Taste: Recipes | Suppertime Beef Stew

Well the chill in the air sure has me begging to curl up on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket with a mug of tea. I know we have not had the snow fall, like some midwestern folks, but we do have that wind and cold rain to hint to us that winter is coming.

What better way to keep warm, than to make stew, a crock pot stew! What an easy and hearty supper this was to make and enjoy. Crockpot's are just the best and the smell that fills the home is even greater! Feel free to get creative and add anything else, maybe potatoes, crushed tomatoes, whatever else your tastebuds are craving. I kept it simple with some groceries that I picked up at my favorite Trader joes and dug out the bag of frozen snapped green beans from my parent's garden, I had tucked away from my last visit. We all loved it and even a certain little boy had grabby hands for the spoon to dig in. ha!  Enjoy!

Market List:

Beef Stew

1 package of Beef Stew Meat

Beef Broth

1 frozen bag of  peas

1 frozen bag of green beans

1 can of mushroom soup

1 package of  mushrooms

1 bag of carrots

(feel free to add potatoes, if you want it extra hearty and filling)

1 white onion

Beef Stew Recipe

Brown and make sure beef stew meat is cooked well and toss into crock pot

2 cups of beef broth

2 cups of water

add your can of mushroom soup (i used portabello mushroom soup) 

wash well and toss in package of mushrooms

peel and chop/cut 4 large carrots ( i used a variation of colors to add different taste)

bag of peas

bag of green beans

chop onion and add to recipe

salt and pepper and let sit and simmer up to 5 hours

*I like to sprinkle some fresh mozzarella cheese on top and fresh bread or rolls complete it

Taste: Recipe | Rustic Apple Tart

With Apples in full swing, I desperately wanted to go apple picking. We had so much fun when we went peach picking, that I was anxious to go, yet, with our busy schedules lately, the 1/2 peck that I picked up at a local farm, was just as good. Instead of a pie, I wanted to make a Rustic Apple Tart.

The recipe I used was a Martha Stewart favorite. I used the applesauce, that we canned last season from my father's apple trees in Pennsylvania. I wanted to use my own dough, instead of a store bought one. Of coarse, I had my little helper on hand to want to taste each slice of apple and run around with his new "hat". Baking with little one's around keeps you on your toes, for sure. I think that my Apple Tart came out great though and having the freshly baked apple aroma fill up the home, made for a successful day in the kitchen.

Recipe as followed via Martha, herself, with a few minor changes*

For the Pastry Dough:

1 Cup all purpose Flour

2 Tbs Granulated Or superfine sugar

1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 Stick of very cold butter, in slices

2 Tbs ice cold water

Apple filling; Ingredients:

2 Tbs all-purpose flour (+ more for dusting)

1/2 peck of Apples, preferably good baking apples, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/4 cup of sugar (+ more for sprinkling topping)

2 Tbs of Lemon juice, or 1/2 lemon juiced

pinch of ground cinnamon

pinch of Kosher Salt

6 Tbs of Applesauce, or good quality prepared

1 Large egg

Directions:

• For the Pastry, place the flour, sugar and Salt in a bowl of a food processor with a steel blade. Pulse it a few times to combine ingredients. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. With motor running, add the iced cold water all at once. Keep pulsing the combine but stop once ingredients become a solid dough ball. Place dough ball onto a well floured board and form into a disc. Wrap the disc with plastic wrap and refrigerate for atleast a good hour.
• Combine apples, sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Toss to combine. Place a thin layer of applesauce on dough and mound apple slices over applesauce, leaving a border to fold. Fold the dough up and over apples, making creases or rather, folds every few inches. I just let it fold organically, where space was needed, allowing it to bake as it is. Be sure to watch the fruit and juices to prevent seeping out. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees.
• Lightly beat the egg to make a egg wash and brudge edges of the dough. Finish with sprinkles of sugar and I added extra cinnamon. Bake until apples are tender and crust is a golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Taste: Recipes | Vitamin Packed Smoothie Recipe

With the fluctuation of the weather, brings on the dreaded summer cold's. I made this healthy packed smoothie and it is quickly becoming a favorite. Blake loves having his very own colorful straw and sipping away. 

Vitamin Packed Smoothie

1/2 cup frozen (or fresh) Mango

1/2 cup pineapple 

1 lemon (squeezed) juice

1 orange (squeezed) juice

1 (ripe) white peach

1 cup unsweetened vanilla coconut milk

Taste: Recipes | Easy Banana Buckwheat Pancakes

So here is a super easy, healthy and delicious way to jump start your day! My mother and I are always into trying new things and incorporating the good with the bad, in recipes! We decided to make pancakes for breakfast over the weekend and when getting the ingredients out, there were a bunch of overripe bananas laying around. Though I am notorious in whipping up some banana bread like it's nobody's business, adding it in the pancake mix just made more sense. Delicious & Enjoy!

Easiest, yummiest buckwheat pancakes:

2/3 cup Arrowhead Mills Organic Gluten Free Buckwheat Flour

1 egg beaten

2 tsp coconut oil

2 tsp organic or raw honey

1 overripe banana

3/4 cup almond milk

Combine ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour onto hot griddle, and cook until puffed and full of bubbles. Turn and cook on other side.