food.....yumyums.....delicioso....

MMMMM food. I have had an adventurous spirit lately when it comes to cooking. I have been making things that I haven't made before. Mostly in my Crock-pot. I love my Crock-pot. Definitely need to find more recipes for that bad boy.

First I made beef stew in the crock-pot. I made it on a cold fall night and it was delicious. I based my recipe off of this one Beef Stew.  I made a few changes because I didn't have everything listed and I didn't want to go back to the store (my phone with the list online wouldn't work while at the store so I had to wing it). Here are the changes I made. I put the beef stew meat in the crock pot frozen. I just poured the flour mixture in (no stirring to coat) and I didn't use a bay leaf or celery. I also used baby carrots (about 1/2 a small bag) instead of slicing whole carrots. I added a little more beef broth than the recipe calls for (maybe 2 cups total). We had some fresh yeast rolls to go with it and yum, it was good. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture, I was busy eating the deliciousness :)

Last night I made Homemade Beef Stroganoff. I got the recipe from my friend Hillary here Easy Homemade Beef Stroganoff. It was also super delicious. I didn't alter her recipe at all and once again threw the beef stew meat in the crock pot frozen. Since it was just the 2 of us there are plenty of leftovers that are now in the freezer waiting for us to return from our holiday travels. Here is a picture of the finished product on top of some egg noodles. Sorry about the quality of the photo. I took it with my phone and didn't pay attention if it was focused, oops.

Last night I also made my chocolate chip cookies. I basically follow the Nestle recipe. However, I do things a little differently. Here is my version of their recipe.

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter                                    3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
3/4 cup white sugar                           2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda                              1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla                                      2 eggs
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large glass bowl place the 2 sticks of butter in the microwave and microwave on high for about 1 min 30 seconds. You want the butter to be almost completely melted. Then add brown sugar, sugar, salt, baking soda and vanilla and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Then add 2 eggs and stir to combine. Next add the flour and stir until it is all incorporated. Then add the chocolate chips and stir. I then use a tea spoon (like you would eat with) to scoop the dough out and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 7-9 minutes until top is just beginning to be golden. Remove from oven and let cool on sheet for 1-2 minutes. Transfer to counter on paper towels to cool completely.

Now I am ready for all of the Thanksgiving fare over the next few days!