AAAARRRRRGHHH!! Thanksgiving is this week!! Good grief! Well, here at our house, I have started a new ‘day’ job…. it is another part-time job. Something to fill my days with more than laundry, cooking and volunteering; however, I am still trying to find a rhythm to my days. Trying to get everything I did on my mornings off all done in one day-off. Thank goodness we are invited to my brother’s house for Thanksgiving. One less thing to worry about.
Instead of posts about favorite family recipes that will grace our table along with a perfectly roasted turkey I will be posting some easy, week-night, family-friendly meals that go together with very little effort. This recipe is from Real Simple. I had saved it thinking it would make a great OAMC dish, but half of our group doesn’t eat red meat…. but my hubby does!
The original recipe called for beef brisket; I had stew beef. I also substituted sweet potatoes for new potatoes because that is what I had on hand (how was I out of potatoes?). I served ours over egg noodles, mainly because of my youngest (the one who won’t eat anything). I thought he would eat the noodles (I was wrong).
If I were preparing this for OAMC I would pack all the sauce ingredients together and keep the beef separate I wouldn’t freeze the onion, potato, and carrot because the onion and potato don’t freeze well (though the carrots would be fine). I would put both of those smaller bags in a larger zipper bag with the recipe and freeze until ready to defrost it. Once defrosted put the onion, carrot, and potato in the crock pot. Top with the beef and pour the sauce over the whole thing.
Having these meals ready to go first thing in the morning has been an amazing time saver for me. I put a frozen OAMC meal into the fridge the night before and it is ready for the slow-cooker in the morning or ready to be baked that night! Whew, what a relief! A healthy, home-cooked meal!
- 1 onion, peeled and quartered
- 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large cubes
- 1 pound carrots, cut into thirds
- 1½ pounds stew beef
- 1 (6 oz) tomato paste
- 1 cup brewed black coffee
- 3 T Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp crushed dried thyme
- layer the onion, sweet potato, and carrots in the bottom of a slow cooker.
- place beef over top of vegetables
- in a small bowl combine remaining ingredients
- pour sauce over top
- cook on high 6 hours; low for 8 – 9 hours
