Crock Pot Beef Stew (151 of 150)

Photo from Life in
the Loft House

Beef stew is not a hard thing to make for me. I use my Grandma Spaid's recipe. Simple, old fashioned and delicious. 

Every now and then a stew recipe is randomly selected. The photo on the recipe page is what caught my eye for this one for some reason. I didn't actually read the full recipe until I was doing my grocery shopping for the week. And even then, I didn't really think about this recipe. 

This morning as I was putting it together it dawned on me that I have never, EVER , used Cream of Celery soup in anything, let alone in a stew. 

I added a couple of tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce because it just wasn't savory enough for my taste. I also added a tablespoon of tomato paste. The ketchup is weird and sweet so I needed more tomato taste it felt like. 

Overall, this was a good stew. It was hearty, filling and good enough. I won't make it again, but not because it was a bad recipe, but because I'll just use my Grandma's recipe. 

Crock Pot Beef Stew

Recipe from Life in the Loft House

Serves 8

• 2 packages (1 ounce, each) dry onion soup mix
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 pounds lean beef stew meat cut up into bite size pieces
• 5 medium potatoes peeled and diced
• 2 to 3 c baby carrots
• 1 small yellow onion chopped
• 2 cans (10 ounces, each) cream of celery soup
• 1 c ketchup *(you can substitute tomato sauce if you don't like ketchup)

In a large plastic bag, combine the dry onion soup mix and paprika. Add in meat and shake the bag to coat meat with the seasonings. (You may have to do that step in two batches, for all the meat to fit) Once meat is coated, spread out evenly into a greased 7 quart crock pot.

Top meat evenly with diced potatoes, carrots and onion.

Mix the cream of celery soup and ketchup in a small bowl. Pour mixture over the meat and vegetables.

Cover crock pot with lid. Cook on low heat for 8 hours or until meat is cooked through and vegetables are tender. Stir to combine everything then serve.

Hobo Stew (Mulligan Stew) (150 of 150)

That's it! I did it! I met my goal of 150 new recipes this year. I suspect I'll get to about 165 by end of the
year. 

This was delicious. I always love a nice, hearty stew/soup when it's cold out. And since I'll be eating left over turkey it was nice to have some leftovers other than turkey. 

This soup/stew can be made with most everything you probably have in your pantry, which makes it budget friendly and can feed a crowd. 

Two things I didn't do. I didn't add the potato. I've decided that I'm not a fan of potatoes in soup. They get too mushy. And you might also notice I didn't add peas. No thank you! I cut up extra celery and carrots though. 

Hobo Stew (Mulligan Stew)

Recipe from Butter Your Biscuits

Serves 6

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 c celery, chopped about 3 stalks
• 2 c carrots, diced about 3 medium carrots
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 T all-purpose flour
• 2 c low sodium beef broth
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 2 15-ounce cans tomato soup
• 1 14.5 can diced tomatoes do not drain
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp hot sauce
• 1 tsp cajun seasoning
• 2-3 c Russet potatoes
• 2 c frozen corn
• 1 1/2 c frozen peas
• 2 c green beans fresh or frozen
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Heat a large Dutch oven or pot on medium-high heat and add the ground beef cook for 4-5 minutes just until starting to brown.

Add in the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic, and cook another 4-5 minutes.

Sprinkle in the flour stir and cook for about 30 seconds

Pour in the beef broth, bouillon cubes, tomato soup, diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and cajun seasoning and mix until combined.

Add in the potatoes, corn, peas and green beans cover and let simmer over medium low heat for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

Add the salt and pepper or more to taste.

Beef Tips (149 of 150)

This is recipe 149 of 150. I'll hit my goal on Sunday with whatever new recipe I make. You'd think I'd try to make the final recipe something special, but I don't. 

This recipe was good. Simple and requires only a little planning to start it within 2 hours of when you want to eat. 

I highly recommend not to season this one until the end. The packet of onion soup mix has  a ton of salt. This turned out pretty salty for me. Of course I cut the recipe in half and used a full packet of soup mix, so there's that. 

Beef Tips

Recipe from Spaceships and Laser Beams

Serves 6

• 3 T olive oil divided
• 2 lb cubed chuck meat or stew meat
• 1 medium white onion diced
• 3 c beef broth low sodium
• 1 envelope dry onion soup mix 55g
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 T cornstarch
• 1/3 c water
• 1/2 T parsley freshly chopped

Repeat the steps by adding in the second tablespoon of olive oil and the other half of the beef cubes. Again, once cooked place these cooked cubes in a separate bowl with the rest of the cooked meat.

Add the third tablespoon of olive oil into the same pot then add in onions and cook until tender, about 2-3 minutes.

Add the beef cubes back in plus beef broth, onion soup mix, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir to mix. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 ½ hours.

Remove bay leaf.

Mix cornstarch and water in a separate small bowl until cornstarch has melted.

Pour the cornstarch mixture into the beef mixture and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes.

Sprinkle with parsley before serving.

Serve hot.

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1 bay leaf

2 T cornstarch

1/3 c water

1/2 T parsley freshly chopped

Filipino Chicken Adobo (148 of 150)

The blog I found this recipe on said it's from America's Test Kitchen. I find it hard to believe to be honest. This recipe wasn't great. Every recipe I've made from ATK has been super delicious. 

I've had a lot of Chicken Adobo in my life and none of them were like this. I wasn't a fan of this recipe. It was way too vinegar-y and really lacked flavor on the whole. 

Filipino Chicken Adobo 

Recipe from Splendid Table

Serves 4

• 8 (5- to 7-ounce) bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed
• 1/3 c soy sauce
• 1 (13 1/2-ounce) can coconut milk
• 3/4 c cider vinegar
• 8 garlic cloves, peeled
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 tsp pepper
• 1 scallion, sliced thin

1. Toss chicken with soy sauce in large bowl. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.

2. Remove chicken from soy sauce, allowing excess to drip back into bowl. Transfer chicken, skin side down, to 12-inch nonstick skillet; set aside soy sauce.

3. Place skillet over medium-high heat and cook until chicken skin is browned, 7 to 10 minutes. While chicken is browning, whisk coconut milk, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, and pepper into soy sauce.

4. Transfer chicken to plate and discard fat in skillet. Return chicken to skillet skin side down, add coconut milk mixture, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Flip chicken skin side up and continue to cook, uncovered, until chicken registers 175 degrees, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter and tent loosely with aluminum foil.

5. Remove bay leaves and skim any fat off surface of sauce. Return skillet to medium-high heat and cook until sauce is thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour sauce over chicken, sprinkle with scallion, and serve.

One Pot Chicken Stew (147 of 150)

I have never made a chicken stew. I looked through all my past recipes and none of them are of a chicken stew. I've made chicken pot pie, and chicken pot pie soup but not a stew. This recipe is basically chicken pot pie, just not in a pie crust. 

This is a one pot meal which makes it easy for clean up. It's hearty and has plenty of flavor. Even though, I neglected to add the thyme, sage and rosemary. I'm not a fan of those herbs so I left them out. 

I also, accidentally, left the potato out. Didn't miss it, to be honest. 

One Pot Chicken Stew

Recipe from Butter Your Biscuit

Serves 6

• 2 T olive oil
• 8 chicken thighs cut into bite size pieces
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 c onion, diced
• 1 c carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 c all purpose flour
• 4 c low sodium chicken stock
• 1 1/2 c Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 c green beans
• 1 c frozen corn
• 1 c frozen peas
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh sage, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1/2 c heavy cream

Heat a Dutch oven or large pot on medium-high heat add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the diced chicken, salt and pepper and brown. Its okay if its not cooked all the way through then remove to a plate.

Add in another tablespoon of olive oil and add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic cook for about 3 minutes just to soften. Sprinkle in the all purpose flour and stir, cook for another minute.

Pour in the chicken stock and potatoes, cover, and bring to a simmer, cook for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add in green beans, corn, peas, herbs, and chicken. Stir, cover and bring back to a simmer.

Remove the lid and stir in the heavy cream add more salt and pepper to taste and serve!

Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup (146 of 150)

Normally tomato soup is my sick food. I'm not sick - just so I'm clear. This recipe filtered through my random selection this week. It's fall so soups are perfect. 

I didn't make the croutons in the recipe. I had a grilled cheese  made with "fancy" bread - meaning not bread in a loaf. I mean grilled cheese and tomato soup are two peas in a pod. 

This was a solid recipe. I had it in the slow cooker for 4 hours. I added a bit more water after about 3 hours because I like my soups a little more soupy. 

One thing to note, when adding the cream, I like to temper it. Meaning put the cream in a measuring cup then ladle in some soup to warm up the cream before adding to the soup. I find when adding cold cream to a tomato based sauce I sometimes get curdling. I did not this time. 

If you don't have an immersion blender, like me, try putting it in a blender. Be careful though because hot liquids tend to splash out at times. 

Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup

Recipe from Damn Delicious

Serves 8

• 2 28-ounce cans whole peeled plum tomatoes with basil
• 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 ½ cvegetable broth
• 3 cloves  garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 T tomato paste
• 1 ½ tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp freshly ground pepper
• ⅓ c heavy cream
• ⅓ c chopped fresh basil leaves

FOR THE PARMESAN CHEDDAR CROUTONS:

• 4 c 1-inch French bread cubes
• 1 c shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
• ¼ c freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.

To make the parmesan cheddar croutons, spread bread cubes in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet; sprinkle with cheeses. Place into oven and bake until crisp and golden, about 10-12 minutes, stirring halfway; set aside and let cool.

Place tomatoes into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in tomato sauce, vegetable broth, garlic, onion, bell pepper, tomato paste, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper until well combined. Crush the tomatoes into chunks using the back of a spoon.

Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.

Puree with an immersion blender until desired consistency is reached. Stir in heavy cream and basil; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve immediately with parmesan cheddar croutons.

German Pork Cutlets (145 of 150)

Photo from Spicy 
Southern Kitchen

Last night was a German themed Sunday dinner. I couldn't find German sausage which was what I wanted to make. Instead I found this recipe and I gotta say I'm glad for it. 

This recipe was amazing. It's definitely in the top 5 for this year. What I think really made this was the sherry. That added such a nice flavor to it. 

The pork tenderloin I got was split in two - no idea why. So these ended up like medallions instead of larger cutlets. This turned out much better I think. 

German Pork Cutlets

Recipe from Spicy Southern Kitchen

Serves 4

• 1 (1 1/2 pound) pork tenderloin
• salt and pepper
• 2-3 T vegetable oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 c dry sherry
• 1/2  c beef broth
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• 1/2 c diced ham
• fresh dill for garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 250 degrees and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Slice tenderloin into 12 pieces. Place pieces a few at a time between 2 layers of plastic wrap. Pound with a meat mallet or a heavy rolling pin until flattened to 1/4-inch.

Season pork with salt and pepper.

Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into a large skillet. Heat over medium-high heat.

Cook pork cutlets in 2 batches, cooking for about 2 minutes per side. Add an extra tablespoon of oil for the second batch if needed.

Place pork on prepared baking sheet and place in oven to keep warm.

Add onion and mushrooms to pan and cook until onion is soft and mushrooms are browned, about 5 minutes.

Pour sherry into pan and scrape the browned bits off the bottom. Simmer until nearly all the liquid has evaporated.

Add beef broth and heavy cream and cooked until reduced by 1/2.

Add ham and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, ladle sauce over pork cutlets and garnish with dill.

Chicken Stroganoff (144 of 150)

Beef stroganoff is one of my favorite comfort foods. I've had this recipe in my library for a long time. I'm glad I finally made it though. 

This was a good recipe. It's easy and delicious. My two favorite things. I served it over rice cuz that's how I roll. 

Chicken Stroganoff

Recipe from Cooking Light

Serves 4

• 2 T olive oil, divided
• 1 pound chicken breast tenders, cut into 1-in. pieces
• 1 tsp kosher salt, divided
• 3/4 tsp black pepper, divided
• 2 1/2 c unsalted chicken stock, divided
• 1 T all-purpose flour
• 1 (8-oz.) pkg. cremini mushrooms
• 1 T minced garlic
• 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 c dry white wine
• 6 ounces uncooked wide egg noodles
• 1/2 c light sour cream
• 1 T chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes or until done, turning once. Remove from pan.

Combine 1 tablespoon stock and flour in a small bowl. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan over medium-high. Add mushrooms; cook 8 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme; cook 1 minute. 

Add wine; cook 2 minutes or until reduced by half, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in remaining 2 cups and 7 tablespoons stock; bring to a simmer. 

Add noodles; cook, uncovered, 8 minutes or until done. Stir in flour mixture; cook 1 minute. 

Remove pan from heat; stir in chicken, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and sour cream. Sprinkle with parsley.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (143 of 150)

Janet gave me some bananas that were on the verge of turning. I knew I wanted to make banana bread
of some sort. So I decided this was the recipe.

It's a weird recipe because there's no butter in it. They taste fine, but they aren't as rich as banana bread usually is. 

I won't make this again, but it'll keep my banana bread craving down for a bit. I should also mention, I made muffin tops instead of all muffins. They're the best part of the muffin anyhow. 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Recipe from Recipe Girl

Makes 12

• 3 medium very-ripe bananas
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 c nonfat milk
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 T mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat regular-sized muffin tin with cooking spray (or line with papers).

In a large bowl, mash bananas with fork. Whisk in egg, milk, and sugars.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to wet mixture and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon equal amounts of batter into 12 muffin cups. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Fried Pork Chops & Country Gravy (142 of 150)

Photo from South Your Mouth

I'm not good at frying things so I keep finding recipes that I can practice with. Dad used to make fried pork chops and he always did them perfectly. 

This is a very basic recipe - well, as long as you can fry something without burning it. And I could have done this without a recipe, but not everyone is like that. I figured a basic recipe now and then is helpful to someone...maybe.

Also, this works best with thinner pork chops. I bought ones that were a little too thick for frying I think. 

Fried Pork Chops & Country Gravy

Recipe from South Your Mouth

Serves 6

• 6 bone-in pork chops
• Salt & pepper
• 1 1/2 c flour
• Vegetable oil
• 4 c water or broth

Pour enough vegetable oil in a large frying pan to coat the bottom (about an 1/8 of an inch deep). Heat oil on medium-high heat until approximately 350 degrees.

Add flour (all-purpose or self rising can be used) to a pie plate or other deep-sided dish; set aside.

Season pork chops liberally with salt and pepper then dredge in flour. Shake all excess flour off of each chop. Set flour aside.

Cook chops (in batches – do not overcrowd the pan) in hot oil until golden brown on each side. Don't flip the chops before they have browned or some of the breading could stick to the pan. Once all the chops have been cooked, set aside and keep warm until ready to serve.

Pour off all but 1/3 cup of pan drippings leaving all the bits of goodness in the pan (I usually just eyeball this but if you’re unsure, simply pour off all the oil in the pan then measure 1/3 cup and add back to the pan).

Of the remaining flour used to coat the chops, measure 1/3 cup and add it to the hot oil. You want the oil/flour mixture to be about the thickness of ketchup.

Whisk the flour and oil together and cook over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes or until medium brown. Slowly add broth or water to pan and whisk constantly until smooth and well combined with the roux. Reduce heat to medium-low, add salt and pepper to taste, and cook for 1-2 minutes or until thickened.

Serve gravy with pork chops and white rice or mashed potatoes.

Slow Cooker French Dip (141 0f 150)

Photo from Butter Your Biscuit

Its rainy and blustering outside today. Perfect day to for a slow cooker recipe. This particular recipe came up in my random shuffle of recipe selection. As it cooked all day the house smelled so amazing. 

The coke threw me off on this recipe. I thought it odd, but you know, it added a nice "sweet' without it being SWEET to the au jus.

Slow Cooker French Dip

Recipe from Butter Your Biscuit

Serves 6

• 1 boneless beef chuck roast ( about 4-5 pounds)
• 3 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 can (10-1/2 ounces) condensed French onion soup, undiluted
• 1 can (10-1/2 ounces) condensed beef consommé, undiluted
• 1 c beef broth
• 1 can coke or cherry coke
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 1 T Worcestershire
• 12 slices Provolone cheese
• 6 (8 inch) french rolls

Season generously both sides of the meat with salt and pepper

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat, add the roast and sear for 3-4 minutes then flip and sear the other side.

Place roast into slow cooker, add soup, consommé, coke, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce and onion.

Cook on high 4-6 hours or low 6-8 hours. Remove and slice, and reserve juices and onions.

Preheat the broiler. Split rolls in half. Place on a baking sheet and broil for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown. Top each half with beef, onions and 2 slices of cheese. Return to the oven and broil until cheese is melted.

Serve with a little bowl of the cooking juices (au jus)...Enjoy!

Tortellini with Creamy Garlic Parmesan Sauce (140 of 150)

I am not really sure what to say about this recipe. It has all the ingredients that sound good together, but this was pretty flavorless. 

I used jarred garlic, which could be part of the problem. It needed a lot more garlic. 

I won't make this again. I have a lot of recipes that I need to try, but I'm glad I tried this one. 

Tortellini with Creamy Garlic Parmesan Sauce

Recipe from Yellow Bliss Road

Serves 4

• 1-20 oz package Fresh Tortellini or 2- 9 oz
• 2 T butter
• 1 T minced garlic
• 2 T all-purpose flour
• 1 c nonfat milk
• 1 c heavy cream
• 1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Cook Tortellini in a pot of boiling, salted water, according to package directions.

Melt butter in a sauté pan and add garlic. Cook for about 30 seconds, add flour and cook for 2 minutes, until it starts to turn a golden color.

Whisk in milk and heavy cream and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture starts to thicken (about 3-4 minutes).

Remove pan from heat and gently stir in the freshly grated Parmesan, stirring constantly until completely melted. Add more milk or more cheese as need until you are happy with the consistency.

Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired.

Toss Tortellini in the sauce and divide into bowls.

Garnish with chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Autumn Apple and Spinach Salad (139 of 150)

Photo from
Recipe Girl

Last night was book club - my assigned part of dinner was a salad. I knew Janet was going to make a quiche so I wanted a salad a little lighter. 

As I browsed my salad recipes I found a couple "harvest" types. Perfect for a fall book club. I choose this Autumn Apple and Spinach salad because it sounded a bit lighter than most of them. 

What I liked about this salad was all the textures; crunchy apples, soft, buttery blue cheese that added a nice tang, and the slimy texture of the spinach. Just kidding, it wasn't slimy. Just checking to see if you were paying attention. 

The dressing was super easy to make and so refreshing. Not very sweet and a little tangy itself. 

You won't regret it if you make this salad, I promise. 

Autumn Apple and Spinach Salad

Recipe from Recipe Girl

Serves 6

Dressing:

• 2 T freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 T freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp honey
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Salad:

• 1/2 c thinly vertically sliced red onion
• 8 c bagged pre-washed baby spinach (about 8 ounces)
• 1 large firm, sweet-tart apple, cored & thinly sliced
• 1/4 c crumbled blue cheese (about 1 ounce)

In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients.

In a large bowl, combine the onion, spinach and apple. Drizzle with dressing; toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with cheese.