at home with ann

Crock Pot Beef Stew is comfort food at it's best. It really is amazing to walk into the house at the end of the day and smell dinner, or walk back into the house after getting the mail, if you're me.  I've become a bit of a recluse in my post-having-a-baby world.  I'm more than ready for warm Spring weather so going outside doesn't involve bundling up in one of Jon's jackets over both me and the baby.  This takes slightly more prep work than some of my other crock pot meals because it involves searing the beef.  This step is totally worth it, even if you pour wine into your screaming hot skillet and it spatters all over the stove.  Maybe don't do that last part if you can avoid it. You can, of course, add in different vegetables here.  Sliced mushrooms would be good, and a couple handfuls of frozen peas tossed in near the end.   Crock Pot Beef Stew 2+ pounds beef (I used pre-cut stew meat because I couldn't deal with meat slicing, but any stea...

I make a lot of soups in the winter, in case you haven't noticed.  Warm, healthy, and easy, all the things I look for in a recipe.  When I can throw all the ingredients into the slow cooker and be done, that's just an added bonus.  I had intended to save some of this soup and stick it in the freezer for post-baby time, as I've been doing a lot lately, but we managed to eat it all. This was likely due to me eating it directly out of the crock pot for pre-dinner snack the night Jon came home late. Slow Cooker Peanut Stew recipe from Peas and Thank You 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 sweet potato, cubed 1 1/2 teaspoons curry poweder 1/2 teaspoon garam masala 1 teaspoon cumin 1 Tablespoon minced ginger (I used fresh and grated it) 2 teaspoons minced garlic dash of cinnamon 1 14 oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes with juice 1 can light coconut milk 2 cups vegetable broth 2 Tablespoons peanut butter 1/2 cup red lentils, rinsed Add all ingredients to t...