Swiss Steak

I am contemplating fall menus.  As the weather cools I add in more soups & stews to replace some of the salads & grilled meat meals(although we continue to do this even when it is cooler).

Our schedule is busier—especially Tuesdays and Thursdays.  When I plan my weekly meals I almost always do a crockpot meal or a freezer meal on those nights.  Check out the recipe tab above to see other recipes that I use frequently!

I am physically exhausted those days and the last thing I need is to cook a meal when I return home after those days.  So my slave works all day for me while I am gone!

As we now have a wonderful abundance of tomatoes in jars I can start to think about soup, chili and the like.  Nothing is better than opening the garage & smelling dinner before I even open the door to the house. MMMmmmm

Tomorrow I will be fixing Swiss Steak—so I don’t have any pictures yet(might be able to update it tomorrow!)   This is one of those recipes I don’t know it came from—maybe from my head!  It has been around a LONG time, maybe even 20 years.   I love it because it turns out perfect every single time and requires very little preparation & the ingredients are super simple.

Swiss Steak--6 servings

1 bag baby carrots or 5 regular carrots peeled & chunked up

1/2 cup onion chopped

8 oz mushrooms

2-3 lbs steak(whatever you have or like), cut in to serving size pieces

32 oz diced tomatoes

Place the ingredients in the crock in the order they are listed. 

  

Turn the crock on low for 8 hours or high for 4.  We eat this with brown rice & a salad.  Just right!

Cook Turkey once, Eat twice!

I still have no idea what’s in the freezer..   I find good deals, buy them & they go in the freezer. 

One of my goals this week is to defrost the freezer so I have been emptying it & using some of those good deals.  Tonight I cooked the last Turkey Breast that I had bought when it was on sale(probably around Easter).

My family does love to eat a Turkey in a Pot.  It is a wonderful smell to tempt their tummies all day. 

We paired it with potatoes and salad with our first cherry tomatoes from the garden!

My goal right now is to not heat up my house.  Every single recipe this week for supper on my meal plan is a crockpot one.

Turkey in a Pot

Mexican Chicken

Pirates Stew

Scalloped Potatoes & Ham

Spaghetti Casserole

It was double kitchen duty by cooking the turkey.   Usually I use the leftover turkey to make Turkey Noodle Soup but it is too warm for soup right now.

We have sandwiches on the menu a couple of days this week.  So we will have turkey sandwiches with real turkey instead of deli meat.  MMMM a little mayo & a garden fresh tomato & lettuce. 

Okay now I am getting hungry.  Even better is the knowledge that we had two meals for 6 people for under $9. Yes!

How are you keeping your kitchen cool or saving money on meals this week?

Clogging Lessons & Crockpot Mexican Chicken

On Thursdays, the kids have been taking clogging lessons. 

 

It is great for developing coordination and is a good work out too!  I haven’t been able to join them because of my hip pain & surgery.  But now that I am recovered it is time to try something new!  The only problem is that when I get home I am SO tired from the lesson that I don’t want to fix supper.

So my answer to this problem is to get out my crockpot!  She works so well to feed my family!  Last week we tried a new recipe & it is a keeper!  So next time you need a simple meal that is filling & ready to go when you walk in the door make this one or check out some of my favorite crockpot recipes!

Crockpot Mexican Chicken

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in to strips

2 T flour

2 T taco seasoning mix, homemade or store packet

1 green & 1 red pepper(or any color you have)

1 cup frozen corn, or 1 can corn, drained

2 cups salsa

Pour 1 cup salsa in the bottom of a medium crockpot.  Mix flour & taco seasoning.  Coat each strip with flour mixture.  Place each chicken strip in crockpot, and add the peppers and corn.  Top with remaining salsa.  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Feeds 6-8 people.  We love to have this over brown rice with chips & sour cream.  You could also add beans &/or shredded cheese to stretch it further.

   

Turkey in a Pot

One of my favorite ways to cook a turkey is in my crockpot.  Now this isn’t your standard BIG bird like on Thanksgiving.  It is a turkey breast that I have caught on sale at some point & stuck in the freezer(with a friend or two).

My crew LOVES turkey but some of them ONLY like it this way.  When we go places at Thanksgiving, where the turkey is cooked in the oven, they think it is too dry.  Spoiled bunch of kids!  However, turkey in the crockpot is super MOIST and yummy.  We then cook & mash some taters, heat some green beans & we are ready to eat! 

Oh an did I mention it is in the CROCKPOT?  I love my slave in the kitchen.  She works all day and I can come home to a yummy meal with almost no effort on my part!

After we eat turkey for supper there are always leftovers.  I cut up the turkey & make this delicious soup for the freezer!  Usually there is enough for 2 or 3 batches!  There goes my other slave who just holds on to those premade meals for me until I REALLY need one on a busy day.  Love .. Love .. Love my freezer!

Turkey & Noodles—this was adapted from the 30 Day Gourmet

12 cups turkey or chicken broth

1/2 tsp salt

1 lb frozen egg noodles

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 cups milk

3 cups cooked turkey

In a large, pot heat broth to boiling.  Add salt.  Add frozen noodles and bring back to a boil.  Turn down to simmer.  Cook for 10 minutes and then stir flour & milk together.  Mix in with the noodles & broth.  Cook until it seems to have reduced slightly and thickened.  Add the meat & salt to taste.

Serving immediately?  Just add a salad & some vegies and you are ready to eat!

Freezing?  Measure out in to appropriate size containers & let cool.  Freeze!  Don’t for get to label your container & date it!

Is it still cool & drizzly outside in your neck of the woods?  Enjoy these warm & nourishing soups!

Brown Jug Soup

3 Bean Soup

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

 

 

Money Saving Monday: My Crockpot!

Last week I was posting crockpot recipes for a friend to see(and to share with anyone else). 

That leads me right into WHY I use my crockpot.  Most of the time I use it to save my sanity!  Tuesdays & Thursdays are CRAZY busy for me.  I am running kids to Bible study, piano & fitting my errands in between!  So if I can leave the house with supper taken care of then I am one step closer to surviving those days.  Let’s face it.  Life is hard but it can be easier if we use a few tools.  I like being able to just walk in the door at 5 or after and know I am about 10 minutes from having dinner on the table.

BUT my crockpot saves me $ also!  Here is one way

We love beans and we make them often.  It is not unusual for us to have beans 3 or 4 days out of 7.  They are cheap too.  Lately I have been making them from scratch & not buying the cans.  That makes it REALLY cheap.

A can of beans—about 2 cups is around $.60(aldi’s)

A small bag of beans—makes roughly 6-7 cups costs $1.10(walmart)

Hmmm do the math. 

Beans seem hard to do but they aren’t.  Hardest thing is remembering to do it ahead of time so that they are ready when you need them.

Grab a bag of beans, we use a lot of black beans in our Mexican dishes.  Rinse them and pick out any stones or yucky looking beans.  Dump them in the crockpot & cover with water so that the beans are under the water by 2-3 inches.  The beans WILL soak up this water over night so make sure there is plenty covering them.  The next morning add more water & turn on the crockpot to low.   By late afternoon or supper time you will have nice soft beans ready to bag & put in the freezer.  Next time you need beans you can pop them in some hot water or the microwave & you are ready to get cookin’

3 Bean Soup—so easy the kids can make it!

1 can or 2 cups cooked black beans

1 can or 2 cups cooked white beans

2 cans or 4 cups kidney beans(I like Aldi’s canned chili bean because they already have a sauce with the beans)

1 quart diced tomatoes

1 quart water

Optional:  1-2 cups cooked hamburger

Heat & serve with tortilla chips, sour cream, avacado chunks,  shredded cheese

BBQ Meatballs

BBQ Meatballs--I like to do a double or triple batch & freeze these to have on hand.

2 lbs ground beef or turkey

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

1/2 cup water or milk

1 cup grape jelly

1 small can tomato sauce

3/4 tsp oregeno

1 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin

Mix first 3 ingredients and form into balls.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.   Mix remaining ingredients in crockpot.  Gently place meatballs in crockpot & stir to coat.

Cover.  Cook on low for 6-10 hours.

Pirates Stew

Pirates Stew—based on the Fix It and Forget It cookbook recipe.  We basically clean out the refrigerator to make this.

1/2 cup to 1 cup chopped onion

1-2 lbs ground beef or turkey, cooked

3 cups diced raw potatoes

1 cup diced celery

2 cups canned kidney beans, drained

1/2 cup frozen corn

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

1/4-1 cup cooked brown rice

Mix all ingredients except brown rice in crockpot.  Cover. Cook on Low for 4-6 hours or until the potatoes are cooked.  Add rice at the end to avoid mushy rice.

Variation:  We also often add 2 cups sliced carrots as well.

My slave in the kitchen

My happiest & easiest days are days when my slave is working in the kitchen.  I can forget about supper because she is working away all day in there making my family a hot dinner.  She was wonderful gift from my husband a few years ago so she is definitely not new.  Age spots decorate her white exterior.  Of course I am talking about my crock pot.

I was having a chat this morning with a dear friend and was inspired to include a couple of good recipes for this colder weather and busy time of year.  With it getting dark early there is nothing better for me & my family than to have a hot meal ready at 6 p.m. without a lot of fuss or preparation.  So easy is the word for these!  Some of these I don’t know where they came from but if I do I will site the book or website.

Slow-Cooker Chicken with Cashews—Parents.com

Pulled Chicken BBQ—not sure where I got this from!
1/2 cup molasses
1 cup ketchup(we like Hunts no HFCS!)
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup mustard
2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Place chicken in crockpot with enough water to cover the bottom of the crockpot, so the chicken doesn’t burn.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.

When chicken is finished cooking, remove from crockpot and allow to cool slightly.  Shred the chicken with two forks.  Set aside.

Mix the top 6 ingredients together on medium heat in a large sauce pot.  Add the shredded chicken and stir to heat through.

Our family eats this on whole wheat buns with corn on the cob & steamed broccoli.