Beef Stew with Gnocchi

Gnocchi is one of my favorite things.  Imagine a dumpling crossed with mashed potatoes.  Yeah.  Yum.
Yum factor aside, I love gnocchi because they make my life easier.  You can find them pre-made in a shelf stable package in the international isle of your grocery. They are great with pasta sauce of any type, but also as a replacement for dumplings or potatoes in soups and stews.  My daughter loves them as a side dish, sauteed in a little oil with salt and pepper.  They are yummy AND versatile!
This is one of my people's favorite meals, especially this time of the year.  It is meaty and warm and satisfying.  It also uses gnocchi (see how nicely I tied that in?), and the Crock-Pot.  It is a super easy weeknight make-ahead meal.  All you have to do when you get home is toss in the gnocchi and make a salad while they cook! 

Beef Stew with Gnocchi

 

Ingredients:

1 lb. beef stew meat cut into 1" chunks

3 Tbsp. flour

salt and pepper to taste

3 medium carrots cut into 1/4" coins

10 oz. pkg. mushrooms, quartered

2 cloves garlic, minced

16 oz. pkg. frozen pearl onions

1-1/2 c. beef broth

3/4 c. dry red wine

3/4 tsp. dried thyme

17.5 oz. pkg. gnocchi

 

Directions:

Toss together meat, flour and 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper.

Place prepared meat in slow cooker with carrots, mushrooms, garlic, onions, broth, wine and 1/2 tsp. thyme.  Cover and cook on high 5 hours or low 7 hours.

Stir in remaining thyme along with gnocchi and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and cook an additional 30 minutes or until gnocchi is tender.

 

*Disclaimer* I did not have mushrooms... or pearl onions... or red wine.  Instead I chopped a regular onion, used white wine, and added frozen peas and green beans with the gnocchi.  It was still wondrous.  Be brave.  Cooking is very forgiving.



Mondays With the Maid

I have come to the conclusion that the only way to maintain somewhat of a clean house (as well as sanity) is to make a schedule.  Laundry Monday, bathrooms Tuesday...  you get the gist. 

My sister is awesome and clearly much more talented in the world of Excel than I am.  Because she loves me (and enjoys poking my OCD with a stick), she made me a pretty and professional looking cleaning sheet to share with you (which ironically at this point is primarily her and my mom).  Sigh.

 Anyway, after much research, I realized Blogger does not allow you to post documents for security reasons...   WHAT?!  I'm not sure why they are insecure about a few documents.  All I'm insecure about is my hips. 

Major let down.  All that hard work for nothing.  I do realize I could take a picture to show you, but that would defeat the intended purpose of providing it for use (and to feed your OCD monsters).  I tried to be helpful.  Dirty houses win again.

My Favorite Pork Chops

You can never have enough easy meals under your belt, especially when you insist on continuing to breed as I do.  In addition, the people I produce are p-i-c-k-y.  They turn their noses up at most things and it takes a very compelling argument to change their minds.  But...  somehow, they like pork.  And not just the hot dog variety. 
Pork can be very boring... unless it's bacon.  Bacon is perfect and could never be boring.  I digress.  Because of their odd appreciation for pork, I have collected a few different quick and easy pork chop recipes, this one being my favorite.  It is sweet, tangy, and the best part...  it's fast.

 

Applesauce Pork Chops

 

 

Ingredients:

4 pork chops, patted dry and seasoned with salt and pepper

oil

1/2 c. cider vinegar

1/3 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. applesauce

2 Tbsp. Dijon

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1/8 tsp. cayenne

 

Directions:

Heat small amount of oil in large skillet over medium high heat until it ripples.  Add chops to pan and fry until browned on one side, flip and brown other side.  Don't try to cook them through in this step.

While chops cook, whisk together remaining ingredients.

Remove chops to plate and pour off excess fat.

Return chops to pan and pour in sauce, turning chops to coat.  Lower heat to medium and continue to cook until chops are done and sauce is slightly thickened (it should be the consistency of barbecue sauce).  If sauce seems to runny for your liking, remove chops to serving plate and crank up heat to thicken sauce to where you like it.  Pour sauce over chops and serve.

 

I like to serve these with rice and a green veggie.