Balls that are similar. Its only when you think it will
never work & you should just give up that it actually
starts coming together!
So I had to use my MANual mixer.

Its a Good Guy brand & runs on beer.

After it all got mushed together, I placed the mixture into the fridge & enjoyed a good Chinese dinner & some TV, courtesy of the Good Guy mixer!

Next step was to roll the mixture out into 1/4th inch thickness. I used two sheets of parchment paper without the additional flour. I don't even own a rolling pin, so I used a round glass over the parchment paper to press/roll it down to the correct thickness.

Then you take a fork to rake out the signature stripes & cut them into nice size pieces (eyeballed 1 inch to 3 inch). Popped them into the oven & after a bit they were done!

I think next time they need more cheese & more pepper. They are mild in flavor which would be nice along side plenty of other stronger flavors at a party.

All in all these are a nice treat & I would make them again... maybe next time I will try them with the regular flour to see if that makes a difference at all.

Have to see how they go over at work tomorrow!

We begin.... Chicken Crunch Casserole

One goal of mine is to cook more & try new recipes. Some of this is just plain wanting to experiment & some is that I have got to lose some weight! Eating out too much has me at a highest every weight that I quickly want to lose sight of & get back to where I should be!

My EXboyfriend is of the opinion that if it grows in the ground, he doesn't want to eat it! This leaves me with a severely limited number of recipes since I love almost all veggies (other than mushrooms, yuck!). He luckily likes corn & potatoes so there is a little wiggle room. Not that his taste will dictate what I make! Still many times its just easier to go out to eat so that we can both be happy with dinner.

Thankfully there are a few recipes that I make that he loves but a gal needs more. I can only make Shepard's Pie, Beef Stew & Beef Sandwiches so often. So my thought is that if I have a blog, maybe I will experiment a bit more. Plus I have simply LOVED following a few food related blogs, such as Gluten Hates Me But I'm Surviving, which is done by a wonderful friend of mine as she learns to live gluten-free but still with great taste.

Yesterday I made an old favorite that is simple & cheap. Since I had leftovers for lunch & dinner, why not start this blog off with the blog I wrote about it on another one of my blogs?

It is one of those recipes that pleases almost everyone & is super easy & quick to make.

(had to edit that. Lost that boyfriend but certainly have kept the recipe!)______________________________________________________

What is it about chicken & cheese that can be so comforting?

Today was a long day. No really bad drama, just a long day. One where I wanted a home cooked warm meal that just makes you feel at home & secure.

Luckily I knew just the thing...

Chicken Crunch Casserole!

comforting, chickeny, cheesey & cheap....not only that its super quick & easy!



2 1/2 cups chicken chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt (you can leave this out)
4 1/2 cups crushed chips
1/4 cup shredded cheese (I add more!)
1/2 tsp paprika (again I add more!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan with cooking spray. Mix chicken, soup, milk & salt over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for around 5 minutes. Spread 1 1/2 cups of the crushed chips in the bottom of the pan. Pour the chicken mixture over the chips (rehydrates them so they become like cooked potatoes!). Top with the remaining chips. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the chips then top with paprika. Bake for around 25 to 30 minutes.


I found this recipe online somewhere, I wish I remembered where. I can't take credit for it, but it certainly has become a favorite. I have shared it with friends & some interesting combinations have come up. You can vary the cheese type, the flavor of chips, add spices... whatever you feel like for the night. Next time I might add some mixed veggies. I have made it a few times to where now I don't really measure out the ingredients anymore, just eyeball it.

Trust me its goooood!