No Peek Beef Tips

I came across this recipe on Pinterest and thought it sounded warm and comforting on a chilly day. Today was a great day to try this, since we had nothing to do, and it takes 3 hours in the oven!

Here's what you'll need

 2 lb of stew meat or beef tips

1 packet of brown gravy mix

1 packet of onion soup mix

1 can of cream of potato soup

1 cup water

Preheat your oven to 300*

Begin by placing the beef in a 9x13 pan. Mine was still frozen, but it was fine. 

 

Dump the gravy mix, soup mix, soup and water into a bowl.

Mix well to combine.

Pour the mixture over the beef.

Cover it tightly with foil and pop it in the oven for 3 hours.

 

After 3 hours, take it out of the oven and remove the foil. Be careful, it will be super steamy.

Serve over mashed potatoes, rice or noodles. YUM!

Aunt Judy's Broccoli and Cheese Soup

This recipe was sent to me by my Aunt Judy. We try to eat fairly healthy but sometimes, you just need a cheesy, Velveeta soup. It's been rather cold and nasty here, so soup really fit the bill. This doesn't make a ton, but it's easy to scale it up. If you make a double batch, it will use the whole block of Velveeta.

Here's what you'll need.

 One 12-14 ounce bag of frozen broccoli

2 cans of cream of potato soup

 (Original recipe calls for chicken, but I just can't use it. 

I think it's gross, so I sub in potato soup every. time.)

1 and 1/2 soup cans of milk

1/2 stick butter

1/2 lb Velveeta

Begin by cooking your broccoli according to package directions. On the stove or in the microwave, either is fine.

 Once it's cooked, drain it then put it back in the soup pot and mash it with a potato masher. Do this to your desired texture, we like it pretty mashed.

 Dice your Velveeta cheese.

 Add everything to the pot with the broccoli.

 Heat through.

 Serve!

Pumpkin Roll

Pumpkin Roll

This is one of my all time favorite fall desserts. It's best when it is chilled, so plan ahead.

For the cake roll, you will need:

 3 eggs

2/3 cup pumpkin (Basically, this is half of a can. You can use half and save half, or double the recipe to make two of these. They freeze very well)

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat your oven to 375*

Crack the eggs into your mixer bowl and give them a quick beat.

Add the pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon and baking soda. Mix.

Add in the flour and mix until incorporated.

Break our your jelly roll pan, approximately 10x15. I like to line mine with parchment paper so the cake doesn't stick to the pan.

Pour the batter onto the pan. It will be VERY thick.

That's okay though, just spread it out evenly.

Bake at 375 for 15-25 minutes. Mine was done in 15.

Let is cool just a few minutes, so you can handle it.

Lay out a cotton towel.

Sprinkle the top of the cake liberally with powdered sugar. 

This will help to keep it from sticking to the towel.

When the cake is cool enough to be handled, flip it out onto the towel.

Peel back the parchment paper.

See how easy that was???

Roll the cake up in the towel, and let it sit with the seam down, until cool.

Now for the filling.

 2 tablespoons of butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

Additional powdered sugar for serving.

Cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.

Add the vanilla and give it a whirl.

Add in the powdered sugar and mix until fluffy.

Unroll the cake.

Dump the filling onto the cake. I like to use an offset spatula to smear the filling around.

Once it's all covered.

Roll it back up!

Cover with plastic wrap and chill until serving.

When you're ready to serve, slice it into thin slices and dust with powdered sugar. I don't have any pictures of my finished, sliced product because it's going to a new mama from church. :)

If you choose to make these ahead of time, wrap them in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil and freeze. Simply thaw it in the refrigerator. I've done this several times, and they're just as good!

Co-op Goodies!

I took part this week in a grocery co-op. The co-op is out of St. Louis, but they have started at drop in Olney! We got lots of good stuff, so I thought I would do some recipes with the co-op stuff for the other people that ordered. Here's a shot of what all we got this week.

My plan is to blog some recipes this week so that some of the other lovely ladies that participated can get some new ideas. Ladies, please comment to tell me if you like the recipes!

New Year.

Happy 2012!
I'm hoping that this year will be the year I get back into the swing of blogging.

2011 brought us some changes. Our exchange student, Lisanne, went back home early. Boo!!
Then in the fall, we received our new student, Peter. He'll be with us until May of this year.

We had some weddings, and rightfully so, will be getting lots of new babies this year :) In fact, we will be getting 2 nephews, 1 niece and 1 unknown at this time. Hopefully I can get my butt in gear and get some freezer meals made up for my new mamas!

Amelia is in 1st grade this year, and loving it. Her reading skills have gone through the roof.

My plan for the blog this year is to blog about food. Whether it be about something I cook or an amazing meal that we have out, an informative article or a new gadget that I love, that's the plan! Here's hoping I can stick to it!!

Day 176: Bruschetta

Day 176.

Bruschetta is one of my favorite summer dishes. It tastes so fresh and summery. There are a bajillion different ways to make it, but this is my favorite.

Here's what you'll need.

French bread (Walmart will slice it for you. Just ask)
2 roma tomatoes
garlic
olive oil
basil


Begin by dicing the tomatoes.


And placing them into a bowl.


Add in a couple of garlic cloves and a healthy sprinkle of basil. I don't measure, just go by taste.


Add in about a teaspoon of olive oil and give it a good stir. Set aside. This can actually be made up a day ahead of serving. Just keep it in the fridge.


Brush both sides of the bread with olive oil and place onto a grill over medium heat.


I like a bit of char on my bread. It won't take long to toast up.


Once it's toasty, take it off of the heat.


To serve, place one toast onto a plate.


And top with tomatoes. Yum. Summer on a plate :)

Day 175: Crockpot Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Day 175.

We love mashed potatoes, but I find it tiring to stand over a huge pot of boiling water, especially in the summer when it is so darn hot! This recipe is my fix for that! The potatoes cook in the crockpot, then you just whip them with your mixer. Kurt thinks they taste like restaurant mashed potatoes. :)

Here's what you'll need.

2 - 2 1/2 lb. potatoes, scrubbed
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 to 1 cup milk


Dice the potatoes into 1 inch pieces.


Place all the potatoes into the crockpot.


Cut the butter into small pieces.


Place the butter in the crockpot with the potatoes.


Add the spices. I sprinkled in a little black pepper too.


Pour the water in.


Cook on LOW for 7 hours or on HIGH for 4.


Place the potatoes into mixing bowl.


Oh, man. This smells amazing...


Using your whisk attachment (if you have one), give the potatoes a good whip.


Mmmm.


Now here's my secret to cut down on lumps in the potatoes. Heat your milk before adding it. Think about it. Cold milk into hot potatoes? Not such a good idea...


Add the milk to the potatoes.


Turn the mixer on. Low at first, the gradually crank it up.


Whoa, baby.