Slow Cooker Beef & Barley Soup

We had a delicious but very expensive prime rib roast for Christmas dinner - it was a special occasion after all! Since my husband's family was unable to join us for that feast due to weather, we actually had quite a bit left over. I could not bear to see that rich meat go to waste. So I cut it all up, chopped a bunch of onions, carrots, potatoes, celery and divided it all into freezer bags. One will be French Onion soup (check back for that recipe!), 1 will be a beef stew and 2 were designated for Beef & Barley soup. I always loved that soup as a kid and hadn't had it in years!

I'd never actually made this soup before and it turned out better than I had imagined. There's not a ton of meat (because this was a rich cut, but any less expensive stew meat, cut into smaller pieces will be just as good) and the barley really thickens it up. The barley directions said to pre-cook it but I figured that since it was going into the crockpot, that wasn't necessary. I used a concentrated bouillon product called Better than Bouillon but regular bouillon cubes (2 for max flavor)should work just fine.

Slow Cooker Beef & Barley Soup

1 cup beef, cut into cubes/small pieces
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup onion, diced
3/4 cup barley
2 tablespoons Better than Bouillon
4 cups water

Put all ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Perfect for those cold winter evenings: warm food, warm soul!

I love the souper (har har) recipes on The Grocery Cart Challenge every week. Go over there for more great ideas and recipes!

Menu Plan Monday

My husband and I were with some friends this weekend and somehow we all decided that we are going to run the Rock 'n Roll half marathon on June 27 of this year! Like I always say, the first step to reaching a goal is to set it. I have run 5K and 10K races before but never anything close to a half marathon. I also haven't run since I was pregnant with my daughter, who was born this summer so it is going to be interesting to see how I can fit training into my busy schedule. So this meal plan is step one to getting back on track with planning healthy meals!

Chicken stir fry

Beef and barley soup

Waffles

Quiche

Meat loaf

I am going to try a new version of the beef and barley soup and if it turns out well you will see it here on Friday for the Grocery Cart Challenge recipe feature.

This week's meal plan and other great meal planning and organizing ideas can be found on orgjunkie.com!

Hope you all have a great week and check back for my Grocery Budget Challenge update!

Menu-less Monday

We both have to travel this week so my husband and I are fending for ourselves for food. I have a big stockpile from the holidays and hope to use some of it up. Since we have so few days that we'll be home together, I did not do a Menu Plan except that we're having Tacos tonight. I will be back next week with another awesome menu plan.

You can check out other Menu Plan Mondays at orgjunkie.com!

Menu Plan Monday

I know that I am going to need to do some serious grocery shopping before next week's big holiday so I'm holding off going until the end of this week if possible! Plus, one night this week my husband and I are going Christmas shopping so one less meal to plan -phew.

Here's this week's menu plan:

Cobb salad

Stir fry with potstickers

Chicken enchiladas

Swedish meatballs

I haven't linked to it before but check out orgjunkie.com for more awesome menu plan ideas! I always like to see what others are cooking up.

Cooking Ahead Pays Off

I always try to make more than just one batch of certain things - lasagna is one of our family's favorite "Make-Aheads." It's really easy to make a really large batch of tomato sauce (with and sometimes without meat), cook a full box of lasagna noodles and super simple to assemble. A recipe note: I don't use the "no-cook" lasagna noodles because we prefer the texture of the cooked ones. It may be that my recipe is not super sauce soaked, which may be the difference. I have also used spinach in place of the zuchinni - both make this a pretty healthy dish. I originally planned to give one of these away so I used foil lasagna pans from the Dollar Store. You actually get 2 for $1. I price compared these at Target and it was .97 each so a good deal for these pans at the Dollar Store. If making just for us, I use a Pyrex dish and a cake pan. I usually try to stretch this recipe to make 3 pans.

I let them cool and then just put them in the freezer until we need one. Since the ingredients are fully cooked, it's really easy to just pop in the oven and cook quickly. On weekends like this one, where we decided last-minute to go to a potluck Halloween event, it really comes in handy! Here's my recipe:

1 box Lasagna noodles (you'll need 6 noodles for each pan so you may want to count)
1 28oz. can of tomato sauce
1 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1 6oz. can of tomato paste

1lb ground turkey or beef

1 tbs minced garlic

1 small onion

Basil, oregano to taste

1tbs olive oil

1 27oz. container of ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 large zuchinni, grated or shredded
6 cups mozzarella cheese

Boil a large pot of water and add lasagna noodles, cook according to directions and then drain. While noodles are cooking, brown beef/turkey in skillet. Add garlic and onion and saute for 5 minutes. Then add tomatoes, paste, sauce and spices. Simmer for 20 minutes. In another saute pan, add olive oil and shredded zuchinni, saute until just cooked.
Empty container of ricotta into a bowl and stir in egg. Add zuchinni and stir together.

To assemble: Put a small amount of sauce in the bottom of the pan just so the bottom noodles don't stick to the pan. Lay 3 noodles down. With a spatula, spread a layer of the ricotta-zuke mixture on the noodles and then add another layer of 3 noodles. Cover the top layer with the tomato sauce and then spread two cups of the cheese on top. It really is that easy!

Cook at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly on top.

Sweet-Tart Pluot Crepes

My son Michael wanted pancakes this morning but I realized that we took our griddle on the boat this summer and did not bring it back. So I decided to make crepes instead. I like an egg-y crepe rather than a flour-y crepe so this recipe has a lot less flour than a lot of recipes that I have seen. The pluots were from our CSA box, Full Circle Farm in Carnation, WA. If you don't know, and I didn't until I started writing this and "blingo'd" it, a pluot is a cross between a plum and an apricot. I have been eating these almost all summer and did not know that. These pluots had a LOT of watery liquid with what seemed like very little juice but don't worry, it all cooks off and combined with the brown sugar, it makes a wonderful thick syrup. They are deliciously tart and combined with the sweetness of the crepes, make a savory breakfast for a Saturday morning.

Elizabeth's Crepes

1/2 cup flour

1 tbsp sugar

pinch of salt

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

Combine and whisk the dry ingredients. Mix in the eggs and slowly drizzle in the milk, whisking it all together. Batter will be very runny.

I use a non-stick small skillet and non-stick spray, heat on medium. Add about 1/4 cup of batter and swirl around the pan until batter coats pan evenly. Crepes cook very quickly, so using a small spatula, turn after about 20 seconds. If there's still runny batter in the middle of the crepe after 20 secs then you may need to turn your heat up a bit. Transfer crepes to a small plate.

Pluot Filling

3 small Pluots, cut into small slices

1 tsp butter

1 tbsp brown sugar

Place Pluots and butter in a small saucepan and heat on medium until simmering. Add brown sugar and simmer until sauce is thickened. Serve sauce on the side and let everyone assemble their own.

I also like to have small lemon slices for drizzling and powdered sugar for the crepes. Of course, my son thinks they are just a thin pancake so he likes regular maple syrup on his

How do you like your crepes?!!

Lavender-licious

Lemon Lavender Scones were the baking adventure upon which I embarked recently. We planted (ok, my mom did it - she plants, I reap) several different varieties of lavender last year and this year, including a couple that were labeled "culinary." I did not, however, keep track of which ones were which so I just guessed for this recipe.

I like to use a 1/2 and 1/2 combination of unbleached white flour and whole wheat pastry flour. I have a special place in my stomach for Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, it is a finer grained species of wheat flour. If you haven't tried this, I highly recommend it - much healthier for your family.

My original was not lavender-y or lemony enough so I modified the recipe so that more of the lemon and lavender flavor comes out. I glazed the scones with a lemon-powdered sugar glaze.

A word about flour prices: At my local Fred Meyer, prices for Bob's are actually comparable to the regular flour in the bakery section. This includes the bulk section where you can also find whole wheat, albeit not the "pastry" kind that Bob does.

Lemon Lavender Scones

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 stick of butter (cut in small cubes)

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons lemon zest

1 teaspoon dried lavender

Preheat oven to 425. Place dry ingredients and butter in food processor and pulse until pea-sized lumps form. Whisk egg and milk together and stream into dry ingredients until sticky dough forms. Turn dough out onto generously floured surface and knead approximately 12 times. Shape dough into a disk about 1/2 inch thick and cut into wedges. Place wedges on baking sheet (greased if you like) and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden. Cool on rack

Glaze:

Mix 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar, 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice and stripe glaze on scones.

These are a great breakfast treat or perfect for an afternoon of tea with the ladies! Enjoy!

Free Ice Cream!

On September 25, from 5-8pm, Cold Stone Creamery is giving away a 3oz. creation. There are two "Make a Wish" combos to choose from: Nutter Butter ice cream mixed with yellow cake, Kit Kat candy bar and white chocolate chips or marshmallow ice cream mixed with 0reo cookies, chocolate chips and fudge. Mmmmmm - (cue Homer drooling sound)

Check with your local CSC to see if they are participating: www.coldstonecreamery.com

The line at my closest one is out the door on a regular day so I'm betting the line on this day will be wrapped around the block! If you know a secret one, go to it and enjoy!