Christmas Reinbeer

nope, not a typo.  to our favorite friends and family this year, we gave christmas reinbeer.  yes, you should absolutely read into that that if you didn't get one, you are not our favorite.  bwahahaha.

tied around the reinbeer's neck is a recipe for delicious beef beer stew.  i found the recipe here from baked in the south.  i have tried several of her freezer meals, all of them delicious!  and one or two of them actually made it into the freezer as a plan ahead meal.  i wish i could be better organized to plan ahead like that, but i just don't see it happening.  ever.  from the freezer or cooked the day you buy the ingredients, or anywhere in between (although there really isn't much in between) this beef beer stew is a keeper.

Beef Beer Stew

2 lbs stew beef

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

3 large potatoes, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1 can tomatoes with green chilies (Like Rotel)

1 cup dark beer

1 cup beef stock

Season beef with salt & pepper. Place all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

this can be assembled in advance and thrown in the freezer in a ziploc without the beer and stock. just add those to the crockpot the day you cook it.

Thanksgiving Appetizers

happy thanksgiving!!  yes, i fully acknowledge that we have recently passed groundhog's day, but it is never too late to share recipes, right?  so this year for thanksgiving i was tasked with providing appetizers.  well, i guess technically it was last year for thanksgiving.  anyhoodle, i had recently made an appetizer for a crossfit birthday party that was a huge hit, so i decided on a repeat.  enter the cheeseball.  this recipe comes from my dear, dear friend.  when she has made it in the past, we didn't even take the time to form it into a ball, but just ate it right out of the bowl--it's that good.  and it's easy to make to boot, so it's the perfect recipe if you're ever responsible for bringing appetizers to a party.  (even if that party is at an unmarked house in a snowy neighborhood, just sayin'.)  to help celebrate thanksgiving, i turned my cheeseballs into turkeys.  i underestimated what 1/2 the mixture was when forming the balls, so they ended up being momma and baby turkey cheeseballs rather than the same size, but they were still delicious.

Cheeseball

1 jar Olde English Spread

2 8 oz packages cream cheese

1 c mild cheddar cheese, grated

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp onion salt

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp parsley flakes

crushed pretzels or slivered almonds (any nuts) for rolling

Combine Olde English Spread and cream cheese in a large bowl and mix well.  Add grated cheese and mix well.  Add lemon juice, onion and garlic salt and parsley flakes.  Mix well.  Pour nuts or pretzles into a bowl, spoon half of cheese mixture into nuts/pretzels and start forming into a ball.  Repeat with remaining mixture.  Cover each ball with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Serve with crackers, pretzels, veggies, or whatever you please! 

but of course turkeys wouldn't have worked for the crossfit birthday party, so we had muscle man cheeseballs.