Beef and Lentil Slow Cooker Stew - Italian or Mexican Style - You Choose!

One of our favorite dinners is Beef and Lentil Slow Cooker Stew and you can make it either Italian style or Mexican style.

I originally got the recipe several years ago on the Weight Watchers website here. And the photo above is also from Weight Watchers.

I have adjusted the original recipe to suit our tastes and it has become a favorite. I also like that I can throw it in the crock pot in less than 5 minutes and it does not require pre-browning of the beef!

Recipe - Italian Style

1 small onion chopped (if you're in a rush you can omit)
2 cups frozen green beans or 1 can green beans (or in the summer I've used fresh too!)
1 pound beef cubes (I use what ever beef I get on sale and cube it myself)
1/2 tsp oregano or Italian seasoning, crushed
2 - 3 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes - undrained
1 cup dry lentils
2 - 3 heaping tablespoons of tomato paste
4 cups beef broth
4 carrots chopped
2 cups broccoli stems ** or bagged frozen broccoli
1-2 cups frozen or fresh corn
Whatever other veggie you like!
salt and pepper to taste


If your beef cubes are frozen - thaw them in the microwave first. Place all ingredients (except green beans and corn) in the crock pot. Cook on low 6 -7 hours. Add green beans and corn in for last hour or so to heat. (If you are using fresh green beans you might need a bit more time if you like them soft and not crisp)

To make this Mexican style substitute 1 or more of the cans of tomatoes with the salsa of your choice. If you use all salsa - which is how we like it - you can eliminate the onion as this is already in the salsa!

This is a VERY versatile recipe - you can't mess it up. Just add in what vegetables you like - the lentils make it so thick and yummy. In the summer I make this with fresh veggies from the garden or farm stand. I do not recommend adding potatoes because they tend to mush when cooked that long.


** When I make fresh broccoli, I chop and then steam the stems for a few minutes. Then I cool and put them in the freezer in bags with 2 cups each. My family does not like to eat the stems with steamed broccoli - but the make a nutritious filler in soup and cooking in the crock pot makes them soft instead of tough and woody like they usually are when steamed.

Grandma's Zucchini Bread

I have the greatest Grandma in the world. She is 88, still lives on her own, her mind is still quick as anything - even if her knees aren't so quick anymore!

Any day that you stop by her house she will probably be baking something - for someone else or crocheting a gift for someone special. She's always ready to play a game with the grandchildren or great grandchildren and although I don't get to see her very much anymore because I live 10 hours away from her, her house is one of my favorite places to go.





















At 88 she is still one of the best cooks I know and just loves to do special things for her family. She has been blessed with over 50 grandchildren, great grandchildren and even 1 great-great grandchild! I thank God for giving us such a wonderful grandma and giving her so many years with us!

























One of Grandma's specialties is Zucchini bread. Her's is just the best ever. It is very moist and yummy! I thought you might like to have this wonderful recipe.

Grandma's Zucchini Bread

In the blender or food processor mix:

3 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup cooking oil
2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups sugar

Puree this in blender or food processor.


In another bowl add:

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoon cinnamon

Add wet mixture into dry ingredients, mix well by hand or with hand mixer. Divide into 2 loaf pans, Bake @ 350 for 55-60 minutes. If it browns quickly cover with foil at the end. Test with toothpick.

Note: Since you are going to puree the zucchini in the blender or food processor there is no need to remove the seeds. You can use the whole zucchini! Also, if you use the smaller foil loaf pans you can get 3 loafs from this recipe and the cooking time will be reduced by about 10 minutes.

Yummy Looking Recipe

Go here to check out Hoosier Homemade's recipe for Twix bars. They look so good! She has pictures and a step by step recipe - I think that I might have to try these!

Twice Baked Potatoes

When Target had their potatoes on sale a few weeks ago, I bought several bags. I decided to try a few ways of freezing potatoes. Here is a recipe I tried and am very pleased with the results!







Twice Baked Potatoes

8 - 10 medium baking potatoes
3 Tbsp butter
1 cup sour cream (not reduced fat)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup milk
salt and pepper
Paprika


Bake potatoes in foil until tender (approx 90 min. @ 350). Before they cool. cut the top of the potato off and carefully scoop out the insides into a large bowl. Add all ingredients, except paprika and beat with mixer. The mixture should not be runny nor too firm.

Scoop the mixture back into the potato skins. If you get a cracked potato skin, don't worry, a few of mine did and the were fine after they were filled.

If you want to freeze: Wrap the potatoes in plastic wrap. Place in freezer until frozen. Then you can place in a large ziploc bag or container in your freezer.

To bake: If they are frozen, thaw in refrigerator, take off plastic wrap, cover the potato skin park with foil, leaving the top open. Sprinkle with paprika and bake. If you just mixed them up and they are still hot, bake 30 minutes. If they are thawed, you might need 60 min. @ 350 degrees.

Note: We like to make potato skins with the cut off tops of the potatoes. I just sprat them with oil and bake until crispy. We eat them with butter and sour cream.

Baking and Cooking Day 3/30/09

Today is going to be a day of Cooking and Baking for us.  I have some Amish Bread starter that I needed to get baked and also I bought about 30+ lbs of Potatoes last week at Target for only $6.00. 

So far, I've baked 4 loaves of Banana Bread - very yummy - as you can see we had a sample!  

Next I plan to make hash brown potatoes to put into the freezer and maybe french fries.

I'll let you know how it goes and if they turn out!

Here is the recipe I used for the bread, I doubled it and made a few adjustments which I noted.  I will try to post the starter recipe later too.

Homemade Breadcrumbs

So what do you do with the leftover ends of bread and the 2 extra stale hot dog rolls you have when you buy 8 hot dogs and 10 rolls?  Make Breadcrumbs! 

I found this recipe for Homemade Breadcrumbs that I like a lot.  I have found making breadcrumbs to be pretty easy and a good use for the heels of bread.  

I just throw unused pieces of bread into a  bag in the freezer until I need breadcrumbs.  Then I take them out and make the breadcrumbs.

When they are cool, I store my breadcrumbs in a plastic container in the freezer to keep them fresh!

In this recipe they use a blender - which I do not have.  I use my food processor and it works well.

We use a kind of heavier weight organic bread (which I get for .49 cents at the bread store).  I have found that occasionally, I have needed to toast the finished breadcrumbs a bit more to get them completely dry - but be careful or the cheese will burn!

Kroger - Sale Ends Today

Kroger is having Turkeys at a great price.  They have Butterball or Honey Suckle frozen turkeys for only .88 cents a lb.  I will be going to pick up a few of these!   (If I have a choice, I'll pick the Honey Suckle, Butterball is not my favorite brand!)

Turkey is a great and one of the most frugal foods I've found.  From a 15-20 lb turkey I can get over 1 week of dinners and quite a few lunches also.  We usually eat hot turkey for a night or two and then I make, turkey pot pie, turkey croquettes, I use the turkey in casseroles instead of chicken and then there is the family favorite, the #1 meal for my crew, the most important reason I buy turkeys and fill up the freezer!!! Turkey Noodle Soup!

We don't necessarily eat the turkey every day for the entire week, I do use my freezer to freeze soup broth and packages of meat for casseroles - so we can spread out the turkey love!  

If you think that turkey is just for the holidays, I would challenge you to stop by Kroger TODAY and pick up a turkey - or 3.  They are easy and yummy.  Use a cooking bag for easy preparation and clean-up.  Plus, I've found that with the cooking bags the broth is incredible, and you don't lose any of it!

What is your favorite use of turkeys?  Let us know!

By-the-way, if you are outside of the Indianapolis area, your Kroger sale will most likely have already ended,  Our Kroger ads run Thursday to Thursday, where most areas run Sunday to Sunday.

Baked Chicken and Potatoes

Baked Chicken and Potatoes

6 medium or large potatoes washed and poked with a fork (use enough potatoes to cover the bottom of your crock pot)

Use your choice of: 1 whole chicken, several chicken legs & thighs or 1 or 2 whole split chicken breasts - bone in. (I usually use frozen chicken and just put the pieces in the crock-pot still frozen)

Salt
Pepper
Garlic Salt
Paprika
Onion Powder

I put the potatoes on the bottom. Lay the chicken on top of the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic salt, paprika, and onion powder - or whatever spices you like.

I cook on low for 6-8 hours. Time varies by crock pot and fresh chicken will take less time than frozen. If I only have around 4 hours (Sunday Mornings) I set it to high.

The chicken gets very tender and falls off the bone easily, so remove carefully from pot! I take the skin off before serving it.

This is one of our favorites!

Baked Rigatoni Casserole

We love this casserole. It is great made with Ziti or Penne also. This makes enough for 2 meals for us.

Baked Rigatoni Casserole

1-2 Lb Ground Beef or Turkey (I use 1 lb frozen ground turkey from Aldi)

Chopped or Minced Onion (if desired.)

2 Cans (26 oz ea)Pasta Sauce

2 Cans Tomato Paste

16 oz Pasta (Rigatoni, Penne, or Ziti), cooked according to directions

1 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 tsp Italian seasoning or oregano

1. Brown and drain beef or turkey with onion.

2. Cook pasta according to directions, drain.

3. Mix all ingredients together, except cheese.

4. Spoon into 9x13 casserole,

5. Sprinkle with cheese.

6. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and brown.

Black-Eyed Peas Soup

I made this soup on Saturday and it was really good so here is the recipe for you.  I'm sorry that I have no pictures for you.  It was nice and thick and we ate it over brown rice.  It made enough for 3-4 meals for us.  I froze some for later.

4-5 cups chicken stock 

2-3 cups water or stock

1 1lb bag of dried black eyed peas

Chopped in small cubes the following:

2-3 celery stalks

1 lb ham (1 used turkey ham from Aldi) 

2-3 carrots 

1 onion - chop finely

(put in as much of those as you like)

Wait on these for later:

1 large potato (peel and cube later)

Chicken bullion -if needed

Rinse and sort the beans.  Cover with water and bring to boil.  Boil on low for 2-3 minutes.  Cover and let sit 1 hour.  Rinse well and drain when done.

Put chicken stock, water, beans and cubed ham and veggies in big pot.  Bring to low simmer.   Turn to lowest heat and let cook slowly for several hours.  I cooked mine for about 6- all together.  Stir occasionally - but not too much so you don't smash all the beans.  

I checked it in the afternoon and wanted it to be thicker so I took the lid off slightly so it could cook down, turned the heat up a bit and I added a chopped potato.  Also, I added a little bullion to flavor the broth a bit more - my chicken stock was a bit weak.

I cooked it until it was nice and thick and served it with homemade bread and over brown rice. The brown rice really make it good!  This is a very satisfying and filling soup!  One of my winter favorites.

Make Your Own Mixes

Here is a great article from Amy @ Mom Advice.  She gives almost 20 recipes for "Make Your Own Mixes".

Here are some of the recipes she includes:

Homemade Poultry Seasoning Mix

Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix

Homemade Shake & Bake

Potato Soup, Olive Garden, Zuppa Toscana Style

A friend asked me for my potato soup recipe on Sunday.  It got me thinking about potato soup (yummmmm).  So, today I made a bit crock pot of this Potato Soup.  My husband says it tastes exactly like the Zuppa Toscana, from the Olive Garden - but he likes it better, because I use more sausage.

You can make a big pot of this for less $ than lunch for 1 at Olive Garden. So, here's the recipe! I made it based on a recipe another friend had given me, but I adjusted the amounts and used sausage instead of bacon.

Crock Pot Zuppa Toscana, Potato Soup

9 Cups - Potatoes, peeled and diced.

8 Cups - Chicken Stock.

1 Can  - Evaporated Milk (Whole Milk)

1/3 lb. - Bob Evans - Italian Sausage (loose, not links)

1/3 lb  - Bob Evans - Hot/ Spicy  Sausage (loose, not links)

1 Cup - Chopped Onions

1/2  - 9 oz box frozen spinach (just chop frozen spinach in 1/2 with big knife - keep the rest frozen for your next pot of soup)

1 Cup - Grated Cheddar Cheese

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Place first 3 ingredients in crock pot.  Brown sausage and add to crock pot.  Saute onions a little in the sausage grease until soft, don't over cook.  Add to pot.

Cook 5 -6 hours on high or 7-8 on low, or until potatoes are done.

30 -45 min. before eating add in spinach (frozen is ok) Stir every few minutes to mix in.  

10 min before serving, turn off crock pot.  If you are going to use this for more than 1 meal, take out what you will be saving for another meal(s) and set aside.

Add cheese to what you will eat that night.  Stir until dissolved.

When you want to serve the rest, reheat, remove from heat and add cheese.  Stir until dissolved.

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Notes:

If you don't like sausage, just cook up 1/2 lb of bacon and crumble. Add it at the end with the cheese and skip the spinach.

Or you could use some ham - I'd put that in at the beginning.

I buy 1 roll of Bob Evans - Italian Sausage (green wrapper) and 1 roll of Bob Evans - spicy/hot (red wrapper) and cut each into 3 pieces.  Place each piece in a sandwich bag and freeze.  When you want to make soup, it is easy to thaw the amount you need.  You will get 3 pots of Zuppa from 2 rolls of sausage.  For us that is at least 6 meals. 

 I do recommend that you use Bob Evans because it has just the right taste.  Also, there are often coupons in the paper. Sometimes you can get it on sale + double coupons at Meijer!

Note:

After having the leftovers I would make 1 change.  Next time, I will only add the cheese to the part I would eat that night and add cheese the next night to the rest.  The cheese separated when it was chilled.  I made that change in the recipe above too.

Turkey Noodle Soup

If you have a leftover turkey carcass from your Christmas dinner, you can make a great big pot of Turkey Noodle Soup.  Go here to check out the step by step recipe and photos.

Easy and Delicious Baked Fish

Here is a super easy and good fish recipe!  I use thawed previously frozen tilapia.  The croutons are so much better than bread crumbs for breading - you'll never use breadcrumbs again!

Easy and Delicious Baked Fish

3/4 cup crushed croutons ( I put them through the food processor for a few seconds)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
2 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 egg
1 Tbs water
1 Tbs lemon juice (I've left this out when I don't have any and it's been fine)
1 lb fresh or frozen fish fillets - thawed, (pat dry with a paper towel.)

Preheat oven 350 degrees
Cover cookie sheet with foil and spray with oil - (non-stick foil works great, but regular is fine).  A stoneware sheet is fine too but might take a bit longer to cook.

In shallow dish, combine croutons, cheese and parsley flakes, blend well.

In another shallow dish combine egg, water and lemon juice, blend well.

Cut fish into 4 inch pieces ( I usually cut large fillets in half ) Try to make fish similar in size so they bake evenly. (If all your fillets are the same size you can leave them uncut if you wish.)

Dip fish in egg mixture; coat with crouton mixture. Tuck thin ends of fish under to form pieces of uniform thickness.

Place on baking sheet. Bake in 350 over for 15 - 20 minutes,  until fish flakes easily and is not slimy looking. (Time varies due to fish size and thickness so I check by cutting one of the fillets open with a fork, when it looks done.)

We really like to eat this with baked potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Note: I crush the whole bag of croutons in my food processor and store what I don't use in a sealed container.  It makes it easier and less work to make the fish the next time!

Turkey Noodle Soup - Step 5

If you are just joining us in making soup - you might want to start here.

Well, we've enjoyed our soup and I have enough broth in the freezer for 2 more dinners.

Now I will show you an easy way to freeze the broth to use for later.

1.  First cool your broth.

You will need gallon size freezer bags and several loaf pans.

2. Next place a gallon size storage or freezer bags inside the loaf pan. Place both in the sink in case you spill a little in the next step.

3.  I use a measuring cup and scoop the broth and pour it inside the bag until it reaches the top of the loaf pan.  I was able to put 5 cups into a bag.

4.  Place in your freezer

 

5. When they are frozen solid you will have "bricks" of broth.  I will use 2 of these bricks to make 1 pot of soup.

Take the frozen "bricks" out of the loaf pans.  I take 2 of the bricks and place them in another freezer bag for extra protection.  Write the date on the bag and place back in the freezer.  These will stack easily in your freezer.  When your ready for some soup, just run some warm water over the bag to loosen the brick and place frozen brick into soup pot.  It will thaw quickly on low heat.

Thanks so much for joining me in making soup today.  I would love to hear from anyone that tries this soup!  It's so easy and a great way to stretch those turkey for a few more meals!

Added Notes: 12/03/08   

If you have leftovers of soup, always make sure you heat it to a boil.  I would also do that with all frozen broths before you add noodles and meat.    

If your reheated soup is too thick, just add a little water or broth .

Turkey Noodle Soup - Step 4

OK, now for the finishing touches!  There's not much to do now!

You should have the broth all ready.  Put the amount that you want to use today in a large pot.  Set the rest aside to cool.  I made about 30 cups of broth and I will use 10 cups tonight.

1. Bring the broth to a low boil and add your egg noodles.  I used about 10 oz from this 16 oz bag and had about 10 cups of broth.  We like LOTS of noodles.  

You will also want to add salt at this time to the broth.  I add and then taste and add some more.  

2. Stir and bring to very low simmer.  Cover and cook for 15 - 20 min.  The noodles will thicken the soup.  Don't cook too fast!  

3.  Add about 1-2 cups of the turkey cut into small pieces.

4. Serve it up with some homemade bread.  We had honey oat I made in the bread machine.

5. Enjoy!

My son said tonight that he wants to have this every night for dinner.  Now that's good soup!

I will post a little later and show you an easy way to freeze the extra broth.

Go Here for Turkey Noodle Soup - Step 5.

Turkey Noodle Soup - Step 3

 

Okay, if your house is now full of yummy turkey broth smell and your soup broth looks a rich golden like the above picture,  you're ready for the next step.  

1. Take the broth off the heat and let it cool for a little bit.  Then remove the bones and vegetables.  

I like to place a colander in a bowl so that the broth that drips out of them can be collected and put back in the pot.

2. I dump the bones etc back into my now clean turkey pan and once again pick through it for meat.  You can see I collected a bowl full from these bones.

3. Next I strain the broth one more time through a fine strainer to get the small pieces out. 

You should just have nice golden broth now.  You will probably have enough for several meals.

Next, I will show you how to finish off the soup and prepare the extra broth for the freezer.

Go Here for Turkey Noodle Soup - Step 4

Turkey Noodle Soup - Step 2

Let's start with the ingredients and other things that you will need to make to soup.

1 Very large pot.  I used an 11 quart pot and had the carcass from a 13lb turkey.  If I had my normal 20lb turkey, I would have used 2 pots.  If you have a larger pot that's good too.  Use what you have or borrow one from someone.

1 Turkey Carcass

Giblets (if you still have them)

The pan that is holding your turkey (don't wash it yet!)

2-3 Onions

Celery stalks

3-4 carrots

1 bag - good quality- extra-wide or dumpling style egg noodles. 

(I recommend Muller's extra wide or dumpling noodles - if you can get them.  I can't find them in Indy but they are the best.  I do NOT recommend Aldi noodles for this because their noodles seem to break into pieces.

Water

Here is a step-by-step for the soup with pictures!

1. To get started, pick any remaining meat off the bones of your turkey.  You can save this meat to add later to the soup.  Put in the fridge for now.

2. Place turkey bones, skin, fat and any scrap pieces into large pot.  Break apart larger sections if necessary to fit into pot.  Keep in mind that the flavor is in the fat and skin.  You can cool your broth and remove the fat later if you choose.  I do not suggest that you try to "lighten" the recipe by omitting the fat and skin at this point because you will lose a lot of flavor!

3. Pour a few cups of boiling water into the pan and bag or foil that was holding your turkey.  You will be surprised at the juices you will see surface!  

4. Then pour the juices into the large pot.

5.  Add the Giblets to the pot if you still have them uncooked.  I cooked mine up on Thanksgiving Day and so I will just add the broth from them to the soup when it is done.

6. Chop several onions, celery stalks and carrots and add to pot.  Make the pieces large so they are easy to remove later.  

7. Fill pot with water, bring to  low boil, turn to low cover and simmer for several hours or all day!  I cook mine ALL DAY.  The longer it cooks the more flavorful.  I would recommend at least 3 hours but if you can let it go 6 - 8+ that's fine too.  Just make sure it isn't cooking too fast.  I put mine on a very low temp.

You have most of the work done now.  You can enjoy the wonderful smells that will be filling your home.  

I will post this afternoon and show you how to finish your soup.   Please leave any questions or comments.

Go Here for Turkey Noodle Soup - Step 3.

Turkey Noodle Soup - Step 1

Turkey Noodle Soup is a family tradition in my home.  As a kid, I always waited for the time after Thanksgiving or Christmas that mom would get out the bird and make this favorite.  Fast forward 30+ years, and now I'm the mom and my family anxiously awaits the traditional pot of soup!

There is really no better soup on the planet - that's big statement isn't it!  But really, ask my family, or those friends who have come to love this tradition.  It is the ultimate in comfort food! Hot and flavorful and thick with noodles. And unlike many comfort foods, it is good for you too. 

Turkey Noodle Soup is also very economical.  It is made from the part of the turkey that many people throw away - the bones.  I can usually get 3 - 5 dinners (for our family of 4) from those turkey bones - depending on the size of the turkey. I would estimate that all those dinners cost only around $5 - 7  total, for the additional ingredients needed, some of which are probably  in your fridge already!

So today I will be sharing our family tradition of Turkey Noodle Soup.  I hope it makes you hungry and that you will try this at home!

I will be stopping back to post through out the day to take you step by step through this recipe! So, gather your biggest pot, your leftover turkey carcass, some onions, celery, and carrots and join me for Turkey Soup Day!

Go Here for Turkey Noodle Soup - Step 2.