Rachael Ray's Black bean and beef Chili

This was a great chili, and I found the recipe for it on food network's site again.  We gave this a 9, it was tasty, and we liked how there was a rich spice without being burning and overpowering.  I followed the recipe very closely, substituting the mushrooms for a can of drained kidney beans, using only one pound of beef, and I didn't use any oil.  Other than that follow the link to the great recipe!  Each serving, for six servings, was 488 calories.

Owen's Copycat Taco Bell Beefy 5 Layer Burrito

Well, here's another Taco Bell treat, and this turned out so well.  Everyone felt like these tasted just like Taco Bell's Beefy Five Layer Burrito, but with a better tortilla and a little more flavor, so all good things :).  Owen loves this burrito, and so we decided to recreate it at home, and hooray, everyone but Owen gave it a perfect 10, he only gave it a 9 because he doesn't like the spice in the nacho cheese (he gets his without nacho cheese at TB :)).  This isn't really that difficult, the only thing that is in any way difficult is the nacho cheese, and it is important to note that it uses some Velveeta, because nacho cheese isn't the same without processed plastic cheese ;).  Anyway, each serving is around 450 calories and here's what to do:

home made nacho cheese sauce 
1/2 c of 1 lb velveeta melted with 1 can Rotel or Rotel dip
1 lb hamburger
1 T chili powder
1 t cumin
1/2 t coriander
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste
1 can refried beans (canned is better than homemade because of trying to taste like TB, homemade is better if you like food to taste delicious :))
tortillas
grated cheese
sour cream

Mix together the Rotel dip with the homemade nacho cheese, stirring well, and keeping warm.
Brown the hamburger in a skillet and drain the fat from the pan.  Add in the spices to taste, and set aside.  Cook/warm the tortillas, then layer the tortillas with nacho cheese, hamburger meat, refried beans, grated cheese, then sour cream.  Roll and serve.

Thanks Owen for a fun dinner idea :)!

Vicki's Crockpot Beef Stew

This was a really good beef stew, but it didn't come out the way I wanted it to, which was more like beef borgignon.  Oh well, it was delicious anyway, and very beefy :).  I always love making things in the crockpot, because I have way more energy in the morning, and then when dinner rolls around, I am ready to go without any extra work.  This came to about 250 calories per serving, and we all gave this an 8.  Here's what to do:

3 slices thick cut pepper bacon, diced
2 lb beef stew meat, well seasoned
2 T flour
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 T tomato paste
1 T butter
1/2 c mushrooms, chopped
thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper
1-2 c red wine
3-4 c beef broth
2 T tapioca

In a pan, crisp the bacon, then set it aside.  Toss the beef with the flour, then in the same pan as the bacon, brown the meat on all sides.  Set it aside.  In the same pan, cook the carrots and onions, season them and allow them to soften, mix in the tomato paste, allow the tomato paste to cook a little, then pour the veggies into the crock.  Place the bacon and beef on top of the veggies.  Deglaze the bacon cooking pan with the red wine, allowing the wine to reduce a little, then add in the thyme and rosemary, and pour the wine over the beef.  Add in the beef broth and tapioca, just enough broth to cover the meat completely.  In the same pan, cook the butter and mushrooms, seasoning them and allowing them to soften.  Place them in the crock, turn it to low, then cook for at least 8 hours.  About 1/2 hour before serving, turn the heat to high, and take off the lid to allow the liquid to reduce a little.  Serve.

Michael Symon's Salisbury Steaks

So I found this recipe in Michael Symon's 5 in 5 cookbook, and it was easy and delicious, like everything out of that cookbook.  If you notice though, that picture looks like Salisbury mess, not Salisbury steaks :).  While it's not beautiful because my steaks fell apart, it still tastes great.  Each serving for 6 servings was 296 calories, because we used really lean hamburger, and we all really enjoyed this, giving it a 9.  I let everything cook longer than the recipe says, because I like my onions soft, but it is up to you.  Here's what I did:

2 T cornstarch
2 c beef broth
1 lb ground beef
1/4 c bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 c plus 3 T tomato sauce
4 T Worcestershire sauce, divided
salt and pepper
3 T olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced

Whisk together the cornstarch and 1/4 c beef broth.
Put a large skillet over medium heat.
Combine the beef, bread crumbs, 3 T tomato sauce, 3 T Worcestershire sauce, 1 t salt, and 1/2 t pepper.  Mix thoroughly and season well with salt and pepper.
Add the olive oil to the pan, then place the beef in the pan.  Cook, then move the beef to the side when mostly browned.  Add the onion, and season it with salt and pepper.  When the beef is fully browned, move it to a plate, and add the beef broth, corn starch slurry, tomato sauce, and 1 T Worcestershire sauce to the pan, whisking well.  Season with salt and pepper as needed.  Return the beef to the pan and let the sauce thicken.  Serve with rice or potatoes or noodles.

Rachel Ray's Super Nachos

These are the best homemade cheese sauce nachos we have ever had, and they get a 9 around here.  I found the recipe at foodnetwork.com, and here is the original.  I made a few changes, so I will post the recipe the way I made it.  Each serving was 620, and we had 10 servings.

1 1/2 bags tortillas chips

Pico De Gallo

1 lb ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 t salt
1 1/2 t chili powder
1 1/2 t cumin
1/4-1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 T butter
2 T flour
2 c milk
1 lb pepper jack and cheddar cheese mixture (I used mostly pepper jack)

Toppings to taste

Brown the beef over medium heat, then add in the onion, garlic, and seasonings.  Cook until beef is completely browned, then add in the black beans.  Turn the heat to low while you make the cheese sauce.  Melt the butter, then whisk in the flour, then whisk in the milk.  Add in the cheese slowly, then stir until all the cheese is melted.  Serve.

Julia Child's Boef Bourgignon

Soup is a comfort food for me, especially with our weather being so cold right now, and this might be the best soup/stew in the world.  I can't actually believe I've never featured this on my blog, it's one of our family favorites, and Aaron asks for it a lot.  This is a time consuming meal, but it is totally worth the time.  This is the Boef Bourgignon that was made famous on the movie Julie and Julia, and I make very few changes from Julia Child's original, except we substitute the wine for beef broth, which makes it not bourgignon, but oh well.  We've made it with the wine before, and it is delicious that way, but we prefer it with the beef broth.  This gets a perfect 10 for us, and each serving is about 490 calories.

See all those delicious mushrooms and onions?  Yeah, they make this stew.  Here's what to do:

For the Stew:

2 lbs beef stew meat, dried and salted

6-8 slices bacon, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 onion, chopped

salt and pepper

2 T flour

3 c red wine if using or

5-6 c beef broth (may want to go low sodium broth, can get very salty), enough to cover the beef

1 T tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, mashed

2-3 thyme sprigs

bay leaf

For the Onions:

18-24 pearl onions

1 1/2 T butter

1 1/2 T oil

1 c beef broth

4 parsley sprigs

bay leaf

2 sprigs thyme

For the Mushrooms:

2 T butter

1 T oil

12 oz sliced mushrooms

1 scallion, chopped

Preheat the oven to 450.  Saute the bacon in a Dutch oven until crisp.  Remove to a side dish, then brown the beef in batches, browning on all sides.  Remove the beef to the same dish as the bacon, then add the onion and carrot and brown them until a little softened.  Drain off fat if necessary (I never have any fat to drain), and return the beef and bacon to the Dutch oven.  Add in the salt and pepper, then the flour, making sure to coat the beef well.  Place the beef in the preheated oven, uncovered, for 4 minutes.  Stir the beef, then cook for four minutes more.  Remove the pan, then reduce the oven heat to 325.  Stir in the wine/broth, then add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs, and additional seasoning.  Bring to a simmer on the stove top, then cover it and place in the oven for 2.5-3 hours.  

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.

Melt the butter and oil, add in the onions, and brown on all sides for a few minutes.  Add in the beef broth and herbs, season to taste, and let braise for 45 minutes to an hour.  Make sure onions are super tender, but still retain their shape.  Set aside.

Melt the butter and oil, then when the butter has ceased bubbling, add in the mushrooms.  Cook, flipping the mushrooms often, until the mushrooms start to release some of the fat they have soaked up.  Season well, then add in the green onion, and cook for a minute more.  Set aside.

When the meat has finished cooking, remove the meat/veggies from the broth, and bring the broth to a boil.  You want this to get as thick as you desire, we like our stew thick, so we reduce it quite a bit.  Adjust the seasoning to taste, then add the beef/veggie mixture back in the broth and add in the mushrooms and pearl onions in as well.  Make sure everything is heated through, then serve.  

Tucson Carne Seca, or Machaca from the Border Cookbook

This was such an interesting recipe for us, we don't usually have machaca, which is the name by which I know this kind of meat, but it was fun to have different Mexican meat.  We had it on our tostadas, and we also had machaca breakfast burritos, both of which turned out great.  As usual, I am always looking to use my crockpot rather than my oven, so I made some changes to the recipe.  Here's what I did:

1 1/2 lb beef chuck roast
1 1/2 T vinegar (I used cider)
1/2 T salt
1 t pepper
5 sliced garlic cloves
1/2 T New Mexican chili powder
4 c water
Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 T New Mexican chili powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper

1 T oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 jalapenos, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 t dried oregano
salt to taste

In a crockpot, combine all the first ingredients up to the lemon.  Don't add the lemon.  Cook for at least 10 hours, could be longer.  Let the meat sit in the crock, not cooking, for 30 minutes,  Strain the cooking liquid, and reserve 1 cup.
Preheat the oven to 275.  Shred the meat, then put it in a pot and use the 1 cup reserved cooking liquid and simmer until the liquid is absorbed.  Pour the lemon (or lime) juice over the meat and toss together.  Transfer the meat to a cookie sheet, trying to only make one even layer.  Mix the chili powder, salt and pepper together, then sprinkle half of it over the meat.  Cook the meat for 20 minutes, stir it well, then add more of the seasoning blend.  Cook an additional 40 minutes, until browned and dry.  In a food processor or blender, puree the meat until it resembles fine threads.  Refrigerate here for later use, or continue on with the recipe.
Warm the oil over medium heat, then add the onion and jalapeno and sautee.  Stir in the tomatoes, garlic and oregano, then cook for a few minutes.  Add the meat, and stir until all liquid is evaporated.  Add salt and more lime as desired.  Serve.

This can be scrambled with eggs, or just served as desired, or used to make burritos or taquitos.

Cook's Illustrated's Polish Dumplings

These are fun, and different than our usual fare.  These pierogis filled with meat are delicious, and I like that the dough isn't a pastry dough but more like a pasta dough, and they make for a tasty dumpling.  I gave these an 8, and the boys all gave these a 9.  I felt like they could've used more flavor, but regardless, they are fun and good.  The calories for four of the dumplings is 372, but that includes extra carmelized onions on the top and we didn't have that.  Anyway, here's what to do:

2 c flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
1/2 t salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 T vegetable oil
4-6 T cold water
4 T unsalted butter

4 T unsalted butter
3 large onions halved and sliced thin
salt

Meat or cheese fillings

Pulse the flour and salt together in a food processor.  With the machine running, slowly add the eggs and oil, about 30 seconds.  Slowly add the water until the dough forms a ball.  Knead the dough for about 2 minutes by hand, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for about 15 minutes, or up to two hours.  Melt 4 T of the butter, then add the onions and 1/4 t salt and cook until well browned and softened.  Reserve 1/4 c of the onions, chop them finely, and keep them to fill the pierogis with.  (I used the rest of the onions in another recipe, instead of eating them with this recipe.)  Divide the dough into two pieces, roll each out to a very thin dough, and cut the dough into small circles.  You should get about 32 dumplings in all.  Fill the dumplings with your choice of filling, then form them into half moon shapes and crimp them together.  Boil water, adn add salt.  Cook the pierogis until al dente, about 5-6 minutes.  Melt the remaining butter in the skillet used to carmelize the onions, then cook the pierogis 1-2 minutes per side.  Serve.

The Recipe Girl's Beef and Lentil Stew

This was a great crockpot meal, and I found the recipe in The Recipe Girl's cookbook.  It was easy, and it tasted so good, which sometimes can be a challenge for a slow cooker.  I loved how flavorful this was, and the boys and I gave it a 9, while Aaron gave it an 8 because it had spinach :).  Each serving was 266 calories, so we had this with some bread, which is delicious all on its own ;).  Here's the recipe with my changes:

3 T olive oil
1 lb stew meat, seasoned with salt and pepper
1/3 c dry red wine or beef broth
1 c chopped celery
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 t minced garlic
3 c beef broth
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 c dried lentils
1 bay leaf
3 c spinach
1 T chopped fresh rosemary and thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat 1 1/2 T oil over medium heat and brown the stew meat.  Add the wine/beef broth to deglaze the skillet, then pour the whole thing into the slow cooker.  Add the remaining 1 1/2 t olive oil, and cook the celery, onion, and carrots, cooking and stirring until softened, about 5 minutes.  add the garlic, then add the whole mixture to the crockpot.  Add in the broth, the tomatoes, lentils and bay leaf.  Cook for about 8 hours on low, then when ready to serve, remove bay leaf and add the herbs and spinach.  Season to taste and serve.

Our Best Bites Beef Enchilada with Red Sauce

Our Best Bites Beef Enchiladas with Red Sauce

So I made these easy enchiladas the other night, but I didn't count how many tortillas I had, so we had enchilada casserole rather than regular enchiladas.  This was tasty, and not super high in calories, only 309 calories for 1/12 of the pan.  The boys liked these better than Aaron and I did, we gave it a 7, and Owen gave it an 8, and Noah a 9.  This was filling and not too much work, so it was a great meal over all.  Here's what I did.

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 4 oz can diced green chilies
1 T chili powder
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t coriander
1/2 t oregano
salt to taste
1/2 c sour cream
1 lime, juiced
4 c pepper jack cheese, grated
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
6 corn tortillas
14 oz red enchilada sauce (more or less to taste)

Tear up tortillas and dip them in the enchilada sauce.  Layer some on the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Brown beef, then add the onion and spices and salt to taste.  Cook until onion is softened and meat is brown.  Remove the pan from the heat, mix in the lime juice, sour cream, cilantro, tomato sauce, and 1 c of the pepper jack cheese.  Place that over the tortilla layer, then add some more tortillas to the top.  Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the tortillas, then put the cheese over the top and bake for about 25 minutes.  Serve.

Crockpot Sesame Beef

I found this recipe in my cookbook from the lady who does this blog, www.365daysofcrockpot.com.  I really like that cookbook, since it is easy, and one of the tastiest crockpot cookbooks I have ever seen. 

 

This is so easy, and not very high in calories.  Aaron gave it a 6, and the rest of us gave it an 8.  Aaron said he wishes there wasn't so much broccoli, oh well ;).  Here's what to do.

 

1 lb beef roast

1/2 c oyster sauce

1 1/3 c beef broth

salt and pepper

sriracha to taste

1 package steamed broccoli florets

2 T cornstarch

sesame seeds

rice to serve

 

Place seasoned roast, oyster sauce, beef broth and sriracha in crockpot and cook for 8-9 hours on low.  When beef is tender, take 2 T of cornstarch and mix with some of the liquid in the crockpot.  Return mixture to crockpot and mix.  Add in the broccoli and sesame seeds and serve over rice. 

 

This is low in calories, only 297 calories per serving.  Easy and great!

 



Slow Cooker Fajitas

 

We had these great fajitas the other night, and although not traditional fajitas, they were really good.  I love how easy these are.  One of these days I'll share my favorite fajita recipe from Cook's Illustrated, but for now, these are really good and easy.  I of course changed things a little, but that is normal for me :).  We had 12 servings for this, so each serving of meat was 127 calories.  Here's what I did.

1 1/4 lb beef chuck roast, seasoned
1 10 oz can rotel
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 t cumin
1 t chili powder
salt
1/2 t garlic salt
a couple of dashes of tabasco sauce
3 stalks dried lemon grass (I didn't have any lime juice, so I made do.  I just removed the lemon grass before serving.)

Place onions and peppers in the bottom of the slow cooker.  Add the rest of the ingredients on top.  Cook for 8-9 hours on low.  Serve how you desire.

Aaron and Owen and I gave this an 8, Noah gave it a perfect 10.

Hamburger Gravy

This was such comfort food for us.  I started with this recipe, and went off of it a little bit.  Everyone enjoyed it, and we will have it again.  Owen gave it a 7, Aaron gave it an 8, I gave it a 9, and Noah again gave it a perfect 10.  I liked it paired with the mashed potatoes that I will share the recipe for soon.  Here's what I did for the gravy.

1/2 lb extra lean ground beef
1 T butter
3 T flour
thyme, garlic salt, onion powder to taste
2 c beef broth

Brown beef and drain grease if necessary.  Put in spices and butter, then add flour and stir well.  Add in beef broth, bring to a boil and let thicken.  Serve over mashed potatoes or baked potato as in the original recipe.

The calories for 1/4 of the total were 203, so not high in calories really.  We had this with salad and rolls.  Yummy!

Taco Casserole

Taco Casserole with chips and salsa and salad

 

1 lb ground beef                                  1 can green chilies

1 small onion, chopped                       1 package Taco Seasoning

1 c (8 oz) bottle Ortega Thick and Smooth Taco Sauce

¾ c water                                            1 package Taco shells or chips

2 c shredded cheese

Cook ground beef with onion and green chilies, then add water and taco seasoning and the taco sauce.  Layer with tortilla chips and cheese.  Cook for 20 minutes in 350 oven.

This was so good.  Really delicious!  My mom made it for us, and it was a hit with everyone.  Aaron said he really enjoyed it and had 2 servings, and the boys enjoyed it as well.  Thanks Mom!

Enchilada Casserole

Happy Birthday Aaron!  I'll post his treats next week :).  We had another family favorite this week, and this is again one of my recipes that is super easy.  It's similar to Sonia's Lazy Man Enchiladas, but I do things a little differently, and our family loves it.  Owen and Noah gave it a perfect 10, and Aaron and I gave it a 9.  Here's how I make it, and again, everything is estimated so there isn't any calorie information.

1/2 lb ground beef
cumin
coriander
garlic salt
onion powder
canned corn
corn tortillas
1 large can enchilada sauce
a lot of cheese, I like a mixture, like Monterey jack, pepperjack, and cheddar

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9x13 pan.  Brown ground beef with spices, then add in the drained canned corn.  Pour a little bit of sauce to the pan, then take corn tortillas and rip them in pieces and submerge them in the enchilada sauce.  Lay them in the bottom of the pan, covering the entire bottom.  Top with 1/2 of the ground beef mixture, then some sauce, then lots of cheese.  Repeat this again, ending with the cheese.  Cook for about 20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.  We serve ours with avocado, tomatoes, and sour cream.

Italian Pot Roast with Root Vegetables

We had the recipe Italian Braised Beef with Root Vegetables the other night, and it had amazing flavor.  I loved how it tasted, and so did everyone else.  The one problem we had with the recipe, and why it didn't, score any higher, was the beef needed to cook longer so it could shred.  It didn't shred at all, and so it didn't work on pasta as well as I had hoped.  For 1/12 of the total, not including the pasta, the calories were 289, and Aaron gave it a 7, because of the way the meat was, and the boys and I gave it an 8.  The recipe uses Michael Symon's Yia Yia's Sunday Sauce, which I made and used, but didn't get a picture of, so use your favorite red sauce or better yet buy your own Michael Symon's Live to Cook cookbook ;)

3 lb rump roast
salt and pepper
olive oil
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped (Michael Symon says to use celery root, I prefer just celery)
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 c wine (I used beef broth)
2 c Yia Yia's Sunday Sauce
1 c water
2 bay leaves

Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or other large oven safe pan.  Heat oven to 300.  Salt and pepper roast, and brown on all sides.  Throw carrot, onion, and celery in the pot, and cook for a few minutes, then add garlic.  Add the wine and deglaze the pan, then add the water and red sauce and bay leaves, bring to a simmer, then cook for 3 hours at least in the oven (I only did 3 hours, and our roast needed longer cooking), basting as needed.  Shred and serve with more sauce and pasta.

Cube Steak with Easy Sauce

We had some cube steak with an easy sauce and rice tonight.  Aaron didn't like it, but the boys and I did.  I gave it an 8, Owen gave it a 9, Noah gave it a perfect 10, and Aaron gave it a 3.  It didn't have enough seasoning to it, and since I don't have a crockpot here, the meat wasn't tender like I hoped it would be, but it was easy and tasty.
1 lb cube steaks
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 c beef broth
1/2 onion
seasonings to taste
rice

Cook it all together in a pot in the crockpot hopefully, or in the oven if not able to use a crockpot.  Serve with rice.

One of the fun things about this was we used local beef we bought at the farmers market.  It's fun to be able to buy local, clean meat from farmers here.

Braciole, Frozen Hot Chocolate, Snickerdoodle Truffles and Creme Brulee

We had lots of fun new food today, and we'll start with dinner. We had braciole from Anne Burrell, and this was a delicious meal.  I cut the recipe in half, except for the sauce, and we served it with pasta.  I cooked it in the crockpot, and so I'm not sure if that's why there wasn't quite enough flavor, or if it was the recipe, but I felt like the filling didn't have enough flavor.  We all gave this an 8, and the calories for one roll with lots of sauce are 451.  The sauce in this picture looks yellow/green and oily, but it was really yummy and not greasy.  Oh well.

Next we had the frozen hot chocolate we've planned on having a few days. This was a disappointment. It was too icy and not chocolatey enough. I gave it a 3, Aaron gave it a 5, Noah gave it an 8, and Owen gave it a 6.  I think we'll just have some cold chocolate milk next time and save the dirty dishes and work.  The calories were 167 for 1/4 of the recipe using skim milk.  Noah enjoyed it the most, as you can see from this cute picture :).

For dessert we had snickerdoodle creme brulee and it was divine.  Aaron only gave it a 6 because he said it was too rich, but man the rest of us really liked it.  Noah and I gave it a 9, and Owen gave it an 8.  The first picture is of the snickerdoodle cookie dough truffles, which you need for the creme brulee.  Owen and I gave them a 9, and Noah gave them a perfect 10.  The calories for 1 truffle, I made 28 of them, were 134/truffle.  The calories for the creme brulee, I made 8 of them with 1 truffle in the bottom of each dish, were 344/brulee.  Yum! 

Hope everyone has a great weekend, we're having a bread pudding tomorrow.

Marlboro Man's Sandwiches

Although I oversalted dinner tonight (I'm not used to using salted butter :)), our Marlboro Man sandwiches from Pioneer Woman were still really good.

This is a simple, filling meal, and we really enjoyed it, although my boys' favorite part was the baked fries. Oh well :). We also served this with some of our garden green beans, not pictured, but it was a great dinner. The calories for 1/4 of the total was 305 calories, including our 135 calorie rolls. Aaron gave the sandwiches a 6, and the rest of us gave them an 8, since they were really salty. I love how easy this was, and it really was tasty, especially if you have a free hand with the hot sauce. Tomorrow we're having Key Lime Donuts that we didn't have earlier this week.

Beef Stew and Bread

We had this delicious Hassleback Garlic Cheesy Bread tonight, and I really enjoyed it. Noah and I thought it was a 9, and Owen and Dad thought it was a 7, so we averaged an 8. The calories for 8 servings, which is a lot of bread, was 361 calories per serving. I would definitely make this again, I would just wait until we had someone else visiting since there is a lot of bread :)

We also had beef stew, and I based it on the recipe from the Pioneer Woman's second cookbook.  However, I changed it quite a bit.  Here's my recipe:

Beef Stew

1 lb stew meat              1/2 an onion           

2 T butter       2-3 carrots

2 garlic cloves, minced               3 c beef broth

1 T Worcestershire Sauce           2 T cocktail sauce

1 T red wine vinegar               1 T flour

Salt, Pepper, and Paprika to taste        6 new potatoes

Melt butter in a soup pan.  Add seasoned stew meat (salt and pepper) and brown until browned on all sides.  Remove beef, add in onion.  After onion is softened, add in beef broth, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, cocktail sauce and paprika, salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for 1 1/2-2 hours on low.  Add in potatoes and carrots, then cook for another 1/2-1 hour.  If sauce is too thin, take a little broth and mix it with the 1 T flour.  Mix it back in and let the stew cook a little longer.  Serve!

I figured using up cocktail sauce I made earlier this week was a good idea, and we liked how the base tasted, just a little kick from the horseradish.  I made it too salty, but we gave it an 8 anyway because it was really tasty.  We split this into 4 servings, and the calories are 463/serving. 

Tomorrow we're having some breakfast muffins and some chicken, potatoes, and cauliflower.