Beef Stew with Sweet Potatoes

Inspired by Diana Rattray

 

Recently I have been really inspired by sweet potatoes. Unfortunately, though, most of my sweet potato creations will not make it on my blog due to lack of pictures on my part (these secret recipes included a Quiche with shredded sweet potato and sweet potato latkes J). This beef stew recipe uses sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes, which is better for a few reasons. First, sweet potatoes have more antioxidants and have a lower glycemic index when compared to regular potatoes. What this means is that the sweet potato does not cause a surge in blood sugar, which makes them better for diabetics to eat, and they also help you to feel more full for longer periods of time.

Aside from their healthy benefits, they also make this stew sweeter and works great with the cinnamon. When I first made this stew it seemed like it was lacking something. It tasted good, but seemed unfinished. I decided to research many stew recipes and think I found the culprit: bay leaves. The original recipe did not have these leaves, and after adding them to the recipe it gave it more of the desired beef stew flavor. I also increased the amount of black pepper, which helped too. Any type of beef could be used, and I’ve made this recipe with both chicken and beef stock and think that the flavor is still great. This time I added some low sodium beef bouillon when I used the chicken stock.

This recipe was so easy, as many slow cooker recipes are. I prepared everything the night before, put it in the slow cooker and then in the fridge over night. The next morning I took it out, plugged it in for 10 hours and went about my day. When I got home the stew was done, and the aroma was amazing!  Without the bay leaves, the stew smelled better than it was though, so don’t forget them!

Ingredients

2 lbs of beef roast (cut up into about 1 inch pieces)

2 Tbs. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 bay leaves (I used chopped bay leaves)

¼ tsp. Salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 large onion (chopped)

1 Tbs. olive oil

2 sweet potatoes (cut into medium cubes)

1 cup beef stock (reduced sodium)

1 can of corn

1 can of green beans

Directions

1.     Put beef cubes, whole-wheat flour, cinnamon, bay leaves, salt and pepper in a Ziploc bag and toss until beef is completely coated.

2.     Put olive oil in a large skillet and heat on medium high heat, add onion and beef and cook until beef is browned and onions are soft.

3.     Add sweet potato, beef stock and beef/onion mixture in the crock-pot. Cover and cook on low for between 8 to 10 hours.

4.     In the last 15 minutes add drained corn and drained green beans.

5. Once vegetables are hot, serve the stew.

I served the stew with triangles of toast.

Greta is questioning my spice use...

Bread Pudding (Lightened)

Inspired by Cooking Light

Bread pudding used to make me think of soggy bread, and sounded absolutely gross. Then I went to Carinos and tasted Mascarpone Bread pudding, it was absolutely delicious with a wonderful caramel sauce and was served hot with ice cream. They have since taken it off the menu, which is both good and bag. It is bad, because I no longer can enjoy it, but it is good because this dessert had over 1600 calories, 96 grams of fat (56 grams of which were saturated)!

 So I recently subscribed to Cooking Light Magazine and came across their lightened version of Bread Pudding, which (according to the magazine) has about 300 calories and less than 5 grams of fat per serving. So between my half of Mascarpone bread pudding (800 calories) and the lightened version (300 calories), the lightened definitely wins! Just a few pointers 1) make sure you keep the sauce warm, if not it will harden (which is why my pictures have caramel crumbles instead of sauce 2) make sure your bread is no larger than the ½ inch, otherwise it will not soak up enough of the milk mixture. Other than that this recipe was really easy and was delicious. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
For Bread Pudding:

• 5 cups 1/2 inch dubbed Italian bread
• 1 cup fat free evaporated milk
• 3/4 cup fat free milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 Tbs. Bourbon
• 1 Tbs. Vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
• 2 eggs

For sauce:

• 3/4  cup light brown sugar
• 3 Tbs. Bourbon
• 1 Tbs. Butter
• 6 Tbs. Half and half
• 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp. Salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place cubed bread on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 10 minutes.

3. Combine all other ingredients under the bread pudding ingredient list together. Add the toasted bread cubes and let stand for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. For the sauce: mix bourbon, butter, brown, sugar in a small pan on medium high heat and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 minutes. Stir 5 of the Tbs of half and half and reduce for about 10 minutes.

 

5. Remove from heat and add the other 1Tbs. of half and half, salt and vanilla. Remember to keep this sauce warm!
6. Put half of the bread mixture into loaf pan. Drizzle about 3 Tbs of sauce over this, then put the rest of the bread mixture over top.

7. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, and top with the warm sauce.

The crumbles is my hardened sauce, which did add a nice texture, but I wanted sauce

We finally got snow, so Greta decided to eat it!