Faith, Food and Family

I’m finally getting around to my first recipe from one of the cookbooks I reviewed. I really am sorry it took so long, but life has been pretty hectic lately. My husband and I are both back in school full-time and we have begun homeschooling our oldest. This recipe is from My Irish Table by Cathal Armstrong and David Hagedorn. You can find my review of the cookbook here . Beef Stew Serves 6 Ingredients: 1.5 pounds of beef stew meat cut into 1-inch cubes Kosher Salt and freshly ground pepper 2 tablespoons canola oil 1 yellow onion, diced 4 carrots, peeled and diced 4 celery stalks, diced 8 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped 1 tablespoons all-purpose flour 3 cups of veal demi-glace or store bought beef broth 1 serrano chile, coarsely chopped, with seeds 3 large bay leaves 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves Brown the beef : Pat the beef cubes dry on all sides with paper towels and season well with salt and pepper. I...

One of our favorite meals at Disney World last year was 'Ohana. It was at the Polynesian Resort and it was very yummy. We had a wonderful seat right next to the window that night and had a great view of the nightly fireworks. It was really awesome. So we decided to recreate that meal at home. First up we have Terryaki Chicken and steak tips. Now at 'Ohana, they serve everything off these skewers and everything is grilled but we don't have a grill right now. I cooked the chicken in the oven with bottled marinade on it. They don't have terryiaki chicken but I thought since we weren't grilling it would add additional flavor. For the steak tips, I put a little oil in the pan and dry the tips, then flip them over. I let them cook for a bit and then I add about a cup of beef stock and let them simmer until the liquid has evaporated. I used eye of round because it was on sale and it turned out very tender! Next up is the Pork Fried Wontons. They were so yummy! It was my fi...

I made Country Casserole for dinner last night. It was really yummy. I did leave the onions off the top but put them inside. The kids never knew. LOL I also got too much pasta in there. I was aiming to not measure and just poured half the box only more than I wanted to came out. I think it would have been creamier if I hadn't done that so make sure you measure your pasta. This was super easy to put together since I already had cooked chicken in the fridge. Country Casserole from Southern Plate 2 cups small shell pasta, cooked and drained 3 cups frozen mixed vegetables, cooked and drained 2 cups shredded cheddar, divided One can French fried onions, divided 2 cups shredded cooked chicken (can use canned chicken) 1 can cream of chicken soup ¼ cup milk 1 tsp pepper 1 tsp garlic powder ½ tsp salt Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine everything in a large bowl, reserving half of the cheese and half of the onions for topping later. Spoon into 9×13 casserole dish. Bake for twenty five mi...

I made Pizza Stuffed Meatloaf last night. It was really good. I didn't have time to do mashed potatoes so I just did green beans. I had forgotten about a conference call I had. I left off the pepperoni and subbed Hunt's meatloaf sauce for the pizza sauce. I also topped it with the sauce instead of cheese. I used onions, mushrooms and cheese in the middle. Very tasty! I plan to make mashed potatoes today to go along with it. We'll actually eat this for dinner tonight because of the whole conference call thing. I ate a plate of it late last night. Too late for dinner. So the kids and DH had other things for dinner. Hopefully they'll enjoy this tonight. I have to work today anyway so it will be nice to not have to cook so much when I get back home. Just reheat and make the potatoes. :) Hope you all have a great day! God bless, Amanda

Okay, I already messed with the menu. :) I didn't get to get to the store in time to get the potatoes for mashed potatoes to have with the meatloaf. So I had to make the lo mein instead of the meatloaf yesterday. I kind of did my own thing but with help from this Chicken Chow Mein recipe and this Vegetable Lo Mein recipe. First I boiled the noodles. Then fried them in the skillet in a bit of oil. This really helped them not stick together. And I'm sure gives it more flavor. I took the noodles out of the pan and put them in a dish until it was time to add them back. I then started stir frying the veggies. Mushrooms, onions first. Then a bag of coleslaw mix (cabbage and carrots), some bean sprouts. I microwaved a small bowlful of broccoli and added that. I also added a can of sliced water chestnuts. I mixed one cup of chicken broth and a tablespoon of cornstarch and added that to the veggies. Then added a tablespoon of reduced sodium soy sauce and a tablespoon or so of oyster f...