Homemade Pot Roast/Beef Stew with Veggies (Crock Pot)

Just popping in real quick to share another delicious, crock pot recipe. You just throw everything into your crock pot and let it cook away :-). I paired my dish with some homemade, hand whipped garlic mashed potatoes with Hawaiian Rolls on the side. Enjoy!

Homemade Pot Roast/Beef Stew with Veggies

·         2 lb Chuck Roast (with a little fat for flavor)

·         1-2 Whole Onion peeled and cut in half

·         7-8 Organic Carrots peeled and chopped into 2 inch chunks

·         5 medium to small Yellow Idaho Potatoes washed peeled sliced into medium chunks

·         1 pkg McCormick Brown Gravy

·         3 cups of low sodium beef broth

·         2 sprigs of Thyme

·         2 sprigs of Rosemary

·         Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder

·         Olive Oil

Cover the bottom of your skillet with olive oil or vegetable oil; Heat it (make sure it’s good and hot), Wash-Peel-Chop onions, organic carrots and potatoes, season them with a little salt/pepper; Place them into your hot pan to cook for 5 minutes (or until brown); Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside; Rinse your Chuck Roast and pat it dry; Season it with a good amount of salt & pepper on both sides; Sear it on both sides in the hot skillet for 5-7 minutes on each side (until brown); Place the Chuck Roast into the crock pot; In that same hot skillet pour in 1 ½ cups of Beef Broth; Add 1 pkg of brown gravy mix; Whisk the liquids and scrape the access browned bits from the bottom of the pan; Sprinkle a little onion powder & garlic powder over your chuck roast; Pour the liquid from the skillet into your crock pot; Add the veggies (onions, carrots, potatoes) thyme & rosemary; Pour the remaining 1 ½ to 2 cups of beef broth over the meat and veggies until they are covered; Turn the crock pot temperature on high for the first 3 hours and on low for the remaining 2 ½-3 hours until meat is falling apart and ready to serve. Remove the meat from the pot onto a plate and shred the beef (discard fat) and return it to the pot; Remove the sprigs of rosemary & thyme and use it for garnish J

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 5 ½ to 6 hours

Crock Pot Shredded Chicken Taco Chili w/ Homemade Cheesy Mexican Cornbread... YUM!

So it's a cold, rainy 68 degree weather day here in the Carolinas. I wanted to come up with a nice, savory-comforting type of meal for my family and this is what I came up with... My Crock Pot Shredded Chicken Taco Chili :-). I looked in my freezer and grabbed 4 boneless skinless chicken breast, frozen corn and other ingredients and created this finger licking recipe! Give it a try!

Crock Pot Shredded Chicken Taco Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 16-oz can black beans
• 1 16-oz can of chili beans
• ½ to 3/4 cup of Green/ Red/ Yellow Peppers, chopped
• 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
• 1 ½ cups of frozen corn kernels
• 1 or 2 cans diced tomatoes w/chilies (depending on the size of the can)
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• Dash of salt, black pepper or cayenne pepper
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• ¼ cup of water

Directions:

Combine beans, onion, green/red/yellow peppers, corn, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, water and taco seasoning in a crockpot and stir. Slice chicken breasts in half, season with salt & pepper and brown them with olive oil in a skillet. Place chicken on top of mixture in the crock pot and cover. Cook on high for 4-6 hours. One hour before serving, remove chicken and shred with a fork. Place the shredded chicken back into the crockpot, stir and allow it to cook for the final hour. Serve it plain or over rice, topped with sour cream, shredded cheese, fresh cilantro or crunchy tortilla chips. ENJOY! 

You can find a similar recipe on Skinny Taste (click on the word skinny taste to find that recipe)... I assure you, mine will taste much better :-)

Cheesy Mexican Cornbread
This recipe can be as simple or as complex as you'd like it to be... If you'd like to make the quick & simple version, use the recipe below:

• 1 package of corn muffin mix (Jiffy or whatever you'd like)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup of milk or Mexican Crema
• 1 can of diced tomatoes with green chili's
• 1/2 cup of Mexican cheese blend
• Jalapeno Peppers for some "kick"(optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, grease/butter your dish (I use a glass pie dish), blend all of your ingredients, poor into pan, top it with a little more Mexican cheese blend, bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

For the more time consuming version, I use the made from scratch recipe that can be found on the outside of your yellow cornmeal packaging. Prepare it per the directions and add in your tomatoes, chili's, jalapeno's and cheese.... ENJOY!

Just catching up through pictures... words are not enough

Oh my goodness! I hadn't realized the entire summer came and went since the last time I updated on this blog. To say that life has been hectic is an understatement. I've been on the go, go GO!!!! I can't even begin to share everything through words, however, I have taken a tone of pix throughout the past several months of life events so I will post them for your viewing. The include school achievements, the last day of school, soccer camps, family outings, outdoor movies by the lake, soccer tournaments, hair pix and etc... Agggggggh.... enjoy!

My son received the "Head Of School" award for maintaining a 4.0 GPA for the entire school year (6th grade). We were beyond proud of him and his accomplishments!

3v3 Soccer Tournaments throughout the summer 2014

 Summer OVERNIGHT Soccer Camps at Davidson College

 Leaving for a 4 day soccer camp

 Soccer Champs!

 Outdoor Movies By the Lake

 Family Outing at the Ball Park

 Soccer Sisters

 

Teaching the kids how to make stuffed peppers

 Back To School

This concludes pix of our previous months in a nutshell...

Stuffed Peppers-- Healthy Version :-)

Last night, I revised my stuffed pepper recipe and made a healthier version of it. I normally just eye every ingredient and make mental notes of what I put in it. However, I've had a few requests and the meal was such a hit, that I want to keep it in rotation. Here's a recipe that I put together from what I can remember from my metal notes. Give it a try and ENJOY!!!

 

Stuffed Peppers

• 1 lb of lean ground turkey

• 1/2 cup of chopped onions, red/yellow/green peppers (I buy them already chopped and frozen by PictSweet…. You can find them in the frozen vegetable section at wal mart, food lion and etc…)

• 1 can of organic crushed tomatoes (any brand…. I used Hunts I think)

• 1/2 jar of organic pasta sauce (I make my own but will buy Prego or Ragu onion/tomato/garlic brand in a time crunch and it taste GREAT)

• Multi-Grain Medley (this is the healthier version in place of white rice… It comes in a box made by Minute Rice with 4 pre-portioned bags… I used only 1 bag for this meal… it is a mixture of brown rice, red rice, wild rice and quinoa… it is 100% whole grain and gluten free)

• seasonings… 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, a dash of sugar, a few dashes of salt and black pepper

• fat free cheese OR any shredded cheese on top… you don’t really need to keep it fat free since you’ll only use a little on each pepper 

• Green Bell Peppers (4-6... for this recipe, I used 4 peppers cut in half for a total of 8 stuffed peppers)

Directions

• Boil the rice per the directions, set it aside in a large mixing bowl once it’s cooked.

• Cook your ground turkey in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil (or whatever oil you prefer)

• Drain your turkey and return it to the stove

• Add in the chopped onions and peppers until they cook for about 3-5 minutes

• Add in your seasonings (garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper)

• Add your can of crushed tomatoes, sauce and a little sugar to bring out the flavors

• Let it cook for about 5-7 minutes

• Pour your meat mixture into the mixing bowl with the muti grain medley… Combine them all together until you get your desired consistency. You don’t want it to be too runny because it will run out of the peppers when it cooks.

• Wash your peppers, slice them in half and clean out the seeds…

• Stuff the peppers with the mixture and place them into a large baking pan

• Top them with shredded cheese, loosely cover them with foil and bake them for 30 minutes on 400-425 degrees

• Take the foil off and bake them for 5 more minutes until the cheese melts

• Let them cool for 10 minutes and INDULGE!!!

It's been a long time...

So much has happened and so many wonderful things have taken place since the last time I posted anything. Hubby graduated from the Univ Of FL with his MBA in December! Yay!!  We also purchased some land and had a new home built... we surprised the kids with our new home in January 2014 and they are thrilled beyond words! We couldn't be more blessed! My girls are still going hard with soccer. My eldest was invited to play in a huge soccer tournament in Richmond Virginia (Jefferson Cup) and they won the entire tournament by beating teams from Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Ohio and came home with the JEFFERSON CUP!!!  That Championship landed her and her team in our local newspaper! We were just over the top with happiness for her. My son has been on fire in the classroom by achieving HIGH Honors for both 1st and 2nd quarters. He is also on the Speech & Debate team and winning all of his debates! Football season is around the corner for him as well as golf & swimming camp this summer. Both of my daughters will be attending a wonderful soccer camp this summer as well. I have been quite busy running around with the kids, working on my fitness and getting the home in order. We've celebrated 3 birthdays so far this year and have had sleep overs and lot's of kids over in the past few months. 2014 is just flying by....

I will do my best to post as often as I can.  Spring break is next week so I will hopefully have some time to recover and get back to posting and making more videos. I am going to add pictures from the events I mentioned above and also share one of my delicious, nutritious smoothies with you!  I'll be back, soon!!!

Wow, 32oz of yummy deliciousness for breakfast this morning! Here's what's in it:

Almond Milk & Fruit Smoothie
-1 medium ripe banana
-1/4 cup of frozen blueberries
-1/4 cup of frozen strawberries
-1/4 cup of frozen pineapples or mangos
-2 cups of chilled unsweetened almond milk
-handful of organic baby spinach
-2 tbsp of Forti-Flex (Organic Vegan Cold Milled Ground Flaxseeds)

This was not only delicious but nutritious! Flax seeds are high in Omega-3 essential fatty acids, Lignans & Fiber-- not to mention all of the vitamins and minerals they provide. They also reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes which are prominant diseases in my family. This alone is the reason why I add them daily . You can sprinkle them over your yogurt, cereal, muffin, salad and smoothies to ensure you get them in. Give this smoothie a try and start to incorporate more fruits in veggies in your diet. You will see the difference and your body will thank you ‪#‎healthyfoodhealthybody‬ ‪#‎treatyourbodyright‬