Stewing Beef with Egg Noodles and a side dish of veggies and Alfredo Suace

Welcome! So, I decided to write a food blog just for kicks and now that I’m committed, I realized that I haven’t thought about it all the way through. Shesh, this is going to be a big commitment…Oh well, I’m here, going to give it my best shot, and feel free to leave me comments on how I can improve.

I try to plan my meals for the week but that just does not always happen, and well, now it is 3 p.m. and I have no idea what to do for dinner. At least this blog gives you a very real look at my life.  Tonight, I am using stuff I already have in the freezer and a few fresh veggies to whip up something hot and filling for the fam. The results were pretty tasty! So with that being said, tonight’s meal is stewing beef over pasta and an alfredo veggie side dish.

Stewing Beef with Egg Noodles

Finished plate, not too bad for a week night dinner, right?

Yields: 4 Servings

Heat the oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:

·         12 oz. of stewing beef (thawed if you are pulling from your freezer like me)

·         1 small onion chopped

·         1 clove of garlic finely chopped

·         2 Tbls. of flour

·         1 tomato

·         ½ cup of tomato sauce (more or less is fine this is just what I had in the freezer from another night)

·         1 cup of water (or beef stock if you have some)

 Brown the meat in an iron skillet or any other pan that can go from the stove top to the oven. It does not need to cook all the way though because we will be finishing it in the oven.While that’s doing its thing, chop up the onion and garlic, drop them into small bowl, and toss with the flour.

                                          Onions and garlic getting a nice blanket of flour

Add them to the meat and let them cook a little. The flour will act as a thickener to the dish as it bakes.  Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.  At this point my son said, “What’s for dinner it smells good?”

 While the meat is continuing to brown with the onions, cut up a fresh tomato. Once the meat is browned add the tomato, tomato sauce (more or less is fine 1/2 cup is just what I had in the freezer from another night), and a cup or so of water or beef stock if you have some.

And put the whole skillet in the oven. I have a home daycare, and so while I was running around with the kids I just let this cook by itself in the oven while I am off working. I let it cook for about 45 minutes. Now, it is time for the side dish.

This veggie side dish is so yummy, that you will not want anything else. Trust me it can be a meal in itself, but my kido would say, “Really mom veggies, that’s it?” So, it’s a side dish tonight and lunch for me tomorrow.  I got this recipe from Trader Joe’s and of course, I changed it up a bit tonight because I was using up what I had in the freezer. Tonight, I had a half a jar of alfredo sauce I had stuck in the freezer and a package of frozen veggies. Here is my version.

Alferdo Veggies

The crunchy topping really makes this dish

Yields: 4 Large Servings

Ingredients:

·         One package of frozen Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Romanesco Basilic with bits of garlic butter

·         Half a jar of Trader Joe’s alfredo sauce

·         2 Tbls of milk

·         3 oz. of grated cheese (tonight I have some white cheddar, and romano)

·         2 oz. of fried onion pieces (or crackers, bread crumbs, potato chips anything crunchy)

The directions are really easy. Mix everything, but the fried onion pieces, together in a casserole dish. Top with the fried onion pieces and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 min, or until everything is hot.

As the veggies are almost done, cook up some pasta. Prepare the pasta of your choice according to the directions on the package. I had egg noodles, so that is what we had. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and toss it with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Serve the pasta with the stewing beef on top and some veggies on the side.

Just enough left over for me to have for lunch the next day, which to me is a perfect dinner! Hope you enjoy.