Yummy Beef Stew Recipes

It's been too long since I've blogged and WAY too long since I have posted recipes. Here are a couple beef stew favorites. Stew meat can be very versatile and very tender when cooked slowly. I love to make huge batches of stew and have plenty to freeze and eat as leftovers. Less cooking for mom means more time with family or more time to farm:)

What can I say on a rainy cool August day I was inspired to write about beef stew. As a matter of fact I have the first recipe simmering right now!

Beef Stew and Veggies on the Stove Top (2 hrs 20 min)
Ingredients:

• 2 pounds cubed beef stew meat
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 cubes beef bouillon, crumbled
• 4 cups water
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 4 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons cold water

Directions

1. In a large pot or dutch oven, cook beef in oil over medium heat until brown. Dissolve bouillon in water and pour into pot. Stir in rosemary, parsley and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour.
2. Stir potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion into the pot. Dissolve cornstarch in 2 teaspoons cold water and stir into stew. Cover and simmer 1 hour more.

This recipe is from allrecipes.com follow is link.


Garlic Beef Stew with Acorn Squash in the Slow Cooker (6-8 hrs)
Ingredients:

• 2# stew meat
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 10-12 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 T ground marjoram
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 C chicken broth (homemade is always best)
• 1 acorn squash, halved and seeds removed

Directions:

1. In a slow cooker, top the stew meat with all ingredients except for the acorn squash and mix well.
   
2. Cut the acorn squash in half, scoop out the seeds and place directly on top of stew meat. Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low.
   
3. Scoop out the acorn squash from it's skin and serve in a bowl with stew on top of the squash!
   

This recipe is taken from "Everyday Paleo" by Sarah Fragoso. It's a yummy fall favorite!!! Make a double batch!

Sweet little fluffy chicks...Round 2

After "harvesting" our first batch of 30 meat chickens we decided it was not so bad and so here we are doing it again! This time we have 50 birds...well make that 53. The hatchery throws in the bird equivalent to a bakers dozen because one can expect a certain casualty rate. Although out of our first bunch of 31 we only lost a single bird. I'm hoping to finish with 53 this time, but maybe I'm being unrealistically optimistic!

These sweet little chicks will spend the first 3-4 weeks in our new improved brooder. We have an eight foot diameter metal cow tank with two foot high sides. The floor is covered in several inches of wood shavings and they have three water troughs and three food troughs. These little guys have a ton of space. They only require 1/2" of space, but are happier the more room they have to roam. They start getting quite large even at 3-4 weeks when they move out to the chicken tractor (see previous blog post about that).

Taking care of the chicks is one of the many home school projects that the girls get to take part in on the farm. Elli has become the primary farmer for bottle feeding the one calf on milk replacer and both girls have taken on the job of making sure the cats have water.