Crock Pot Beef Stew!

I'm back. Sorry for the small delay between posts. Life happened! This week the weather has made a turn (for the better, if you ask me) towards cool & crisp! I love the crispness of the morning air as we wait for the bus and I have my coffee; the crispness on the football field at night...also, I unfortunately love the "comfort" foods of Fall! This week I reached out for some beef stew. I could mix everything in the crockpot, turn it on low and walk away! Gotta love that!

Crock Pot Beef Stew
2 lbs. beef cubes
3 Large Baking Potatoes, cubed
1 Bag Small Baby Carrots
Peas or Green Beans
1 Can Beef Broth
1 Can French Onion Soup
DIRECTIONS: Place beef, potatoes and carrots into the crock pot. Pour soup over them. Add 1/2 to 1 can of water. Place lid on crock pot, turn on low and walk away for 6-8 hours. After cooking time, I flipped crock to high and added peas (probably about 1/2 bag). Also, I mixed 1 Cup beef broth with 4 heaping tablespoons of corn starch. I then whisked that into the beef stew mix. Stirring until thickened. Serve these a variety of ways. I made egg noodles and a green salad. You could serve it over rice or with cornbread...the list is endless.

After dinner I treated myself to this little treat!

I found the mix at Stauffers but they also have it at Darrenkamps. Just mix with hot water and enjoy!! I love fall!

Happy Eating!

Applesauce Day!

4 Bushels of Apples, 1 Victorio Strainer, Sugar, Cinnamon, Containers and 2 Gals = Approx. 56 Qts. of applesauce!

Quarter apples (no need to peel or core the apples) and place in a large stockpot with just enough water to cover the bottom:

Cook apples until soft and squishy! Dump into funnel of the strainer and crank....sauce comes down the slide! Add sugar and cinnamon to your taste and place in containers.

Allow to cool before putting on lids and placing in freezer!

Enjoy Applesauce all winter long!

HAPPY EATING!

Antipasto Kabob Appetizers!

I am sorry for the pause in posting recently! I feel like I have had "cookers block" recently! I so enjoy the Fall and all things that go with fall ~ but have found that life has been busy and there hasn't been a lot of time for cooking and creativity!!

I made these little appetizers when were together with our Adelman, Miller and Frederick friends the other week! They were pretty tasty (the appetizers, not the friends....).

Antipasto Kabob Appetizers
1 Can Black Olives (I used medium sized)
1 Jar Green Olives
Cherry Tomatoes
1/2 lb. Cooked Salami, sliced (from the deli counter)
1/2 lb. Pepperoni
Fresh mini Mozzarella Balls
1 pkg. frozen tortellini, cooked according to pkg. directions
1 C. Zesty, Free Italian dressing
DIRECTIONS: Cook tortellini accordin to package directions and rinse under cool water. Place cooked tortellini in a large ziploc bag and pour dressing over. Seal bag and marinate 4-6 hours or overnight. Slice salami into quarters. Thread ingredients onto 3" wooden skewers, starting and ending with an olive. Enjoy!

HAPPY EATING!

Costumes!

It's that time of year to start thinking of costumes to wear on trick-or-treat night. Last year we were Frankenstein and Pippi Longstocking.....wonder what we will do this year?

Oh that wig.....for someone who does not sew, it was a tad bit of work....

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles!

1 C. Butter
1 1/2 C. Sugar
1 C. Pumpkin (canned is fine)
1 Large Egg
2 tsp. vanilla
3 14 C. Flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
Rolling Sugar: 1/2 C. Sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. each ginger and allspice
DIRECTIONS: In large bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and pumpkin; mix well. Add egg, vanilla. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Beat into wet mixture a small amount at a time. Cover and chill dough for atleast 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350. Spray cookie sheets with non stick spray. Roll dough into little balls; roll balls into sugar mix. Place 2" apart on cookie sheet and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass. Bake 10-14 minutes.

Happy Eating!

Peanut Butter Swirled Brownies!

Just us girls tonight! The boys went to football and since tonight was the one "free" evening, Riley wanted to stay home! So we finished homework, baked and found a REALLY fun new blog....One Charming Party! Oh, we oooohhhhed and aaaahhhed the night away. Also, some of the blogs I follow have been talking about this "pinterest"....I, being the nosy one that I am, googled it and well, I think I am addicted. I didn't join the site, but really, I could spend hours (oh, wait...I did spend hours) just looking at everyone's ideas and creativity!

On to more important things like brownies! Here is what you need for the brownies:

My helper...

Mixing the brownies~

Top brownies with Peanut butter filling~

Swirl with a knife~

Enjoy with milk!

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

1 pkg Brownie Mix (my mix made an 11x7 rectangle pan - a 9x13 mix would be fine also)

Ingredients to make brownies

3/4 C. Sugar

1/4 C. Flour

2 Eggs

1/2 C. Peanut Butter

DIRECTIONS: For Peanut Butter filling - Combine sugar, flour, eggs and peanut butter. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. For Brownies-follow package directions and spread brownies into greased pan. Drop PB filling over the top and swirl with a knife. Bake according to package directions.

HAPPY EATING!

Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole!

I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical when it came time to make this recipe. Typically my experience with french toast casseroles has been "bleck". They usually turn out soggy in the middle, which makes me tend to overcook the casserole trying to get the middle cooked. Well, let me tell you that my friend Paula Deen knows how to make a casserole! (and I only wish she were my friend~I could just imagine her and I having coffee and swapping recipes......what fun we would have!).

I made this casserole for a work party we were having and the results were great! It was such a nice dish because you prepare it the night before and then bake it the next day.
Here it is.....
Cube up your bread and layer in a well greased (I used butter to grease the pan) 9x13~

Whisk eggs, milk, half & half, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla~

Pour egg mix over the bread crubes and cover tightly with aluminum foil and place in fridge until next morning! (Sorry no photo).
Pull your casserole out of the fridge and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Mix up praline topping and spread over casserole.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. You can see I added blueberries to 1/2 the dish. I placed frozen berries on bread cubes before putting praline topping on.

Yummy, yummy, yummy! Paula recommends serving this with syrup. I thought it was plenty sweet without the extra syrup, but if your preference is extra sweet~serve yours with syrup.

Baked French Toast Casserole (adapted from Paula Deen)

1 and 1/2 loaves Pepperidge Farm Brown Sugar Cinnamon Swirl Bread (the thicker cut package), cubed.

2 C. Half and Half

1 C. Milk

2 Tbsp. Sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Praline Topping

1 C. Butter (2 sticks, softened)

1 C. Brown Sugar

1 C. Chopped Pecans

2 Tbsp. Light Corn Syrup

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and blend well.

DIRECTIONS: Cube bread and place in a well greased 9x13. In large bowl combine eggs, half and half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and beat with a whisk until blended. Pour mix over the bread cubes. Cover with foil and refrig. overnight. The next day, preheat oven to 350. Spread praline topping evenly over the bread adn bake for 40 minutes until puffed and lightly browned. Serve with syrup.

HAPPY EATING!