Beef Stew

Perhaps where you are it's getting a bit colder. Well, not where I am. In truth, the weather here is usually high 70s in the day and mid 50s in the evening. But I'm feeling very autumnal and heading up to Chicago next week for work, so I'm trying to get in the cold(er) weather mindset. Pair that with a tight budget due to some upcoming home renovations and I thought this week would be a good week to make something in the crock pot that would feed me for several days. So, I thought my mom's beef stew would be a good recipe to tackle and share with you all!

You will need:

• 1 1/2 to 2 lbs of stew beef (it's usually labeled as such in the butcher section of your grocery store)
• 1 medium sized sweet onion
• 1 package of whole mushrooms
• 1 medium bag of baby carrots or 2 full sized carrots
• 2-3 medium red potatoes
  
• 1 packet of beef stew seasoning (I use McCormick brand)
• Flour
• Vegetable oil
  

1. Coat the stew beef in flour


2. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet and brown stew beef on the outside (it will cook the rest of the way through in the crock pot, so just brown them)


3. Quarter the mushrooms, slice the onion and chop the potatoes into small cubes



4. Place everything in the crock pot - don't forget the carrots and the beef! (you'll note I use a crock pot liner - this will make your clean up so much easier!)


5. Dump in the packet of beef stew seasoning


6. Pour in water until the vegetables and beef are covered


7. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8 hours.

I'm a big fan of my crock pot because when it's done it switches to the Warm setting so nothing gets overcooked but it's still warm when I wake up or get home from work or whenever. This makes a ton of stew! I like it with some type of bread and I will eat it for days. It's also really good over rice and freezes nicely if you get tired of eating it but want to save it for later. I was eating it for lunch today and Bowie stole my bread >:[ Jerk. Like I said, he gets a bite of just about everything. Bon appetit!

Pumpkin Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

I recently had a craving for pumpkin bread and set out to buy a can of pumpkin to make it with. I went to the Publix up the street and THEY. DIDN'T. HAVE. ANY. I asked the clerk and she said they might've had some in the organic section and if not, it was pretty seasonal and VERY limited in stock. What? How do people make pumpkin pies and muffins and breads and cupcakes and other treats if it's not Thanksgiving through Christmas? Unheard of.

Well, I went up the road to Harris Teeter and found a healthy supply of canned pumpkin. So, like a crazy person, I bought a butt load of canned pumpkin. I'm down to my last can, but not before I made pumpkin bread a few times and pumpkin cupcakes. Behold, the recipe.

You will need:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter or margarine
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 can of pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.

3. In a large bowl, whisk butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar.


4. Mix in each egg individually.


5. Slowly add dry ingredients while mixing until smooth.

6. Add in the canned pumpkin and mix completely.


This is where things got tricky for me. Remember how I mentioned in my first post that I'm somewhat of a reckless cook? I'll launch into a cooking or baking endeavor without double checking to make sure I have everything I need. Well, you guessed it. I didn't have everything I needed. I didn't have cupcake liners! BONK.

Well, I soldiered on without them. But not before giving the cupcake pan a generous spray of Pam. If you don't have Pam, you can always grease it with butter or crisco. After they baked, they popped right out. Carrying on....

7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes.


While they baked, my dog Bowie and I cuddled on the couch and watched television. He always gets a taste of something I make. Unless it involves chocolate or grapes. True story: he once ate an entire bag of chocolate covered raisins. Talk about the two most TOXIC foods for a dog. That was not a good day.



Once your cupcakes have finished baking and cooled, you can start on the cream cheese frosting.

You will need:

- 8 oz. cream cheese
- 1/2 cup of butter or margarine
- 3 cups of powdered sugar*
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract

*Honestly, this is to taste. If you think you might want it a little more cream-cheesy than sweet, cut back on the powdered sugar. If you want it sweeter, you can always add more powdered sugar as you mix.

1. Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy
2. Slowly mix in powdered sugar and vanilla while mixing.

Why the emphasis on slowly, T? This is why kids:


You'll get all impatient and you'll get powdered sugar EVERYWHERE. Mainly on your counter and yourself.

Not slow enough, idiot.

That's better.

Once your cupcakes have COOLED ENTIRELY you may ice them. If you get impatient and sleepy like me, you may choose not to wait and then you risk the chance that your cupcakes will fall apart in your hands as you attempt to slather the thick, delicious icing on them.

You know, since I didn't have cupcake liners I was super temped to ice the sides like they were tiny cakes. But I didn't. I also didn't have anything else to decorate them with so they would've looked like the most boring tiny cakes ever. Regardless, they were delicious! Enjoy!

Chicken Artichoke Pizza

I made this last weekend and it was SO good I had to make it again. Plus I had all of the ingredients for it. I want to go ahead and put a disclaimer out there that I don't come up with these recipes or specifications in my head. I usually look up 3 or 4 recipes for what I think I want to do, and maybe make some changes along the way. I never know how it's going to turn out - and I promise, if it turns out not so good, I'll still post it. I also want to stress that I DO NOT make a lot of things from scratch (in this instance, pizza dough). I would like to, but I don't have enough patience, time, and expertise for such things. I want this blog to be about relatively quick, yummy things people can make without having to do it all. So, on to the recipe:

You will need:
- Whole Foods frozen whole wheat pizza dough
- Basil pesto
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Shredded fontina cheese (this can be tough to find - a lot of grocery stores have an Italian blend of shredded cheese and that works just fine)
- 1 can artichoke hearts
- 1 to 2 chicken breasts
- 1 jar of roasted red peppers

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees
2. Prepare the pizza dough and shape it onto your pan or pizza stone (I defrost it in the microwave - you can leave the frozen pizza dough sitting out for about 5 hours - or you might be snazzy and make your own, or buy it fresh from a local pizzeria)
3. Brush the pizza dough lightly with olive oil and bake it on the bottom rack for about 5 minutes

i maybe like a little olive oil.

4. While the pizza dough bakes, cut the chicken breast(s) into small cubes, quarter the artichoke hearts and cut the roasted red peppers into strips
5. In a sauce pan, simmer the juice from the artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers and a small amount of butter until it begins to boil
6. Cook the chicken and artichoke hearts in the sauce pan for about 4-5 minutes
7. Remove the pizza dough from the oven
8. Top the pizza dough with basil pesto sauce

i also maybe like a little pesto.

9. Sprinkle cheese(s) on top
10. Strain the juice from the chicken, artichokes and roasted red peppers and top the pizza with everything

i like the colors! feel free to add other roasted peppers to add flavor and color.

11. Bake in the oven at 425 degrees for an additional 10-20 minutes. I usually wait until the cheese is browning on the edges

patience is a virtue that i do not have.

FINALLY. jeez.

It's easy, quick, and delicious. I usually pair it with a pinot grigio and TRUST me when I say the whole wheat crust is so much better than white bread crust. Enjoy!

If you are what you eat in my case I'd be sweet

Well hello, lovely blogging world. I don't know what is motivating me to do this. I think it's just my desire to share. You see, I'm a 24 year old young professional so I work 8+ hours a day. What's difficult for me is to make time for myself. I wanted to leave work at work and be able to come home and channel my energy into something that was for me. Well, what does everyone need to do when they get home in the evening? Eat! And it's easy to go out to a restaurant or pick up something quick on the way home, but you could spend over $100 a week doing that if you aren't careful.

So, I've always fancied myself a pretty awful cook. I've been known to ruin a batch of boxed brownies... and over/under cook microwave meals... and launch into a baking ordeal without double-checking to see if I had all the ingredients only to find out that I don't. But, I'm trying to do better. And if I make a mistake somewhere along the way, well I'll certainly document it so that anyone out there reading this doesn't make the same mistake.

Lately I've had strong urges to bake or cook something and I usually end up sharing it with my roommate or taking it in the office so I don't feel bad about eating an entire batch of cupcakes. I've been getting really nice compliments on my whatever it is that I made, so I'm excited and I wanted to share it all with the Internet.

Trust me when I say that I will not be posting here everyday. I travel sometimes for work, so I obviously won't be cooking then and sometimes I'm just so beat that a bowl of Raisin Bran and an apple ends up being my dinner. But when I do cook, I'll document it via poorly lit iPhone photos and my ever-so-eloquent written word.

Mangi!

p.s. I'm not Italian; I'm actually half-Cuban, but "mangi" seemed so much better than "coma."


[Jason Mraz] Too Much Food