Herbed Artichoke Chicken

I made this one last week but last week is a blur!!  If you are looking for something a little different for dinner, this is it!  It was delicious!  Salty and tasty.  This one is crazy easy to do too!

Combine 1 1/2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts, 14 oz drained diced tomatoes, 14 oz artichoke hearts, 1 diced small onion, 1 cup of chicken broth, 1/2 cup of kalamata olives, 1/4 cup of dry white wine, 3 Tbsp quick cooking tapioca, 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, 2 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp dried sweet basil, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper in crockpot.  I prefer the fire roasted diced tomatoes.  There is so much more depth of flavor in them.  We don't drink much white wine, so I used a Chardonnay that we happened to have on hand.  But use any dry white that you like to drink.  I used Mezzata pitted kalamata olives, as opposed to canned.  They are so much more robust in flavor.  I like flat leaf parsley, it has a better texture and is easy to chop.

Stir to combine the ingredients.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours or 3 1/2 to 4 hours on High.

The chicken just shreds, no knife needed.  The whole family loved it!  It makes 8 servings for 219 calories.  Definitely will be made again!

Italian Braised Short Ribs in Red Wine

,Monday was a great day for a play date!  The kids had not been sleeping well, so going out is insanity right now.  Hess' best friend came over for the morning.  Always so cute to watch them run around holding hands.  At age two, this is Hess' first friend.  It's nice too because her mommy is a lot like me in parenting styles, so it is really easy to talk to her!!  It made me feel like I had it all together, smelling the short ribs cooking during the play date!

Dinner was pretty easy to make, but we did eat late since this recipe takes a long time to cook!  To prep, I quartered 16oz of baby Bella mushrooms, and sliced 2 large yellow onions.  I put them in the fridge the night before to save myself some time.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Season 3 lbs of beef short ribs with salt and pepper.  I added 2 Tbsp of olive oil but the recipe did not call for any oil.  Add the ribs to the pan.  Do not crowd the ribs or they won't brown well.  Cook the ribs 6-8 minutes or until browned on all sides.  Place them into the crockpot.

Add onions to the skillet.  Cook and stir 3-5 minutes until they are tender.  Add 2 minced garlic cloves, mushrooms, 2 cups of dry red wine, 2 cups of beef broth and 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning to the skillet.  Always use wine you would drink, not something cheap.  We used a 2009 Beaulieu Vineyards Red Wine.  Cook for 3 minutes.  Pour over the ribs.

Cook on low 10-12 hours or on high 6-8 hours.  I recommend the low and slow method.  It recommends serving it with mashed potatoes.  I made mine with 4 red potatoes, 4 Tbsp of butter, about 3/4 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese, Tbsp of sour cream, salt and pepper to your liking and milk until the potatoes are as creamy as you desire.  I highly recommend serving it with mashed potatoes.  The hubby really liked it.  Hess didn't but it was late and he's two!  I thought it was good but I have made better.  It was a rough night for little Hess so pictures were not taken.

It makes 8 servings for 279 calories but this excludes the mashed potatoes.

Beef Bourguignon

NnYesterday was the perfect day for a crockpot meal.  Hess and I had a date to go into the city to see Daddy at work while Diane stayed with the babysitter.  In the hectic rush of the morning, I managed to get everything in the crockpot before we left.  So, while we were off on an adventure, dinner was cooking.  Hess was so excited to take the train and loved seeing his daddy!

Cut 3 lbs of boneless beef top sirloin steak into 1 inch pieces.  Usually I would just buy precut stew pieces but this time I didn't.  It was worth the extra couple minutes.  The beef was so tender.  Coat the beef with flour.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add 4 slices of diced bacon.  Cook and stir the bacon until partially cooked.  Add the beef and brown on all sides.  

Layer 2 diced medium carrots, 8 quartered small red potatoes, 8 sliced mushrooms, 20 pearl onions, 3 minced cloves of garlic, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp dried marjoram, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 1/2 tsp salt, black pepper and the beef mixture in the crockpot.  I used baby Bella mushrooms, I feel like they have more flavor than white mushrooms.  I also used frozen pearl onions as opposed to fresh.  Fresh ones are very time consuming and difficult.  The frozen ones taste just as good.  Pour 2 1/2 cups of beef broth over all the ingredients.  Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours.  Don't forget to discard the bay leaf before eating.  

It was delicious!  Of course anything with bacon is good!

Smoked Sausage and Bean Soup

It has been quite a week!! Both Hess and Diane had a pretty bad virus.  When your toddler is sick, lots of kisses, hugs, cuddles and kids shows will make them feel better.  But when a newborn is sick, nothing helps.  So the week was full of Bubble Guppies, Umi Zoomi and screams and tears.  Already this week has started better!  

Miss Diane is three months old, as of Monday.  How did that happen?!  Growing and developing every day!!

The smoked sausage and bean soup was easy enough to start.  Combine 28 ounces of chicken broth, 1 1/2 cups of hot water, 1 cup of dried black beans, 1 cup of chopped onion, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp sugar and a sprinkling of ground red pepper in the crockpot. I did not have ground red pepper, so I substituted with red pepper flakes.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.  I always prefer to cook on low, it seems to cook better.

Spray a large skillet with nonstick cooking spray.  Heat the skillet on medium high heat.  Add 6 ounces of smoked sausage.  Cook 8 minutes, allowing the sausage to get brown.  Drain the fat and add the sausage to the skillet.

Add 1 cup of chopped tomato, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 Tbsp chili powder, 1 1/2 tsp cumin, and 1/2 tsp salt.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes on high.  It says to sprinkle with cilantro but I forgot and it tasted fine.  It is only 150 calories and makes 9 servings!

I was not feeling well when the soup was done, so I am really not the best judge.  Hess loved the smoked sausage pieces, even ate most of the pieces out of mine as well!  The hubby said it was delicious.  I had it as leftovers for lunch today and I think the taste got even better.  I definitely recommend making it if you are looking for an easy soup on a cold day!!

Beef Roast with Dark Rum Sauce

I am amazing!!  Even after a rough weekend and an early morning doctors appt for Hess, I made our Monday Crockpot meal.  This beef roast is not the one to make while you are at work.  The roast needs to be basted several times while it is being cooked.

Hess had 104.5 degree temp on Saturday, very fussy and very tired.  Last night he barely slept with complaints that anything touching him hurt.  So this morning we rushed to the pediatrician to find out he has a virus and will most likely have it for several more days.  Oh joy.  The good news is that so far Diane is still feeling fine.  Fingers crossed that she stays well especially since she is still under 3 months!

When we got back from the doctors I had to start cooking.  Prep work was pretty easy.  Combine 1 tsp ground allspice,  1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper and 1/4 tsp ground cloves in a small bowl.  Rub spices all over 3 lbs of lean beef bottom round roast.

Heat 2 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add the beef to the skillet and cook it for around 8 minutes, browning it on all sides.  

Remove the roast and place it in the crockpot.  Add 1/2 cup of dark rum, 1/2 cup of beef broth, 2 minced garlic cloves and 2 whole bay leaves that were broken in half.  I used spiced Captain Morgan because that was what we had in the cupboard.  It worked just fine.  Cover and cook it on low for 1 hour.

Combine 1/2 cup of rum,  1/2 cup of packed dark brown sugar and 1/4 cup of lime juice.  Stir it until well blended and pour over roast.  Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours.  You should baste with sauce occasionally.  I did it once an hour.

Remove the roast.  Throw away the bay leaves.  Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.  To serve, spoon the sauce over the beef.

Don't forget the sauce, otherwise the roast is a little dry.  But the sauce is very flavorful.

Because we were dealing with a very sick boy I only had time to heat up some Green Giant frozen vegetables.  But I did make some mashed sweet potatoes.  I thought the sweetness would offset the bite of the allspice and cloves on the roast.  I cooked and mashed the sweet potatoes.  Then I mixed 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 2 Tbsp water, 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 cup of butter in a small pot.  When the butter was melted, I stirred the mixture into the already mashed sweet potatoes.  I think the key to good mashed potatoes is to find a good masher.  I had been using a cheap one that I had for years and years.  The other day I noticed it was chipping, so I tossed it and bought a new one on Amazon.  I bought a Calphalon Nylon Utensils Potato Masher.  Oh my goodness, such a difference.  They were so smooth!

Overall I would say the roast was really good.  Hess even ate a couple bites despite feeling awful.  But it is not my favorite.  A little dry for my taste. The hubby really liked if.

Smiles from Hess despite the virus!!

We have success!

The braised Chipolte beef was so tender. If you don't like spices, this recipe is not for you.  Very flavorful with some kick.  Hess was in a typical two year old mood and I had to literally feed him but he said he liked it and opened his mouth for every bite!  And hubby went back for seconds!  We have success!  

Next week we have a roast in a rum sauce.  Stay tuned!

Braised Chipolte Beef

Thank goodness today is a holiday, today's crockpot meal is a little time intensive.  I'd say it takes about an hour of prep/cook time before you put it in the crockpot.  The hubby read to Hess while I cooked.

The downside is I had to listen to Little Critter for the five thousandth time in the past week.  A little obsessed.

The upside is that today's meal is Diane approved.  She slept attached to me in the moby wrap the entire time I was cooking.

Today's meal is Braised Chipolte Beef.  It has 306 calories and serves 8.

The part that takes the most time is browning the 3 lbs of lean chuck roast cut into 2 inch pieces.  Brown it in 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil over medium high heat. You should cook it in batches, so it browns the meat more thoroughly. I did mine in 4 batches.  Took about 8 minutes per batch.  I used beef tips to cut down on prep time.  Remove it from the pan and place it in the crockpot.

Add 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil to the pan and reduce the heat to medium.  You want to cook 1 yellow onion, cut into pieces, until it is soft.  I cooked it about 4 minutes.  Then you want to add 2 red peppers also cut into pieces.  Cook it for 2 minutes.  Stir in 3 Tbsp of tomato paste, 1 Tbsp Chipolte chili powder, 1 Tbsp paprika, 1 Tbsp ground cumin, 1 Tbsp minced garlic, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp dried oregano and 1/2 tsp black pepper. I use the squeezable tomato paste so we don't waste the can.  I used 2 tsp of fresh oregano because we actually had it in the house for once.

Cook the spices and vegetables one minute, stirring frequently.  Pour on top of the beef in the crockpot.

Add 1 cup of beef broth to skillet, stirring to scrape up brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Pour the broth over the beef in the crockpot.  Stir in 14 oz of diced tomatoes.  I prefer the fire roasted ones, they seem to have a little more flavor.  Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Serve over rice.  We like Basmati rice cooked in chicken broth.  So much flavor.  Leaves me plenty of cuddle time with my overly affectionate kids.  Hess fell asleep at naptime face to face with me.  Forehead to forehead.  Nose to nose.  And Miss Diane fell asleep on the swing, only after holding my finger. Man, my arm is sore!!!  More tomorrow on the results of our cooking!