Beef Stew Redo...

On our Costco run I bought a BIG package of stew meat.  This morning I seasoned, dredged, and seared all of it.  This took quite awhile, as I didn't want to overcrowd the pans...yes, I had two pans going.

I divided the browned stew meat into three batches.   Two went in the freezer for future easy meal starters (yea, me!), one went in the slow cooker for supper.

As I was assembling the vegetables for the stew, I realized the only potatoes I had were the really large baking variety, of which I bought a BUNCH to restock the freezer with twice-baked potatoes.  I decided to leave potatoes out of the stew, so I went ahead and got the stew going with carrots and mushrooms in the slow cooker.  And I washed, oiled, and salted all the potatoes and put them in to bake.

When the potatoes were done, I let them cool for a bit.  Then I cut them in half and scooped out the insides.  I mashed them with butter, sour cream, a little parmesan cheese, some chives, dried onion flakes, salt, pepper, and garlic.  Then I re-stuffed all the potatoes skins with the mash.  Most of these went into the freezer to freeze solid; then they will be taken out and individually vacuum packed tomorrow.  The others I put back in the oven to reheat.  Then I plated them individually and ladled the beef stew over them for supper.  Yum!

So in conclusion:  All of the stew meat has been browned and 2/3 stored in freezer; my freezer's supply of twice-baked potatoes has been restocked; supper was made in a new way and enjoyed; two additional individual servings of the twice-baked potato topped with stew are in the freezer for Carey's work lunches; and there is leftover stew for the weekend.

Whew!  I feel like I was in the kitchen all day long, but at least I have a lot of advance prep work done to show for it.  :)

Prior proper preparation prevents piss-poor performance...

I learned the 7 P's from a dear friend...actually I learned to practice them from my parents, but I learned the alliterative adage from my friend...who learned it in his career as a U.S. Army officer.  I always think of him when I find myself putting special effort into planning and preparation, because those 7 P's always pop into my head.

Today the planning and prep called for putting a couple of my favorite tools into action.

A roast went into the Ninja slow cooker.  I LOVE my Ninja.  I know I've said that before, but it bears repeating.  The insert is metal, and the Ninja has stove-top (and oven) settings in addition to low and high slow-cook settings, so when a recipe calls for browning meat before putting in the slow cooker, I can do it all in just the one.  Tonight I wanted dumplings, so after the roast was cooked, I removed it, turned the settings back to stove top, and cooked the dumplings.  One pan.  One.  

And, no, I have not been compensated in any way by Ninja, I just love it.  :)

Once I got the roast started, I put together and vacuum sealed:
2 Secret-Ingredient Meatloaves
2 pounds browned and seasoned ground beef, and
1 roast (a second one, not the one from the slow cooker)

Now they are all resting in my freezer, awaiting easy starts to future meals.  My future me will be SO grateful that I did this.  :)

And when the roast for tonight was done, this is the beautiful dinner we had:

Roast (with horseradish), Dumplings, Green Beans

I'll be putting the recipe up over at What's Cookin' 4 Miles North of Nowhere.

Kitchen prep...

I've hinted a little, but I'll come right out and say it.  We are about to begin a kitchen remodel.  They've measured the kitchen, and we've chosen the cabinets.  We will hopefully put the order in later this week, after which there is about a five-week wait for them to be delivered.  After they are installed, we begin another wait time for the counter tops.  I haven't chosen those yet.  In the meantime, Carey will begin removing the current cabinets and appliances.   We could be without a kitchen for a LONG time.

I don't want to spend all that time eating out.  Luckily we have a sink in the laundry room.  So my plan is to put the microwave and the slow cooker in the laundry, and have that be my interim kitchen space.  There's not a lot of counter top in there, so cooking from scratch wouldn't be all that easy.

Like a good little prepper, I have begun preparing meals ahead.  Last week I cleaned out and defrosted the chest freezer.  (I've been trying to use up things from it for awhile, so everything left fit in the refrigerator's freezer section.)  I also planned exactly what I would be cooking to fill it back up and made a shopping list.  Friday I did a gigantic shopping trip.

I filled up all the pantry staples.  Do you cut the cooking instructions off the package and put them in the canister so they don't get lost?  My mother taught me that handy tip an eon ago.

So far I've made 3 batches of Beef and Vegetable Soup.  We will just have to open the bag, pour it in the slow cooker, and add a large container of V8.

I've also assembled and packaged:

3 batches of Jambalaya Casserole

2 batches of Jalapeno Lime Chicken (thanks for the suggestion on that one, LB).  

6 batches of cooked rice to accompany main dishes

5 pounds of cooked ground beef for later use

Tomorrow (and Thursday) I have to work, so I won't be back in the kitchen until Wednesday.  I've still got so much to do!

Matinee idle...

I spent the morning going through recipes, planning a massive menu plan and grocery shop.  (I plan to do the actual shopping trip tomorrow.)  Then I hunted down an out-of-the-way paint store (it was much further away than I expected) to pick up special paint, along with some tape and rollers.  My son has agreed to paint my laundry room (even the cabinets!), and I cannot tell you how happy that makes me.  I think I've mentioned before that no one uses my front door..everyone comes through the laundry room...not my choice of a first impression for guests.

Then a friend and I took some down time this afternoon to go see Gone Girl.  Fun to steal a little idle time in the middle of a weekday.  I still like the book better, but was happy when the movie stuck very closely to the novel.  My friend had not read the book, so seeing the story unfold and her reactions was cool.

I don't think the movie was stellar, but I did enjoy it.

I was pleasantly surprised when the matinee price was only $5.50 per person.  I think I've been patronizing the wrong theater.  

I need to call it a night.  A professional is coming at 8 in the morning to measure my kitchen!  Doing a little bouncy happy dance and clapping my hands.  I will be writing more about it soon.

Weekly menu planning...

roast beef
w/ potatoes and gravy
     carrots

meatloaf
w/ baked potatoes
     corn

King Ranch casserole
w/ beans
     guacamole

tuna casserole
w/ broccoli
     salad

grilled chicken sandwiches on ciabotta rolls
w/ grilled onions and green pepper

quesadillas
w/ guacamole

lamb curry
w/ rice
     naan

Today I have the roast, potatoes, and carrots in the slow cooker.  The other meals will get made as the mood strikes me.  I like to have a plan and the groceries in the house, while still leaving some room for spontaneity.