All things yummy!

Time to take a break from all the deep stuff and talk FOOD! :)
Some of my very sweet friends have asked that I start sharing some of my recipes with you. I am kind of addicted to taking those super annoying food pictures. You know the ones. They make you hungry, make you want to eat it and then you don't have a recipe to go with so it makes you all cranky. Yeah, those. :) I especially love taking them when we're on vacation when we're experiencing new restaurants and dishes.

So today, I'm going to share the recipes for the dinner we had tonight. It was a chilly, start of Fall, rainy day and so I thought that stew with beer bread and some peach crumble would be the perfect Friday night meal. I'm all about simplicity in the kitchen, so you'll see nothing but that in these recipes. I hope you enjoy them around the table with your family as much as I did with mine.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew (you may also choose to use Venison- a favorite around here!)

1 lb. of cubed stew meat
1 bag of baby carrots
5 red potatoes, quartered
4 cups of beef stock
1 large onion, sliced and in rings (optional- my kids don't like onions so I left it out tonight)
1 cup of red wine (really...trust me on this)
1 package of McCormick stew seasoning

Set up your slow cooker and turn on.
Pour a small amount of vegetable oil in a pan and set to medium-high heat.
Toss stew meat pieces in flour. Shake excess and brown in pan. Do not cook all the way through. You're just looking for a sear on the outside.

While browning, pour rest of ingredients into your slow cooker. Once meat has browned, pour it into the slow cooker and mix well. Place lid on and let cook for 6 hours on low or 4 on high. Low and slow will give you tender, fall apart meat, but high get's it done when you forgot to put it all together until 2 in the afternoon. :) You may choose to use a little cornstarch to your liquids if you like a thicker stew.

Beer Bread

1 bottle or can of beer (yes, you can buy them singly at a convenience store. Ignore the stares and tell them you're baking!)
1/2 cup of melted butter
1 teas. of salt
3 cups of flour
3 teas. of baking powder

Preheat your oven to 350.
Mix dry ingredients well. Pour in beer of choice and stir well. For a crunchy crusted bread, pour batter into a loaf pan and pour butter over the top. If you like a moister, denser bread, mix butter into your batter. Bake for 40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean from the center.

Peach Crumble

1 lg. can of peaches in light syrup (not pie filling)
1 box of yellow cake mix
1/2 cup of butter melted
1/4 cup of brown sugar
Cinnamon
1 tub of frozen light cool whip

Preheat oven to 350. Pour peaches into the bottom of a 9x9 pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix (straight from the box) over the top of the peaches. Next, sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over the top of the cake mix layer. Pour butter evenly over the entire dish and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with a spoonful of frozen cool whip for a delicious ice cream like treat!

Happy eating!

"I am not a glutton - I am an explorer of food" - Erma Bombeck