Missing home? Grandma’s house? Simpler times? Well, this should fix you right up!

 

As I’m writing this, we’re right in the middle of a blizzard. And right in the middle of it we are. It’s been horrific!!!!

We lost a 60′ oak tree, and the poor birdies are not happy.

The winds are so forceful that our glass sliding doors were bowing inward!! Not to mention, strong enough to take down a huge oak tree. VERY lucky for us though, it fell at the exact perfect angle to miss our house, the neighbor’s house, our Honeycrisp Apple tree that we just planted this summer, our backyard swing with my roses, and even the bird feeder!

It was a miracle that it didn’t crash through our house and smash our bedroom or living room!! With us in it!!

 

The pic doesn’t reflect the enormous size of this tree. To put it into better perspective, the “stump” that is left is about 7-8′ tall!  The tree is half-buried in the snow and I couldn’t even get all of it in the photo, as there’s about another 15′ of it! That is going to be one HUGE mess to cut up and get rid of!!

 

 

The blizzard was so bad, that the whole sky and backyard would light up eerily, turning a creepy blue-green color, like something out of a sci-fi movie. My hubby and I flipped at first, and he jokingly said he was about to look up to see if a spaceship was landing or something!

It was actually “thunder snow”, but there wasn’t any thunder. Just the lightning. And the reason why it looked so different and incredibly brilliant and bright, was because it was shining through the storm clouds as it was very high up over the storm. It also would last for a good 10 to even 20 seconds at a time. VERY strange. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing!

So glad that it’s finally over, but now all the cleanup and dig out begins…yay.

Not only was I extremely thankful that the oak tree didn’t do any damage, I was also very relieved that I had made this enormous pot of beef and noodles so that I didn’t have to worry about cooking anything! “Blizzard food”!

I knew we would probably be without power, and sure enough, it went out extremely early in the morning while it was still pitch black out. But, we were blessed with another stroke of luck. It came back on within about an hour or so. I feel awful for the 10’s of thousands who are without right now, and hope it all gets restored as quickly as possible!

 

 

 

 

So this pot of comfort food was very, very much needed!!

It takes a little bit of time, but it’s so easy to make!! So let’s get started!

You simply cut up your chuck roast into large bit-sized pieces. *Remember, beef shrinks quite a bit when it cooks, and you still want nice chunks when it’s done. I like to trim a lot of the fat as I’m cutting it up, too.

Next, you’re going to season with pepper and brown the pieces on all sides in  a large heavy-bottomed pot in a little oil. This only takes about 5 -10 minutes! Then just add most of the rest of your ingredients, give it a stir, heat to a boil and cover. Reduce the heat to very low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours until the meat is melt-in-your-mouth tender!

 

 

 

 

Next, we make a “cornstarch slurry”, which is simply cornstarch and cold water mixed together. This is added to thicken the broth.

 

 

 

 

While the meat is simmering, get out a pot to boil your noodles in, and the rest of your ingredients.

 

 

 

 

When the meat is tender, stir in your mushrooms, recover, and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Cook your noodles in the meantime, or you can wait until the meat part is completely done.

Remove the lid from the pot of meat, stir in your slurry and simmer for one minute to thicken. Turn off heat.

 

 

 

 

Drain the noodles, fold them in….and grab a plate
because dinner’s done!!

 

 

 

 

(*These are the noodles that I use for this!) Better than most people’s homemade!

 

 

 

 

I soooo wish you could smell my kitchen right now! But you can whip up a batch for your family and see what all the excitement is over these! My hubby was like a large child at Christmas!!

 

 

 

 

Don’t forget some buttered Texas toast!

 

 

 

 

I know you’re going to love this recipe,
and I hope it becomes a family favorite at your house, too!
Tender, hearty, tummy-filling and heart-warming!
The epitome of comfort food!

So what are you waiting for?

Enjoy!!

 

 

Yield: 6 - 8 servings

Home-Style Beef 'n Noodles with Mushrooms & Onions

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Ingredients

• 3 1/2 lbs. boneless beef chuck roast, cut into LARGE chunks bigger than bite-sized
• 1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
• 3 Tbl. vegetable oil
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 medium onion, halved and cut into 1/2" wedges and separated
• half of a 1 ounce envelope French Onion Soup Mix such as Lipton's
• 1/8 cup A1 Original Steak Sauce
• 1/2 Tbl. minced garlic ( 2 large cloves)
• 1/2 Tbl. horseradish
• 1/2 Tbl. spicy brown mustard
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
• 2 Tbl. butter, cut up
• 1 (8 oz.) container fresh sliced mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1 (24 oz.) bag Reames Home-Style Frozen Egg Noodles, cooked and drained
• 1 tsp. more kosher salt or to taste

Instructions

Cut roast, trimming excess fat as you go, into LARGE bite-sized pieces because beef shrinks when it cooks. You want to end up with nice big chunks.

In large metal roaster that you can use on the stove, lightly brown meat on all sides with 1/2 tsp. pepper over medium-high heat in a little oil. You may have to do this in a large frying pan. (Should take about 10 minutes.).

When beef is lightly browned on the outside, add broth, onion, soup mix, A-1, garlic, horseradish, mustard, 1/2 tsp. kosher salt and 1 1/2 tsp. pepper. Dot with butter.

Bring to a boil, cover with lid, turn down heat to Low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Stir occasionally. Just 2 or 3 times is all.

Add mushrooms, recover, and simmer 15-20 minutes longer.

Remove lid.

Mix cornstarch and cold water, add, stirring. Simmer, stirring only occasionally, for a few more minutes until thickened a bit. Cover and set aside.

In large pot, bring enough water to a boil, adding 2 tsp. regular salt, and cook noodles according to package directions. Drain well, and fold into pot of beef.

Serve with warm crusty bread and butter, and a side vegetable such as green beans, or a nice garden salad.

Notes

*If you don't have a stovetop-safe roaster, you can use a dutch oven or large deep frying pan with a lid.