Stirrin' It Up With Stacey

Hello Everyone!

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Life has just barely started to slow down for us, Praise the Lord!

I have to tell you that through the busy season I have a few foods that I fall back on when I am in a hurry. The first is an incredibly tasty, hot sandwich. And it is super quick to make.

Hot Roast Beef and Cheddar Sandwich

8 oz. deli sliced roast beef

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup French's French fried onions

hamburger buns

1. chop up the roast beef into small pieces, place in a bowl.

2. toss in the cheese and the onions

3. mix well.

4. microwave until the cheese is melted, you might need to stir half way through.

5. place a scoop of the mixture on a bun and serve immediately.

this will make about 4-6 sandwiches depending on the size.

I really like these with mustard!

I Have decided to go healthy!

The newest thing we are doing around the house is a lot of dried fruit! Cranberries, Figs, Apricots, served with cheese is a great snack. The kids love the figs and apricots as much as anything else and there is no prep involved. If you happen to have a WINCO foods near you they have a wonderful selection of these items as well as nuts.

We are also using a lot more WHOLE grains. I made up a large batch of waffles for the kids and put them in ziplock bags in the freezer. They can then get them out on their own and pop them in the toaster. What I did different this time was to mix in some 10 grain pancake mix with the regular. I did about a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture. The kids loved the flavor. I serve them with a little bit of buttermilk syrup and small dollop of low fat sour cream. I intend on eventually using 100%, 10 grain pancake mix. If you want to make French toast and freeze it that works just as well.

My crockpot is one of the best appliances I own! I make homemade refried beans, and then we use the beans to make burritos all week long. AND you absolutely can not beat the taste! If you are having a Mexican dinner and you want to impress your guests these are the beans you want to serve!

Refried BEANS

In a crock pot

place 2 cups of dried pinto beans that have been sorted and rinsed (this should take less than 5 minutes)

next you can add 1 onion rough chopped. you can add bacon if you want to, or left over ham.

Season with a little bit of garlic powder 1 tsp., 1tbsp. of salt, and I use the knorr brand tomato and chicken bullion 1/8 cup.

fill the crock pot with water and let cook on low for 6-8 hours.

THIS LAST STEP IS IMPORTANT!

during the last hour of cooking in a small frying pan or sauce pan, combine 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup flour and cook over medium heat until browned. Pour into the bean mixture and let thicken. (It will spatter a bit so stand back and stir it in right away. Make sure it is completely mixed in.)

I serve this with rice, or with a pork roast that I have cooked until it falls apart and we make it into tacos with corn tortillas and pineapple salsa.

If you decide to use corn tortillas they need to be softened with a bit of cooking spray on a griddle, over low heat. They only need to be heated for about 30 seconds.

If you ever have any questions about the items I have posted please feel free to contact me and I will make sure to answer your questions.

Well until next time,

I hope you all have a blessed Week!

Stacey