Fall And Family And Shepherd's Pie

Grandparenting, like most things, is a mix of ups and downs. We've had a good long visit with our two little ones. We did fun things like going to the pumpkin patch just down the road from our farm. Yes. Our neighbors have a pumpkin (and strawberry) farm! Little Lady picked the best pumpkins.

   

Mixed in with the good was the not-so-good. A sick baby, who thankfully is better now. A puny toddler.  And the grownups all got colds.

Shepherd's Pie - recipe at the bottom

Yet, we still had to eat. This was a new-to-me recipe. I've made shepherd's pie before but mostly without a recipe. This one was much more flavorful. And because I could make it in stages, it was manageable while watching the kiddos. This is truly comfort food. See the recipe below.

Because they stayed here longer than expected to recuperate, we needed to find things to keep Little Lady busy while Mommy worked from home (our home.) If you are searching for toddler activities, check your pantry. Scooping dry beans into containers and pouring them back in the bowl kept her occupied for a long time.

And you know we always bake—even with the smallest ones. Banana muffins were fun to make and fun to eat. Even her baby brother could mangle a little muffin and eat the crumbs.

Mommy sent me an Instagram post with this quick and easy activity—Halloween matching. You could also match shapes or colors or animals or fruits & vegetables or Christmas items. Just draw a few simple shapes on a long paper (I used the back side of some pan lining foil) and then make a bunch of post-its with matching drawings. Let the little one match them up. 

When Mommy took a work break she made more post-its and stuck them around the house for a scavenger hunt match game. 

Not sure how, but as busy as we were I somehow managed to make a new hat for Baby Brother. Nap times are a glorious thing. And hats are quick to make. No pattern this time, just knitted round and round,

I doubled the recipe because this night we were feeding 4 hungry adults and we wanted leftovers. Made a 9x13-inch dish and a 1-quart dish for the freezer. In another week or so, when it's only the two of us here, that will be our supper and I'll get a night off in the kitchen.

To manage cooking while tending to babies, I made the meat part early in the morning and put it in the refrigerator. Then late afternoon while Little Lady was eating her early dinner, I made the mashed potatoes for the top. These are really good mashed potatoes, with garlic and parmesan cheese added in. 

This list of ingredients looks so long, but it's a really easy dish to put together. Just pull out all the ingredients before you start. And I like to measure the seasoning before I start cooking.

SHERPHERD'S PIE

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 lb. lean ground beef

2 teaspoons dried parsley leaves

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup beef broth

1 cup frozen peas & carrots

1/2 cup frozen corn

2 lb. potatoes, peeled & cubed

1 stick butter

1/3 cup half & half (add more if needed)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 freshly grated parmesan cheese

Heat oil in large skillet. Saute onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add ground beef to skillet and break apart. Sprinkle with parsley, rosemary, thyme, salt & pepper. Cook until beef is no longer pink. Add Worcestershire and garlic, stir and cook 1 minute.

Add the flour and tomato paste. Stir until well blended. Add broth, frozen peas and carrots and frozen corn. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set meat mixture aside. (At this point, I refrigerated the meat mixture until ready to finish the dish later in the day.)

Preheat oven to 400º.

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Cook until potatoes are tender.

Drain potatoes and return to hot pot. Let potatoes rest in the pot for 1 minute to evaporate any remaining liquid.

Add butter, half & half, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mash potatoes and stir until mixed. Stir in parmesan cheese. Add more half & half if potatoes are too stiff to spread.

Pour meat mixture into a 9x9-inch or 7x11-inch baking pan. Spread into an even layer. Spoon potatoes on top and carefully spread over meat layer. (If your pan is full to the top, you can set it on a baking sheet to catch anything that might bubble over.)

Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

This would be a great dish to take to a neighbor. You could take it baked, or take it ready to bake with directions attached. I'm also thinking I could make and freeze the meat part and then thaw and make the potato topping the day of serving. There are so many ways to give yourself a boost in the kitchen.

I am seriously looking forward to pulling our small casserole out of the freezer for an easy dinner.

Hamburger Steak with Onion & Mushroom Gravy

Hamburger Steak with Onion & Mushroom Gravy

I had planned to wait and publish this blog post in a week or so when I know I won't have time to write. But the recipe is too good to keep under wraps. So here you go. Enjoy it now!

You would have to have known Mommy as a newlywed to fully appreciate this meal. When she married, she was accomplished in so many things. But cooking was not one of them. She made a lot of cheese quesadillas, Kraft macaroni & cheese and hot dogs in those days. But 14 years later, after many phone calls to mom, watching FoodTV, reading food blogs and simply having to put meals on the table day after day for years, she is an excellent cook, as comfortable in the kitchen as she is singing before an audience.

I had heard about this recipe for quite some time and was happy when she offered to make it for our dinner while everyone was here over Thanksgiving week. Her daughters all love this. J-Daddy loves it. And now we see why. The seasoning is perfect—even with our tweaks.

This is a long list of ingredients. But it's not a difficult recipe. When I make something like this, I usually set out all the ingredients and measure all the spices before I start cooking. Slice your onion and mushrooms. Then it's just a matter of adding them into the pan as you go. 

Don't let the long recipe scare you. It's well worth a little extra effort. It's one of the best dishes we've tasted in a while. Better than many restaurant meals we've had. Mommy spooned the gravy over her homemade mashed potatoes this time. She said she's also served it with noodles and rice, depending on what's in her pantry. It's all good.

HAMBURGER STEAK with ONION & MUSHROOM GRAVY

1-1/2 lb. ground beef (80/20 is best)

2 tablespoon olive oil

salt

pepper

For the gravy:

2 tablespoons butter

1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning

1-1/2 cups baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 cup low-sodium beef broth

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons yellow mustard

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Handling lightly, form ground beef into 4 patties. Don't overwork the beef.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil. Salt and pepper burgers.

Cook burgers about 3 minutes or more, until one side is deep brown. Turn burgers over and cook until desired doneness. Remove from pan and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium. In the same skillet you cooked the burgers in, melt the butter. Add onions about 4 minutes. Stir occasionally, scraping up the browned bits in bottom of pan. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme and cajun seasoning.

When onions are very tender, add mushrooms and stir to combine. Cook about 2 minutes more. Add cornstarch and stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and add beef broth, soy sauce, mustard and vinegar. Continue cooking, stirring until sauce thickens, 4 or 5 minutes more. 

Return burger patties to pan and spoon gravy over them. Top with parsley and serve

I normally buy extra-lean ground beef, but Mommy said much of the flavor comes from the beef drippings so she uses the 80/20 mix here. If you are feeding 5, just make the burgers a little smaller.

If you are into clean eating, doing Whole30, or need gluten free, check the original source of this recipe, Defined Dish. Mommy makes the original version, but I don't normally stock arrowroot powder, ghee or coconut aminos in my pantry. We reworked it to use ingredients that I had here. She said the taste was a little different with our substitutions but equally good. 

Stirring Up A Quick Supper

What a busy weekend. Up and down the interstate, trying so hard to stay awake on that drive. I'm still dragging around with the lingering crud I've had for a while. Thank goodness for audiobooks to help keep me alert. (I'm listening to The Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust, one of the Flavia de Luce series. So fun!) 

When I got home last night, I pulled spaghetti sauce out of the freezer. So good to keep a well stocked freezer. But then tonight I had to think about the next supper. Factor in where we live and often we find it's easier to make dinner than to go out to eat, or even pick up take-out and bring it home.

This dish had been on my radar after I watched the YouTube video from A Peek Inside showing how she makes freezer dinners. I love that she really doesn't use recipes. Her cooking is that simple. If you have any cooking experience at all, you won't need a recipe either.

She said this is an old recipe that her mom used to make. I'm pretty sure that I remember it from the heyday of Campbell soup recipes. So easy. And Daddy-O went back for thirds. That's affirmation that it's a good recipe.

Right up front let me say I DIDN'T MEASURE ANYTHING! (Except the tablespoon of conrstarch.) The round steak I bought was a pound and a half, so my recipe measurements flew out the window right there.. Early this morning I had prepped a lot of fresh vegetables so I'd actually use them this week. So at supper time, I tossed in handfuls of peppers, onions, celery and mushrooms. It's easy to adjust if you like more of less or any of these things.

To make the round steak easier to slice, I popped it in the freezer for an hour before I sliced it. That firms it up enough to slice. The simmer time after I added the veggies? The recipe says 10 minutes or until tender. I actually watched the vegetables and let them cook until they reached the doneness I wanted. It all probably simmered 15-20 minutes.

The leftover meat and veggies (which wasn't as much as I planned) will go into the freezer for one of "those nights." ETA: I ended up with one single meal plate of meat and rice for the freezer and a small container of the meat mix for Daddy-O's lunch tomorrow.

I'm sharing the old original recipe to give you a starting point, but let me say again—I DIDN'T MEASURE. Just eyeball it. I'm sure you could add carrots or broccoli, or leave out the celery. Just make it suit your family.

MOCK SUKIYAKI

1 lb. round steak, sliced thin

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

1-1/2 cup sliced celery

1 green pepper, cut in strips

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1-1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup green onions, sliced 

1 cup Campbell's beef broth, undiluted (I used the whole can)

I tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce, or to taste

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Brown steak in oil in medium hot skillet. Add vegetables, broth and soy sauce. Cover. Simmer 10 minutes, or until tender. (I let mine cook longer.) Stir often. Combine water and cornstarch. Stir into sauce and cook until thickened. Serve over rice.

For the record, there is a greater proportion of vegetables than meat in this dish. Doesn't exactly look like it in the photo because the mushrooms and onions are kind of invisible. But it's a sneaky way to up your veggie intake.

Mimi duty.

Because I was a little under the weather, the littles enjoyed some extra TV time this weekend. They love old Fred Astaire movies!

Trying Something New This Week And BIG NEWS!

Had you given up on me? I nearly gave up on myself. After a hectic family week at the lake, we stayed on a few days more. But both of us were sick. Daddy-O, with one of those "non-specific viruses" that you just have to wait for it to get better. And I had another round of nearly non-stop coughing which has become a frequent problem. After a couple of weeks of listening to myself I gave up and made an appointment with the doctor. New doctor. New diagnosis. New meds. And I'm already feeling better. Enough better to get back in the kitchen. I haven't felt this good in ages.

I always think "next week" life will slow down. But looking at my calendar and jotting down dates my girls need me for Mimi duty, it might be more like next year before that happens. (I also found out after staying some extra days at the lake, that I like busy. It got harder and harder to just be.)

So today I decided to try freezer cooking—with a twist. Because I know I'll be away here and there for the next few weeks, I wanted to try freezing individual dinners. Kind of like the old TV dinners that hit the store shelves back in the 50s. I thought they were so exotic. Probably because we never had them. When I was on my own after college and cooking for one, I got my chance to try them. And to be honest I never found one I really liked. I think I pretended to like a couple of them. But they really weren't very good. The homemade ones will have to be better.

My normal freezing is in larger portions and I usually stick to entrees. By now I know what freezes well. And what we like. I always think the secret is in choosing recipes with a sauce or gravy (that includes soups and stews) to keep food moist and then being very particular about how I package them. Oh, breads and muffins are also good freezer items.

This morning's cooking is an experiment. We are looking for a complete—more or less—meal that Daddy-O can grab out of the freezer and heat for his dinner. He does know that the results will likely be better if he lets it thaw overnight in the refrigerator. We shall see how this goes.

Because this was something I decided to do last night, I made do with what was on hand. I'm not sure these are the ultimate dinners. But it will be better than pouring a bowl of cereal at night after working out on the farm all day. Because we were gone for two weeks at the lake, my cupboard looks a little like Mother Hubbard's. Bare.

I did have one can of mushroom soup and some breadcrumbs I bought a few weeks ago for another recipe. And I hate to say that I had just put eggs in the Instant Pot to cook when I realized I needed one for the Salisbury steak. So I turned the IP off, took out one egg, and started it again. THAT'S how empty my kitchen is.

For freezing purposes, I might double the gravy part of the recipe another time. This is an old, old recipe that I've made a good many times over the years. But with only two of us here, it now makes more than we can eat. So I packed four "steaks" and saved two out for our dinner tonight.

SALISBURY STEAK

1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup

1-1/2 lb. lean ground beef (I like extra lean) 

1/2 dry bread crumbs

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 egg, slighty beaten

1/3 cup water (for the gravy--not the meat mixture)

Mix thoroughly, 1/4 cup of the soup, ground beef, bread crumbs, onion and egg. (I used my hands to mix it.) Shape firmly into 6 patties. In skillet, brown patties (use a little oil if necessary and pour off excess fat, if there is any.) Blend remaining soup and the water. Pour over patties. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until done, stirring occasionally. 

Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.

I bought new "meal prep" containers at Target this week. To fill up that little side compartment I zapped some mixed vegetables in the microwave for one minute less that the recommended cooking time. We will find out if that works out right with reheating. I truly have no clue. I will let you know how it goes when he heats one up.

I found a YouTube video last night that really go me started thinking about this. A Peek Inside. Her video is very real, and very honest. I did get some ideas. (For a totally opposite way to freezer cook, this video was also fun! She cooks huge meals.) This morning I looked through all my freezer cookbooks and only found one that had any guidance for "TV dinners." Most freezer cooking is for the entree. And I'm good with that. So this is just something new for me to learn.

Busy days ahead. School started for the little girls on August 1. Big Sister moves away to college the next week. Jessica and Todd move into a new home that same day. I foresee a fair amount of time spent down their way until things get settled.

And I also anticipate some more knitting coming up. NEWS FLASH!!! It will be baby knitting. 🥰 Jessica and Todd are expecting a baby girl in January. That will be granddaughter #4!

Slow Cooking, Fast Life

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Here is a favorite slow cooker meal I haven't made it in ages. But on Saturday I had a full day (I took a Christmas card calligraphy class) and knew I didn't want to cook when I came home. Daddy-O was helping cook chicken stew at the fire department all morning. His only request for supper was "not chicken." So beef, it was.

This recipe takes a little more prep than some of the other beef stews I've made—because it calls for coating the beef cubes in flour and browning them before adding to the slow cooker. Not hard, but it takes a few more minutes to prep and you've got one more pan to wash. BUT that step, combined with the herbs and seasonings, creates a delicious, rich gravy.

We ate this "as is." Other times, I have served it over rice. And on Saturday I wished we had a nice crusty bread to go with it. But the stew is full of vegetables, so we called it complete.

It was awfully nice to walk into the house mid-afternoon and be greeted with the aroma of supper cooking. It was a perfect supper for a cold damp evening. Start it at breakfast time, so it's ready for dinner.

SLOW COOKER BEEF STEW

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 to 2 lb. beef stew meat
2 tablespoons cooking oil (or more as needed)
2 medium potatoes, peeled & cut into chunks
2 or 3 carrots, peeled & cut into chunks 
1 onion, peeled & cut into chunks
2 teaspoons instant beef bouillon granules
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram or basil, crushed
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
2-1/2 cups V-8 juice

Place flour in a plastic bag. Add meat cubes and shake until meat is coated with flour. In a Dutch oven brown half of meat in 1 tablespoon of oil, turning to brown on all sides. Brown remaining meat in remaining oil. Drain off any excess oil.

In a 3-1/2 to 4 quart Crockpot, layer potatoes, carrots and onion. Add meat. Add all seasoning. Pour vegetable juice over all.

Cover and cook on LOW for 10-12 hours (or on HIGH for 5-6 hours) until meat and vegetables are tender.  Discard bay leaf.


Because this needs an early start, you need to make sure you have everything ready in the morning. I set out everything I needed the night before. If I were a working mom, I would have even scrubbed the potatoes so they could be cut up quickly. The carrots and onion can be peeled and cut the night before. Just put everything in a freezer ziplock bag. (The heavier freezer bag keeps the onion smell in the bag—and not in your refrigerator.) You can measure out the herbs. And I'm sure if you really need to speed things up, you could skip the flour and brown the meat part. You just will have an "au jus" instead of a thicker gravy.

If you want something simpler, take a look at this recipe for Simple Beef Stew. No browning called for and it's also very good.

The goal at the moment—my goal, at least—is to get from here to January with calm and goodwill intact. To keep at the front of my mind what is important and what can be chunked by the wayside. To remember why we celebrate.

But let's be honest. This is a busy time of year. And it is also the time of year for colds and flu and other bugs that are more prevalent in the winter. When life and the to-do list starts to overwhelm you, have a plan. A minute of focusing on this view from my kitchen door helps me center and find my inner peace. How do you find peace? What do you do to restore calm? What is your "peace plan?" Do you have a 60-second secret? Let's share here and all help each other.

Sloppy. Simple. Supper.

A week with the grandchildren means a week of meals that are kid friendly. Recipes that were once my kitchen staples but recipes that have now dropped way down in my rotation. This sloppy joe recipe made me famous at church for many years. It was my standard for church suppers for youth groups.

Even the kids who didn't like sloppy joes (aka Manwich) LOVED this recipe. That might be because it doesn't taste like Manwich. (Personally, I never thought Manwich was that bad.) The seasonings here are so simple that there is not much to dislike. The overall flavor has a hint of sweetness. Kids like that. I like that.

I made this earlier this week while Mommy had the girls at ballet lessons. I've made this so many times I don't need to look up the recipe. Even all these years later. Just remember, besides the meat, it's a cup of ketchup and one tablespoon of four other things—sweet/sour/savory/tangy. That's easy to remember.

SLOPPY JOES

1-1/2 lbs lean ground beef or turkey (I've made it with a 1 lb pk, too.)
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon yellow mustard

Brown meat and drain. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes. Spoon over toasted hamburger buns.

If I use ground turkey, which comes in one-pound packages,  I will add some chopped onion when I brown the meat to help bulk it up. It also helps flavor the milder turkey.

If you are making this for a crowd, it's easy to increase the proportions. And it freezes well, too, so you might make extra for the freezer for a super quick supper on one of "those" nights.

One friend of Mommy's, who got this recipe from us, told me this was her standard "take supper to the new Mommy" meal. She takes the sloppy joe mix, buns, chips, and maybe slaw or baked beans and a pack of paper plates. Easy for the one taking it to make. Easy for the one receiving supper to get on the table. If there are toddler or preschool siblings in the house, this is a meal they will like.

Honest disclosure here...I have had kids tell me they don't like this, won't eat this, have no intention of trying this. But if I can get them to taste one bite, I've never had one who didn't change their mind. Maybe it's the name they don't like. Call it something else if you wish.

Baby Girl gobbled her supper up the night I made the Sloppy Joes. She polished off the leftovers the next day at lunch. And begged to have it again that night for supper (there wasn't any more left) when we were having cabbage with smoked sausage and tomatoes. I can totally understand that. But to her credit, she did eat the cabbage and the "little porks."

Easy Cheeseburger Pie

Impossible Cheeseburger Pie

I am nearly back to the pre-wedding Mimi. The one with plenty of energy and an endless to do list. But it's taken some extra rest to get there. Trying to save energy last week and eliminate extra trips to the store, I did my grocery shopping when I was on the way home from Little Sister's piano recital. The farm is miles from a grocery store, so stopping at one before I got home made sense. I bought the basics without much of a meal plan.

Here is a recipe I made at the end of last week. When I had cooked the other meats I bought, and I was down to the package of ground beef, I wasn't sure what to make. Spaghetti is easy. Tacos are easy. But we may have overdone those two dishes lately. And then I remembered a recipe we enjoyed years ago. It's so easy. And it's delicious in that comfort food way.

Years and years ago when I was a stay-at-home mom with small children, I joined the Bisquick Club. Yes. There was such a thing. For a tiny fee, I got a monthly newsletter with endless ways to use Bisquick. Remember, this was pre-internet. Pre-Pinetrest. Impossible pies were in many of those newsletters. ("Impossible" because it makes its own crust from a simple batter.) There are so many impossible pies and I've made many of them. But not any of them for a long time.

I checked the pantry and I had an onion and a box of Bisquick. There was milk in the refrigerator, but it had been there since before the wedding. It was questionable. So I opted for a small can of evaporated milk...1/2 cup evaporated milk + 1/2 cup water = 1 cup whole milk. I keep a couple of cans on hand for just such emergencies. And there is always cheese in the refrigerator.

Keep this recipe in mind for a simple supper on a busy day. I think I need to look up all those other "impossible pies" now. I whipped this up in no time. Then it took 25 minutes in the oven. And then while it cooled, I turn the oven temp up a bit and roasted asparagus. 

IMPOSSIBLE CHEESEBURGER PIE

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt (or House Seasoning)
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 or 10-inch pie plate with PAM.

Brown ground beef and onion, breaking up beef as it browns until there is no pink left. Drain. Salt. Spread in pie plate. Sprinkle with cheese.

Put milk, eggs and Bisquick in a blender and blend for several seconds until completely mixed. (If you don't have a blender, put everything in a small bowl and stir briskly with a fork or whisk until well blended.) Pour over ingredients in pie plate.

Bake about 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. (If it's browning too quickly, cover loosely with a sheet of foil.) Let stand for 10-15 minutes after baking for easier cutting.

For our second helping, we put a dollop of mustard and ketchup on the side for dipping. Yum.



Now...I'm working on menus for the holiday weekend. Any suggestions that are easy and make enough to feed 10?

Caring And Cooking

There is someone who could use a meal because of a surgery or illness, or a job loss, or a new baby, or a new house, or....  Good or bad, the reason why doesn't matter. They need a little help in the kitchen. Something home cooked that says "someone cares enough to take time to cook food and bring it to me." 

I like to cook. I decide I'll help out. I start thinking about a menu. This is the part where it's easy to get stuck. I can't think of a menu. I don't have time to make an entire meal. I wonder about what foods they like. Or, don't like. And that's where I sometimes stop. Sometimes it's easier to make excuses than to make spaghetti. I want it to be so perfect that I end up doing nothing. There is a whole lot of "I" in this train of thought and not so much thinking about the one in need.

DO NOT let that happen. What about the "someone cares" part? The caring is as important as the actual food. Take a casserole. Take a salad. Take a dessert. Take hot dogs, for goodness! Sloppy Joes are a good meal if there are kids in the house. Just act on your good intentions. (You realize I'm talking to myself here.)

I just delivered supper to a friend. I called and promised to bring supper before I decided what I would take. Maybe that works best. I think if I'd tried to plan before I called her, I might have never made the call. I made a slow cooker meal that we like and it made plenty for me to divide—supper for them, supper for us. I knew I should have added something green, but I delivered just the beef stew, bread and dessert. And I managed not to apologize for not bringing a green vegetable or a salad. 

These recipes were easy for me. And the slow cooker worked with my schedule this time. But you likely have your own easy recipes. And there are plenty of simple recipes with fewer ingredients here on my blog. It's a good idea to have a couple of meals—or dishes—that are your standard "comfort meals." Your go-to menus. That will make it easier to offer a meal. If you take single dish, you can think of it as a "meal starter." It still shows you care. These meals don't need to be gourmet and are not cooked to impress. It's the caring that counts.

Here is what I took yesterday. Do you have a "go to" comfort meal or dish that you typically take? I'd love to get new ideas. If you look on the recipe index here, you'll see ideas under the MENU heading for Care Package Meals. There are a few ideas there of foods I've taken before. To be honest, I had forgotten about that list. On my own blog. 

Let's make this year a "year of kindness." Goodness knows the world needs it. So you don't cook? There are plenty of ways to show kindness—send a card, write a thank you note, smile at people, run an errand for someone, donate to a food bank. There are so many ways to be kind. Do the one that speaks to you. 

SLOW COOKER BEEF STEW

This time I used 3 lbs of beef and added an extra potato to make a little more stew and cooked it in a 5-qt. slow cooker. You can serve a bowl of this hearty stew or spoon it over rice. It's good both ways.

SLOW COOKER BEEF STEW

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 to 2 lb. beef stew meat
2 tablespoons cooking oil (or more as needed)
2 medium potatoes, peeled & cut into chunks
2 or 3 carrots, peeled & cut into chunks 
1 onion, peeled & cut into chunks
2 teaspoons instant beef bouillon granules
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram or basil, crushed
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
2-1/2 cups V-8 juice

Place flour in a plastic bag. Add meat cubes and shake until meat is coated with flour. In a Dutch oven brown half of meat in 1 tablespoon of oil, turning to brown on all sides. Brown remaining meat in remaining oil. Drain off any excess oil.

In a 3-1/2 to 4 quart Crockpot, layer potatoes, carrots and onion. Add meat. Add all seasoning. Pour vegetable juice over all.

Cover and cook on LOW for 10-12 hours (or on HIGH for 5-6 hours) until meat and vegetables are tender.  Discard bay leaf.

SOURDOUGH BREAD

I was baking bread anyway and it was nice to share it. This is easy for me because I've made a zillion loaves of this bread and don't need to look at the recipe anymore. But a pan of Sister Shubert rolls from the grocery store freezer would have been just as good. The Parker House Style is our favorite. 

If you'd like to try this sourdough bread, you'll find the recipe HERE.

CARAMEL CAKE

This is the easiest cake I know of. (Both recipes say "quick." They really are.) Use your favorite frosting, or top it with fresh fruit. This time I couldn't resist caramel. I used the pans I had here...one round for us, and one oblong with a lid that was easy to transport. I do my best to only use dishes and pans that don't need to be returned.

QUICK & EASY CAKE

2 cups self-rising flour 

1-1/2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

1 cup milk

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Beat until well mixed.  This can be baked in layers or 13x9x2 pan. (Greased and floured, of course; or use baking spray.) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown and top springs back when lightly touched. 

QUICK CARAMEL FROSTING

2/3 cup butter

1 cup dark brown sugar (packed)

1/3 cup milk

3 cups powdered sugar (sifted)

In a saucepan over low heat add butter--melt. Add brown sugar--stir and cook for 2 minutes. Add milk--stir and cook while you bring it to a boil. Once boiling, remove from heat and let it cool for 10 minutes. Slowly add powdered sugar while stirring--keep stirring until thick enough to use as frosting.

(I used a wire whisk to add in the powdered sugar until it got thick and then I switched to a heavy spoon.  This frosting hardens, so ice your cake quickly.)

Let's Call It Irish Stew

My mother called her beef stew "Irish stew." It was a big pot of stew beef cooked with potatoes, carrots and onions. If you google Irish stew, you'll find a multitude of recipes, some with lamb, some with mutton, US versions with beef, some with carrots and some without, and on and on and on. I'm not sure what makes a stew an authentic Irish stew. And Google didn't tell me for sure. I only know that's what my mother called hers when we were growing up.

This was in the day before slow cookers, so hers simmered a long time on the stove top, long enough for the beef to be tender. She would sometimes make it for us on St. Patrick's Day so that we would have an "Irish" meal. I like to use the slow cooker so that I can put it together in the morning and forget about it until dinner.

Here is a new-to-me recipe for slow cooker beef stew that I made last week. And since tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, we'll call this one "Irish stew," at least for a day. 

I have made so many versions of beef stew over the years. And I don't remember any of them as a bad recipe. But I will admit that I had my doubts about this one because there are virtually no seasonings added to this. No Worcestershire sauce. No herbs. Just salt and pepper and sugar. (Sugar? Where did that come from?) But it was nearly perfect. Daddy-O said, "Sometimes simple is best."

So why did I make it when I wasn't sure about it? Well, I had nearly a whole bottle of tomato juice left from the cabbage casserole I had made the week before. This was a good way to use it up. And I needed a slow cooker meal on a day when my afternoon calendar was full.

Tapioca was also a questionable ingredient as far as I was concerned. It is not a staple ingredient in my pantry. I walked the entire a grocery store a couple of times looking for it. I looked with the baking ingredients. I looked with cereals. (I obviously don't know much about tapioca.) But when I ran into a friend I had not seen in ages, we chatted a minute then she said, "I need to let you go." And I replied, "Yes, I'm on a search for tapioca", a store manager, who was crouched near us adding prices to a new display, piped up, "Aisle 7. Near the Jello."

And I still had trouble seeing it. Top shelf. Single row of red boxes. And it turned out to be the perfect way to thicken the stew. Thick enough, but not too thick. (Later, at my closer-to-home Bilo store, I spied it down on the bottom shelf.)

This very simple stew was as good as any recipe that I've ever used. It makes a huge amount, especially when there are only two of us here. So I put some of the stew—minus the potatoes—into the freezer. I have not had much luck freezing cooked potatoes. They get a mealy texture. So I fish those out of the part that goes into the freezer. Since the potatoes are in large chunks, that's not hard to do.

I used red potatoes, well scrubbed, and left the skins on. And we served this over brown rice. Comfort food to the max.

SIMPLE BEEF STEW

2 lbs stew beef (I used about 2-1/2 lbs)
3 cups cut up potatoes (large chunks)
2-3 large carrots, sliced thick
2 medium onions, cut into wedges
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup instant tapioca (also called Minute tapioca)
3-4 cups tomato juice

Put stew beef, potatoes, carrots and onions into a 6-quart slow cooker and. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, sugar and tapioca and mix. Pour juice over all. Cook on LOW for about 9 hours. (To help the carrots cook more evenly, I cut the fat part thinner and the tapered end into longer sections.)


Add a salad to your dinner and maybe some fruit for dessert and you'll have a meal that's good and good for you.

Don't Want To Cook? Me, Either

Cabbage Casserole

While I was recuperating a couple of weeks ago, I watched "Austin Powers" for the umpteenth time. (Don't judge. I was sick.) There's a whole lot of "lost my mojo" stuff that goes on in that silly movie. And this week, while I am better, I still feel like I've lost my mojo—my kitchen mojo that is. I simply cannot think of anything to cook. If we had plenty of restaurant options nearby, I might give myself a cooking vacation and eat out or order lots of take-out. You know that's just not an option when you live in a rural area like we do. But we still need dinner.

So today I looked back at my own recipe index. You can find that tab right above the blog post. And Cabbage Casserole caught my eye. I have not made it in two years. It's a one dish meal. Check off "easy." ✓ It's one I know we like. Check off "tasty." ✓ It has cabbage, onion and tomato juice in it. Check off "vegetables." ✓  We needed vegetables.

Ready for the oven

It took me not much more than 15 minutes to have it ready for the oven. If you are "knife challenged" (I'm looking at you, daughters!) I had the thought that you might could use a large bag of slaw mix and skip the cabbage chopping part. What do you think?

We will have enough for supper tomorrow night. Since I have handbell practice at 6:00 pm, that means we can eat as soon as I get home. This recipe tastes much like stuffed cabbage but it is WAY easier to make. I'll be honest. The name is about as un-glamorous as it gets. If the word "casserole" is a turn off, call it something else. But sometimes all we ask for is a good supper. This fills the bill.

CABBAGE CASSEROLE

1/2 head of cabbage (medium-size), finely chopped

salt

1/2 cup uncooked rice

1/2 cup diced onion

1 lb. lean ground beef, browned

salt & pepper

1-1/2 cups tomato juice

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread half of cabbage in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with salt. (Don't be too skimpy.) Add rice, onion and ground beef in layers over cabbage. Spread remaining cabbage over top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour tomato juice over all. 

Cover dish with foil. Bake for 1-1/2 hours, or until done. Let stand, covered, a few minutes after you remove it from the oven. 

So, we've eaten dinner now. Would I serve this to company? Maybe not. It might depend on who the company was. Will I make it again? For sure. It's just a good weeknight meal. And on a dreary Tuesday night, that's all we ask for.

Swiss-Style Brisket with Champagne Cheddar Grits

Swiss-Style Brisket with Champagne Cheddar Grits

I happened to see this recipe on Facebook a couple of weeks ago. A high school friend of mine and her sister both have quite a reputation as excellent cooks. The sister posted this one when she made it. She said she just makes up recipes as she goes. She told me her husband says they never eat the same dish twice! If you are not as creative in the kitchen as she is, here is one of her latest creations, shared with her permission.

Months ago, my crockpot had an accident (actually, it was Daddy-O who had the accident) and I meant to replace it but I hadn't slowed down to buy a new one until I saw this recipe. Yes. This recipe pushed me to order a new one right then! I made this brisket for supper last week when it was cold. (This weekend we are wearing flipflops.)

It's a recipe in the "good and easy" category. The only real prep was slicing the onion. I did that ahead and put it in a freezer ziploc bag so that Daddy-O could put everything in the crockpot while I was away. Use freezer bags for storing cut onion in the refrigerator. The freezer bags are vapor-proof and should keep your refrigerator from smelling like onions.

SWISS-STYLE BRISKET with CHAMPAGNE CHEDDAR GRITS

1 beef brisket (or any other roast--chuck works great)
salt, pepper, & garlic powder
1 jar Classico spaghetti sauce with Cabernet or portabella mushrooms
1 onion, sliced thin

Place beef, rubbed with salt, pepper and garlic powder, into crockpot. Cover with sliced onion. Pour spaghetti sauce over. Cook on HIGH for 6-8 hours. When fork tender, slice meat and place back into sauce while preparing grits.

Cheese Grits:
quick-cooking grits (the 5-minute kind—not instant)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup shredded Champagne Cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice)

Cook grits for 4 servings, according to package. Stir in garlic powder and shredded cheese. Stir until cheese melts. You can adjust the garlic powder and cheese amount to suit you.


I was not familiar with Champagne Cheddar cheese, but I happened to see it at Fresh Market the day before I planned to make this and decided to try it. If you don't have it, your regular cheddar will work just fine. But doesn't the recipe with "Champagne Cheddar grits" sound special?

If you live in a place where grits are a "foreign food," this would be delicious over mashed potatoes. If you like grits, but have never made them, let me give you a couple of tips. When you stir the grits into the boiling water, keep stirring as you pour the grits into the water. Don't dump them all in at once. That helps avoid lumps. I also like to cook them a little longer than the package states. I like mine thick. When I have time, I will turn the heat off, cover the pot and let them stand a couple of minutes before serving. If they get too thick, stir in a little warm water.

Thanks, Reida, for giving us a good busy-day supper idea.