Slow Cooker Beef Stew

I posted a picture of this stew a couple months ago and was recently asked for my recipe. It's not so much a recipe per se as it is guidelines. I didn't measure anything, just eyeballed.

Ingredients

Stew beef 1-2lbs

Low sodium beef stock 1 box

Frozen vegetables 1 cup each

Potatoes 2-4 medium

Carrots 

Petite diced tomatoes 1 can

Onion

One bay leaf

Basically dice the potatoes and onion and chop the carrots. Use your choice of frozen vegetables. I chose corn, peas, and green beans (which I buy organic at costco, a 5lb bag is about $5). For seasoning I always use salt, pepper, and garlic, but use what your family likes. You can toss everything in the crock pot together or if you're feeling fancy quickly brown the stew meat then toss it all together. Cook on medium for 4-8 hours.

Here is a before picture. This makes a ton of stew, probably enough for 8-10 people to each have two servings.

 

End of year thankfulness

Here I am, the beginning of 2014. This time last year we were returning from N's grandmothers funeral. I was three days in to my now-permanent thyroid hormone replacement pills. I had yet to total my car, our cat hadn't eaten yards if yarn, IA hadn't called me, I had yet to have a thyroid ultrasound or biopsy or surgery or pulmonary embolism. If I'd known what 2013 had in store for me I would've crawled into a hole.  Basically, these are my feelings about the year: 

However, there was one bright spot:

This little boy, and the little girl next to him. Between the two of them and N my life is happy.

Here's to a better 2014! May you be healthy and happy!

Love,

Tres

❤️ Happiness week of 12/1 ❤️

Hi all,

Here are a few things that have made me happy this week:

Little guy eating this nursing bracelet and looking very much like a door knocker.

Remembering when the girl was tiny. How she got to be six already is beyond me.

My Crochet Doll by Isabelle Kessedjian. This book is adorable and I want to make everything in it. The girl has chosen this outfit as her first item she wants me to make. We picked out yarn today.

I don't have any pictures but the Shelf Elves are back. This year we have two of them. So far they've been reading twice, flying from the chandelier, left a gingerbread house kit (which the girl is working on today) and roasted marshmallows. They've also gotten into the leftover Halloween candy and made a grocery list for sugary things. I can't wait to see what else the elves get into.

What's made you happy this week?

Love,

Tres

A Sneaky Peak

Hi all,

I've finished the twins afghans and I think I've gone a bit over the top. N said they're a little big for baby blankets. I say nonsense, what's the point of having a blanket you can only use for a baby. But quite honestly I think he's right. They're as big as any adult afghan I've made. And I made TWO of them. They're lovely, if I do say so myself, and I hope the parents won't think it's too much of a gift. The father is N's good friend and he was our best man. 

I'll take proper pictures soon, when it gets above 40 degrees. But for now here's a peek. I snapped this on my phone (as I do most pictures on this blog) on my eat out the door. So cuddly!

Tadah post coming soon, along with a few overdue tadahs!

Love,

Tres

❤️ Happiness 11/3 ❤️

Hi there!

Halloween!i enjoy this holiday so much! A asked me to make her a Dorothy wig/hat since her blonde bob isn't the right style. I ended up in urgent care with some pain I was concerned was a blood clot. Fortunately (or not) I was just sore from walking the day before. 

My crockpot. This is beef stew but I use it at least once a week. Makes dinner for the hubby alone with two kids so much easier.

This sunset from my desk. While I hate working afternoons and missing time with my family this view was amazing.

Grandpa and his boy. He doesn't do tiny babies but G is big enough now for him to feel like he won't break him. 

Crochet update in a bit! 

What made you happy this week?

Love,

Tres

Happiness

Things that make me happy this week:

The beauty of the leaves changing. Crossing the river is breathtakingly gorgeous. The yellows are so vibrant, the reds just so...red. It's amazing.

These two goofballs. Little looks more like big every day. Any expression dad has ever come up with G came out making. Watching them interact and seeing a side of N I've not really seen before makes me melt into a puddle.

Pumpkin carving. It's become a bit of a tradition with the girl. I design, cut, scoop out guts, and she picks the seeds out of the goop. I then roast them and we have them for snacks for the next couple days (okay, I tend to eat most of them as well.)

My last item I don't have a picture of, but the girl and I made strawberry scones this Sunday. I don't see her as much as I used to so I try to have us do something fun on Sunday. She's a good helper, getting out and putting away ingredients, scooping things into and out of measuring cups, wanting to taste every step and ingredient, and watching the timer on the oven and announcing every time another minute had gone by. She surprised me by eating two scones, and they were rather large. I think this week we might make peach cobbler. 

Love,

Tres

Things that make me happy 10/20/13

This week has been pretty mundane. I'm working afternoons and I don't get to see my oldest very much. It's a sacrifice I have to make for now but I know she misses me (as I do her.) I'm going to try to take her out on Sunday for some girl time. This week we had Starbucks. 

Enjoying her oatmeal and raspberry steamer.

My littlest is also an amazing joy. He has started to roll already, going a couple times from tummy to back and today from back to tummy. He's getting so big!

Yesterday I wore a gorgeous electric blue sweater and a skirt with fleece lined tights. Whoever invented fleece lined tights is a genius! So comfy! (What was electric blue called before electricity was discovered?)

I'm also grateful for our crockpot. It allows me to make nutritious meals for my family to enjoy for dinner while I'm working. I knw it's hard for N to get dinner on the table while trying to take care of both kids. That being said my crockpot meal this week was a huge flop! Next week I'm trying something with cube steak. This recipe actually: http://www.thecountrycook.net/2011/07/slow-cooker-cube-steak-with-gravy.html I have something called soup or sauce mix that I'll use in place of cream if whatever soup it calls for. I have high hopes for this. 

Crochet update: I've completed all of the pink circles and half if the white circles have been squared with pink. I need to finish purple circles and buy a lot more white yarn. I imagine a couple more weeks and I'll have a tada moment to share. I also found some pictures on my camera I'll attempt to upload and have a belated tada for a few items.

Love, 

Tres