Category Archives: All blog posts

Beef Daube (because everything sounds better in French)

If the words “beef stew” make you think of an unhealthy concoction in a can, you’re missing the boat! The French have long known that the cure for the winter blahs involves a bubbling pot of beef, slow cooking with vegetables, red wine, and stock. Pair this version of their traditional “Boeuf Daube” with a loaf of crusty bread and a bright green salad (one made with spinach, sliced oranges, and toasted walnuts in a citrus vinaigrette sounds about right) and you have the perfect dinner to warm you from the inside out. God bless the French.

Beef Daube
adapted from Cooking Light 2004 

serves 6

Ingredients 
1 Tbsp. olive oil
 3-4  garlic cloves, crushed
1  (2 lb.) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
 1  tsp. kosher  salt
 1/2  tsp.  freshly ground black pepper
 1  c.  red wine
 2  c. chopped carrot
 1 1/2  c.  chopped sweet onion
 1  c.  beef stock or beef broth
 1  Tbsp.  tomato paste 
1 tsp.   chopped fresh rosemary
 1  tsp.  chopped fresh thyme
 1  (14.5-oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained
 1  bay leaf 

3 c.   hot cooked whole wheat  noodles
Directions 
1. Preheat oven to 300°.
2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic; cook 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon; set aside. 
3. Increase heat to medium-high and add beef to pan. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine to pan, and bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, salt, pepper, carrot, and next 7 ingredients (through bay leaf); bring to a boil.
4. Cover and bake at 300° for 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve over noodles.


Note: You can also make this in a slow cooker/crockpot. Simply complete steps 1-3 and transfer mixture to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for about 5 hours.
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Give yourself the gift of time

I started this new year off with a bang! At least in my head I did. I was so ready for January 1st to arrive so things could be swept clean, organized, and returned to normalcy after the blessed craziness of the holidays. I’m one of those people who loves (LOVES) to put up the Christmas decorations the first weekend of December while humming carols and sipping hot cocoa…but I also love taking them DOWN and restoring order to our home. There’s something so naturally invigorating about starting off the year that it motivates me to do all sorts of organizing projects. (Apparently I’m not alone – have you noticed all the organizing materials on display in the stores this month?)

Throughout the holidays I could feel myself making a mental list of all the things I wanted to do. In my head I’d be doing them “on January 1st.” My mental list got longer, and longer, and longer until it was painfully clear there was no human way to accomplish all of it in one day. No problem, I thought. I’ll give myself the whole first week of January to get it done. And then the list got longer still. 

At some point, (still in December) I really started to get stressed about how much I wanted to accomplish and how BEHIND I already felt, before I’d even started. I could feel myself brimming with anxiety and so I tried to explain how I was feeling to my husband, the best listener on earth. 

He looked at me, took a deep breath, and calmly asked me why everything on my list had to be done the first week of January. 

Well! Because it just does…have you looked at this house lately? Seriously. Humph. After ranting around in a fit of exasperation for a few minutes, I finally took a breath and actually processed his question. Why DID it all have to be done the first week of January?

And do you know what? I had absolutely no good reason why.

Right then and there, I gave myself permission to extend my self-imposed deadline for my very long to-do list. I got realistic with myself about when I’d actually find the 2 hours I needed to purge our files, the hour I’d need to clean the refrigerator, the 4 hours I’d need to really go through our closet. I searched my calendar for a few free days to hold my own annual planning retreat for my business and blocked them off. I penciled in dates to sort and store outgrown children’s clothes, to research a new software program I need, and to organize the toy closet. You get the idea. I gave myself some time. No one else could do it for me.

Isn’t it always like that? We have an idea and want to execute it right now. We want immediate results. But we each get 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week. And sometimes, if we can just take a breath and lift our heads up for a moment, we can give ourselves the gift of time to accomplish all that we desire without losing our minds in the process. No matter what you’ve resolved to do this year, will you give yourself the time you really need to accomplish it? No one else can do it for you.

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Snow day = Soup day!

It’s a snowy day here…the kind that makes you want to cozy up inside, light a fire, and make something warm and nourishing for dinner using ingredients you have on hand. Soup fits the bill perfectly if you keep a reasonably well-stocked pantry. I always try to keep cans of beans and chicken broth on hand and chicken breasts in the freezer. You could always substitute a different kind of cheese or eliminate an herb or garnish if you don’t have it handy. But if you’re up for following a recipe,  here’s one of my favorites for you to try on your next snow day. I’m off to don my hat and mittens, retrieve my kindergartener from the bus and prepare for an afternoon of snow-themed fun!


White Chicken Chili 
adapted from Cooking Light 2004
 
serves 8

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 c. finely chopped onion
  • 2  garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1/2  tsp. dried oregano
  • 1  tsp. ground coriander
  • 2  (4.5 oz) cans chopped green chiles, undrained
  • 1  c.  water
  • 2  (15.5 oz.) cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (I like Bush’s)
  • 1  (14 oz.) can chicken broth or chicken stock
  • 1/2  tsp. Tabasco sauce 
  • 1  c. (about 4 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • 1/2  c.  chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/2  c.  chopped green onions

Preparation

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 10 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add garlic; sauté 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in cumin, dried oregano, and coriander; sauté 1 minute. Stir in chiles; reduce heat to low, and cook 10 minutes, partially covered. Add the chicken, water, cannellini beans, and broth; bring to a simmer. 

Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in hot sauce. Ladle 1 cup of chili into each of 8 bowls; sprinkle each serving with 2 tablespoons cheese, 1 tablespoon cilantro, and 1 tablespoon green onions.

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