Beef Stew

With the change of the season upon us, nothing says fall like a big bowl of beef stew.

This recipe is super easy and the stew ends up with a thick sauce that has a 

deep rich flavor. Make sure you serve it with a chunk of good bread so none of that 

awesome sauce goes to waste. 

It's really close to "Sunday Night Stew" from The Pioneer Woman but instead of 

being served over mashed potatoes, they're cooked in the stew. Totally delicious!

Linked with Weekend Potluck and Foodie Friday.

Pin It

Beef Stew

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp butter
2.5 lbs chuck roast
1 large onion, cut into chunks
3 cloves garlic, chopped
6 oz tomato paste
4 cups beef broth
Several dashes of Worcestershire
3 large carrots, cut into chunks
3 potatoes, peeled and cut into large cubes

Cut roast in to 2 inch chunks; salt and pepper meat. Heat olive oil in a large pot; add butter to melt then immediately add meat to brown the outside. You will probably need to do this in batches. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add onion and garlic to the same pot and saute a couple of minutes, stirring to pick up brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir in tomato paste and cook 2 more minutes. Stir in beef broth, Worcestershire and browned beef; cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Add carrots and simmer covered 30 minutes; add potatoes and simmer until potatoes are tender. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed.

• 
  

Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried Green Tomatoes are one of my favorite things about summer.

Love love love them. 

I use a combination of flour and cornmeal which gives it a perfectly crispy coating, 

then I shallow fry them in a little bit of olive oil. After that, a couple of shakes of 

Frank's and a squirt of lemon or lime is all you need.

Linked with Weekend Potluck and Foodie Friday.

Pin It

Fried Green Tomatoes

3 green tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Fresh cracked pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
3/4 cup buttermilk

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium to medium high heat. Cut tomatoes into 1/4 - 1/3 inch slices. Stir together cornmeal, flour, salt, garlic powder and both peppers in a bowl. Pour buttermilk into another bowl. Dip tomato slices into buttermilk, then coat evenly in flour mixture. Add to the heated oil and cook 2-3 minutes on each side until crispy. Fry tomatoes in batches so you don't overcrowd the skillet. Use more oil if needed.

Serve with Frank's Red Hot and Lemon or Lime.

Super Simple & Fresh Tomato Sauce

With tomatoes in season, there's no better time to make this 

easy and light, fresh tomato sauce. So good!

It couldn't be easier to throw together. 

I served it over ricotta and spinach tortellini with some fresh

grated Parmesan cheese and basil. 

Having leftover tortellini is a bonus because I use it for one of my favorite salads. 

Linked with Weekend Potluck and Foodie Friday.

Pin It

Super Simple & Fresh Tomato Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and pepper
5 large tomatoes, rough chop
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp sugar
Handful of fresh basil

Cut tomatoes into big chunks and blend until smooth.

Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Add olive oil, onion with a pinch of salt, pepper and red pepper flakes; saute until it starts to soften. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in pureed tomatoes, Italian seasoning and sugar. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, 20-25 minutes or until desired consistency. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if necessary. Stir in fresh basil.

Grilled Pineapple & Balsamic Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Today for lunch I revisited one of my favorite sweet potato 

recipes, but with a little twist.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Orange Balsamic Rosemary Glaze

I substituted out the orange marmalade with this delicious dip I got the other day 

at The Savory Pantry in downtown Hot Springs, AR.

It's a roasted pineapple & habanero dip that has the consistency of marmalade.

I love it and know I'm going to use it a lot. 

Could be simply poured over cream cheese and served with crackers or I think it would be awesome used instead of mayo in chicken salad or to make a salad dressing. 

I ate some on a grilled turkey burger yesterday and it was so good. You can order online if you had a hankering to try it, but if not, you could switch out the marmalade in the recipe with just about any flavor you wanted. I loved the hint of heat so I'm thinking pepper jelly would be delicious too.

Linked with Weekend Potluck and Foodie Friday.

Pin It

Zucchini Wheat Bread

My hubby and I are on a mission and we will succeed.

We have finally made a quality(meaning we plan to stick with it) decision to 

lose weight and get healthy.

We were on MRC but have decided that the restrictions of the diet are too much, 

not to mention the $$$$$ spent each month on their required protein drinks.

The plan is very high protein with minimal carb and sugar. You do lose weight fast, but I've read so many blog threads about people who lost a bunch of weight then gained half of it back and are doing the diet again.

I want something that is more of a life style change that can be continued. 

We are still eating high protein and low carb, but if I want fruit and a piece of toast (instead of either/or) with an egg in the morning, I'm going to eat it. I don't want my body to be so carb sensitive that once I reach my goal weight I agonize over gaining back weight with every carb or sugar I put in my mouth.

So....that being said, I healthified my favorite zucchini bread recipe some. 

It's still a splurge but it made 2 loaves with 20 servings. 

It's not fat free by any means or low carb, but it does have less sugar (part of it brown)

 and wheat flour for a cup of the white.

It turned out awesome. Next time I'll probably cut the oil down by 1/4 cup or so and think it will still be moist and delicious. The only difference I noticed was that I didn't get as crisp of sugar like crust (which I do enjoy) on the modified version, but not that big of deal.

You'll be plum happy with either version.

Pin It

Zucchini Wheat Bread

3 cups grated zucchini
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Heat oven to 300 degrees. 

Mix zucchini, sugar, oil and eggs. Beat until blended. 

Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, soda and cinnamon. Add to zucchini mixture stirring just until blended. Stir in nuts, if using. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9x5 loaf pans and bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick/knife test shows no crumbs.