Garlic Beef Crockpot

Well... as promised in Monday's post, I am back with a new recipe.

I took an extra day because a small child confiscated my camera and hid it under the couch.

And let's face it, this blog is not as much fun without pics right?

Anyway.....

I have had this recipe in my files for a while.  It sounded good when I saw it somewhere on the web (I can't remember where).

I mean garlic & beef.  YUM right? 

Add that to the fact that you make it in the crockpot and BONUS!

(And just a note... this is not an asian dish in any way... even though it sounds like it).
  
When I started to make it I realized that I needed to tweak the reicpe a bit. 

The original recipe called for 6lbs of beef.... I have a large family... but not that large!

So, I changed it up added some things and made it my own... that makes it more fun anyway.

Ingredients

2 pounds lean steak, cubed

5 cloves garlic, minced *( my garlic was very large... I would use 10 regular sized cloves)

1 bay leaf

1/2 small onion, sliced/diced

14 oz can Italian stlye diced tomatoes

10+ black olives, sliced
1 1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbs olive oil

1/2 C broth (chicken or beef)

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in slow cooker.

2. Mix

3. Cover; cook on Low 7-9 hours or High 3-4 hours.

4. Remove bay leaf before serving.

***Review:

This was a great dish!  Very garlicy.... and I love garlic. Hubs liked it a lot too.  The kids however gave this one a thumbs down.  Go figure... since it has tomatoes and onions... 2 things they refuse to eat.  I was hoping the black olives would distract them enough.... no luck!  I will be making this one again though!  MMMMM.

**Tips:
If you have a crockpot that you know cooks on the hot side, I would recommend using a smaller crockpot for this.  If you don't have a small one (I don't) you can place a glass bowl ,large enough to fit your meal, inside your large crockpot and that should work too!  My crockpot doesn't cook hot though... so this worked just fine.  My meat was frozen though... so that added a bit more water to the pot. 
Speaking of frozen meat.... here is a great tip:  cut meat when it's still mostly frozen.  It makes it waaay easier.  If you have to cut fresh meat, use kitchen scissors.  Trying to cut raw/thawed meat with a knife can be challenging.
Also, if you are a tomato person... I would probably try adding another can of diced tomatoes to this dish.  I will do that next time. 
FYI  I cooked this on high for 4 hours and it was perfect!

*Serving:
I served  this over white rice.  It was really good that way and kind of reminded me of a beef stew type dish.  If you are trying to save on calories, it would be fine to eat it alone. 

Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients

2 pounds lean steak, cubed

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 small onion, sliced/diced

10+ black olives, sliced

14 oz can Italian stlye diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbs olive oil

1/2 C broth (chicken or beef)

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in slow cooker.
2. Mix
3. Cover; cook on Low 7-9 hours or High 3-4 hours.
4. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Dinner tools & other news

Well... I guess the winter "blahs" got a hold of me yet again. 

and in case you're wondering, I have actually been cooking... so my family is not starving.

But... I have not been posting... obviously!

Since I still have to cook, I have been taking pics and storing them up.

Now I have a nice little store of recipes

I would LOVE if you would send me some of yours to try as well.

Send them to thedinnerdrama@hotmail.com 

Please make sure to put the recipe name in the subject area.

During my little "winter break", I got an e mail from someone over at dinnertool.com

They were interested in linking to my blog from their site.

Needless to say, I went right over to their site to check it out and found some neat tools for meal planning and dinner ideas.

As much as I love to cook... I am in no way a meal "planner".

Which, if you know me, is quite funny.... because I am very much a planner at heart.

Wierd huh?

I've just never found a system that I love!

Anyway, go over to dinnertool.com and check them out. They really have some neat tools I think you will like!

Tell them I sent you!

Oh... and if you're looking for some new recipes....check back tomorrow! I have something cooking in the crockpot right now!

Roasted Veggies

Roasted Potatoes and/or Veggies

Before we go on to said recipe... I just want to give credit where credit is due. 

Besides what you will read in the next few sentences, all of the below commentary is from my friend Merran.

She made these awesome roasted potatoes one night when I "happened" to stop by and they were awesome.

I couldn't stop eating them... .which was probably rude of me.

But really.... they were SO good! 

So I asked her to send me the recipe and she kindly did so.

Below is her technique of making the yummiest roasted veggies around!

Thanks Merran!!!



Roasting potatoes and veggies is so easy and really delicious.

And the best part about roasting is that it is a super easy technique that you can use over and over with different combinations of vegetables,and it never gets old!

This recipe is more of a technique than a recipe.

You can use almost any kind of vegetable you want, in any combination with others.

One important thing to remember is that potatoes and winter squashes take longer to cook than most other vegetables.

If you are going to roast a combination of potatoes/winter squash with other vegetables, it is wise to put the potatoes/squash on their own baking sheet and put them in the oven to cook a while before putting in the other vegetables.


Some vegetables options:
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Carrots
Onions (any type)
Green Onions
Asparagus
Peppers (any color)
Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Celery
Green Beans
Snap or Snow Peas
Squash
Zucchini
Potatoes (with or without skin)
Sweet potatoes (with or without skin)
Acorn squash (skin removed)
Butternut squash (skin removed)

Preheat oven to 375°F

Wash and dry veggies/potatoes.

Any combination of in season will work.

Cube them into large bite-size pieces.

Halve mushrooms, if large.

Spray a baking sheet (or two, if needed) liberally with cooking spray.

 Arrange veggies/potatoes in a single layer on sheet.


Brush the vegetables/potatoes with olive oil or for a lower fat option, spray with cooking spray.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and any other kind of seasoning you desire (basil, oregano, rosemary, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, etc.)

Roast in oven at 375°F.

 Veggies alone will take anywhere from 15-25 minutes, depending on how hot your oven runs.

After 15 minutes, check regularly for tenderness of veggies.

Potatoes will take anywhere from 40-50 mins.


Reduce heat if vegetables/potatoes are browning too quickly before they are done.

If veggies/potatoes seem to be drying out, add more olive oil.

Enjoy!

***Review:
We LOVED this.  I went to the store immediately to buy sweet potatoes and they turned out awesome.  Hubs loved these...a few of the kids did too.   You know, kids and veggies... hit or miss!  


**Tips:
We used red potatoes and sweet potatoes (skin on & washed well).  They turned out great.  At the end of the cooking time, I put my oven on broil for a few minutes just to give the potatoes a little "crunch".  If you want yours softer, don't try this ;)
Also, I only used sea salt on mine.  I didn't feel the need to add more seasoning... but I will probably try some chili powder (for hubs) and garlic powder (for me) next time... just to experiment. 
These will go great with almost any meal.  I actually ate them for lunch all by themselves... they are that good! 




Printable Recipe:

Preheat oven to 375°F 

Wash and dry veggies/potatoes.

Any combination of in season will work.

Cube them into large bite-size pieces.

 Halve mushrooms, if large.

Spray a baking sheet (or two, if needed) liberally with cooking spray.

Arrange veggies/potatoes in a single layer on sheet.

Brush the vegetables/potatoes with olive oil or for a lower fat option, spray with cooking spray

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and any other kind of seasoning you desire (basil, oregano, rosemary, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, etc.)

Roast in oven at 375°F.

Veggies alone will take anywhere from 15-25 minutes, depending on how hot your oven runs.

After 15 minutes, check regularly for tenderness of veggies.

Potatoes will take anywhere from 40-50 mins.

Reduce heat if vegetables/potatoes are browning too quickly before they are done.
If veggies/potatoes seem to be drying out, add more olive oil.

Coffee Toffee Brownies

Doesn't that title just make your mouth water?  Mmmmmm!

I think I might be back from my bloggy break.

I'm not sure though.

I will admit that it's been nice to not have to worry about blogging!

Is that bad?

My mouth is feeling much better these days

In case you were wondering.

And... I started cooking yesterday, so I suppose I should share....

I made a basic lasagna for dinner using my homemade pasta sauce I had in the freezer.

And of course, I had to make some dessert to go with it.

I have had this brownie recipe sitting in my inbox since October. 

Every time I buy the heath bars, they get eaten before I can bake. 

This time, I hid them when I got home from the store.... HA!  

Here is the recipe:


Coffee Toffee Brownies:

1 box brownie mix*
3/4 C toffee pieces, for the batter (broken up)  
2 to 3 Tbs instant espresso powder or instant coffee crystals
3/4 C  vanilla frosting  
1 Tbs Irish cream liqueur or coffee liqueur
1/4 C toffee pieces, for the topping (broken up)
*(Don't forget ingredients the box mix calls for ie: eggs, oil & water)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9 inch square baking pan ( I used 8x11)
Break up toffee pieces

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions, except stir the 3/4 cup toffee pieces and the espresso powder/instant coffee into batter.

Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes.

If not using frosting, add toffee pieces while brownies are still hot.

Let brownies cool. 

Frosting:

 In a small bowl, combine vanilla frosting and liqueur.

Spread frosting mixture onto cooled brownies.

Sprinkle with the 1/4 cup toffee pieces.

TO STORE: Place bars in a single layer in an airtight container; cover. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3
days.

***Review:These were a definite hit in our house.  I had no doubt that they would be.  Coffee flavored anything is good! Toffee anything is good... mix the two and you have a highly dangerous dessert!  Meaning, I just may eat the whole pan all by myself....lol   I may or may not have eaten these for breakfast AND lunch today!  They are the perfect chewy, crunchy, sweet, salty mix!  I am in love!!!!
Everyone else loved these too.  Although, we didn't use the frosting.... they were still amazing!  

**Tips:
As I said in the review, I did not use the frosting.  I have no doubt that it would add even more yumminess to these brownies... but, I am not a frosting person.  I like my brownies naked.  What I did was just top the brownies with 1/4 C of the broken toffee pieces as soon as it came out of the oven so it would kind of melt into the top. MMMMMMMMMMMM!
But if YOU try the frosting, please comment below and let me know how they were that way!
To break up the toffee bars into small pieces, I put them into a ziplock bag (squeezing out all the air) and used a meat tenderizer to "hammer" them into small pieces.(see photo above)  This way the pieces can be as large or as small as you want. You could also use any blunt object to smash them in the bag... or roll with a rolling pin.  You could get pretty creative :)
Also, as I said, I didnt use the 9 inch square pan.  I had an 8.5 x11 inch pan and that worked fine.  You could probably use and 8 x 8 as well.  
One last thing.... if you plan on feeding these things to children and/or eating them at night, I might suggest buying *Decaf* coffee crystals instead of the regular kind (that I bought).  Hindsight!!!


Printable Recipe:

Coffee Toffee Brownies

1 box brownie mix*
3/4 C toffee pieces, for the batter (broken up)  
2 to 3 Tbs instant espresso powder or instant coffee crystals
3/4 C  vanilla frosting  
1 Tbs Irish cream liqueur or coffee liqueur
1/4 C toffee pieces, for the topping (broken up)
*(Don't forget ingredients the box mix calls for ie: eggs, oil & water)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9 inch square baking pan ( I used 8x11)
Break up toffee pieces

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions, except stir the 3/4 cup toffee pieces and the espresso powder/instant coffee into batter.

Spread batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes.

Let brownies cool. 

Frosting:

 In a small bowl, combine vanilla frosting and liqueur.

Spread frosting mixture onto cooled brownies.

Sprinkle with the 1/4 cup toffee pieces.

TO STORE: Place bars in a single layer in an airtight container; cover. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.