Our Fav Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Heaven in a bowl. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, tweaked it a bit according to other's opinions and voila! Perfection! Out here in Wyoming, this is a staple in our family in the winter! Double batch it for left-overs or freeze for another day. Pair it with some cornbread and you will have one happy family!

2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into pieces

2/3 cup flour

1 tsp seasoning salt

1 tsp pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

1 ½ tsp paprika

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 onion, chopped

3 ½ cups beef broth

5-6 potatoes

4 carrots sliced

2 stalks celery

1 pkg McCormicks beef stew seasoning. Mix flour, salt, and pepper in bag. Coat the meat with it. Sear meat. Transfer meat to slow cooker. Pour 2 cups beef broth into pan to deglaze then pour over beef. Add rest of broth and all other ingredients. Stir and cook for 10 hours on low.

(Note: I'm rather horrible at adding the exact amount of veggies. I just dice, throw in, and when it fills up the pot just right, I stop :) Therefore, I almost always end up using 3 cans of beef broth or whatever it takes to get it right to the top of the veggies and meat).

Dang Good Wrap!

Some men starve when they have to cook their own meals. Some men eat out. And then some men cook themselves some dang good food!!!! My husband cooks quite frequently in our home as it is (much to our delight), and it is no different when he is left to fend for himself for 5 days! This guy can cook! When he showed me this picture later of one of the meals he made for himself, not only was my mouth watering, but it also became a requirement to make some more for us all to try haha! 

1 lb pork (marinate in your fav sauce)

1 tomato, diced

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 can black beans

2 cups cooked rice

Shredded Cheese

Tortillas

Cook up the pork and dice meat. Layer rice, beans, onion, meat, tomato and cheese on a tortilla. Enjoy!

Mock Filet Mignon

So these are totally going on the Dang Good menu! My sweet friend Jen invited our family over for dinner and served us these little babies! Talk about good! And even better...they are easy to make and can be frozen! All my kids loved them, and I seriously can't wait to make a batch so that I can make extras for another meal. Hope you enjoy as much as we did! And thanks Jen, for yet another, Dang Good Recipe!

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (uncooked)

3/4 cup cooked rice

1 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp sugar

Enough strips of bacon for however many balls you make.

Combine everything but the bacon. Shape into balls and wrap bacon around each. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 450 for 30 min. Devour :) 

Heavenly French Toast

These really are Heavenly french toast... eaten by the angels. (Ok, lame joke, I know!). But I am quite sure you will agree with me that these french toast are amazing!!!

1-2 loaves of Angel Food Cake
Eggs
Milk
Jam
Cool Whip

Cut the Angel Food Cake into slices. Mix up eggs and a little milk (just like you make normal french toast). Dip the slices into the egg mixture and cook on a preheated griddle. Serve with butter, jam and Cool Whip. Then you will eat like the angels do (ok, another lame joke, but it's no joke you will enjoy it! :)

Strawberry-Peach Crisp

This is the perfect summertime/fall cobbler! When I first got this recipe out of the Kraft Food magazine, I seriously made it every single week for my family! We couldn't get over the flavor! Now it's tradition to have it every summer as the perfect fruity, crunchy, perfect deliciousness treat :) (Guilty confession: My fav fruit has always been peaches and strawberries, and my fav cereal is Honey Bunches of Oats, so this was bound to be my fav dessert :)

1/2 cup flour, divided

2 cans (15 1/4 oz each) peach slices, drained

2 cups halved strawberries

3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold butter

3 cups Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds Cereal, lightly crushed

1 tub Cool Whip topping 

Preheat oven to 350. Remove 2 tbsp of the flour; set aside. Toss peach slices with strawberries, 3/4 cup sugar and remaining flour in large bowl. Place in ungreased 8" square baking dish. Mix Reserved 2 tbsp flour and the 2 tbsp sugar in separate large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add cereal and mix until well blended (I find I have to use my hands to mix the crumble mixture thoroughly into the cereal). Sprinkle over fruit mixture. Bake 25 min or until topping is lightly browned. Served with Cool Whip.

Breakfast Casserole

I was shocked when I realized I hadn't posted this recipe yet! This is one of our biggest breakfast for dinner fav's EVER! My kids devour this pan so quickly that unfortunately, there is never enough for next night leftovers haha! This meal freezes so good, and I love to make a couple of extra pans to stick in the freezer. (Just note, that it takes quite a while to thaw out though and if not completely thawed out, plan on an extra 20-30 minutes cooking time!). 

1 lb bacon crumbled (or buy the pre-cooked crumbled bacon for an even quicker version :)

1/2 cup onion chopped

3/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped (optional. We like it both ways)

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

3/4 cup milk

12 eggs

1 pkg frozen hash browns, thawed

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cook bacon and then remove and saute onion and pepper. Set aside. In large bowl beat milk and eggs. Add the mustard, salt and pepper. Set aside. Grease a 9x13 and spread half of the hash browns in the dish. Spread the bacon onion pepper mixture on top. Sprinkle on 1 cup of cheese. Spread remaining hash browns  over top. Pour egg mixture over the top of hash browns. Bake, uncovered at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cup of cheese (and any extra bacon if you have it) on top! Serve with toasted English muffins or bread.

Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken

This is the easiest meal I think I have ever made! I kid you not! I threw the chicken in still frozen, opened 2 cans and started the slow cooker! Eight hours later, with some cream cheese and chips, I had a meal that my family literally devoured! Baby doll took one look at it and said "I don't like this stuff" (granted, it's not the prettiest looking stuff in the world) but after one bite, she changed her mind and even came back for a big helping of seconds. So glad for another dang good recipe!!

1-15 oz can Pinto Beans

1- 4 oz can chopped green chilies

1 pkg. of taco seasoning

2-3 chicken breasts (depending on size)

1 pkg. cream cheese

Add beans and chilies with juice, chicken and seasoning in slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. An hour before it is done shred the chicken and add the cream cheese. Serve with hot tortilla chips, rice or on tortillas.

Easy Peasy Pumpkin Cookies

I love that Rachel loves to bake! And I love even more that she likes to make my fav sweets :). These awesome cookies are so simple and so quick to make up, you just might find yourself making them more often than you should (not to mention stocking up on Spice cake mixes)!

1 box Spice cake mix

1 small can pumpkin pie

½ tsp cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 bag of chocolate chips

1/4 bag cinnamon chips (optional but super yummy ;)

Mix everything together and then spoon onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 375 for 8-10 minutes and then let cool on the pan for a couple more minutes.

Frito and Corn Salad

I have been looking for more summer salad recipes, and I am so glad I ran into this one from thethrifycouple.com! We had this as a side to the Baked Creamy Taquitos and it was a hit! Even baby girl kept asking for more! You'll want to stock up on chili cheese Fritos because this is sure to become a fast favorite!

2 (15 oz) cans whole kernel corn, drained

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1 cup mayo

1 cup bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup red onion, chopped

1 (10 1/2 oz) bag coarsely crushed chili cheese Fritos corn chips

Mix the first 5 ingredients and chill. Stir in corn chips just before serving. Enjoy!!

Asian Summer Salad

The first time I tried this, my friend Debra had brought it over after I'd had my son. I've never liked Ramen noodles or cared for cabbage, but one bite of this changed my whole perspective! I seriously could not stop eating it. Of course I had to immediately get the recipe and start bombarding my family with my newest love affair every other week. Seven years later, this is still one of our fav summer salads (especially with a nice juicy hot-off-the-grill hamburger!).

1 head cabbage, shredded or 1 bag of Coleslaw

5 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

2 packages Chicken Top Ramen uncooked, broken into pieces

Mix all of these ingredients together

In a separate bowl combine:

1/2 cup oil

4 tbsp vinegar

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp chicken bouillon

1/2 tsp pepper

2 envelopes seasoning packets from the Top Ramen

Combine all and pour over salad 1-2 hours before serving.

For another variation, add cooked chicken for a one bowl meal!

One Pot Mac and CheeseI

I ran into this recipe the other day on tipgarden.blogspot.com and thought it would be a perfect addition to the River Chicken (and easy meal for a super busy day). I threw all the ingredients into the crock pot 3 hours before dinner, and voila! My family had thought I had made the best meal ever :)

Cooking oil spray

2 cups milk

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/2 cups preshredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

Spray the pot of the slow cooker. In a mixing bowl whisk together milk, evaporate milk, egg, salt and pepper. Pour milk mixture into the crockpot. Add cheese and uncooked macaroni. Stir gently to mix.

Turn slow cooker on low and cook for 3 hours (this is a custard style mac and cheese so it gets really thick so it is supposed to be able to be cut like a brownie. I don't like this style as much, and it was plenty cooked at 3 hours, but was still creamy so don't cook more than 3 hours ON LOW if you don't want custard style and if you do want custard style, still don't cook more than 4 hours on low).

River Chicken

Don't be fooled by the simpleness of this recipe! My friend Lilly's dad was a river guide years ago and part of his responsibilities including providing lunch for the people on the raft, so he would make them River Chicken. This seriously couldn't get any easier (or much cheaper for that matter), and yet it is so satisfying! My husband is ecstatic every time he comes and smells this cooking! What's great about it is that if it gets done cooking before you are ready to eat, just fold the tinfoil up on and over itself to trap the moisture inside. And its just as good cold for leftovers.

Bone-in chicken (any part works so choose what your fam likes the best or what's on sale :)

Lawry's Season Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place tinfoil on a cookie sheet and place chicken on top. Sprinkle Lawry's season salt generously all over the top of the chicken. Bake, uncovered, for 60 minutes. Enjoy one of the juiciest, crispiest pieces of baked chicken you'll ever have!