We have young kids, plus we were pretty bad housekeepers before they joined our family. This means we have a mostly messy house, most of the time. But once in awhile, we invite people over. And if they’re people we don’t know very well, or people we’re not sure will still like us if they knew how messy our house usually is, we clean. Frantically.
It’s good for us, I tell myself as I shovel piles of papers, toys, crayons and crumbs into banker’s boxes and march them up to the attic, piling them on top of the previous Visitors Day banker’s boxes. “No,” I mutter to the cat as I shovel, “it was not a mistake to invite people over again. It’s good to reach out and socialize. We’ll live longer.” And the truth is we neeeeed these excuses to tidy up, albeit sloppily.
Today is one of these days. (So instead of tidying, you’re blogging? you ask. Yes, I know, I know…I can’t seem to help myself!) But the guests coming later this afternoon (4 hours left to clean, Clean, CLEAN!!!) are not only “new” to us, they’re also above-average in health consciousness. Which means my standy-by “Cheesy Casserole for Visitors” is out of the question. Have I mentioned that I’m neither a housekeeper nor a cook?! For help handling my self-induced predicament, I turned to my good, healthy friend Jody, who sent me a recipe for stew that I’m sharing with A-Town readers today. I shopped yesterday (my very first time purchasing parsnips—for the record, they look like white carrots, not like potatoes as I expected), and I chopped the veggies early this morning. Crockpot, I love you…I think. I’ll letcha know how it turns out.
Gotta go fill some more banker’s boxes. Bon Appetit!
“Autumn Dream” Stew
Originally an EatBetterAmerica.com recipe called “Slow Cooker Winter Stew,” adapted by my good, healthy friend Jody and revised further by me because our visitors prefer to steer clear of potatoes (I upped the parsnips and the squash)…10 points for Gryffindor to the A-Town reader who identifies the source of my stew title!
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
4 medium red potatoes, diced
4 medium stalks celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 medium carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 medium parsnips, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
(also throw in some butternut squash chopped up, says Jody - it adds nice flavor and color)
1 can vegetable broth
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. rosemary or Italian seasoning
3 tbs. cornstarch
3 tbs. cold water
1. In 4- to 5- quart slow cooker, place all ingredients except cornstarch and water
2. Cover; cook on low heat setting 8-10 hours or until vegetables are tender
3. Mix cornstarch and water; gradually stir into stew until blended. Increase heat setting to high; cover and cook about 20 minutes longer, stirring occasionally until thickened.
Jody says: I also make a sun dried tomato and garlic bread in my bread maker that goes wonderfully with this! Let me know if you want that recipe too. If you don't have a bread maker they have really good whole grain breads at Tops and Wal-mart that you can warm and serve with this. This meal is a favorite with my whole family!!!!
5 comments:
Okay, now the pressure is on to be good Visitors! We do the same thing when we have people over!!! The stew sounds delicious - I can't wait!
Hahaha -- I wondered if you'd see this before coming over. See you soon.
Sounds delicious! But it is too healthy for my husband in that it has no meat... :\ What if you add some stew meat?
Now that you know what parsnips are, cook them with some carrots -- leave in chunks or mash. Yum!
So how was the stew ?
The stew was "OK," in my opinion. It was a bit too sweet for my taste, actually. Maybe the potatoes would have detracted from the tomatoes' sweetness (and the carrots' and the squash's). My friend Holly posted a family favorite stew for carnivores on her blog--I'm gonna try that next: http://www.hollygoeslightly.net/2009/09/dinner-effort.html.
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