Kids Dish

Kidney beans are a great source of protein and fiber. Named for their kidney shape, they are great in chili. Here’s an easy crock pot recipe you can spice as much or as little as you like. This is also a great recipe for sneaking in vegetables. If you have leftover vegetables you can add them whole, finely chop them, or stick them in the food processor for a few pulses. You can do the same with raw veggies. I often add small pieces of carrots, broccoli and green beans. Sweet potatoes and squash are also good additions.

Crock Pot Chili

Serves 6 to 8.

I’ve been trying to clean out my freezer to make room for Thanksgiving and I found a little more than a pound of stew meat from my buying club and a little less than a quarter of a pound of lamb tenderloin butt. I don’t know what to do with lamb tenderloin butt, especially since it’s such a small amount. And it doesn’t help that the fact that it’s called “butt” just makes me giggle like a nine year old boy. I decided I may as well combine the two and make a big pot of beef stew.

Beef stew is pretty easy to prepare, it just takes a long time to cook. If you like to use a slow cooker, you can do the prep either the night before or the morning of, and let it cook all day. I just cook mine on the stove, but I keep telling myself that I’ll use the slow cooker one of these days.

Beef Stew

Ingredients
* 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon black pepper
* 2 pounds stew meat (you can buy stew meat or buy chuck and cut it into cubes)
* 1 large onion, chopped (I used leeks because I had them)
* 2 cloves of garlic, minced
* 6 large potatoes, peeled and diced (I don’t peel mine)
* 6 carrots, sliced ( I used two handfuls of baby carrots)
* 2 bay leaves
* 3 stalks celery, sliced (I omitted this because I didn’t have any)
* 3 (10.5 ounce) cans beef broth (I used 3 cups homemade turkey stock and a can of beer)
Optional
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon cold water

1. In a large pot or dutch oven heat oil over medium high heat. In a resealable plastic bag mix together the flour, salt and pepper. Add a small handful of meat at a time and shake until well coated; brown in hot oil, about 1 minute per side. Remove the browned meat and continue until all the meat is browned.
2. Lower heat to medium and add onions. Brown onions on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Add garlic to pot and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove the onions and garlic from pot and set aside. Drain excess fat from pot.
3. To pot add potatoes, carrots, celery, reserved onions, browned meat, bay leaf and broth. Stir all together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. For a thicker broth: 1/2 hour before stew is done, combine 3 tablespoons flour and water in a small bowl and mix well, then slowly stir mixture into stew.

For the slow cooker

Personally I think it’s worth browning the beef, but if you’re pressed for time you can omit that step. Put the beef in the slow cooker, pour in the flour mixture, and stir to combine. Stir in the remaining ingredients and follow the cooking time above.

If you don’t like beef, get yourself into a Thanksgiving frame of mind by trying this crockpot turkey roast recipe.

Ham can be found in a number of types of soups - especially bean soups - since it adds so much flavor.

One of my favorites is ham and bean soup. It’s easy to make and inexpensive. Give it a try!

Ham and Bean Soup

1 lb. Great Northern white beans
1 medium onion, chopped
1 T. butter
1 ham hock or if you can’t find decent ham hocks, used diced ham
Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse beans and pick out any stragglers (you know, dark or withered beans). Soak in water for at least 4 hours or overnight to soften beans - be sure and check the water level from time to time and add more water if necessary. Rinse thoroughly.

Bring 8 cups of water to a boil in large Dutch oven and add beans and ham. Meanwhile, saute onion in melted butter. Remove onion from saucepan with slotted spoon and add to beans and ham. Reduce heat under soup mixture and simmer for approximately 2 hours. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

ham, beans, soup

It’s supposed to be warm out. It is most definitely not. Weather.com is reporting 54 degrees at almost noon today. That kind of weather calls for hearty dishes. With Polish and German relatives, hearty dishes has come to mean sausages and sauerkraut - and the girls love it!

If you’re not a big fan of sauerkraut, don’t click away just yet. You’ve probably had sauerkraut that was overprocessed or too salty. That’s what happened to me. I couldn’t stand the idea of it before I met my husband. And then I had good sauerkraut. Yum! What a difference! Apparently (and who knew?) the USDA regulations for preservation/processing have resulted in the addition of a lot more salt than is traditionally used.

So, you have a couple of options:

1. Buy good sauerkraut and rinse before using.
2. Make your own.

Sauerkraut

1 large head of cabbage (about 3 pounds)
3 T coarse salt

Remove core from cabbage. With a hand grater or food processor, slice cabbage as thinly as possible. Combine in large bowl with salt.

Transfer to a large glass or ceramic container (ceramic is traditional). Liquid will come out of the cabbage as you tap down by hand. Cover with a damp towel touching cabbage and top with something to weigh it down. Cover again with a layer of plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to ferment. Check after 2 days, scraping anything off of the top. Repack and check every 3 days. The flavor will get better as the saeurkraut ferments. After 2 weeks, give it a try. After 3 weeks, you should eat, refrigerate or can the sauerkraut.

Now, what to do with it?

Reuben sandwiches (yum).

Or try Kielbasa and Sauerkraut.

1 1/2 lbs kielbasa, sliced 1/2 inch thick
3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/4 c water or other liquid (I use beer)
30 oz prepared sauerkraut, rinsed and drained or 4 cups homemade sauerkraut
2 tsp dried dill

Now, I’m a huge fan of the crock pot. So, I would make this in a crock pot. If you prefer to cook it on the stove top, use a large pan (a Dutch oven would work) but add more liquid, as necessary.

Here are the easy instructions! Throw everything in the crock pot and walk away. Really. I’d let it cook on low for about 2 hours.

If you’re looking for some more great recipes that incorporate sauerkraut, check out this site.

sauerkraut, dill, kielbasa