Alternate Beef Stroganoff

One of the most common meats in our freezer is hamburger. Our local Wegman's has some of the best hamburger, at a reasonable price, this is typically 80/20.

We had made chicken soup from some chicken quarters - I will post this recipe as well - and during dinner I casually mentioned to Leigh it would be a nice change of pace to have a beef stroganoff for the next evening dinner. She agreed.

We made this in a slow cooker, and would serve four to six people.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 quart beef stock
• 1/3 pound penne
• 1 small onion
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• celery - to taste - we used 1/2 cup
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup cornstarch rue - cornstarch and water thickener. 2 tsp cornstarch to 1/2 cup hot water

Start off with the slow cooker on high, add the beef stock the hamburger, and the garlic powder, and break up the hamburger as it cooks. When the beef is done, add the onions and celery, 3 cups of water, penne, heavy cream, and rue. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir it up and turn the slow cooker down to a low setting. Check it every so often and stir frequently until the penne is done.

Garlic bread and Parmesan cheese would compliment this stroganoff nicely!

Enjoy!

Pickled Carrots

IT'S FALL!
Tomatoes, corn, squash, and cucumbers are ready, and ready for pickling. I mean, seriously, who does not appreciate a crunchy dill or sweet pickle?

How about something out of the ordinary? Something that is not seasonal, but available year round at your local grocery store (sorry if you are not near a Wegman's! Wegman's Website).

Baby carrots - one pound, two pounds, as many as you want to pickle at one time. Baby carrot dill pickles.

Easy, fast, and super low cost. Ours cost about $.80 per jar - more if you have to buy the jars.

Here's the ingredients you will need.

Some pickling and canning salt. This is available at Walmart. Canning Salt









Some dill pickle mix. This is also available at Walmart.
Dill Pickle Mix

Of course - baby carrots. Cut them in half.

Just be careful. We put them in pint jars. If you want to use quart jars, double the ingredients.

To each pint jar add 1/2 tablespoon of the canning salt and dill pickle mix. Then add 1 cup of while vinegar to each jar, and top off each jar with water.

Finally, seal each jar with a lid and ring, and then process. We use a pressure canner at ten pounds of pressure for ten minutes. This is just enough to cook the carrots a little, and they will not be too mushy.

These are best if left to pickle for about 48 hours, though sometimes the temptation is too much!

Enjoy and have fun!

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken

A little something different today. Leigh and I like to cook. Here's a recipe for two we made in a small crockpot. We used Wegman's brand ingredients, but another store brand should work as well.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup Roasted Red Pepper salad dressing
1/2 cup Ketchup
8 oz. brocolli cuts

Recipe for two:https://shop.wegmans.com/product/31590/wegmans-dressing-roasted-sweet-red-pepperIn a small crockpot start cooking two chicken breasts and add ½ cup of the Wegman’s Roasted Red Pepper dressing and ½ cup of Wegman’s ketchup on High setting. Cook the breasts until almost done. Next, add the broccoli and set the crockpot on Low, and cook until the broccoli is tender. This recipe took about 3 ½ hours in my small crockpot.

Red Pepper Dressing