Category Archives: Food & Wine

It’s that time of the week! Yes, it’s Sandra‘s Slow Cooking Thursday. I love this meme because it’s really gotten me using my Crock-Pot again, plus I’ve tried some new recipes. My recipe for this week is simmering as I type. I’m actually cooking it to have some healthy meals in the freezer. I hate when Drew or I need to take a meal to work, but we’re either too tired or lazy to make it. So I bought some small freezer containers (enough for one portion), and I’ll divide up my stew, freeze it, and have it handy for a quick meal. Just heat and eat! Easy, peasy. So here you go. Enjoy!

Zesty Beef & Bean Stew
1 lb lean beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 can (16 oz.) kidney beans
1 can (16 oz.) black beans
1 can (14.5 oz) tomatoes with chiles (or 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 small can diced chiles)
1 can (2.25 oz) sliced ripe olives, drained (I used a can slightly larger)
1.5 cups frozen corn
1 cup hot water
1 cup chopped onion
2 celery stalks, chopped
** 1 small zucchini, chopped
** 1 small yellow squash, chopped
1-2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 beef bouillon cubes, crumbled
1/4 tsp. salt
** I also add Adobo seasoning and Mexican seasoning
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
Shredded cheese, sour cream, scallions (optional)

In a 5-qt. slow cooker, combine the first 13 ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until beef is tender. Stir in tomato sauce; cover and cook for 30 minutes or until heated through. Garnish with cheese, sour cream, and scallions if desired. Yield: 10 servings
** Now, I’ve adapted this a little from the original recipe which doesn’t call for the squash and zucchini, and adds rice to the stew. If you want to add rice, add 2 Tbsp. uncooked long grain rice. Here is the nutrition information for the original recipe (which includes the rice and does not include the starred items in the ingredient list). So at least you have an idea.

Nutrition: 1 cup (using reduced-sodium bouillion, calculated without cheese and sour cream) = 209 cal; 4 g fat (1 g saturated fat); 28 mg cholesterol; 558 mg sodium; 28 g carbohydrate; 7 g fiber; 17 g protein

It’s slow-cooker Thursday, hosted by Sandra! I’m about to heat this up for today’s lunch, actually. I made it yesterday and Noah couldn’t get enough of it for dinner. In fact, Jake had a bowl of this soup in addition to his spaghetti and sausage, so it’s obviously kid-friendly. It’s also possibly the easiest chicken soup I’ve ever made. I had my doubts, I’ll admit. I usually do the whole thing — make my own stock with the chicken carcass and veggies, strain it, chop up fresh veggies, et cetera. I wasn’t sure how this would compare, but it is really good. I found the recipe in a new slow-cooker cookbook I bought over the weekend. I’ll also keep it posted on my cooking blog. Enjoy!

Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1 lb diced boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 package (6 oz) of long grain and wild rice mix with seasoning packet
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 tbsp. parsley
black pepper

Combine everything in your Crock Pot. Cook on low all day.

You know what’s the best? Sticking a can of Coke in the freezer and timing it just right so that when you pull it out, there are tiny ice crystals floating inside. Ahh!

So, I think this is what I’ll be serving for Christmas Brunch:

• Spiral Ham
• Spinach and Gruyere Strata
• Pear Salad with Cranberries and Chevre
• O’Brian Potatoes
• Cresent Roll Christmas Wreath
• Holiday Funfetti Cake — requested and made by Jake (with a little help from me)
• Fresh fruit — still not sure about this; the one salad might be enough

Yes, I am having ham. Some of you might remember that I made a ham the Christmas when I was newly-pregnant with Noah (and NO I am NOT pregnant again, trust me!) and the leftovers became a terrible food aversion. So much, in fact, that I’m still a little unsure about making it. However, it’s so easy to prepare (I mean, you can’t get easier than “stick the thing in the oven”) and it is very brunchy. The strata is a little bit involved, but it was such a hit last year that I want to make it a Christmas tradition. As for the cresent roll wreath? I was looking through some old cooking magazines and found the recipe in an issue of Taste of Home. You bake up the rolls, let them cool, make a yummy cream cheese mixture, spread it on top of the rolls and then arrange broccoli, celery, and sweet red pepper. It looks so pretty and sounds yummy! If I make it I’ll be sure to take a photo.

Jake and I made the most amazing mint-chocolate brownies today. Basically, we just doctored up boxed brownie mix by chopping up some York Peppermint Patties (I obviously did that part) and stirred them into the mix. Awesome! Unfortunately the brownies are for after Jake’s preschool’s holiday show tomorrow. Well, fortunate for everyone who goes, but unfortunate that they’re not just for us. I will be making these again though! And I might be able to sneak one (just a tiny one) later on to have as a bedtime snack with a cup of tea 😉

I love planning parties. I really do. But I just feel like we didn’t have enough time to think about this wine tasting party we’re having on Sunday, and I’m throwing it together without as much thought as I usually put into things. Luckily, it’s going to be very low-fi. There are only 7 adults (including Drew and myself) and 4 kids, so I’m not too worried. I just wanted to come up with a more creative menu, but I’m sure this will be fine:

Vegetable Spring Rolls (from Sam’s Club)
Mini Quiches (from Sam’s Club)
Roast beef on crostini, dab of horseradish
Fruit, cheese, and cracker platter

I just need to think of a couple fun, kid-oriented appetizers. Maybe pigs in a blanket? (At the end of August I remember reading an article in the NY Times that said they were incredibly popular at posh cocktail parties this summer, ha!) I think I might make a small batch of punch and buy a container of sherbet for the kids’ “cocktails.” I think it would be fun to have this little scoop of sherbet melting in their cup.

As for the wines, I think we might do the Hayman & Hill Cabernet Sauvignon as well as their Chardonnay. We are huge fans of both. Typically, I don’t love chardonnay, but theirs… well, I’m sure I could kick a bottle of it pretty easily. Over the weekend we tried the Duo Cabernet-Merlot blend. It was decent, but I wasn’t in love with it. It is also the first wine that I was able to describe as having “a hint of beet.” Seriously! Not in a bad way, but it had this earthy/sweetness thing and Drew and I were throwing around thoughts and suddenly I just looked at him and said, “Beet. It’s beet!” And he was like, “Holy crap, you’re right!” That was kind of funny. Anyway, we won’t be tasting people on that. Again, not bad, but for the price point there are plenty of other Chilean wines I’d rather drink. We need at least one more wine. I think Drew had a couple ideas, but I don’t remember what they were. So I guess in all reality I’m not that ill-prepared. But I feel like I am.