Recipe: Beef Tips in Gravy

Apparently, I did not want Crockpot food tonight. Sometimes, you just don't feel like it.

Me: Whose idea was this Crockpot crap anyway?
Wade: Yours. You're a Crockpot crackpot!

Yuk, yuk, yuk. He thinks he's so funny.

I was not super thrilled about trying tonight's Crockpot meal. This may be why it's the only one we haven't tried out of this batch. But it's the one that is full of processed sh. . . tuff and sodium. I will be the first to admit that it's less than healthy. So, save your judgment, I judge myself. Anywho, here we go. Sense the enthusiasm.

Beef Tips in Gravy

1 1/2 lbs cubed beef (stew meat)
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 14 oz. can beef broth or stock
salt and pepper

Cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve with rice or noodles.

Commentary on the Process

Using processed stuff makes it super easy and super fast. It really doesn't get much easier. Open some cans, dump them in the bag. Add the meat. Freeze. Thaw. Throw in pot. Turn to low. Come home. Peek in pot. Wrinkle nose. Stir in attempt to make ugly Crockpot food look more appetizing. Cook noodles. (We opted for noodles because every other recipe calls for rice, and we wanted to change it up a little.) Stir in an attempt to make ugly Crockpot food look more appetizing again.

I actually decided the gravy was too thin and thickened it a bit with flour and water (mix together, strain into Crockpot, stir). This worked pretty well. Then, I served it up with green beans. Voila. Dinner was served.

Ratings

Ease of preparation: A
Taste: B (me)/A (Wade, but he is still alive, so still no A+. However, he did say that this was his favorite so far.)
Quantity: 2 servings, plus another 2-4 in the fridge
Notes: It was filling when we ate it. I was full fast. However, about a half hour ago (it's 9:40 pm now), I was really hungry again. We're talking REALLY hungry, to the point of 'hangry' (hungry and angry at the same time). Wade was also hungry, but more annoyed with my hangry whining. Other than that, it was okay. Wade really liked it. I thought it tasted fine, but I couldn't help but focus on the processed part of it. Oh well. It is what it is.

Commercial Interruption: Lieutenant Colonel Darcy's Super Num Num Chicken Fried Rice

NOTE: This is NOT a Crockpot recipe, but it is OH-SO good.

We interrupt this Crockpot extravaganza with this message. FAIL.

I failed today. I forgot to put my Crockpot beef tip thing IN the Crockpot before I left for a friend's house this afternoon. . . AND the new Five Guys was closed for training. SOOOO. . . I opted for one of my all-time favorite Pinterest finds: Better-Than-Takeout Fried Rice. And it really is as good or better than takeout, at least, we think it is.

Chicken Fried Rice

4 c rice, prepared
1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked
1 c peas and carrots, frozen
1 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1/4 c soy sauce

Prepare rice according to package instructions to yield 4 cups cooked rice. Heat sesame oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add onion, garlic, peas, and carrots.

Stir fry until tender. Crack eggs into pan and scramble, mixing throughout vegetables.

Add rice, chicken, and soy sauce to pan.

Stir in soy sauce and remove from heat.

Commentary on the Process

I used white calrose rice in my happy rice maker.

Then, I diced the onions. I hate dicing anything, particularly onions. However, I love this fried rice so much, that I do it. This time, I used the frozen carrots and peas, but picked out most of the peas and gave them to my 11-month-old daughter. I hate peas; she loves them. My husband also hates peas. He said, "At last! We have someone to give our peas to!" For the record, I've also diced fresh carrots in the past. It's a bit labor intensive.

I sautéed, cooked and mixed. I used low-sodium soy sauce. I served it up. De-lish.

Stupid auto-rotate.

Ratings

Ease of preparation: B
Taste: A — Wade says that he is reluctant to give anything an A+, "I would have to have a heart attack and die because it was so good. Then you would have to give it the A+ because I would be dead." We love this rice, but he is not dead.
Quantity: 2 good-sized servings tonight, 4 lunch-sized servings
Notes:I think it needs a little more soy sauce than it calls for. I tend to add some when I eat it. Otherwise, no complaints, makes great leftovers.

Leftoverability: Recipe #7

The Lieutenant Colonel Darcy's chicken makes tasty leftovers, especially when it is paired with leftover Fujiyama fried rice. We got two good-sized servings and have another serving or two in the fridge. For some reason, I think the Asian dishes are better as leftovers. Pretty good stuff.

And I'm thinking I deserve a promotion for this one.

Recipe: Lieutenant Colonel Darcy's Chicken

It was an intense debate.

Me: I think I will call it General Darcy's chicken.
Wade: Uhhhh. (long pause) Don't you think that's a little ambitious?
Me: What?
Wade: Maybe Colonel Darcy.
Me: Like SANDERS? NO.
Wade: Major? Captain?
Me: Oh, come on. I think I rank higher than that. General!
Wade: Nah.
Me: Lieutenant Colonel.
Wade: Really? Oh, fine.

So, there you have it. Lieutenant Colonel Darcy's chicken a.k.a. General Tsao's chicken. This was a Pinterest find, which links to Joy and Passion in the Journey

Lieutenant Colonel Darcy's Chicken

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 t minced garlic
3 T brown sugar
1 t ground ginger
2 T soy sauce
1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes (or more if you like hot)
1 16-oz package stir fry veggies

Place chicken in bag. Combine remaining ingredients (except veggies), mix well and pour over chicken. Freeze. Recommendation: Put quart bag of chicken, with the bag of veggies, into a gallon bag.

Thaw chicken bag. Cook on low 5-6 hrs. Then add frozen veggies. Recover and cook on high for 1 hr or until veggies are hot and chicken has reached desired tenderness. Serve over rice.

Commentary on the Process

It went together fairly easily. As mentioned in one of the first entries, there was a lot of garlic peeling. That got a little old. However, other than that, pretty simple, pretty fast.

I apparently bought stir fry veggies with noodles and didn't realize it until I poured the bag in the Crockpot and thought, "What are all those white squiggly things?" Then I looked at the bag. Wait. Then I READ the bag. Lo Mein Stir Fry Vegetables. Ohhhh. Whoops. I just picked the bag that looked like it had mostly carrots and broccoli and very few (if any) peas.

Thank you auto-rotate!

Also, I did not follow the cooking instructions very well. Or at all.

Cook on low 5-6 hours.

I cooked on low for 9 hours.

Add frozen veggies and cook on high for 1 hour.

I added veggies and cooked on low for 1 hour. Apparently, I can't read. Or I choose not to read. Whatever. I think it turned out fine. Of course, I used my happy rice maker for the rice. Lieutenant Colonel Darcy's chicken was served.

I left out the photo of the chicken before I added the veggies. Like I said before, Crockpot food ain't pretty.

Ratings

Ease of preparation: B+
Taste: B
Quantity: 2 servings, plus ~2 servings for leftovers
Notes: I actually liked it with the lo mein noodles, but Wade and I felt like it needed more sauce. We added a little soy sauce, and it was fine. We think it's a repeat.

Final Words

Me: I'm a little upset you demoted me.
Wade: I didn't. You never rated General.

Leftoverability: Recipe #6

Greek-inspired roast for the win. Woot. Delicious the first time, delicious as leftovers. We've gotten five servings out of it thus far, and there's still some left, probably one or two servings. Wade actually put his meat in a quesadilla today because, well, he will put anything in a quesadilla. Man loves him some tortillas and cheese. He said that was good too. Versatility is good.

I think we are up to seven bags (including the red beans and rice that was thrown in) and 35+ servings (the + represents the never-ending chicken that didn't get eaten. Eleven bags left.

Recipe: Greek-Inspired Roast

Once again, "Holy deliciousness!" There was only one glitch. . . I took the roast out of the freezer on Monday early evening and stuck it on the counter to thaw. I put it in the fridge before I went to bed. Tuesday morning, when I went to put it in the Crockpot, it was still frozen solid. As. A. Rock. So, we had Round Table last night. This made my Round-Table-Loving-Hubby VERY happy.

Now my mom tells me you can throw a frozen roast in a Crockpot, and it will still work, just cook it a little longer. Aren't Crockpots wonderful?

I actually know where this recipe came from. I found this one on the Stacy Makes Cents website. She didn't freeze hers, but freezing works fine. . . as long as you thaw it long enough. I did make a couple of modifications, e.g., I threw the onions in the bag raw.

Greek-Inspired Roast

3 pounds beef roast
1/3 cup olive oil, butter, or other fat
3/4 cup onion, chopped
6-7 whole cloves
5-6 peppercorns
1 two or three inch-long cinnamon stick
1 can diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour half of the oil in the bottom of a large skillet and brown the roast on the skillet, using tongs to carefully flip it over and brown it on all sides. Pour the rest of your ingredients in your Ziploc, seal and freeze.

Thaw. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve over brown rice.

Commentary on the Process

Super easy. Brown the roast, throw a few things in the bag. The original recipe called for tomato juice, but said that diced tomatoes work fine. I actually changed it to diced tomatoes. I like the chunkiness, and I am far more likely to have diced tomatoes on hand than tomato juice. Simple, simple, simple. However, it should be noted that I did not double this recipe, so I only have one roast bag. I might double it next time. Yes. There will be a next time.

Blogger has decided my photos are oriented wrong and kindly auto-rotated them for me. Wasn't that nice? I don't feel like figuring out how to fix it at the moment. So just turn your head slightly. . . I DESPISE WYSIWYGs!

Anyway, I threw the roast in this morning and set my rice maker to "Brown" -- went to music class, work, came home. Served. DELISH.

Ratings

Ease of preparation: A
Taste: A
Quantity: 2 servings, and I am guessing 2-4 more.
Notes: Easy. Delicious. The brown rice makes a difference. It's soooooo good.

Leftoverishness

Yes, the cilantro lime chicken is delicious. We gave it an A+, but it NEVER ends. We got eight servings out of it, and I am pretty sure the bowl is STILL full. I think maybe it refills itself. Either I have a magic bowl or magic chicken, not sure which. But I just can't eat it anymore. . . Perhaps put the recipe in four bags, rather than two, if there are only two of you!