I Like Beef Stew and I Cannot Lie!

OH MY GOD, BECKY!

LOOK AT HER BEEF! IT'S SO BIG!!!!

I like Beef Stew and I can not lie.
You other foodies can't deny
That when a bowl is filled, not an itty bitty goes to waste.

And a big pot in your face
You get ...

HUNGRY!

Granny's Ingredients

1 soup bone

2lbs (approximately) beef

1 small can tomato paste

1- 14.5oz can diced tomatoes

1 - 8oz. can tomato sauce

1/2 onion, diced

1 rib celery, diced

1 large potato, diced

1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables

salt & pepper to taste

Fill a large stock pot with beef and water and salt.
Of course pre-cut beef is available, however Granny opted to slice up her own beef.

Bring the beef & soup bone to a boil until the beef is tender.  Add a bay leaf to the broth and allow to simmer while dicing and chopping veggies.

Add veggies and cans of assorted tomato products*. Continue to simmer until veggies are tender.
Serve hot with skillet cornbread.
* Granny's Beef Stew is best when she uses tomatoes she cans herself rather than those she purchased.  But since she didn't can any this year we had to settle (picture me pouting). 

In the mood for Mexalian?

Ever have the craving for Italian food?
What about a craving for Mexican food?
Ever have both cravings at the same time?
Feeling a little indecisive and can't decide between Italian and Mexican?
Well here is the perfect recipe.  It's a cross between Italian and Mexican.
I call it Mexalian.
Granny calls it Taco Lasagna.
This recipe isn't a Granny original.  She got it from her favorite cookbook.
How do I know it's her favorite cookbook?
Well take a look at it.

No back cover!!!

Granny's fav cookbook. Held mostly together with a rubber band.

It's pretty obvious that this one is used very, and I mean very often.  

To make Taco Lasagna gather the following ingredients:
2lbs. ground beef (or turkey)
2lbs. cottage cheese
2c. sharp cheddar
2c. mild cheddar
1 (12oz) jar spaghetti sauce
2 eggs
2 tbsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. taco seasoning
 Fritos chips

Of course Granny can't just follow a recipe so she doubled the amount of spaghetti sauce and used the entire packet of taco seasoning and for the first time ever, she didn't use as much cheese as the recipe suggested.

Start by browning the ground  beef. When the beef is thoroughly cooked drain it and add chili powder, taco seasoning and spaghetti sauce.  Let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

 In the meantime, crush about half of the chips and spread a few chips into a 9x13" casserole dish. 
 In separate bowl mix the cottage cheese and the eggs.
Now the meat sauce should have simmered enough, so we can commence the layering.  Cover the corn chips with a little of the meat mixture and then the cottage cheese and shredded cheese.
Repeat the layers until all of the ingredients are used.

Finally bake it on 350 for about 30 minutes.  Granny covered the dish with foil so the cheese wouldn't burn.

Serve with a few leftover Fritos for an extra crunch.

This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef

This little piggy went to the market.  This little piggy stayed home.  These little piggies had roast beef. This little piggy had none these little piggies said "yummmm!" This little piggy cried all the way home.
At least that's sort of what happened.  Granny went to the market(s) and I stayed at her home (for a little while). Then all of us had roast beef, all of us said "yum," and Granny cried all the long.
Granny had no plans of cooking pot roast, fresh green beans, or squash...She was all set to cook Enchiladas. PawPaw, on the other hand, had other plans...
So we little piggies had roast beef (I did a little silent cheer). Now I know how easy it is to make a pot roast like Granny.

All I have to do is gather the following:

3lb beef roast (tenderized)

2 table spoons of Kosher salt

¼ - ½   cup Worchestershire Sauce

1/8  green bell pepper ( more or less to taste)

1 can Campbell's French Onion Soup

1 rib of celery

Throw all of that in the crock pot and put on high for 4-5 hours, then switch it to low and let it cook overnight. The cooking time will vary depending on the roast and the crock pot.

Granny didn't add carrots and potatoes this time) but it just a matter of throwing those items in the crock pot right along with the meat.  

After several hours of cooking.  The meat was thoroughly cooked and tender.  Granny made some sort of  gravy for it by mixing about 1/4 cup flour, black pepper and water (about a half cup).  Mix the liquid  until it becomes  liquid-y, pasty, gooey with the smooth consistency of glue. Pour the mix into the crock pot and mix it in with all the other liquids already in there.  Granny let it simmer in the crock pot for a bit longer and then we little piggies dug in.

Forgot to mention that while the beef was cooking PawPaw grabbed French dip sandwiches for him and Granny.  Granny didn't want the AuJus that accompanied her sandwich so she just added it to the crock pot too.