Sunday Supper: Crockpot Italian Beef, Oven Browned Potatoes, & Green Beans

I was kind of sad this weekend. I'd been saving the weekend for months as the weekend I was going to go to Chicago to see our close friends before the baby comes, and it was not meant to be. Whenever they come visit us, they bring Novi's roast beef. It's one of my absolute favorite things (and I am NOT typically a roast beef kind of girl.)

So in the spirit of my missed Chicago trip, Sunday dinner is Italian beef sandwiches (made in the crockpot), with green beans and oven browned potatoes.

If the green beans look a tad insipid in this picture, well . . . they were. Sometimes digging through the freezer yields things better left uncovered!

Italian Roast Beef Sandwiches (Source: Lisa's Cooking Spot)
-3-5lb beef roast (I used a 4.25lb chuck which was on sale - yay!)
-1 packet dry Italian dressing mix
-3 beef bouillon cubes
-3 cups water
-Seasoning (I used red pepper flakes and Mrs Dash table blend)

-Place roast in crockpot stoneware and turn on
-In a small saucepan heat Italian dressing mix, bouillon, water, and seasoning on high
-Boil for three minutes, then remove from heat and pour over roast
-Cook 5 hours on high
-Remove beef and shred, returning to slow cooker (at this point I mixed in 1/2 jar of banana peppers)
-Serve on hard rolls with as much juice as desired

Oven Browned Potatoes (Source: Cooks.com)
-2lbs new potatoes, quartered, skin on
-3 tbsp olive oil
-Seasoning (I used steak seasoning)

-Preheat oven to 45o
-In a medium bowl, mix potatoes, oil, and seasoning (I coated the bowl with oil first, then added half the potatoes and drizzled with oil, then the remainder, drizzled again, and tossed with tongs)
-Spread in a single layer in a 13x9 pan, and bake for 30 minutes
-Flip potatoes and cook an additional 20 minutes

Crockpot Guinness Beef Stew

I'm not sure what it was about this stew - it's not particularly zesty or flavorful. It just has an amazing comfort food texture, and I can't stop eating it.

It uses 3lbs of beef, so I was relieved chuck stew was on sale at Whole Foods. I had to adapt the recipe a tad due to the usual "oops, I forgot a couple ingredients" drama. The below reflects how I made it.

Crockpot Guinness Beef Stew (Source: Mille Fiori Favoriti)
-3 lbs chuck stew meat
-1 cup flour
-3 cloves chopped garlic
-6 carrots, peeled and chopped
-4 potatoes, chopped
-2 tbsp tomato paste
-1 bottle Guinness Stout
-1 cup beef broth (I used 1 beef bouillon cube dissolved in 1 cup of boiling water)

-Dredge the meat with flour until evenly coated
-In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute the beef in a little oil until evenly browned
-While meat is cooking, add vegetables to crockpot stoneware and turn on low setting
-Place browned meat over vegetables
-Mis tomato paste, stout, and broth in a medium bowl, and pour over contents of crockpot
-Cook on low 8 hours

One for the Freezer: Chicken and Dumplings

Today was a day calling out for comfort food, and this hit the spot bigtime (especially because Mishke made it and I didn't lift a finger!) We made it in a 6 quart slowcooker and it was pretty full, so we had enough for dinner, lunch tomorrow, and leftovers in the freezer.

This is the first time that we made the homemade cream-of substititute. I definitely intend to use that again. Way lower sodium, and great taste!

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings (Source: The Crockpot Lady - love her!)
-3lbs chicken thighs (recipe called for boneless. We used bone-in, and it was plenty of meat.)
-1 cup mushrooms
-1 16ozs bag frozen mixed vegetables
-1/2 stick butter
-6 tbsp flour
-1 cup milk
-1 cup chicken broth
-Seasoning salt and pepper
-1 tube biscuits (we used Immaculate Baking Company)

-Place chicken, mushrooms, and veggies in the bottom of the crockpot
-In a skillet, melt butter
-Add flour, stirring to make a roux, then add milk, chicken broth, and seasoning
-Pour sauce over contents of crockpot
-Cook on high 5 hours
-Remove chicken, shred, and mix back into sauce and veggies
-Lay biscuits over top
-Cook on high an additional hour until biscuits are puffy, cooked, and a little brown

Snow Day Crockpot Chicken Chowder

It was our first big snow this morning and so I holed up at home and telecommuted. Mishke and Bean braved the elements to make snow angels and dig out the car to head out the store and buy ingredients for dinner. It was the perfect day for a long, slow soup. Although making this in the crockpot when home is bad because this recipe smells delicious and you just want to eat all day long . . .

The original recipe calls for onion and chive cream cheese, but we don't like onions or chives, so we substituted spinach artichoke (who knew that even existed?)

Chicken Chowder (Source: Land o' Lakes, found on Crockpot Tuesdays)
-2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
-8 small red potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
-1 cup onion, diced (we omitted)
-2 14 oz. cans chicken broth
-1 16 oz. package frozen mixed vegetables
-Seasoning (used liberal amounts of tarragon and table blend)
-1 cup half and half
-2 tbsp. cornstarch
-1 8 oz. container spinach and artichoke cream cheese

-Combine chicken, potatoes, broth, frozen veg, and seasoning in crockpot

-Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

-After it is cooked, mix half-and-half and cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth

-Stir into mixture in crockpot

-Re-cover and cook on high 30 minutes until thickened

-Turn off heat and stir in cream cheese until melted

Photo to come