Best Beef Dip! - for a slow cooker

Beef Dip is one of those recipes that I always order at a diner.  I love it.  It's a treat when made well, but I've never thought to make it myself.  Rewind to two weeks ago, I was browsing at one of my favorite recipe sites, food.com, and found this recipe.  It had very high ratings (4 1/2 stars out of 5) and a lot of positive reviews.  The ingredients were simple and staples in our home.  It looked super easy (and it was) and honestly, I couldn't believe how delicious this really was.  My husband has not stopped talking about it ever since.  He has asked a number of our friends if they have slow cookers and told them to get this recipe off of me.  That's high praise :)  The original posting is found here: http://www.food.com/recipe/french-dip-roast-beef-for-the-crock-pot-103403.

• 3 1/2-4 lbs boneless chuck roast
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 -4 peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary , crushed
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 12 French rolls , split - (even better when toasted and then spread with a little mayo before adding the meat)

Place roast in a 5-quart slow cooker. Combine soy sauce and next 6 ingredients.  Pour over roast.  Add water to slow cooker until roast is almost covered.  Cook, covered, on LOW for 7 hours or until very tender.  Remove roast, reserving broth.  You may shred roast with a fork and serve on sandwich rolls with the broth on the side for dipping.

The Best Chili!

For the first few years of our marriage, I'd make chili and my husband would eat it, but not enjoy it. The problem is that he really, really loves chili, but I couldn't seem to find a recipe that he liked. So I stopped making chili altogether. That was it. If I wanted chili, I'd get a bowl from Tim Horton's or Wendy's. Now that the fall weather is here, I was craving chili again. I thought I would scour my favorite blogs and recipe sites until I found the perfect recipe and make it. My friends, I have found that recipe. This was the perfect chili. And yes, my husband enjoyed it too. This is my keeper. I found it on food.com (formerly Recipezaar.com) and it is delicious. The only differences that I did with this recipe was use our homemade tomato sauce instead of canned, increased the onion to half an onion, and added a finely chopped green pepper to the mix. Other than that I made it according to her directions. So enjoy, the perfect chili.

Seasoning Mix

* 4 tablespoons chili powder
* 2 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
* 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon oregano
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix together seasoning mix.
Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

* 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
* 1 tablespoon minced onion (I used half and onion instead, I also added a chopped green pepper)
* 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
* 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
* 2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans


-In a skillet, cook ground beef until no longer pink.
-Drain.
-Add onion and 3 tsp of seasoning mix.
-In Crock-Pot, add tomatoes, tomato sauce, one can of beans (drain and rinse the beans) and two more teaspoons of seasoning mix.
-Place the other can of beans (drain and rinse the beans first) in a blender and process until smooth.
-Add beans and meat to the crock pot.
-Stir together.
-Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Beef Stroganoff

This is super tasty fall comfort food. I adapted a recipe I found for a venison stroganoff, using stewing beef instead of venison, mini-portabellos and a crock pot. The result was absolute yum.

1 pound stewing beef - chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 pound fresh mushroom, chopped or sliced
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup water
1 tbsp instant beef bouillon
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup sour cream

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Mix the flour and paprika together in a medium mixing bowl. Add beef and coat. Once the beef is coated, sear it in the heated olive oil. Remove from heat once all sides of the cubes are done. (throw away the excess flour)
Spray a crockpot with non-stick spray. Throw in the beef and the remaining ingredients except the sour cream and mix well. Cook at low heat for 6-8 hours. Add the sour cream at the end, mixing it in. Serve over egg noodles or rice.