Tag Archives: beef

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Turkey Day came and went and this morning I packed up the last of the dark meat and mashed potatoes & gravy for Jay’s lunch.

We hosted this year and were grateful that everyone came to us. Our long holiday weekend was filled with adventures and now we’re back to our normally scheduled routine with soccer practices, homework, religious ed classes and dance this week.

Here are a few bits and pieces of the last several days…

{simple decorations ~ a clearance vase from Target and a branch & pinecones from my morning hikes}

{kosher, Pioneer Woman brined bird on the grill}

{centerpiece from our backyard}

{our feast ~ 1. turkey {before cranberry orange relish!} 2. candied yams 3. cornbread stuffing 4. Ina’s parmesan mashed potatoes {before gravy!} 5. green bean casserole 6. maple glazed carrots ~ yum! desserts not pictured ~ sweet potato pie and Grunc’s pear ginger upside down cake}

{Black Friday CB&TL date}

{Saturday lunch at Irv’s}

{gingerbread house at The Grove}

{Sunday tree shopping}

{…and trimming}

{Sunday supper ~ crock pot beef stew}

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It was a treat to have my dad {Popsi} here from Seattle, my mom {Gramma} here from San Diego and Grunc {great uncle Larry} and Auntie Jill here from Yosemite/Marin County. We all joined together to get the food on the table and consequently ate too much! Now all that’s leftover are happy memories of Thanksgiving 2012…

…and I’ll take those leftovers over a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce any day!

Homemade {Food Truck} Tacos

Korean tacos from the Kogi truck were Jay’s Father’s Day wish a couple years ago.

We checked Twitter and met the truck in Westwood for some Korean BBQ tacos that were out of this world.

Thanks to Pinterest, we can now make them at home.

I followed this recipe for the meat.

For the slaw, I just used one package of cole slaw mix and mixed it with the first five ingredients of this recipe and added a little squeeze of Sriracha. Let it sit and marinate for a couple hours and then get ready to build your tacos!

I used just under 3 pounds of meat {lean chuck roast} and cooked on low for about 8 hours…

These were to-die-for.

The meat and slaw would also be excellent in slider form or just pile a little meat on top of some slaw and call it a salad.

We don’t need no stinkin’ expensive gourmet taco truck!


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Fitting It All In

I’ve heard nothing but, “Man, the holidays are going by so fast!” and “Can’t believe Christmas is only 2 weeks away!” lately.

So far all my planning ahead has helped a little, but I am still scrambling, stressing and scurrying, however at the same time, trying to enjoy the season. Fortunately all events that are near and dear to us fell on different days so we’re able to attend everything, but it does make for one crazy month.

I wanted to have our neighbor friends over for a simple, little dinner to celebrate Jay’s birthday and the only option was to do it on Friday. Since I was in the midst of getting the Christmas cards out and afternoon dance class last Friday, I needed to have a menu that I could make ahead of time and be ready for entertaining when we got home close to 7:oopm.

I chose to do something in the crock pot so that could be simmering all afternoon and make a dessert ahead of time that was fancy enough for guests, but easy!

I took my chances with two new recipes and they both worked like charms.

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

{I followed the recipe, but used more like 3 pounds stew meat and added one small carton fresh mushrooms to the mix ~ a must for beef stroganoff as far as I’m concerned and served over [No Yolks] egg noddles}

Pumpkin Creme Brûlée

{Used low fat evaporated milk and the 4 eggs not the egg substitute}

The most difficult part about this recipe is the water bath and not splashing it into the ramekins! Please don’t be afraid of creme brûlée if you love it…you can make it at home easily. We have a kitchen torch to do the brûlée, but if you don’t, there are broiler instructions at the bottom of the recipe.

I decided to make up a {Wintery White Wine Sangria} which was just two bottles Chardonnay, 1 liter ginger ale, 1/2 cup triple sec, some orange slices and some fresh cranberries.

{I threw the ingredients into this glass canister in the morning and let the flavors marry all day in the ‘fridge. The cranberries floated in the glasses and looked very festive!}

If you’re doing some entertaining this holiday and have a busy schedule as well {who doesn’t?} this is the perfect type of menu that will leave you able to sit and visit with your guests and not be slaving over a hot stove or pulling things out of the oven as they arrive. All I had to do was boil some water for the noodles after the guests arrived and we sipped sangria & Blue Moons and visited until the noodles were ready. See, I was so busy mingling that I was too busy to snap a photo of the stroganoff so I have nothing to show for it other than echoing praises from all who consumed it. The meat was super tender {I cooked on low for about 8 hours…added the cream cheese in at about hour six. Next time I may substitute sour cream for the cream cheese, but it was excellent this way}.

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So, keep it simple and don’t stress. Put your crock pot to work, bake up a dessert ahead of time and have pre-mixed drinks ready to go at your next get-together.

Enjoy!

Fill It And Fuhgettabout It ~ Crock Pot Italian Beef

Fridays are perfect crock pot days. We don’t get home until about 7pm and it’s nice to have something ready for dinner without a lot of fuss. I love that you can fill your crock pot with a few ingredients, turn it on and literally forget about it.

Tonight it was Italian Beef on soft French rolls.

Turns out 100% of the family approved!

I poured in one 12 ounce can of 55 calorie Budweiser Select {classy, I know or you an substitute 1.5 cups of beef broth}, the juice of a 12 ounce jar of pepperoncinis, several actual pepperoncinis and one packet dry Italian dressing seasoning {like Good Seasons}. Mix those ingredients, add your meat  {I used a really lean 3 pound beef rump roast} and set it on low for 8.5 hours. I chose to add a slice of provolone on top and stick it under the broiler for a minute or two. You can also serve with chopped giardiniera {pickled peppers, cauliflower,carrots, jalapeños, etc.} and use the juice for dipping like a French dip…I guess it would be an Italian dip then, right? Next time I will chop the meat into smaller pieces, but overall this meal was magnifico ~ suuuuuper easy AND the whole family approves? How often does that happen?

The happiest of Fridays to you!