Beef Stew

We just tried out this “new to us” recipe this week and loved it!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of cubed beef stew meat
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 jars (12 ounce) of beef gravy
• 1/4 cup of Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 pound of small potatoes – halved
• 1 1/2 cups of baby carrots
• 2 cups of frozen peas – thawed
• Salt and Pepper

Directions

1. Season meat with salt and pepper.
2. Brow meat with some hot oil in skillet and transfer to crock pot.
3. Stir in remaining ingredients – except peas.
4. Cook in crock pot on High for 4.5 hours or on Low for 8 hours.
5. Add peas during last 20 minutes.
6. Serve with warm crusty bread
7. Enjoy!

Glazed Meatballs

My kids love meatballs – Meatball sub sandwiches, Swedish meatballs, etc… – so I was thrilled when I figured out that I could turn one of our favorite appetizers into a main dish for my little meatball lovers. 

Ingredients:

• 1 jar (12 ounce) of grape jelly
• 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce
• 1 bag (16 ounce) of frozen original meatballs

Directions:

1. Combine jelly and barbecue sauce in a large saucepan
2. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until jelly melts.
3. Add meatballs and cook over low-medium heat for 15-20 minutes.
4. Stir occasionally until meatballs are hot and glazed with sauce.
5. Enjoy!

I mentioned that this was originally an appetizer so at this point you can would normally serve these in a crock pot or buffet slow cooker set on low.  As you can tell from the photo above, we like to eat this as our main dish over egg noodles.  Either way, it is a really easy and yummy dish. 

Tater Tot Hotdish

This is another cold weather favorite around our home. 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
• 1 can Cheddar Cheese soup
• 1/2 soup can of milk
• 1 bag of frozen tater tots
• 2 cups of favorite shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Brown and drain ground beef in skillet.
3. Mix in both cans of soup and milk in with the cooked beef.
4. Spread the beef and soup mixture into a 9x13 casserole dish.  Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
5. Add frozen tater tots on top and cover with shredded cheese.
6. Bake in oven for approximately 1 hour.

Poppy Seed Chicken

This is one of my all time favorite recipes and perfect for those cold, winter evenings. 

Ingredients:

• 4-6 Chicken Breast – Cooked, deboned, and shredded
• 2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup
• 1 small (8 ounce) sour cream
• 2-3 tablespoons of poppy seeds
• 1 stick of butter – melted
• 2 sleeves of Ritz crackers – crushed
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Spray 9x13 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. 
3. Place shredded chicken breast in casserole dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Mix together soup, sour cream, and poppy seeds.  Pour mixture over chicken.
5. Mix together melted butter and crushed crackers.  Pour on top of chicken and soup mixture.
6. Bake until bubbly and crackers are lightly brown – approximately 20 minutes.

I like to serve this dish hot and steamy over a bed of white rice.  This is also a great dish to cook in an 8x8 casserole dish and freeze the other half for later. 

Enjoy!

Taco Soup

It is rainy, cloudy, and a tad bit chilly here today.  Perfect weather for Taco Soup!! 

I am very thankful to my sister-in-law Holli for introducing me to this wonderful delicacy several years ago. You can click here for the original recipe that I was given.  Over time, I have changed it up a little and this is pretty much how we enjoy our taco soup around here…

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of hamburger meat
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 can of light kidney beans
• 1 large can of diced tomatoes
• 2 medium cans of shoe peg corn
• 1 package of ranch dressing mix
• 1 package of taco seasoning mix

Directions:

1. Brown and drain hamburger meat.   Do not drain any other ingredients.
2. Mix all ingredients in your crock pot and cook on low approximately 4 hours.
3. Serve with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and sour cream.
4. Enjoy!