Beef Stew

Yeah, remember when I thought it would be a great idea to start this blog. Oops.

Don't worry...we've been eating! My nausea isn't quite as bad as it was a few weeks ago, so I'm even managing to eat in the mornings now. But our meals have been pretty uneventful and uninventive. Boring, if you will.

But I did have a success story this week! I made one of my staples, the old stand-by: Beef Stew. I have a basic slow-cooker recipe that I followed for years, but it requires a lot of prep work: browning the meat, then sauteeing the veggies, then making a sauce with broth and flour and herbs. Hey, Slow Cooker Cookbook: I use my slow cooker to CUT BACK on cooking time. Geez. Give me a break.

But it dawned on me that maybe I don't HAVE to listen to my cookbook. So I cut out a couple of the steps. I still browned the stew beef, and then added flour and broth to the pan to make a gravy. But all the veggies (this time I used mushrooms, celery, carrots and parsnips) I just chopped and dumped in the slow cooker, and then mixed the meat and the broth in.

I was fortunate enough to make this recipe on one of the coldest days we've had so far, so walking from the bus stop shivering into a house filled with the smell of delicious stew was an experience akin to attaining enlightment. Served with mashed potatoes, it was the perfect winter meal.

Results:
Me: Love. Parsnips were a nice addition. I ate the rest of the mashed potatoes straight out of the fridge later. Shame.
Jeff: Always a fan of my beef stew.
Charlotte: I was surprised at how much she liked it! She ate a pretty large portion, and wasn't selective about just picking out mushrooms, either. Hooray!

Verdict: Make it again!

Favorites

Sometime last week I began noticing that I was feeling nauseated in the mornings and afternoons. Normally I can't wait to eat breakfast in the morning, but I began just having tea and juice because the thought of food was just too gross. By lunchtime I would be so hungry that I'd eat just about anything, but I felt sick to my stomach after. I was afraid that my pregnancy-related nausea was returning. "Good thing I still have some Zofran left from my first trimester," I mused.

Then I started thinking about how long this had been going on. I could trace it back to the week before...when I had started taking iron supplements at the behest of my doctor. A quick google search revealed that for many people taking iron can indeed cause nausea. As I take my supplement before bed, the feeling for me is usually the worst in the mornings and abates by dinnertime, when I am typically starving and ready to make up for the day's lack of calories.

All this is to say that I haven't been doing much cooking lately. Most of the time I plan and start meals in the late morning, before I head to school, so they'll be ready when I come home in the late afternoon. Making dinner is the last thing I want to do in the mornings these days.

So this has led to some creative mealtime improvisation, as well as to my trying to have a few of Charlotte's favorites always on hand. For the time being, while my nausea is still bad enough to keep me from cooking regularly, I'll post on a few of C's favorite things.

One of her favorite meals also happens to be one of mine, and fortunately is almost ridiculously easy. It's two things: a Distinctively Dole salad and a Bertolli pasta meal. I have to admit to feeling a little guilty about serving two packaged things at one dinner, but I fall victim to convenience. Plus, Charlotte can't get enough of either. Is it weird to have a two-year-old LOVE salad?