Cover-and-forget-it beef and veggie stew

Cover-and-forget-it beef and vegetable stew

2 lbs. boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
6 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 med. onion, chopped
2 c. tomato sauce
1 c. water
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tbsp. quick cooking tapioca

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Coat a heavy 3-quart casserole dish with oil.   Put meat in casserole and top with the potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and onion.
In a small bowl, mix together the tomato sauce, water, sugar, salt, pepper and tapioca and pour over the meat and vegetables.
Cut a piece of parchment paper large enough to overhang the top of the casserole by 2 inches all around.  Press the paper onto the top of the beef and vegetable mixture and tuck it down around the sides of the contents.  cover the whole thing, using the cover of the casserole dish or aluminum foil.
Bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours at 325 degrees or 4 to 5 hours at 300 degrees.

Fiesta Casserole

Fiesta Casserole

1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 c. chunky tomato salsa
1 c. (14 1/2  oz.) diced tomatoes with juice
2 c. fresh or frozen corn kernels
12- 6 inch flour tortillas
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream for serving
chopped avocado for serving
chopped fresh cilantro for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown the meat in a large skillet on med-high heat. Add onion and peppers and saute until the meat is no longer pink (about 10 min.). Drain off excess fat.  Stir in the salsa, tomatoes with juice, and corn.  Bring to a boil, and remove from heat.
Spread out 1 cup of the meat mixture in the bottom of a shallow 9 x 13 in. baking dish.  Top with 6 tortillas, over lapping them.  Spoon half the remaining mixture over the tortillas.  Top with half of the cheese. layer with the remaining tortillas and then the rest of the meat mixture.  cover with lightly greased aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes or until heated through.
Uncover and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Let stand for 5 min. or until cheese is melted.  Serve with sour cream, chopped avocados, and cilantro.

Crockpot recipes

Okay, I posted four crockpot recipes below, but I have a disclaimer to make. I haven't actually tried these four recipes yet. However, they are recipes from my Winder 4th Ward Cookbook (my last ward in Utah), so I feel some level of confidence that they will be good. (Hopefully, that confidence isn't misplaced.) I'm planning to make the crockpot taco soup later this week, so I'll let you know how it turns out. The BBQ pork one also sounds really yummy, but I keep wondering if the process would be a pain instead of a timesaver...and I'm going for time saving.

I cooked a roast in my crockpot today and boy was it YUMMY!! You guys probably already have your fabulous recipes for roasts and this one is a pretty standard recipe I think. Still it turns out good. (3-4 pound roast, potatoes, carrots, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 pkg lipton onion soup mix, cook on low for 8-12 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours...I also added a quartered onion in.)

If anyone else has a chance to post any quick crockpot recipes I'd love it (and Heidi too, it sounds like)! I need to find some more that will be time saving and that Alex and I will like.

I have a couple of other recipes (Crockpot Beef Stew and Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore), but I'm not sure where those recipes came from so I didn't post them. If anyone wants me to post them, I will; otherwise, I'll wait to see if they are any good if or when I try them.

Post-Edit: I've tried the Crockpot Taco Soup now and it was really good!!

Taco Meat

Here's a good recipe for taco meat if you run out of taco seasoning packets.

Saute 1/2 small red onion (I never have red...always use yellow) in 2 T oil for 3 minutes or until onion is soft. Add 1 1/2 lbs ground beef and cook, stirring to break up meat until it's no longer pink (about 4 min). Pour off liquid. Add: 2 garlic cloves, crushed; 1 T chili powder; 1 t cumin; 1 t coriander, 1 t salt; 1 1/2 c tomato sauce. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes.

Beef Stroganoff

I use this one a lot because my kids will actually eat it.

1 1/2 lbs top round steak sliced 1/4 on thick (I usually buy stew meat)
4 tbsp flour
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
6 tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 clove garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 (10 oz) can beef consomme
1 lb fresh mushrooms
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
Noodles or rice for 8

combine flour, salt and pepper and coat beef. In a large frying pan melt 4 tbsp of the butter add onion and garlic and cook until lightly browned. set aside in a bowl. in the same pan melt remaining 2 Tbsp butter and olive oil. place meat in pan and brown. add beef consomme and onion/garlic mixture. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Add mushroom and Worcestershire sauce and continue cooking until meat is tender. just before serving top with sour cream. serve over noodles or rice.

I will usually add an extra can of consomme. It just makes a little more without doubling everything.