Yummy Meat & Potato Casserole

I just wanted to share one of our favorite dinners!  (A recipe I found on cooks.com a year or two ago.)We haven't had it in awhile so I decided to make it last night for dinner.  I had forgotten how good it really was!  =0)

The original recipe says to use lamb stew meat, which I've tried since lamb is DaddyGoose's favorite, but since I'm not a fan of lamb I've also tried making it with beef stew meat and chicken, and it's just as tasy!  Also, the recipe says to use a large casserole dish, which to me means 9x13, but I've found that it fits best in either a glass 8x8 or a 2.5qt round dish (as pictured). And I wanted to mention that it says 4 servings, but DaddyGoose and I can easily eat the whole thing in one dinner.  So if you are feeding more than 2, I would reccommend doubling the recipe!

And now the moment you've been waiting for... the recipe!

Meat & Potato Casserole

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 30min (give or take a few)
Cook Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
• 1 1/2 lbs. Stew Meat (lamb, beef, chicken, other?)
• 1 Onion, sliced or chopped
• 2 Carrots, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. Flour, all-purpose
• 1/2 c. White Wine (sub w/ White Grape Juice, Apple Juice or Chicken Broth)
• 1 c. Beef Stock
• 1 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
• 1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 tsp. Dill Weed
• 4 c. Potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/2 a med potato)
• 1 Tbsp. Butter, melted

Directions:
~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease casserole dish.
~ Heat oil in skillet over med heat.  Add meat and saute until browned.  With slotted spoon transfer meat to casserole dish.
~ Add onions and carrots to fat remaining in skillet, and saute 2 min.  Stir in flour and cook 1 min.  Gradually stir in wine and stock.  Bring mixture to a boil, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat.
~ Stir in tomato paste and sugar.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spoon mixture over meat in dish, then stir in dill weed.
~ Arrange sliced potatoes over contents of casserole (in single layer).  Brush with melted butter, then cover with foil or lid.
~ Bake for 1 1/2 hours.
~ Increase ove heat to 400 degrees, remove lid, and bake 30 more minutes until potatoes are tender and golden.

It is a VERY time consuming dish, so it's best for the weekend or a day when you don't have plans, but it is worth the wait!  I promise!

Make Mine Meatless!

We had such an yummy dinner tonight that I wanted to share!
So this month we've started the famous Dave Ramsey's Envelope System, and to get a hold on our grocery spending we've also started dinner meal planning as well.  We are on our third week and are doing very well!  It's been a much easier change than we thought it would be

Anyway, back to meal planning... So I was reseaching meal ideas and came across the idea of "Meatless Mondays."  I liked the idea, so I added it to the calendar.  The first week I found a recipe for Black Bean Burgers, and although they were good, they weren't something we wanted to add to our favorite recipes list.  Then last week was way boring with baked potatoes and baked beans.  I was about ready to dump the "Meatless Mondays" idea but tonight I decided to give it one more go, and it was a very simple but very yummy meal that we are looking forward to having again in the future!  So I guess we'll keep you around for now "Meatless Mondays"!

Bean, Cheese, Lettuce, Salsa and Avacado Tostadas & Grilled Mexican Corn

Taste the Rainbow

On one of my random browsings on Pinterest I came across this awesome Rainbow Bread, so I pinned it.  DaddyGoose had been really into making homemade bread lately, and has made both white and rye bread.  I've been feeling left out, so yesterday I took the plundge and not only made my first loaf of homemade bread, but it was my first time using a bread machine, and my first attempt at making rainbow bread. 

All I can say is wow!  It turned out way better than I was expecting it to!  The crust was a little on the hard side, but the inside was perfect.  And the "hardest" part was mixing the different colors into the bread.. Actually, it wasn't that difficult, more time-consuming than anything.  I think I'll make some more this weekend for Jocelyn's Princess Valentine's party!

Zoo Lunches

Because the weather was so nice last week, we decided to take a field trip to the zoo! And DaddyGoose was able to get the day off to go with us! As always, I packed our picnic lunches in our awesome EasyLunchBoxes! I LOVE these lunch boxes. We've only had ours about a year, but I don't regret buying them at all because we use them ALL the time! I love not having to pack a million different containers because everything fits nicely in one little box.   AND their website offers a ton of great lunch ideas in case you ever get tired of eatin gthe same thing!  Anyway, enough babbling, here's what I packed us the night before:

BabyGoose had a PB&J "moon" sandwich with cheese crackers, cantelope, string cheese and a juice box. DaddyGoose had a turkery and cheese sandwich with on white breat with a string cheese, chips, and a waterbottle. And I had a turkey and cheese sandwich on french bread with crackers, a mini salad, raspberry vinegarette dressing and a waterbottle. Yum!