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Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Rainy Day Crockpot Stew!

This is me at the dentist before being shot full of numb and drilled to within an inch of my jaw.

I don’t mind dentists –my grandpa was a dentist and they are usually kind caring people and I know the more I cooperate the sooner they can get the job done and send me on my way.

I love my dentist, Melanie.  She often comes into the room humming, and has the most beautiful singing voice.  I bet YOU were never lulled and comforted while having your tooth reamed while your dentist hummed Motown beside you?

She came in with a cheerful greeting of “How are you today, Sunshine?” And I started singing right off ((Because I have a habit of being a juke-box this way)) “I’ve got Sunshine --- on a cloudy day….”  And she sang the NEXT line “When it’s cold outside –I”ve got the month of May …” FUN!

And then she cursed me for putting that ear-worm into her brain and thanked me that it would follow her all the day long.  So while she worked on me, she hummed “My Girl”  and I proceeded to find myself numb from my chin to my nose.  I'm not complaining ---when it comes to dentistry?  NUMB IS MY FRIEND!

It only took about an hour, and we were able to get by fixing that cracked molar with a filling, no crown needed for now, thank heavens!  It was still pretty deep, and the nerve was affected so off I went to the pharmacy for a zpac and pain meds.  While those were filling I ran next door to Food Lion and that’s where this post becomes relevant

It’s been rainy!  It’s very fall-like out there even if the temp is still hovering around 70.  I am in the mood to pull out the crock pot and let something simmer all day.  I know I’m going to need comfort food --- soft food---for dinner.  How about some Rainy Day Beef Stew?

The ingredients are simple:
2 lbs beef stew meat cut into small cubes
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp pepper.
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Shake flour, seasoned salt and pepper in a bag.  Toss in the beef cubes and shake to coat evenly.

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All coated!

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Brown the beef cubes in 3 Tlb vegtable oil, turning occasionally to brown meat on all sides.

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Place the browned beef into the crockpot and add veggies of your choice.  I added:
1 cup peeled baby carrots
1 cup sliced celery
1 medium onion chopped
4 small potatoes, washed and unpeeled, chunked.

Season with:
1 bay leaf
1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
2 beef boullion cubes
3 cups water
1 can low-fat cream of mushroom soup.

Cover and cook.  On low heat it will take 8 to 10 hours.  I set mine on medium, it should take about 6 hours for the veggies to be tender and the beef to be falling-apart yummy.

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Ready for the lid and hours of simmering!

Season to taste after cooking – remember there was already salt in the flour, and the bouillon cubes are salty too.  If more thickening is desired, dissolve some flour in a small amount of water.  Turn the cooker up to HIGH and when it is boiling, stir it in.

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An easy hearty rainy day meal – perfect with cornbread or biscuits from the oven.

Enjoy!

26 comments:

  1. I am soooo jealous. Here in Phoenix, we will not enjoy much fall weather for a few more weeks. I am thrilled it is getting into the 70s overnight, but the days still get into 3 digit temps! I really want to roast something, but it's just too hot to turn on the oven. Fortunately, simmering a stew in the crockpot can fill that need for cool-weather comfort food. Hope that tooth doesn't give you much trouble while the nerve gets settled down.

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  2. Hope your mouth heals fast. I've had my fair share of dental adventures. An ice pack was my bff for awhile. (or at least for 15 minutes every hour:-)
    Thank you for the recipe. I am NOT a cook but I'm finding a few less complicated recipes here and there that are at least inspiring me for a few attempts. I need some for the crock pot and this one looks perfect.
    P.S. I LOVE Texas Tumbleweeds :-)

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  3. Mmmm...yummy...I love soup and stew season...such comfort food! I add a can of tomatoes to my stew for a different flavor.

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  4. Oh looks good - be careful not to bite your tongue! That is always my issue after dental work. Stew looks delicious, perfect rainy day comfort food. Sunny here in southern Maine - rain coming tomorrow.

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  5. Oh yeah.....what time should I show up :0)!
    I'd love it but DH....not so much.
    Like you I have appointments all week.
    Gotta get'em done before winter hibernation sets in.

    Happy Sewing, maybe take a nap and let your poor body
    recover from all this trauma?

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  6. I'm going to have to send hubby to the grocery store now. That looks and sounds so yummy! I haven't used our crockpot since we moved in here a year and a half ago. It took a long time to find it and then it was summer. Now is a perfect time for a crockpot stew!

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  7. I used to have a dentist who sang Elvis songs and did the moves around the chair! :-D

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  8. I'm fixing this stew in a few days! Get well and keep on keepin' on. (how's that for dating myself!)

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  9. Love my dentist as well. Hummm will have to try the mushroom soup in stew.

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  10. I'm happy you have a good, & fun, dentist. I now have a NEW one I'm quite pleased with too - only wish he'd been my dentist a couple years ago when a root canal went bad when the OLD dentist broke the tip of a tool off wayyyyy down in the nerve channel! Even a specialist couldn't remove it - it's still there, entombed, until I cave in and have the tooth pulled. Often feels like having a burr in one's sock! And I cry PTSD to make sure the NEW dentist knows to be careful with me.

    Would so love some fall weather here - triple digits aren't even close! But a nice stew meal sounds wonderful just the same, yum, always been one of my favorite foods.

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  11. Made stew on Friday delicious! Don't mean to change the subject by I am soooo excited cleaning up the new to me 401A sewing machine I just got from goodwill for $19.99. How do you get the head of your machines so shiny? What do you use on them? My machine looks like it was hardly used...no worn spots just very grimy. What do I use to get into all the cracks and crevices to make it shiny? Thanks for all your help. Jane in PA

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  12. Sounds yummy, will have to give that recipe a try this next weekend.

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  13. Oh yes, earworms! You gave me one this morning....

    Drifting along with the tumblin' tumbleweeds!

    Unfortunately that's the only line I can remember!!! ;-)

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  14. My crockpot will be in use tomorrow - going to try a new recipe for French Onion Soup ... wish me luck.

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  15. ooh. yummy... now I'll have to go shopping and make some for dinner tomorrow!

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  16. I think I will fix this either tomorrow or Friday. It is definitely fall here in the Northeast! I am so glad you didn't need a crown! Had to have 2 done this spring and I am not sure the 1st one is right yet!

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  17. DH fixed beef stew in the crockpot two weeks ago. It was yummy. Put two containers in the freezer. Pulled a chicken pie out of the freezer yesterday. Good cool weather food. I make it Moravian style and we eat it with coleslaw.

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  18. YUM! I made beef stew in the crockpot tonight too! Quilty minds think alike even when they sew apart...lol

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  19. Thanks for the recipe. And the earworm. Yah, stuck in my head, now, too! You did that on purpose, didn't you :-)

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  20. Sorry you couldn't make it today...looking forward to catching up tomorrow!

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  21. Beef stew sound delicious! And I'm jealous that you have a local Food Lion grocery - almost all of ours closed and I have to go to Publix now, which I don't like.

    I love my dentist too - I've gone to him for at least 25 years, and still go there even though I live 100 miles away now. He's a great dentist, with the bonus of being young and cute when I started as a patient at his practice. I decided that if you have to sit in a dentist chair for a hour with his face hovering right over you, he better be good looking!

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  22. HI Bonnie,
    Thanks for the recipe! I'll be making that this weekend for sure. Lucky you not needing a crown!
    Vicky F

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  23. I have a recipe that is very close to this, but it takes a can of tomato soup and half hour prior to eating add 1/2 cup of merlot! It is so warming on a cold day!

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  24. This sounds very good. Hot and muggy here in central VA today but supposed to be a 20 degree drop Sunday so think I know what I will prepare for that day! Thanks for the recipe. Do you dissolve the boullion cubes in the water or just throw them in and let them dissolve as they cook?

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  25. mmm mmmm good. At least it looks yummy and I'm sure it is.

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