What’s in my Fridge Beef Stew

Hi Jen, 

It’s been one of those weeks.

Work is super busy, I’m PMSing like crazy and I can’t seem to kick this awful cold/flu. I was so sick this weekend that I had to pass on our weekly Sunday grocery excursion. Seb being the dutiful future hubby that he is, went solo.  I was pleased by his willingness to shoulder the responsibility of our week's food supply, so I sent him along his merry way. In hindsight, considering how he usually leaves me in the veggie section and makes a beeline to the butcher, I probably should of given him a list or said something like: "please don't bring home an entire farm". He arrived home after spending $70 and this is what he bought: two giant steaks, a chicken, pork tenderloin, ham, bacon, peanut butter, bread, a massive block of swiss cheese and one teeny weeny bag of bokchoy. Ahh boys— where would our protein intake be without them? Lol, you're probably gagging over all the meat on that list. 

As a result of Seb's meat-a-palooza, we had a lot of left over meat in our fridge so last night, still sick, I decided to whip up a big bowl of what I like to call, What’s in My Fridge Beef Stew. 

Ingredients:

·         2 carrots, chopped

·         ½ large onion, diced

·         2 stalks of celery

·         Flour

·         2-3 Garlic cloves, chopped

·         Thyme, Oregano

·         1 stalk of Leek

·         Beef Broth

·         Left over beef cubed (I used the leftover Striploin tip from our dinner 2 nights ago)

·         Mushrooms

·         Kale

·         Brussel sprouts

These are the main things that I used because it’s what I had in my fridge, but feel free to use whatever you have. 

I chopped up the onions, carrots, leeks and celery and sautéed till soft in a pot with some olive oil. When ready, I added the garlic, thyme, oregano, marmite (the one you gave me Westie!) and a bay leaf. When I can smell the garlic, I added flour to coat the veggies and mixed. Add the beef broth (I use the salt-free kind because I ran out of my home-made stuff in the freezer). Add the beef and let simmer for about an hour. 

Add mushrooms, brussel sprouts and kale (again all optional, but these are my favourite vegetables, so I pretty much always have some in my fridge) and simmer for another 30 mins or so. 

It’s really the perfect stew for a cold night when all you have to do is cut up a bunch of random things in your fridge. If you want to make it even more thick, you can make a rue with some butter and flour, or add some potatoes! Salt and pepper to taste at the end.

Serve with a piece of crusty bread to dip. DE-LIC-OUS!

Hope you and the little one enjoy! I bet Georgie would like this one!

I miss you! It's weird not having someone ask me what I ate the day before every day.