Taco Rice

This is has a bit long name that I have no idea how to say...which is Okinawa Takoraisu. I like taco rice better...it's much easier to say! I thought this recipe sounded interesting so I couldn't wait to try it.

I had picked up a package of beefalo at the farmer's market...pastured raised local meat! I figured with the price of meat lately I might as well get some that is healthier for us. We couldn't really tell the difference between this and regular beef.

Taco Rice-shared from Siggy Spice

1 lb ground meat

1 onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp chili powder

3 tbsp soy sauce(I used tamari)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

4 cups steamed rice

2 cups lettuce, chopped

1-2 tomatoes, chopped

salsa

sour cream

shredded cheese(I used sharp cheddar)

Brown beef, drain if needed. Add in onion and garlic and cook for about 5 mins until soft. Stir in chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and soy sauce. Let simmer until liquid reduces. 

Spread about a 1/2 a cup of rice on plate. Top with some meat mixture, tomato, lettuce, cheese, sour cream and salsa. Serve and enjoy!

**I actually really liked this! Like siggy mentioned the soy sauce is subtle but the combination is delicious! I really liked it so did K. A did eat the meat but that was about it.

Restaurant Style Beef Tacos

This recipe sounded FABULOUS, I of course tweaked it quite a bit, so this is my version. I had planned on making a homemade soft bread wrap and found out I needed potato flakes, I had already been to the store so I wasn't going back(I know have the potato flakes for next time!) I started this out in the crock pot too!

Restaurant Style Beef Tacos
1 lb beef
1-2 avocados,mashed with salt and pepper
corn
homemade pitas or flatbread

Place meat into slow cooker. Add in 1 cup of water and season. I used some steak seasonings. Turn on low and cook for 6-8 hrs.*I used stew meat, which was a bit tough when I went to check it, so I cut it all up even smaller(after cooking) and placed it back in the crock pot for another hr and it was much more tender.

Lay pita flat, spread avocado on top followed by beef and corn. Fold in half and enjoy!

**I loved all the flavors in this meal! We couldn't wait to have the leftovers either! Next time I will add in some halved grape tomatoes for a bit more color and flavor!

Beef and Peppers

I love looking at Pioneer Woman's blog...her pictures are truly stunning even if they are of food! This one roped me right in!

Beef with Peppers-adapted from Pioneer Woman
1 lb steak(I used london broil) thinly sliced
2 sweet peppers, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 pkg rice noodles
1/2 cup soy sauce
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tsp hot sauce(or chili paste)

Mix together hot sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and corn starch. Add in beef and stir to combine, allow to marinate. Cook rice noodles according to the package directions.

Preheat frying pan or wok. Add in 1 tbsp oil, once hot add in onions and cook for 1-2 mins until edges become brown, but still tender. Remove from pan. Heat pan back up and add in another tbsp of oil add in peppers and cooked for a few mins until edges are brown but peppers are still al dente. Remove from the pan. Heat pan up again and add in beef until browned and caramelized, 2 mins per side(approx.). Add veggies back in and stir to combine. Add the marinade into the pan and cook for about 5 mins. Stir in noodles.

**This was delicious...despite the fact that I over cooked the noodles, so next time I'll cook them less! I will also double the sauce/marinade. K really enjoyed it!

Sloppy Joe Biscuit Pizza

I love my homemade sloppy joe recipe and when I stumbled upon this I thought this would be a nice change!

Sloppy Joe Biscuit Pizza-adapted from Cooking During Stolen Moments
1 recipe for sloppy joe(minus the water)
3 cups flour(2 ww, 1 ap)
1 stick butter, cold, cut into pieces
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2-1 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles crumbs. Slowly add in milk until a dough forms. (I had to add extra milk due to using whole wheat flour, so only add enough to get the dough) Kneed for one minute. Place in greased cookie sheet or 9x13 inch pan. Spread out and up the side a little bit.

Bake for 8-10 mins.

Remove from oven and top with sloppy joe mix and cheese. Bake for another 12-18 mins until crust is golden brown.

**This was really tasty and different! The biscuit dough was flaky and soft and it added a nice texture to the pizza!

Oozy-Arabic recipe

My friend Huriya shared this recipe with me. I had never tried any arabic foods, so I wanted to give it a try. The ingredients are pretty simple and frugal, unfortunately there are no measurements so feel free to add as much or little spices as you wish!

Oozy-shared from Huriya
1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
2 cups rice
4 cups water
salt
pepper
allspice
nutmeg
ground coriander
1 pkg peas and carrots

Brown meat with allspice, salt, and pepper. Drain. Add in water, rice, and season with salt, pepper, coriander, allspice, and nutmeg. Stir. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 45 mins until water is absorbed and rice is cooked. Add in peas and carrots and cook for another 5 mins until veggies are cooked through.

It was recommend to eat this along with plain yogurt.

**This was very quick, easy, and simple to make. I'm not always a fan of allspice or nutmeg so I went pretty light on the spices, but I really liked the flavor it had. It was different than what we usually eat. I was really enjoying it, K on the other hand did not. But that's ok its more for me!

South African World Cup Curry

My friend Kim, posted this recipe on her blog. She stated it was the BEST curry she has ever had, so I had to give it a try!

I won't lie, it was a bit time consuming and seemed like there were a lot of steps involved along with a lot of pots! Not quite busy mom approved...well at least with a 4 and almost 2 year old! (Kim won't like this part, but next time I will put it all into my slow cooker!)

I did use a little less meat than what it called for, but that's all I had on hand, it still made a ton of curry!

South African World Cup Curry-shared from Mac's Kitchen Adventure
3 lbs meat(I acutally used 1 lb flank steak, 2 cups chopped cooked chicken)
3 tbsp curry powder
1 onion, chopped
3 cans diced tomatoes
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chicken broth
1 granny smith apple, chopped
3 tbsp lime juice
2 inch piece, ginger, peeled
3 tbsp chutney
2 tbsp apricot preserves
2 jalapeños, chopped(with or without seeds, depends on your spice tolerance)
3 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
1 cup seedless golden raisins

*These are the directions adapted to the slow cooker, if you want to do it the way Kim and I did it, just follow the link above!

Cover meat with curry powder. Let sit, while you heat up your pan. Brown meat and place in your slow cooker. Add in tomatoes, coconut, broth, onions, and apples.

In a food processor or blender, combine lime juice, chutney, preserves, jalapeños, ginger, and garlic. Mix until pureed well. Add into slow cooker. Add in bay leaves and raisins and stir well. Turn slow cooker on low for 4-5 hours until meat is tender.

Serve over brown rice.

**The first night I was told that it was too spicy...but I thought it was fine. It was a little, but not that bad.  The second day the spiciness wasn't as prominent. This is a very flavorful dish and delicious! Thanks for sharing Kim!

BBQ Beef Burritos

I saw this idea I believe in the Kraft magazine. I never thought to make burritos out left over bbq.

BBQ Beef Burritos
leftover rootbeer bbq beef
cheese
tortillas
spray oil(or butter)

Sprinkle some cheese down the middle of the one tortilla. Top with beef and sprinkle additional cheese on top. Fold in sides and ends to create a pocket. Spray with oil and place seem side down in hot frying pan. Spray top with oil. Cook until browned and flip.

**This was a very quick and easy weeknight supper and a great alternative to just bbq sandwiches.

Beef Stew

This is a family favorite of ours! It is easy as it uses the crock pot, one of my favorite appliances!

Beef Stew- from Big Y
1 lb stew meat
1 qt beef stock
1 pkg baby carrots
2-3 potatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water

Place all ingredients in slow cooker except water and corn starch. Stir to combine and set to low for 6-8 hrs(or until veggies and meat are tender) One hour before serving, combine cornstarch and water until smooth, stir into stew and set slow cooker on high for one hour. This should help thicken the stew. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

**This is a great fall or winter very filling dish! Its a great crowd pleaser!

Beef and Broccoli

I needed a very quick dinner and had pulled a random steak out of the freezer. I had just bought some broccoli so I decided to whip up some of this. The longest part of the recipe was cutting the meat!

Beef and Broccoli-shared from Allrecipes.com
1/3 cup oyster sauce
2 tsp sesame oil(I actually only used 1 tsp)
1/3 cup sherry or white wine vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce(or tamari)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
3/4-1 lb beef round steak, sliced thinly into strips
1/4 inch grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb broccoli, cut into florets
1 tbsp oil

Mix together everything except the beef and broccoli until combined. Add in steak and marinate for at least 30 mins.

Pour in oil in the pan, and stir fry steak until cooked through. Remove and set aside. Add in broccoli and cook for about 5-7 mins until crisp tender. Add steak back in and heat through. Serve over your favorite rice.

**I really don't know how authentic this is as I've never had it at a restaurant, but K and I both thought it was very tasty. The boys didn't eat it they had cheerios which they were quite happy with. I was told it hit the spot for Chinese, which we very rarely eat anymore.

Pineapple Beef Stir Fry

K isn't too much of a fan of stir fry...I LOVE it! Mostly because its an easy way to get lots of veggies(hence why he isn't a fan of it) and can use up leftovers! I got a great deal on some steaks at the store yesterday and this was on my menu so I went with it.

Pineapple Beef Stir Fry-shared from Taste of Home
1 lb steak, sliced thin
20 oz can of pineapple
1 onion, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 tsp grated ginger
1-2 tsp minced garlic
1 jalepeno, seeds removed, diced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
2 tbsp canola oil
hot cooked rice

Mix together 3/4 of a cup of pineapple juice(from can), soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. Pour 1/4 cup over beef, cover and refrigerate for 30 mins.

Place oil in pan and allow to heat up. Stir fry beef until cooked through. Remove from heat and keep warm.*My beef let off a lot of juice, so I removed that as well and kept it aside. Stir fry onions and peppers. Mix together cornstarch and reserved sauce. When just about done add in the rest of the sauce and pineapple. Bring to a boil and let thicken. Add in beef and allow to warm through.

Serve over hot rice. I decided to use some lo mein noodles I had in place of the rice.

**I felt something was missing in this recipe, but it was very tasty. I loved using the lo-mein noodles as well. K liked it and the boys just liked the noodles of course!

Curried Beef and Dumplings

I found this in the Taste of Home Recipe Collection...I can't remember if it was 2009 or 2010 but I thought it sounded different!

Curried Beef and Dumplings-shared from Taste of Home
1 3 lb rump roast
6 carrots cut into chunks, or baby carrots
1 onion sliced
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Dumplings:
1 tsp salt
1 2/3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cold butter
3/4 cup milk

1 cup water(may need more)

Brown meat in pan, place in crock pot. Mix together tomaotes, curry, sauce, sugar, and salt. Pour over meat, add in onions and carrots. Cook on low for 6-8 hours until meat is tender.

Pour juice into pan, add in hot water and bring to a boil.

Mix together flour, salt, baking powder. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in milk until just moistened. Drop dumplings into simmering liquid, cover, and steam for 15 mins. Remove dumplings for sauce and serve with meat and carrots.

**So far this smells a lot like beef stew....it was just ok the first night we had it. I found it needed gravy as the meat was a bit dry. I did add another cup of water to the juices for the dumplings as I just didn't have enough to cook them in. I then took that thickened "gravy" and dumped it over the leftover meat. It was so much better the next day! It was a nice and different take on pot roast and I LOVE curry! The dumplings were delicious too!

Beef Empanadas

I first ran across this recipe on Jenn's Food Journey, at least the idea. But I knew I didn't want to use store bought dough so I went to my trusty friend Hallee's site and she also has a empanada recipe on her blog, so I used her dough recipe which is quick and simple!

Just in case you haven't seen yet, you should head over to Hallee the Homemaker and see her WONDERFUL blogiversary prize she is awarding to one lucky winner! It is something all cooks/bakers need...and I love mine, but love this one more!!

Beef Empinadas-adapted from Jenn's Food Journey and Hallee the Homemaker
Dough:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp kosher salt
10 tbsp cold butter, cut up
4-6 tbsp COLD water

Mix flour and salt together. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter, fork, or fingers until dough looks like peas. Slowly add in 4 tbsp water and mix gently with fork, keep adding water 1 tbsp at a time until a soft dough forms. Divide dough in half, kneed a couple times(not too much as it makes it tough), flatten, and roll out. Using a circle cutter cut out circles, place on cookie sheet. Continue until all dough has been cut. *Becareful not to re roll the dough to many times as you want a flaky crust.

Filling:
1 lb ground meat(I used beef)
2 tsp taco seasoning
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup(or so) shredded sharp cheese
hand of of grape tomatoes, diced

Brown meat in pan and season with spices. Drain. Add in tomatoes and stir. Add in cheese and stir until melted and well combined. Cool.

Once slightly cooled, place 1-2 tsp of filling in the middle of each circle. Dampen edges with water, fold over, and press. Seal with a fork. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 mins until golden brown. *I did have some filling leftover that I will use in a quesidilla or something.

**These came out excellent! K said they tasted like a taco...while I didn't "use" my recipe for taco seasoning I did use the same spices, but it was eye balled. So for recipe sake I just said to use that. You can add whatever spices you would like. K really enjoyed them as did I. A even ate one and Q ate a bit of one. So while they were a bit labor intensive they were still worth it! They were small and a picture is coming once I can use the laptop again, I just don't know where the supply is for the camera!

Beef "Bucchini" aka Cheeseburger Zucchini Boats

I made these for lunch today and apparently K had some tongue tie issues when trying to say what they were so, they have a new name now! I decided to spice them up a little and used my cheeseburger rice recipe I had to fill the boats. You can of course keep it simple and do it Laura's way!

Beef Bucchini-adapted from Heavenly Homemakers

1 lb ground beef

1 onion, diced small

1/2 cup ketchup(approx)

1/4 cup mustard(approx)

1 cup cooked rice

1/2 cup shredded cheese

4 zucchini

Brown beef and onion until no longer pink, drain. Add in mustard, ketchup, rice, and cheese. Stir until combined and cheese melts. Cut zucchini in half and scoop out insides of squash. Fill with meat mixture. Place on grill and cook on low for 10-15 mins until zucchini is cooked through. Sprinkle with additional cheese if desired. **Next time I will put the zucchini on first and then fill it. The filling got a little browner...

**These were very tasty and easy on a very hot day! I did measure the ketchup/mustard by taste so feel free to adjust to you liking! The bottom of the zucchini did get a little crispy, but that was more my fault for doing more than one thing at a time! Once I peeled the skin off they were delicious!! You can also parboil them and broil them instead of grilling them...but in 90+ weather I wasn't turning the oven on!

Rootbeer BBQ Beef

This is another recipe from Hallee. I had made it before using pork and it works well, but I did want to try it with beef. I don't know my cuts of beef well AT ALL as we very rarely eat it and when we do its either ground or in steak form. I asked Hallee what I should use and she said anything was fine. I ended up buying a 6 lb round roast(or something like that). It was really the cheapest per lb that I could find. It worked out well because it cooks for a long time!

I made this for a get together at my inlaws house, they are really liked it. Even my mom liked it, even though she didn't think she would.

Root beer BBQ Beef
4-6 lb beef roast
1 12 oz can organic root beer
1-2 bottles of your favorite bbq sauce(or homemade)
Honey Wheat Rolls


Brown meat in skillet until all sides are done. Place in slow cooker. Place 2 tbsp of root beer in pan and scrape up the tiny bits from the browning. Dump into slow cooker.  Add in the rest of the root beer. Cover roast with sauce, turn slow cooker on low and cook for 8-10 hours. *I had a LOT of liquid when mine was done, so I dumped it out and shredded the meat. I then added more bbq sauce, another half a can of rootbeer and mixed it all in. Then I set it on low until warmed through.

Serve on rolls with more sauce if you wish.

**I did add some ketchup to my bbq sauce as it had a bit of a kick and knowing who I was serving it too, I was trying to cut it back. It worked out great! I had enough for a small army, this fed 7 adults, plus I sent some home with his brothers and we still have enough for at least 1 or 2 more dinners! Sorry it is not the best picture, but it still tasty!

This has been linked to Finding Joy in my Kitchen

Beef Stroganoff

In the pursue of cleaning out my freezer I decided to make beef stroganoff. I love this stuff...I used hamburger this time and we both decided we prefer it with steak. But its a cheap and easy meal none the less! This was also the first time I made it with my homemade cream of chicken soup and it worked out great!

Beef Stroganoff
1 lb ground beef, or cubed beef
1 pt mushrooms, diced
1-2 cups cream of chicken soup
1 onion sliced
1 cup beef broth
1 cup sour cream

Brown meat and drain. Place in slow cooker. Add in mushrooms, soup, broth, and onion. Place on low 6-8 hours. Stir in sour cream right before serving. Serve over egg noodles, season with salt and pepper!

Crockpot Boeuf Bourguignon

I had an unfortunate event that I had one extra cup of wine to use...I do not drink it. It's just not my thing...I prefer the girly drinks. Anyway, I came across this recipe a few months ago and I had everything on hand so I decided to toss it together for dinner! By the way, and I the only one who can't spell the title of this recipe, I have to thank SnoWhite as I copied it from her!

Crockpot Boeuf Bourguignon- shared from Finding Joy in my Kitchen
1-2 lbs stew beef, cubed
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup beef broth
4-5 carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
8 tbsp bacon bits, or 6 strips of bacon, cooked/crumbled/drained
3 tbsp flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 lb frozen pearl onions(omitted)
1 lb white mushrooms, sliced(omitted)
1/2 tsp butter

Leave some of the bacon fat in pan after its been cooked. Brown stew meat. (If using real bacon bits, brown meat first then add in bits). Once browned transfer to crock pot. Add in onion, garlic, and carrots. Sprinkle with flour and seasonings. Stir to combine well. Add in broth, wine, and pearl onions. Stir. Cover and let cook for 6-8 hrs on low. 1 hour prior to eating, melt butter in pan and saute mushrooms. Once liquids have evaporated add to crock pot and continue cooking for one hour. Serve over rice.

**K and I really enjoyed this and we will make it again. It did remind us a lot of beef stew. Oh and watch out for the bay leaf.

Homemade Bolognese Sauce

Well I learned a hard lesson yesterday as to why its not always a good thing to have ALL your recipes on line! I was planning to make oreos and start dinner and had NO INTERNET!! I decided to wing making dinner and only left out 2 ingredients, one I didn't even have on hand. Thankfully the internet decided to return. So it never fails to have some kind of adventure in the kitchen, K told me to make something else, but I had been thinking about this recipe all week. I also had just started the dishwasher and needed the shredder that was inside, so the carrots got chopped instead of grated.

Homemade Bolognese Sauce-shared from The Pioneer Woman
1/2 cup olive oil( I did not use this much)
1 1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 large red onion, chopped(I used white)
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1-2 lbs ground beef
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp dried basil leaves
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1-2 cups red wine
1 cup milk
2 28 oz cans of whole tomatoes

Heat oil in a large dutch oven or skillet. Add in carrots and onions and cook for a few minutes. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add in the ground beef. Cook for a few minutes until browned gradually working into the carrot mixture.

Throw in basil and oregano. Once combined with meat and veggies make another well for tomato paste. Let it heat through, add garlic and stir to combine.

Make another well and pour in wine. Stir to combine. Add Worcestershire and stir. Add in tomatoes and milk. Stir. Let simmer for 30 mins-2 hours. Serve over pasta(of your choice) and grated paremsan cheese.



**I did not have any tomato paste so this was a bit thinner than what it should have been. For some amazing pictures of the process make sure to check out Pioneer Woman...I'm not that talented in the picture making department. I am not sure that I have ever had a bolognese suace(we are tomato sauce people from a jar! I know the shame...) but this was really good for my first attempt. I did add some salt to the mixture as I felt it was needed and yes I burnt my tongue on it because I could not WAIT long enough for it to cool to try it. I may cut down the wine next time to 1 cup. We had the discussion of it reminding us of high school cafeteria food, but K reminded me that it was WAY better than that! It will definitely be made again. It does make quite a bit of sauce. It did thicken up after simmering on the stove for 2.5 hours!

Bbq Mini Meatloaves

This original recipe is done in a muffin tin, but I HATE cleaning the dang thing, so I've opted out of it. I also know this meat is a little fattier than what I usually buy and I don't want the meatloaves sitting in all the fat...although it might make cleaning up easier! We have had this recipe before and K really liked it, said it was the best he has ever had and the leftovers reheat great!

BBQ Mini Meatloaves-adapted from Barefoot ConTerra
1 lb ground meat(I used beef)
1 egg
1-2 tsp italian seasoning
1-2 tsp minced dried onion
1-2 tsp garlic powder
2 palmfuls of whole wheat bread crumbs
bbq sauce(I used honey)
shredded cheese

Mix together meat, egg, seasonings, and bread crumbs. Try not to over mix the meat mixture as it becomes tough. Seperate meat into four sections and shape into oval. Leave a gully in the middle of the loaf, fill with bbq sauce and cheese. I then placed the loaves on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet with sides. Place in 350 degree oven for 20-25 mins until cooked through.

Steak and Cheese Pizza

I had this planned for the end of the month, but I needed to use up some roast beef so its been put in for dinner tonight!


Cheese Steak Pizza
1 recipe for no rise pizza dough
1/2 lb roast beef, sliced thin, chopped
1/2 jar roasted red peppers, chopped(or 1-2 fresh peppers)
1 onion, sliced
1 block sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Spread dough into 2 circles. Cook for 5-8 mins in a 350 degree oven. Place cheese, roast beef, onions, and  peppers on dough. Place in oven for 10-15 mins until cheese is hot and bubbly.

You will notice in this picture that it looks like mini pizzas, these were not made on the homemade dough. I have found these pocketless pitas(or flatbreads) at the store marked down so I pick them up when I do. I tend to freeze them, but had them out for sandwiches and they needed to be used up. I did make 2 calzones(one cheese/onion and one Cheese steak) with the dough.

**These were very good. I was debating about a sauce, but decided not to put any on it. It was perfect and tasted just like cheese steak that I'm used too! Even K liked it!

Beef Pot Pie

This clearly wasn't on the menu this week, but my husband and boys have been sick. K called on the way home yesterday wanting soup, which is great, but I didn't have any. So I told him I could make some, which took part of the veggie beef soup I was going to make and I didn't want another soup. This recipe was on the same page as the ricotta pancakes, but I didn't follow it, just got the idea!

Beef Pot Pie
1 lb stew beef, cubed
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp flour
2-3 small potatoes, cubed
4-5 carrots, sliced
1 large onion, diced
3-4 celery stalks, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp italian seasoning
3-4 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes
1/4 cornstarch(more or less may be needed)+water
1 batch crescent roll dough
salt and pepper to taste

Place oil in pan and brown meat season with salt and pepper. (I use a large stock/soup pot) Sprinkle with flour and stir. Let cook 1-2 mins. Add in veggies, spices, water, and bouillon. There should be enough water so that it covers all the ingredients.Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. Mix together cornstarch and 1/4 cup water add to "soup". This should thicken it up nicely, you may need to add more cornstarch and water until it is the thickness you like. Simmer on the stove for 1-2 hours until meat is tender. **This can also be transferred to a Crockpot and cooked on low for 8 hrs or high for 4 hrs.

Once filling is done, roll out dough and place on top of "stew". This was enough stew for me to get 2 8x8 pans, so one will be going in the freezer. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 mins until crust is golden brown.

**This was tasty, I kept adding more seasonings as I felt something was missing. Not sure what yet, but it was still delicious and something we don't have very often!