crock pot beef stew

tonight... this was happening in the Meierotto house...

it's kinda cold, wet & nasty out. My oldest mentioned beef stew the other day & I decided I needed to make some soon. So, I sorta put together my own recipe & hoped it would turn out. Add in a little homemade bread {frozen bread dough, people}. I have to say... Y.U.M. I LOVE my crock pot. Something about spending a bit in the morning preparing & not having to think about supper the rest of the day is bliss in my book. I had a few people ask me for my recipe, so I'll give it to you {to the best of my ability}.

Crock Pot Beef Stew

2 lbs Beef Round Steak {cut into 1" cubes}

1/2 cup flour {seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic salt}

1/2 lg onion coursely chopped

1/2 green pepper coursely chopped

1 bag baby carrots

1/2 bag frozen mixed veggies or green beans

8-10 "b sized" red potatoes quartered {I left the peel on mine}

1 lg sweet potato peeled & cubed

1 can stewed tomatoes with juice

4 cups beef boullion

Put flour & seasoning in a gallon ziploc bag. In parts, add beef pieces in the bag with flour & coat. Add to a medium to medium high skillet coated with oil or spray. Brown both sides of the beef & repeat until all the beef is browned. Place beef in a crock pot, add rest of the ingredients, stir, cover & cook on high for 6-8 hours. It was so good, made the perfect broth with all the flavors mingling all day. We served ours with crusty bread I made from frozen bread dough {perfect for dipping}. This made for a pretty full crock pot. We have a good amount of leftovers, which I LOVE. Maybe even some for the freezer!

enjoy!

{robyn}

nutella banana muffins

i had ripe bananas. i usually freeze them & save them for smoothies, but i felt like baking today, so i went & found this recipe on my {good food} pinterest board. although the stuff she used sounded amazing, i didn't have it, but it looked similar enough to nutella & {of course} I had it, so I went with it. i mean, really, could it be that bad? it's nutella after all :)

...ummm yeh. holy wow. good. really good. i love banana bread. i love nutella. they were good.

i just ate one. seriously yummy warm. i think the only thing i would possibly change is to add more nutella ;)

then, i did 5k on the treadmill so i can have another later! lol

Nutella Banana Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 large very ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c egg substitute
3 Tablespoons Nutella

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

In a bowl mix together the sugar, butter, mashed bananas and egg on medium speed for about 3 minutes.
Slowly add in the sifted ingredients on low speed until just combined. Take a spatula and fold the ingredients together.

Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Using an ice cream scooper, scoop the batter into each cupcake liner.
Then place three 1/4 teaspoons of Nutella on top of each muffin. Swirl it around with a knife. If the swirls aren’t perfect, don’t worry.

Bake the muffins at 375 degrees F for 18 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer the muffins to a cooling rack. {in my opinion, these are best eaten WARM!}

makes 12 muffins. {I calculated these on my WW Recipe builder & they came to 6 pts each}

there ya go! enjoy!

{robyn}

lasagna soup & pb choc chip oatmeal cookies

I've been asked by a few people for these two recipes, so I thought I'd share them here.  The lasagna soup we made a week or so ago & it was sooo yummy{& easy}! Definitely good old comfort food!  I found the recipe from Pinterest & the link sent me here.  I doubt that these guys make anything that isn't good... I mean, there mama is Paula Dean!

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pound Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 ounces broken whole-wheat lasagna noodles (about 4 noodles)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick saucepot or Dutch oven. Add the sausage, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is crumbled and browned, 8 – 10 minutes.

Add the broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, salt, and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the flavors are blended, about 20 minutes. Add the noodles; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the soup thickens slightly and the noodles are tender, 10 – 12 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in mozzarella, basil, and the Parmesan.  (whole-wheat lasagna noodles take a little longer to cook.)

Nutritional Information:

Per Serving (1 cup) 225 Cal (27% from Fat, 42% from Protein, 31% from Carb); 23 g Protein; 7 g Tot Fat; 2 g Sat Fat; 2 g Mono Fat; 17 g Carb; 2 g Fiber; 4 g Sugar; 108 mg Calcium; 3 mg Iron; 826 mg Sodium; 53 mg Cholesterol  {this works out to 6 ww points+ per cup}

Original Recipe by Paula Deen: Tastes Like Lasagna Soup
Take It Lighter recipe courtesy of Bobby and Jamie Deen, and the Paula Deen Test Kitchen

Servings: 8 cups
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 1 hour

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 c Crisco

1/2 c peanut butter

3/4 c brown sugar

3/4 c white sugar

1/2 c egg beaters or 2 eggs

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon

1 T. honey

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c whole wheat white flour

3 c oatmeal

bag chocolate chips

Cream Crisco, peanut butter & sugars.  Add eggs, vanilla & honey.  Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture.  Add oatmeal.  Add chocolate chips.  Bake at 325 degrees from 8-10 minutes.

these are a favorite at our house & the recipe has been modified lots, but this is how I made them yesterday & I think these were the best yet!  This made about 3-3 1/2 dozen & they work out to be about 4-5 WW points+ per cookie using the Pampered Chef medium cookie scoop.

{enjoy!}

{Robyn}