A Tracey's Kitchen Original - Beef Squash Casserole

I bought something called "Vodka Sauce" and it's been sitting in my pantry. Well, this week as part of my "eating through the pantry" project, I decided to make something with it. Since there were so few recipes available, I decided to just try something from scratch and see how it turned out. I'm so glad I did! I ended up with something really good, and never even used the vodka sauce! (I was getting ready to add it at the end and opened the jar. It had an odd smell that didn't seem to blend with the wonderful smell the casserole had already, so I decided not to put it in!)

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds Beef Round Steak
2-3 T Olive Oil
3-4 T Ketchup
2 T Minced Garlic
Beef broth to cover
Sliced Summer Squash
Sliced Zucchini
Diced Tomatoes
Rice

Instructions:

• Cut up the beef round steak into small pieces.
• Place in large pot with olive oil, ketchup and garlic. Cook over medium to high heat until meat is browned.
• Pour beef broth over meat until covered. Simmer on medium-high for 45 minutes to an hour.
• Add sliced squash, zucchini and tomatoes and cook another 30 to 45 minutes. Add more beef broth should it need more consistency.
  
• Cook rice according to package directions.
• Serve meat mixture over rice.

ENJOY!

Thanks for visiting!

Tasty Roast Chicken Vegetable Soup

I recently picked up a whole chicken that we had a few meals from. It was time to figure out what to do with the carcass. I did a google search, and after investigating several I finally found what I was looking for at The Boston Globe.

When you click the link, you'll see the entire recipe. There is a recipe for the broth and there is a recipe for the vegetables that later get mixed in with the broth.

Here were my personal additions:
BROTH:

• I added about 2 tablespoons of olive oil for flavor.
• I added about 1 tablespoon of crushed garlic, also for flavor.
• I added various spices (some parsley, some Spike seasoning and some McCormick Garlic Herb chicken seasoning - maybe 1 teaspoon each.)

VEGETABLES:

• Instead of button mushrooms I just used pre-sliced white mushrooms.
• I also added about 7 or 8 small (cut up) red potatoes I pre-cooked in the microwave for 6 minutes.
• I added about 1 cup of egg noodles.

Hope you enjoy it! Another cold-day comfy meal.