Slow Cooker Beef Stew

One thing I love about living in Tennessee is that I actually get to experience seasons. After being born and raised in South Carolina where there are only 2 seasons, Summer & Winter, it's refreshing to actually experience Fall.

We had some really good Fall-like weather on Sunday. Temps were in the 60s and the rain was drizzling with a cool breeze. Perfect weather for comfort food. The kind of weather where you get home from church, change into your comfy clothes, ladle up a big bowl of Beef Stew and savor the afternoon.

Man I love those kinds of days.


Ingredients
1.5 lbs. beef stew meat
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
1 (8oz) pkg button mushrooms, quartered with stems removed
1 onion, roughly chopped
2-3 carrots, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
2 cans tomato sauce
salt & pepper

This is SO easy to make and SO yummy and delicious! All you do is combine everything in the crock-pot and cook on low overnight. *Feel free to add water if it needs a little more liquid.

It's so fragrant you'll smell it in your dreams. And you'll thank me for it.

Backstage at Betty Crocker Kitchens

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Chicken & Spinach with Balsamic Tomatoes over Brown Rice

LONG title I know, but I couldn't think of anything clever.

It feels like forever since I've blogged on here. I started a new blog about my family (me, the hubs, and the dog) so our friends from SC could keep up with us. If you're interested you can read about our shinanagins here

Back to the recipe...this is been a go-to recipe of sorts for me. My husband absolutely loves it and devours it every time I make it. I love it because it tastes great AND it's healthy! I used Ellie Krieger's recipe the first time I made this and she uses whole wheat couscous which I swap out for brown rice occasionally. I also love it because I use the same skillet for the chicken, spinach, and tomatoes so it saves time on clean up.


This serves about 4 people. So here we go:
Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 5 oz each)
1 can no-salt-added diced tomatoes in juice
3 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar
1 TBSP Italian Seasoning
1 (10oz bag) fresh spinach, chopped
1 tsp EVOO
2 cloves chopped garlic
salt & pepper
2 cups cooked brown rice

Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Season each side of the chicken breasts with salt & pepper and cook in the skillet until done. (About 4 minutes each side, depending on thickness) Set aside.
*I used a tablespoon of butter to "grease" the pan but you could use cooking spray as well

In the same skillet, sauté the chopped garlic in the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Combine with the brown rice and set aside.

Finally the can of tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and Italian seasoning are combined in the skillet. Bring to a slight boil and simmer for about 4 minutes.


To serve this, I usually plate the spinach and rice on the bottom, chicken in the middle, and spoon the tomatoes on top.