Super Yummy Recipe

I know I usually post these recipes on Sunday, but this weekend was weird because I didn't have a computer. Then I spent all of Sunday afternoon at Best Buy trying to remedy that situation. Which I did :)

I really am enjoying learning to cook more foods now that we are trying to eat more fresh, whole foods and less processed, packaged food. I love mixing things that I think will go together and getting a great result! That's exactly how this recipe came about and it's definitely deserving of the title "super yummy"!!! It sounds a bit like a winter recipe, but I put it together today from stuff I had around the kitchen. Of course, fresh tomatoes would be even tastier, I'm sure! This came out beautifully and is very filling. Bonus: it's super healthy, too!

Greener Mommy's Super Yummy Stew

Ingredients:

1 pound stew meat, any type
1 quart bag frozen tomatoes
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
about 8 oz fresh spinach (this is enough to loosely fill a gallon ziploc bag)
greek seasoning

Thaw tomatoes and add tomatoes and meat to crock pot. Heat on high until very warm, about 10 or 15 minutes, and then reduce heat to low. Cook about 4 hours or until meat is very tender. Add beans and fresh spinach. Toss until spinach wilts and add greek seasoning to taste. Serve immediately over quinoa or brown rice.

I used lamb in this recipe and it was absolutely amazing! Of course,  you could substitute about 3 small or 1 1/2 large cans of organic tomatoes if you don't have any left from the summer garden. The fresh spinach could be substituted, as well, for any fresh greens. In the winter, kale makes a great addition to stew. 

Do you ever grab whatever is available when making stew or soup instead of shopping for specific ingredients? Or do you prefer to use recipes exactly as they are written?

Summer Blog Challenge: Day 10

Challenge: Cost aside, what piece of artwork would you have in your home?

I love Rosie the Riveter in the "We Can Do It" ad. I really feel like she's me. Looking at that picture fills me with a sense of pride. Ladies, we can do it! We can have jobs outside or inside the home, be great moms, be eco-friendly, be great gardeners, cook amazing foods, and more! 

More specifically, though, if cost were no obstacle, I would like to have the exact one pictured below with my daughter. It's made entirely of Jelly Belly jelly beans by a New York female artist whose name escapes me. The closer you get to this work of art, the more amazed you are with the detail! We saw an entire collection of this Jelly Belly art on display at the Greenville Children's Museum. My daughter immediately ran over and posed with this one so I guess she felt a connection, too. She's always been referred to as my tough chic. And my own mother has this picture all over her home. Like mother, like daughter, across the generations!

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Summer Blog Challenge: Day 9

Today's Challenge: Tell about a kitchen disaster you've had.
I had a kitchen disaster last week. I bought some Hebrew National hot dogs. Did you know that they are natural, only use the best cuts of beef (no innards, ooh) and actually have rabbis to I.spectra the beef to make sure it's kosher? No pink slime in these babies. Some whole wheat buns, and sauerkraut and I was ready for some kraut dogs for dinner.
Easy meal before baseball practice, right? Hmmm....
I put the dogs in a shallow pan of water to cook, covered them, and ran out to the garden. I wanted some sliced tomatoes to serve on the side, but I paused to pull a few weeds while I was there. Apparently I paused too long! When I came in, smoke was pouting from under the pan lid! This is what I found inside...



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Birthday Treat Scores Big

<p>Yesterday was my husband's birthday. He really doesn't like cake, which is a problem I solved a few years ago by substituting a different treat on his birthdays. You see, my hubby loves brownies, so we started a tradition of making a brownie cake for his special day every year! A big pan of thick brownies, uncut, with icing and candles! I made everything from scratch this year! And I'm sharing the super easy recipe and a pic or two at the bottom. Still using my phone till I can get my computer repaired (hopefully tomorrow) so I hope the pics upload okay. Do you have any birthday traditions in your family?
Brownie Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup chocolate chips
Combine the flour, sugar, and cocoa well. Add the eggs, butter, and vanilla and mix again. Stir in chocolate chips and pour into a 13x 9 greased pan. Cook on 350 for about 30 minutes till a dork comes out clean.
When cake is 5 minutes from done, start icing.
Icing:
5 tbsp butter
1/3 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
Combine butter, milk, and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Allow to boil for one minute before removing from heat and immediately stirring in chocolate chips.
Pour over cake as soon as it comes out of the oven if you want it soft and thin. Or let it cool to thicken.
I poured it warm and we ate it when it cooled. Of course we added a few sparkler candles and turned out the lights! They were trick candles...to test his aging lungs! :)

If you liked this post and others on Mama Making Changes, please clickhere to go to Circle of Moms and vote for me as one of the top eco-friendly mom blogs. Just click here, then click the thumb to vote. You can come back to vote every 24 hours. Thanks for the support!

Mama Has a Problem

Uh oh. I came home to a computer that won't turn on tonight. One word...kids.
I am posting this from my phone so you won't think I forgot you tonight, my dear readers. I hope to be back tomorrow night in full swing. Some way, somehow. I have some pics and a new recipe for you when I'm able, so check back.
Pray for an inexpensive and timely resolution to my computer problems. And don't forget to click the Circle of Moms button on the right to vote for Mama Making Changes tonight and keep us in the top 25! Thanks!

Summer Blog Challenge: Day 8

Today's Challenge: What is your favorite guilty pleasure (besides blogging)?


Oh my goodness, that would have to be either book-buying or puzzles. I'm not sure I can choose between them.

I love to buy books. I think it's great that I can get books at the library, but I go back to my books again and again the way my hubbie re-watches movies.  My Nook is all that saves me from going to green mama hell for wasting paper. I can now buy books without feeling guilty about the trees that were sacrificed for my addiction. And since Nook books cost less than paper books, I can feel a little less guilty about the money I spend, too! Unfortunately, I have a special weekness for antique books and Nook doesn't help with those!

Now about those puzzles. Not only do I print tons of them off of the internet and buy books of them at Barnes & Noble, I lose sleep working them! They cover my bedside table. And heaven forbid someone take my pencils! The whole house has to get in on the hunt to recover them so I can do my puzzles! I have an admission to make, in fact. There have been many nights that I used the flashlight feature on my phone to do puzzles because the lamp might wake my hubbie and then when he does roll over because of the light or movement in the wee hours of morning, I quickly hide my stuff by my side and pretend sleep! I don't want him to know that I stayed up so late just so I could finish a puzzle! Isn't that awful?

What guilty pleasures do you allow yourself to indulge?

If you like this post and others on Mama Making Changes, please clickhereto go to Circle of Moms and vote for me as one of the top eco-friendly mom blogs. Just click here, then click the thumb to vote. You can come back to vote every 24 hours. Thanks for the support!