Vegetable Soup

Jane's Vegetable Soup

2-3 pounds boneless chuck, tip, or round, (or just buy stew meat) cut into 1 inch pieces

1 T. vegetable oil

2 C. water

2 t. beef bouillon

2-3 cloves garlic

salt & pepper

5 or so carrots

4 or so potatoes

2 stalks celery (opt.)

1 onion

1 quart canned tomatoes (or store bought large can)

2 or 3 quarts of tomato juice (can use v8 too)

bag of frozen corn

bag of frozen peas

1 quart green beans

canned mushrooms

Cook and stir beef in oil in large pan until browned. Stir in 2 cup water, the beef bouillon, salt & pepper, & chopped garlic. Cover and simmer until tender, about 1 hour. (an hour & a half if you need to) Stir in tomato juice. Add sliced carrots, potatoes, celery, onion, & canned tomatoes. Cover & simmer until carrots & potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes or so. Add frozen peas & corn, green beans, & mushrooms. Simmer a few more minutes.I usually make a big batch of this (using 3 or 4 pounds of meat & at least 3 quarts of tomato juice) so we can eat it for two days. It's always even better on day two. If there's any left, it's great to freeze in small single serving containers.

Here it is in the big pot I cook it in. It's not a very good picture, so once I added it & saw that I didn't really like it I tried to delete it. But.....I can't figure out how to get it off of this post. lol

So I guess I'm stuck with leaving it here because I'm too tired to try to figure it out. lol

I wanted to add that what I think is great about this soup is that you can add whatever you like or take out what you don't. You could add lima beans if you want. I personally LOVE cabbage in mine, but nobody else in my family likes cabbage in it.

ICE CREAM TIME!

HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM WITH ANDES CREME DE MENTHE PIECES

She Treads Softly gave me the idea to add creme de menthe pieces to ice cream.
I am not able to come up with any words to aptly describe how wonderful this tastes.
Here's my recipe for this light chocolate ice cream. It is for a gallon & a half ice cream maker.

HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM (light chocolate)

4 squares semi-sweet melted chocolate

6 c. half & half (or use some half & half & some cream)

3-3/4 c sugar

7-1/2 T. flour

1-1/2 t. salt

7 eggs

Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler & heat up the half & half to about the same temperature. Combine & beat with mixer for a while. Set aside to cool.

In large mixing bowl, combine other ingredients and then fold it into the cooled milk & chocolate mixture. Put back onto the heat & cook & stir until spoon is coated. (don't boil)

Let cool & then refrigerate overnight.

When it's time to make the ice cream, pour into the canaster. -This part is probably exclusive to this big old ice cream freezer I have- then pour milk into canister until it is 4 or 5 inches from the top. It usually takes about a quart of milk to do this. I don't understand this, but I do it & it works. lol I would think it would water down the ice cream. But like I said, it works. :)

We crank our freezer for 20 minutes or so. If we eat the ice cream right after cranking, it is soft like soft serve ice cream, kind of like a thick milk shake. So after we enjoyed some ice cream, I brought the can in, added the Andes Creme De Menthe baking chips, stirred, & then poured it into a 1.5 gallon ice cream container (the plastic kind with a handle, that you get ice cream in the store, it's like a bucket), then cover with plastic wrap before puting on the lid.

Once it freezes harder, it looks like the picture.

I think this is my favorite so far. But I may need to make that coffee mint ice cream again & put these mint pieces in that! Then I don't know which would be my favorite!

Steak & Egg Sandwich

The picture didn't turn out so great, but I had to show one shot of this before slicing. This is a 'left overs' sandwich. The day before we had steak sandwiches that I got from PioneerWoman Cooks. I make a bunch so we will have leftovers. :)
And this is how my dh loves it.
It is on toasted rye bread. (we were out of our deli sub buns)
It has cheese and a nice layer of steak & 1 sunny side up egg.

Just look at that juice from the steak & the egg yolk!

YUM!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Porcupines

I used to call these Porcupine Balls.....until I realized what that meant! I just thought that these meatballs resemble porcupines because of the rice, & well, meatballs are shaped like a ball....
then a light bulb came on a few years ago & I realized what I'd been saying! So I now just call them PORCUPINES! :)

1 box Beef Rice a Roni
1-1/2 to 2 pounds hamburger
1 egg
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped

Mix meat, rice, egg, onion, & garlic . Shape into meatballs & brown on all sides. I make these kind of big, a little bigger than golf balls.
Drain off the grease.
Add 2-1/2 C. hot water to the beef flavoring packet that came in the rice a roni. Pour over meatballs. Cover & boil for 15-20 minutes or until rice looks puffy & soft.
Take lid off & cook water down some to make a nice gravy (well, it's more like a sauce).
We LOVE these & I usually serve them with mashed potatoes & corn. And the next day, if there are any leftovers, they make wonderful sandwiches! YUM!

Crockpot beef stew

We actually call this one "dark brown beef stew", because I have another recipe that we call "light brown beef stew". lol The "light brown" one is really good, it's different. This is the 'regular' kind, or 'usual' beef stew. Don't be fooled by usual or ordinary though, this is so gooooooood. And perfect for cool fall days. (if we'll ever GET any of those!)
Crockpot Beef Stew
1 pkg. stew meat, about 1 1/2 pounds
1 packet Lipton beefy onion soup mix
1 1/2 t. beef bouillon
3-4 potatoes, cubed
4-5 carrons, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced (optional)
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice (as you know by now, I use the kind with basil, garlic, & oregano)
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
salt & pepper to taste
2 T. cornstarch mixed with about 1/4 cup cold water.

Put all ingredients in a slow cooker (except cornstarch & water) on low for 8-10 hours. Taste & adjust seasonings. Add 2 T. cornstarch mixed with cold wather. Turn to high & stir until thickened.

Oh my.....this is SO good with homemade buttered bread.

Crawfish Gravy

I found this recipe on the back of a package of crawfish, but have never seen it since. I made it once, but didn't keep the recipe on the package, & now the recipe has never been on the package since then. I've done many searches & haven't found the exact recipe. But I think I've come close.

Crawfish gravy
1 lg. onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloved garlic, minced
1/2 c. celery, chopped
1 stick of butter
2 tomatoes, minced *or* 1 can chopped tomatoes with juice
1 lb. cooked crawfish
garlic salt
seasoned salt
1 T. Old Bay Seasoning (or more to taste)
pepper
1 T. lemon juice
few shakes of tobasco

Saute onion, bell pepper, garlic, & celery. Add tomatoes & continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add crawfish, & seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat & simmer for 1 hour. I play around with the seasonings. I think you can pretty much add what you like. Most recipes call for this to be served over rice or potatoes. None of us really like rice here, so we eat this on mashed potatoes. It is SO good.