The Fastest Beef Stroganoff

I admit, beef stroganoff is not one of my favorite dishes on earth but every once in a great while, it sounds delicious. The recipe I've used for years takes a couple hours and even then, is tricky to get get to reduce so often you are left with beef stroganoff inspired soup. I saw this recipe in my Our Best Bites Cookbook and was surprised how quick the instructions made it sound. I gave it a shot and had dinner done (start to finish) in less than a half hour. Seriously. My husband ate it up and said it was better than my stand by recipe! This one's a keeper for sure.

Ingredients:
1 pound top sirloin steak (I buy the thin-cut, it saves work)
salt and pepper
3/4 cup diced onion (about one small onion)
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
4 cloves minced garlic
3 tbsp. butter (divided)
3/4 cup water
1 tsp. beef boullion (1 cube)
2 tsp. worchestershire sauce
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:
Slice steak into strips that are approx. 2" long and 1/4" thick. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside.
Melt 2 tbsp butter over medium heat in a large skillet and saute the onions, mushrooms, and garlic for 4-5 minutes until the onions are soft and transparent. Empty out of the skillet onto a plate and set aside. Melt the remaining tbsp. butter in the skillet and cook the beef for about 5 minutes until it's no longer pink. While the meat is cooking, whisk together the water, boullion, worchestershire sauce and flour. Pour into the cooked beef and add the onion/mushroom mixture back in. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1-2 minutes until it thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream. Serve over egg noodles or rice!

Pan-Seared Chicken with Lemon Chive Reduction

Now, now, I know what you're thinking. Yikes, that sounds hard. No, it is not. And yes, it IS fancy. Fancy enough that you could serve it to company and they will marvel at your skills but only YOU will know how easy it is. The problem with pan-seared anything but ESPECIALLY chicken is that it tends to be dry, chewy, and tough given the heat of the pan needed to brown it. It usually overcooks way too fast. Not so with this method. I got this off of my FAVORITE show and cookbook, America's Test Kitchen. Seriously, I'm addicted like a housewife is addicted to Soap Operas. Husband even calls it my "stories". That aside, here's the recipe.

***One important note before we begin, you MUST have a stainless steel pan to make this work. Non-stick WILL NOT WORK. I always get blasted by people who swear by how great their non-stick cookware is. Please, bear with my soapbox. Having grown up in a strictly non-stick household, I prefer aluminum/stainless clad for several reasons. Hippie stuff like, "The teflon will kill you!" aside, here they are: 1. You don't have to treat it like fine china. I scratch the heck out of mine almost every day, throw them in a cupboard, let them rub against each other and they are still working like champs. 2. In my experience, they tend to heat more evenly and retain heat more consistently. 3. They really aren't a pain to clean. Put a little dishsoap in it and let it soak and almost everything wipes right off. For charred marks, a sprinkling of Barkeeper's Friend cleanser makes them look like new. 4. And the most important reason, meat browns BEAUTIFULLY and gives off a glorious fond to make the most delicious pan sauces. You don't need to go out and buy an entire set of stainless on my word, but honestly, one good-quality large skillet, in my opinion, is a must-have. Stepping down from soapbox. Thank you.

Ingredients:

4 (6-8 oz) boneless skinless chicken breasts. Trust me on the weight thing, the bigger they are the (way) longer they take to cook)

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil (I have tried olive in the past and prefer canola for this recipe)

2 tbsp. butter, melted

1 tbsp. flour

1 tsp. corn starch

1/2 tsp. pepper

Pan sauce:

3 tbsp. shallot minced (I usually just use an onion because I never have shallots)

1 tsp. flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp fresh chives (psh. I rarely use fresh. Dried works fine but if you are substituting dried, only use 1-1/2 tsps.

1 tbsp. butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Use a fork and poke the thick side of the chicken breast 5-6 times. Sprinkle each with 1/4 tsp. salt. Place in a 9x13" dish, skinned (smooth) side down, cover tightly with foil, and bake 30-40 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 145-150 degrees. Remove from the dish, put on a paper-towel lined plate and pat dry.

Heat oil in a large stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat until it starts to smoke (this is key. If the oil isn't hot enough, the meat will not brown)

While heating you are going to make a "velvet" which is basically just a coating over the chicken to protect it from getting tough. Whisk together the butter, flour, cornstarch and pepper. Brush tops with it. Cook, coated side down, for 3-4 minutes. While cooking, brush the top of the chicken with the remaining coating. Flip them over and marvel at your skills. They will be GORGEOUS. Cook another 3-4 minutes until the internal temp is 160-165 (or you can just cut it open and make sure it's done but only a tiny slit, you don't want all the juice running out!) Place the chicken on plate to rest while you make the sauce. If you aren't making the sauce, let the chicken rest 5 minutes before serving.

Now the sauce. See all those browned bits on the bottom of the pan? That's called a fond and it's all the juices from the meat that have thickened and carmelized and it tastes DELICIOUS. Reduce your heat to medium, put in your onion or shallot and stir around for about 2 minutes. Add, the flour and stir for another 30 seconds. Pour in the chicken broth and scrap the bottom of the pan to loosen the fond. Increase heat to medium-high again and bring to a vigorous boil for 3-5 minutes to let the sauce reduce to about 3/4 of a cup. Remove from heat, pour in the juices the chicken has released on the plate, add the lemon juice and chives, stir for 30 seconds, pour over chicken and impress everyone!!!

Enchiladas

Sigh...I realize that if you were to click the link for Mexican food on this blog, it would literally be the same as clicking on the link to my posts. I promise we don't eat Mexican food every night....but it's pretty close.

This is a recipe I got from my new guilty-pleasure show, "The Food Nanny". While I will NEVER admit to watching ANYTHING on BYU's channel, I may or may not tune into this show ahem*religiously*ahem. You can go to the show's website and have a look around at the free menu planning and recipe software they have on there. It's actually pretty helpful. These are the tastiest enchiladas I have ever made at home. I don't usually like canned enchilada sauce - it always ends up tasting bitter to me. This recipe simply builds on top of a canned enchilada sauce and boy is it yummy! I didn't follow the recipe exactly and made a few helpful adjustments which I will be sure to note.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. butter

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

2 cups tomato juice, divided (I used 1 cup tomato SAUCE and one cup water)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. cider vinegar

1 10 oz. can enchilada sauce (I but the 28 oz. can and ended up needing all of it, because i make the enchiladas a bit differently than the recipes says to...read on)

3 cups cheddar cheese (we use Mexican blend)

corn or flour tortillas

3 cups diced or shredded chicken (optional, these can just be cheese enchiladas)

2.25 oz can of sliced olives

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter and saute over medium high heat the onion and pepper about 5 minutes, or until the onions begin to become transluscent. Pour this mixture into a blender and add 1 cup of tomato juice (or tomato sauce) and blend until smooth. Return to sauce pan and bring to a low bowl. Add the enchilada sauce (10 oz. can if you are sticking the recipe, the whole 28 oz can if you do it my way), salt, cinnamon, other cup of tomato of juice or if you used the tomato sauce, add a cup of water instead. Reduce to a simmer and let simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Now, here is where I differ from the recipe, the recipe says to dip the tortillas in the sauce, lay on a cookie sheet, fill with cheese (and chicken), roll up, put in a 9x13 casserole dish, cover with the sauce. That just seems like a giant mess to me. A Mexican friend of mine once told me that she skips the rolling up process entirely when making enchiladas and just makes them casserole style. So much easier. So this is what I do: (if you do it my way, you will need the whole 28 oz. can, if you do it the above way, you only need a 10 oz can)

In a 9x13 casserole dish, spread a bit of the sauce on the bottom. Rip up tortillas and lay them in the pan so they cover it. Pour a layer of enchilada sauce, sprinkle a layer of cheese, add some chicken and repeat this process (like lasagna) until the dish is full. Top with cheese and olives and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Asian Chicken Salad

This is a GREAT salad to take it light and easy. Have a relaxing night with this light salad.

Ingredients:
2 Chicken Breasts
1 Head of Romain Lettuce
1 Bunch of Green Onions
1/2 a Package of Wonton Papers
Rice Wine Vinegar
Sugar
Oil
Sesame Seeds

Directions:
Heat your fryer. While fryer is heating cut 1/2 of the package of wontons into either strips or squares. Fry up your wontons and set aside.

Place oil in the pan and cook your chicken. I like to brown both sides before I start cubing them. Make the cubes as large or as small as you would like. When the chicken is done cooking place in a bowl and set aside.

While chicken is cooking cut and/or tear your romaine lettuce and place in a large bowl. Chop your green onions and sprinkle over your lettuce. Shake on about 1/4 cup of sesame seeds and set bowl aside.

In a dressing shaker place equal amounts of rice vinegar, sugar and oil in and shake. Pepper it to taste.

Now you get to make your own plate. Place your lettuce on first, top with chicken, wontons and dressing. Enjoy your summer salad.

Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

I was really torn about putting this up. I found it in a cookbook and was actually a little offended it actually made it into a cookbook because of how simple and common-sense it is. In fact, I wanted a dime back from the makers of the cookbook because I shouldn't have to PAY for such a recipe. But, here I am, using up internet space to post it here. Here's why: Even though everyone probably already knows to do this, it was the first time I actually tried it and it is actually in my top 10 recipes now because of the response it got! My brother came over last night and tried one, then between he and Husband, they went through 1 and a half loaves of bread making sandwiches. My brother thought I slaved away in the kitchen for hours and said it tasted just like something you would get in a restaurant. Music to my ears. Anyway, here it is. Don't judge me for posting it!

Ingredients:
4-6 chicken breasts (mine were still partially frozen)
1 (18 oz. or larger) bottle of BBQ sauce. You might have one you prefer but if not, I HIGHLY recommend Bull's Eye Original by Kraft.
My own addition: 1-2 onions, chopped

Ingredients for sandwiches:
Bread or rolls, provolone or mozzarella cheese, jalapeno peppers (from a jar) if you like it spicy! (husband and brother's creation)

Directions:
Put chicken in slow cooker.
Put onions on top of chicken, if using.
Dump BBQ sauce over the top.
Cook on LOW 8-9 hours.
About 30 minutes before serving, shred chicken with two forks.

Serve as sandwiches. I also thought after the meat is chilled, you could make a DELICIOUS BBQ chopped salad? Hmm.....

Beef Taco Meat

No, I didn't take this picture. It's out of the America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook. But it IS a picture of what I made tonight for dinner! And this is exactly what it looks like (except with homemade soft flour tortillas). If you don't know what America's Test Kitchen is, you are in for a treat. It's on Sundays at 11:00 am on "Create" (Channel 11-3 for those of us without cable). I'm sure it's on other times too but that's the only time I watch. Basically, it's a show where they rigorously test recipes, kitchen gadgets, and ingredients to tell you the best of the best. I'm addicted! I tried this beef taco recipe and it was awesome and takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. I don't like taco meat (ground beef) but I now stand corrected. This has such a great flavor and I promise you will never want to use that packaged taco seasoning again!

Ingredients:

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1 small onion, minced

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Salt

1 lb. 90% lean ground beef

1/2 cup canned tomato sauce

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 tsp. vinegar, preferably cider vinegar

1 tsp. brown sugar

Ground black pepper

Directions

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 4 minutes.

Add the garlic, spices, and 1/2 tsp. salt; cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 30 seconds. (When I do this again, I will premeasure all the those spices into a bowl and add them all at once since you only have to cook them for 30 seconds before adding other ingredients)

Add the ground beef and cook, breaking the meat up into small pieces, scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent scorching until the beef is no long pink.

Add the tomato sauce, broth, and vinegar, and brown sugar, bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring frequently until the liquid has reduced and thickened, about 10 minutes (the mixture shouldn't be dry).

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with taco supplies!

Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I came across this recipe when my office threw me a wonderful pot luck bridal shower. One of the ladies brought this dish and literally everyone there asked for the recipe. Including me. (that's like 30 people!) When she emailed it to me, I couldn't believe the ingredients! Two things you would never think go together but so so so delicious- and it's easy peasy too!

Ingredients:
1 14oz bag of Armour Original Meatballs (about 28 meatballs per bag), they can go right in the slow cooker from the freezer!
1 cup bbq sauce (my co-worker recommends using Famous Dave's Original Flavor)
1 12oz. jar of currant or grape jelly (I think the currant gives the best flavor but both are good)

Directions:
Put all ingredients in the slow cooker and heat on low for 5 hours or high for 2.

Easy Slow Cooker Pork Chops

Pork chops are something I refused to eat as child....into adulthood. My poor mother would try to make them and I would throw a fit (sorry, Mom!) One day my husband made me a delicious dinner of stuffed pork chops and guess what? I devoured it. I know, I can hear my mom in my head, "How do you know you don't like it if you've never tried it?!" Ugh. Guilt for being an awful kid...Anyway, a friend of mine shared this recipe with me for slow cooker pork chops and it turns out the most delicious, flavorful, tender, cut-with-a-fork pork chops you will ever eat.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

Dashes of salt and pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

4-6 pork chops

2 cans chicken and wild rice soup, undiluted

Rice or noodles for serving

Directions:

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a ziploc bag, put pork chops in one at a time and shake to coat.

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat and brown pork chops on each side (you just want to brown the outsides for looks, not cook them through)

Place pork chops in slow cooker, pour in both cans of soup, and cook on low 6 hours (Mine usually go 8 hours while I am at work and they are fine).

Serve over rice or egg noodles.

Chicken Enchiladas

My mother has never been modest about the fact that she doesn't cook. She hates it and with cooking, practice makes perfect so if you don't practice...it's not going to be perfect. :) I love my mom's openness about the fact she has no desire to be a traditional housewife. She does, however, have 2 recipes I made sure to get when I flew from the nest. This is one of them. These are chicken enchiladas for people who hate cooking. Though they seem pretty fatty at the outset, you can use the fat free cream of chicken and low fat/fat free sour cream and it lightens this dish considerably with no sacrifice on the taste. Quick and very easy and you can even make them in the microwave....

Ingredients:

2 cups chicken (my mom uses canned chicken and it tastes great)

1 can cream of chicken soup

8 oz. sour cream

1 small can diced green chilis

2 cups shredded cheese

4-6 tortillas

Canned enchilada sauce (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 or don't if you want to microwave. Mix together all ingredients, reserving about half the cheese, fill and roll tortillas. Now, this part is like a Choose Your Own Adventure Book, remember those?! Loved them. If you want to top them with some of the filling, reserve about 1 cup of it and you'll get about 2 less enchiladas. I particularly like pouring store-bought enchilada sauce over the top. Whatever you choose, top with the remaining cup of cheese and bake for about 20-30 minutes until cheese is bubbly. If you would rather microwave them, microwave on high for about 10-12 minutes until heated through. The microwave technique tastes just fine and is great if you are in a hurry to get dinner on the table.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

Super easy, super forgiving meatloaf that's just a bit different. I work 2 jobs so I do all my prep on the weekends and stick things in the freezer until I need them. This is one of my staples. I made this last week with seasoned bread crumbs instead of saltines, and with only a pound of ground beef because I messed up at the grocery store - still turned out great!

Ingredients
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan.
2. Press the brown sugar in the bottom of the prepared loaf pan and spread the ketchup over the sugar.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly all remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf. Place on top of the ketchup.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices are clear.

Mexican Casserole

This is another recipe I put together when I got creative in the kitchen one day. It uses stuff you likely already have...at least if you are Mexican food junkies like we are at my house. It's sooo fast and easy, you will have dinner on the table in under 30 minutes. I promise. I make this a couple times a month now and I love it! Easy. Fast. Cheap. Delicious.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 a medium onion chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained with a couple of tbsp's of the liquid reserved.
1 small can (11 oz-ish) of corn drained, again reserving a bit of the liquid
1/2 cup or more of your favorite salsa
1/2 packet taco seasoning
3/4 lb. diced or shredded chicken - I usually use about half of one of those GIGANTRONIC rotisserrie chickens from...you guessed it, my favorite place on earth, Costco.
1 1/2 coarsely crushed tortilla chips
1 cup shredded mexican blend cheese

Directions:
In a large skillet or better yet, a wok, melt the butter over med-high heat and sautee the onions for a few minutes until they become transparent. Add the liquid from the beans and corn, the beans and corn, salsa, taco seasoning and chicken. Let simmer for about 10 min. until the meat absorbs that deliciousness.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. When the mixture is done simmering, pour it into a 9x13 inch casserole dish. Top with half the cheese and crushed up tortilla chips. Bake for about 15 minutes. Take it out, top it with the rest of the cheese and bake for another 5 minutes until the cheese is bubbly. Done!!!

Lemon Spinach and Bacon Tortellini Bake

I have an addiction lately. It's not the best addiction in the world to have....I'm addicted to buying the frozen tortellini at Costco. You get two big containers for $9.00 and THEN it usually goes on sale for around $7.50! How can you pass that up? So, when I was browsing one of my FAVORITE blog sites http://www.ourbestbites.com/, and I saw this recipe for a tortellini bake in a lemon cream sauce I was excited for several reasons: 1. It uses my tortellini. 2. I already had all the ingredients. 3. It uses up that spinach I also have a problem with buying. I made a few slight modifications to her recipe (and I doubled it because I live with a hungry hungry hippo and the doubled recipe is below) but her recipe has pictures. I suggest combining recipes for the best of both worlds :)

Ingredients:
1 48 oz. pack of 7 cheese tortellini from Costco (or about 4-6 cups of any tortellini)
8 pieces of bacon (I used turkey bacon)
4 cups of fresh spinach
3 tbsp. butter
3-4 tbsp. flour
4 cups of milk (skim is fine - I used half skim, half 2%)
1 tsp. of basil
1 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional but it adds a nice kick)
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 cups each of mozarella and parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil for your tortellini. Add tortellini and cook according to package directions, drain and set aside (if you don't know how to boil pasta by now, you are in trouble.)
While pasta is cooking, in a big skillet cook your bacon until slightly crisp. If you are using real bacon, reserve about 3 or so tbsp of the grease to make your roux. If you are using turkey bacon, it doesn't have as much grease so scrape your pan of any burnt grease and add 3 tbsp butter instead.
Melt your butter and put about 6 minced cloves of garlic in the butter and let cook for a bit, 30 seconds or so. Add the flour and stir around a bit until a paste forms. Slowly add milk and whisk until smooth. Something the other recipe does NOT say, it will be thin! It thickens when you take it off the heat. If you want, you can add a little more flour just to be sure it makes a nice thick sauce. At this point, add basil, the red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and lemon juice. I rarely have fresh lemons on hand so I used the kind in the bottle. It worked out just fine. Once you stir it all together, taste it. Add a little more lemon if you like it more lemony or red pepper if you like spicy. Remove from heat and allow to sit and thicken a bit.
Now crumble the bacon and run a knife through the spinch a few times. Don't worry about cutting it up too small. It will wilt in the oven so just cut it up a little so you don't have huge leaves.
Add the bacon, spinach and about half of each of the cheeses to the pasta and mix it all together. Then pour the sauce in and mix it all up and pour the whole shebang into a 9x13" casserole dish. cover and bake for 20 minutes then remove the tinfoil and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.

Stromboli

I got the basic recipe for this out of my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook but one day I did my own thing with what I had in the fridge and it's waaaayyy better than the original recipe. That being said, this is a good recipe for using up stuff in your fridge (i.e. the large and inexpensive bags of spinach I cannot resist buying at Costco always promising myself I will eat it all....) so you won't find specific measurements in this one. Just use how much looks good. The last time few times I've made it it's been a little different but each time it's so delicious.

Ingredients:

1 store bought pizza crust
Sliced or shredded mozarella or provolone cheese
Lunch meat (I prefer turkey but have used ham)
Hard Salami (I've also used pancetta, and prosciutto - I like to say any "fancy Italian meat will do here)
Spinach
Black olives
Italian dressing (my favorite is 'Cheese Fantastico' probably because of the name...)
1 egg
Italian seasoning, garlic salt (Lowry's is the best!), and parmesan cheese for topping.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray or drizzle with olive oil.
On a clean and lightly floured surface, CAREFULLY roll out the pizza crust. If you're me, you ALWAYS end up tearing it. Just mush it together to cover the holes until it somewhat resembles a 13"x10" rectangle. It doesn't have to be perfect!
Lay the lunch meat on the dough keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges. I usually use 4 to 6 pieces. Top with a handful of mozarella cheese and then put a layer of fresh spinach on the cheese. Now layer on your "fancy meat". I've also done this with just plain old ham and turkey and that works too! Put more cheese on top if you like it cheesy...I do....and finally drizzle some Italian dressing on all of that.
Now carefully roll it up. Don't worry, you'll tear it a little, just pinch it back together and don't stress. Pinch the seam together and smush the edges closed. Transfer to the cookie sheet, seam side down.
Beat the egg in a bowl and use a pastry brush to brush the egg over the top. This will make it nice and brown and pretty. Sprinkle the top with the Italian seasoning, garlic salt and parmesan cheese and then be sure to poke several little slits along the top to vent.
Bake for 30 minutes and let cool for 10 minutes. Slice it up and eat!

This serves Mike and I as a main dish with salad and we have about 6 inches left over. If you have more than 4 people, though, I suggest making two.

Slow-Cooker Pot Roast

I remember on Sundays coming home from church to a house filled with the smells of my mother's pot roast cooking in the crock pot. It makes my mouth water just to think of it! I am not sure what her sumptuous recipe was, but this one is almost as tasty!

The meat in this will melt in your mouth and the veggies make a nice compliment and side dish. Again, slow-cookers are a great companion on a busy day. Just prep it and walk away. So simple! So delicious!


Ingredients:

2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
2 stalks of celery, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/2 medium onion, chopped into bite-sized pieces (optional)
4-6 potatoes, cubed (I leave the skin on; I feel it serves as a nice "anchor" and adds some texture)
2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 1/4 cups water
Approx. 4- 5 pounds pot roast (I have used this with a roast as small as 3 pounds and it turned out just fine)


Directions:

1. In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.
2. Cook on low for 3 hours, then add vegetables. Cover veggies with liquid (as much as possible). Replace lid and cook for another 5-6 hours on low or until the meat is done and the veggies are tender.

Note: You can cook this on high, just add meat and veggies all at once and cook for 4-5 hours or until the meat is done and the veggies are tender.