Magic Beef Stew
February 26th, 2007
Tina from Arlington, Ohio writes…
I wanted to recommend what I cooked for lunch today. It’s called Magic Beef Stew and it’s in the Beyond Macaroni and Cheese cookbook. I’ve made it a few times before and we love the stuff. Because it cooks for 4 hours, it’s a great Sunday lunch thing. I know you and I share the same dilemma of what to feed a starving family the minute you walk through the door after church on Sunday.
This is an all-too-common problem that most folks solve by going out to eat. Many of us, however, don’t have a regular Sunday after-church trip to the restaurant in the budget. And if it’s not in the budget, in this household, it is just not happenin’. Tina’s right - we have to plan good meals that can go in the crock-pot, the oven, or be cooked quickly after church. (Yesterday we had grilled bologna, which takes like 5 whole minutes on the grill and costs a fraction of a trip to McDonald’s.)
Now, I’m not sure if I’ve ever reviewed or recommended the Macaroni and Cheese cookbook, but it sure is a good one. Click here to see the book — “Beyond Macaroni and Cheese” by Mary Beth Lagerborg and Karen J. Parks. A must for every mom of children under 10. Full of fun ideas and things kids will be willing to try, “Beyond” can be a great help to an on-the-edge I-can’t-get-my-kids-to-eat-anything mother.
Another hint they give and I will back up is this: Get your kids involved in the cooking process. They are MUCH more willing to try foods that they helped prepare. I hope these ladies don’t mind my posting their recipe, with all due credit.
Here’s the recipe Tina mentions:
Magic Beef Stew
serves 6
1 lb. stew meat (you buy this in the beef case - it is already cut up and ready to use)
2 stalks celery
1 onion
3 carrots
3 potatoes
2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 T. sugar
2 T. minute tapioca
1 1/2 c. tomato juice (or 1 can of V-8)
Preheat the oven to 275.
Cover the bottom of a heavy pan with meat. Cut and arrange the vegetables on top. Combine the dry ingredients and sprinkle over the vegetables. Add the tomato juice.
Cover the pan tightly with foil or a lid.
Bake for 4 hours. Do not peek or stir.
Enjoy! — Later this week I will tell you how and why my kids made themselves a Cheesy Bites Pizza.
Entry Filed under: Beef, Book Reviews, Mixed bag, Old-Fashioned Foods, Recipes, Soup, Supper
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