January routine

I have been slacking off on trying new meal ideas.  This winter I am all about 'the old but good'  We have been eating lots of speghetti, chicken legs and roast beef.  The kids like those, I don't have to cook something different for them. We have had a few 'fish sticks/chicken fingers and fries' nights. Then when the kids go to bed Gary cooks him and I steaks on the BBQ.

This week I did the same old routine but I thought for the moms that are going to work each day and getting home looking for a hot meal, I would share my tips on working around the 'time' issue.  Sunday I pull my meat out of the freezer for the week.  This week I thawed 3 lbs of ground beef and 1 big cross cut rib roast.  Any cheap piece of roast would work since it is going in the crockpot.
I cooked all the ground beef and divided into in half.  One half I put in the fridge for the next day. 
Monday night I cooked a big pot of speghetti sauce
2 Cans of cheap spegghetti sauce (rinse out 1 can and add water to sauce)
1 cup of salsa
1 onion chopped
1 can of sliced mushrooms
1 stalk of celery chopped
The rest of the ground beef.
Simmer for 30 mins.
Cook noodles and eat.

Tuesday morning I put Roast beef in crock pot with 1 pkg of onion soup mix, 1 can of mushroom soup, and 1/4 cup of water.  I cooked on low for 8 hrs.
At supper time I boiled 5 lbs of peeled potatoes and made a big pot of mashed potatoes.  I boiled carrots, peas and corn for a veg.  The juice from the crockpot I boiled in a pot on the stove and added some beef stock and pepper with 2 tbsp of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of cold water.  This made a lot of gravy.  Half the amount I mixed with the ground beef in the fridge to make a sheppards pie.

That night after supper I layer ground beef in a 11x13" casserole dish with the leftover carrots, corn and peas.  Then I topped with leftover mashed potatoes. Ba Da Boom, Ba Da Bing - Sheppards pie.
I also made a very tasty Lazagna with oven ready noodles and mozzarella cheese with the leftovers from Monday night. If you didn't have cheese and lazgana noodles you could make the old stand by chili, with kidney beans and chili powder.   These casseroles could be put in the fridge to be eaten this week or frozen for a quick dinner during a busy week later on.

I plan on using the Roast beef leftover  in Beef Stroganoff for Friday night.  The recipe was given to me by my sister.  I will plan on following the recipe but add my roast bits and gravy leftovers in the stroganoff as well to make it stretch a little farther and extra meaty for my man.

Bargain Beef Stroganoff

1/4 cup                        all-purpose flour

1 tsp                salt
1/2 tsp             black pepper
2 lbs                 stewing beef, cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes
1 tbsp              vegetable oil
8 oz                 small white button mushrooms, cleaned or large white mushrooms, quartered (about 2 cups)
2                      onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups        beef stock
3 tbsp              Worchestershire Sauce
3 tbsp              tomato paste
2 tbsp              paprika
1 1/2 tbsp        Dijon mustard
1 cup               sour cream
                        hot cooked egg noodles

1. In a bowl or plastic bag, combine flour, salt and pepper.  In batches, add beef to seasoned flour and toss to coat.  In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add beef in batches and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until browned on all sides.  With a slotted spoon, transfer beef to slow cooker; add mushrooms and onions.

2. In a 2-cup measure, combine beef stock, Worchestershire sauce, tomato paste, paprika and mustard, mixing well.  Pour into slow cooker.

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or on HIGH for 4-6 hours, until bubling.  Stir in sour cream ans serve over hot noodles.