• Start Here
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Table
    • Together at the Table
    • Food and Such
      • Beverages
      • Bread
      • Breakfast
      • Main Dishes
      • Vegetables & Sides
      • Soups
      • Desserts
  • Writing
    • On Family
  • Happy Designs
  • Connect
    • For You
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

Cozy Dinner Times Two!

December 5, 2009 by HappyGoStuckey 4 Comments

   

     It is during this time of the year that I find myself looking to make filling meals that are warm, comforting and full of good healthy ingredients. It also happens that during this time in our life, (enter one smallish income for 3 people) I find myself looking to stretch our grocery bill into as many meals as possible. It really makes my day when I can stretch one meal into two or more- (other than just eating leftovers, which is always nice.)

     Last night, I made this recipe for a slow-cooker beef stew. If you enjoy cozy meals such as this, I would certainly recommend giving it a try. A few things you should know, the recipe calls for 4 lbs. of bottom round. That is a lot of meat— so for Mr. S and I, I used about 1.35 lbs. of cubed stew meat. It still made plenty and it was not too meat heavy as some stews can be. We prefer a lot of vegetables. Another observation, the recipe calls for baby carrots. Baby carrots are fine and definitely convenient. We have taken to buying a large bag of whole organic carrots because we get WAY more per pound, they last much longer in the fridge since they are unpeeled (we’re talking weeks here) and we tend to think the taste is just sweeter and more “carrot-ey” (Yes, I have coined a new word.) One other disclaimer, the recipe calls for a cup of red wine. Obviously, the alcohol cooks out, but if you choose not to use the wine,  you could try beef broth.. however I would add at least a small amount of red wine or red cooking wine, because the flavor is really unmistakable.The resulting dish was really good and warmed us from the inside out on a chilly rainy night.

On to meal #2:
   Long ago, my mother taught me that beef stew or soup makes an excellent Meat Pie a couple days later. Just thicken or thin the sauce to your desired consistency, place in a casserole dish and cover with a piecrust. Seal the edges and bake until golden brown and bubbly. Tip: try adding a small sprinkling of fresh or dried Thyme or Rosemary to your crust before rolling it out. Beautiful and Savory! If you are short on time, you can certainly use a roll-out pie crust, or even top your beef stew with biscuit-dough. Either one would make excellent use of leftovers and give your family the feeling of an entirely different Supper. Especially if you wait a day in between! You could also accomplish this same concept by topping leftover chili with cornbread and baking. Yum!

This is just a simple technique that I use from time to time and I thought I would share.

What are some creative ways you get double or even triple duty out of your leftovers?

Wordless Wednesday
It’s beginning to look alot like Christmas…

Comments

  1. Dan says

    December 6, 2009 at 3:04 am

    great post cindy. Makes me think of sunday diners growing up. love meal #2 idea. Love ya!! Casey

    Reply
  2. BOWquet says

    December 6, 2009 at 4:16 am

    Girl, I love meal #2 idea… I'll have to try that. 🙂
    -E

    Reply
  3. Mom B says

    December 7, 2009 at 3:42 am

    That picture just makes my mouth water for beef stew! We recently cooked a picnic roast in the Pampered Chef deep dish baker and for a second meal, I took the bone with large bits of meat on it and made split pea soup. The pork flavored the soup and added some meat to go along with the potatoes, carrots, onion and celery. I just love soup…especially in the winter!

    Reply
  4. Frank Tyson says

    December 29, 2009 at 5:44 pm

    Wow, the slow-cooker beef stew looks awesome! I notice you call for cooking wine in the recipe. Any suggestions as to which? I've had a lot of luck with these guys: http://www.academiewines.com. They blend specialty wines for cooking (and drinking while you cook).

    Thanks for turning me on to myrecipes.com!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe and receive a Free copy of “Simmer: Six soup recipes and the Stories that Inspired Them.”

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Hey There!

I'm Cynthia and I'm so glad you're here. I am an introvert with an extrovert's love of gathering people together. I love good books and capturing moments. Whether you visit me here or on my own front porch, I'll be the one holding the Iced Coffee for us both.

Instagram

happygostuckey

Joy is the courage of people who don’t have all Joy is the courage of people who don’t have all the answers, yet.

While you sit in a season of waiting,
the calendar can often be a cruel companion, reminding you that days go by, weeks, months— with what feels like very little change in the right direction.

Perhaps you can easily assent to: 
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but you strain to see just how it will be when: “...a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12)

Wherever you and I are today— whether we wander, wait, stand firmly planted, or some pressed together combination of all three — we can take heart.

We are not alone.
And this will not be wasted.
What seems to be an unending blank space, an indefinite pause, is a space for new things.

Long before all is made right, and whether or not it all is tied up neatly with a perfectly crafted bow— we can know this:

We do not have to know the outcome to be faithful today.

✨Joy is not disregard for reality as much as it is obstinacy against despair.✨
Hi 👋🏻 I’m Cynthia and I’m a bit weary. T Hi 👋🏻 I’m Cynthia and I’m a bit weary. There. I said it. These days I’m gravitating to the true & the beautiful as rest for my weary self... and I wonder if you are too.

So much so, that I’m starting a new little offering, it’s called “The Feast: Wonder for the Weary” and the first issue goes out this weekend. It’s a bit more personal (okay this first one is WAY more personal. 🤭) It will be a little bit of everything, all with the goal of offering REST to both the feasters & foragers alike. If you’re already a subscriber— no need to do anything, if not— click through my bio to “keep in touch” and join the feast.✨
We are a people of both lament and praise. We hol We are a people of both lament and praise.

We hold questions without answers— yet we hold them in hands already full of good things.

We hold our daily bread, our daily gifts, and we hold the daily closeness of the God Who Sees.

The God who is no stranger to our lament, and Who Is the reason for our every hope.
He does not grow weary of our asking. Of our need to be told again, He will. 

You friend, are not invisible.
You are seen and cared for by the God who does all things well. (Even when they feel anything but.)
Married love ambition: making the kids roll their Married love ambition: making the kids roll their eyes at our “gushy-ness” as often as possible. 

President & CEO of the Lance Stuckey Fan Club— in every season, but especially on days like today.
Rainy day Mocha date, courtesy of our own toasty k Rainy day Mocha date, courtesy of our own toasty kitchen.😍🌧📚

On this chilly Saturday, we spent entirely too long browsing for books at our library and then all came home to a fire, mochas, and cocoa, respectively. Of all the things we do not know at this very moment, we know the gifts abound, and are worth counting.

PS, if you haven’t spread whipped cream on a foil-lined baking sheet to freeze, and then cut out cute shapes with cookie cutters to top your coffee or hot cocoa, may I suggest you get thee on that at once.
“If God sends us on strong paths, we are provide “If God sends us on strong paths, we are provided strong shoes.” — Corrie Ten Boom

✨File under, things to save in a fire.✨

The prayer journal pictured here contains six months of the hard & the sweet.
Six months of prayers asked & answered for ourselves and for others.
Six months of seeing through prayer, not how it changed our circumstances necessarily but how it changed us.

I always appreciate a record like this— being able to clearly see the paths we are led down, rocky though they may be? Priceless.

The ways God has come near us & drawn us to Himself again and again are written on these pages and I’ll treasure it forever.

Also pictured: Psalms Illuminated Scripture Journal. Highly recommend. Thank you always, @allifarnell
“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it th “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

While scrolling through my photos today, my heart was heavy to realize how far back “before” was.

Before masks and distancing, before loss, before other, more personal bits of hard. Multitudinous change, neither all bad nor all good.

With our free time, we’ve introduced our girls to Tolkien, Bilbo, Frodo, and especially Samwise the Brave. They are officially hooked and we are delighted to watch them discover another world where evil doesn’t win, and the courage of the small matters much. {they close their eyes at the Orcs and we haven’t had a nightmare yet!}🤞🏻😂😬
I’m leaning increasingly more into the analog th I’m leaning increasingly more into the analog these days.

It started with the Sourdough and a dozen different kinds of jam last year.
I suddenly find great calm in activities that stand in direction opposition to hurry, the textbook definition of ✨work in progress.✨ And really, if you could see the other side of this piece, you would believe me. 🙃

Thank you to @thebarmyfox for making embroidery so accessible!
@thenester says, “It doesn’t have to be perfec @thenester says, “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful,” and I believe that the weeknight meal equivalent is, “Just because it’s easy— doesn’t make it a second-tier supper!”

Thank you, Spaghetti with Meat sauce for being both a ministry to mom AND a crowd pleaser. Especially on a dreary January-ish day. It is ✨quite alright✨ to make something we’ve made a million times just because we know it makes the people happy.🍝
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Categories

Featured Posts

On Waiting & Moving

(And a Recipe for Italian Tortellini Soup) Later this month, our family will celebrate the 10th … [ Read More ]

Five Good Things

Hi. How are you, really? If you're anything like me-- you have moments of complete gratefulness for … [ Read More ]

Winter Favorites

(and why it matters to pay attention to the little things.) "For you are the sunshine-maker in … [ Read More ]

Loving Lately in November

"...all creation's revealing his majesty. We're invited to join with all nature in manifold witness … [ Read More ]

Feasting & Foraging (free for the weekend!) 🍊🌿

I wrote a book, called Feasting & Foraging, and I would like to tell you why. About a year … [ Read More ]

Miss Something?

Please be kind and give proper credit if you share! © Cynthia M. Stuckey. For personal use only, not to be copied, distributed, altered or sold.

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy may be found HERE.

Want each post to magically appear in your email box?

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Cynthia@happygostuckey.com
xo Cynthia
  • Start Here
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Table
  • Writing
  • Happy Designs
  • Connect

© 2021 · Pretty Creative WordPress Theme by, Pretty Darn Cute Design