Mar. 22 - Beef Stew, bread & applesauce

I was up around 3 a.m. with Luke, who was, again, fussing throughout the night (teeth come in please!). As I tried rocking him back to sleep, I was thinking about how our gorgeous, sunny 70 degree weather was going to come to a crashing end come morning. I realized I had all the fixings for a beef stew, except the beef was frozen. I finally got him back to sleep, ran downstairs and pulled the beef out, and then went back to bed.

I put together the stew this morning and let it sit in the crockpot for a good 8 hours. I love how simple this recipe is - honestly, it takes *maybe* 15 minutes to put together. Originally, I only used 1 1/2 cups of beef broth, but toward the end (especially with the addition of the packet of stew mix), it looked a little too thick, so I added the cup of water.

Later, when the kids were napping, I put together the bread (Jo's Rosemary Bread from allrecipes.com) and tossed it in the bread machine. I tell you what, the more I use that thing, the more I fall in love with it. It could be one of my favorite kitchen appliances. The loaf I made today was, by far, my favorite as of yet!

The meal was a hit with everyone - even though the boy isn't a huge stew fan. I mixed up some olive oil and cracked pepper to dip the bread in and it was strikingly similar to Romano Macaroni Grille's recipe. Delish! I also made up some applesauce to round out the meal. Here are the recipes - enjoy :)

Beef Stew
Ingredients
1 1/2 - 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth
3 potatoes, diced
4 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 cup of water
1 packet beef stew mix

Directions

1. Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. 
2. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, celery, water and packet of stew mix.
3. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

Jo's Rosemary Bread
Ingredients
1 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 packet of yeast

Directions

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. 
2. Select white bread cycle; press Start 

From Allrecipes.com

Applesauce
Ingredients
6 apples, peeled & cored (I used Gala this time)
4 packets of Splenda
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup of water

Directions

1. Combine ingredients in a deep pan and bring to boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Blend in food processor to desired consistency.