Crockpot Philly Cheesesteak Soup

I am not a big fan of Philly cheese steak sandwiches, but I had the ingredients for this soup and hand and thought it sounded pretty good. It was fantastic! Easy to put together and then you just let it cook a few hours until its hot and the beef just falls apart. Very yummy!

Crock pot Philly Cheese steak Soup From a Year of Crock potting
1 pound beef strips
4 cups beef broth
2 cups milk
1 T butter
1 yellow onion, cut in chunks
2 bell peppers
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
8 oz Provolone or mozzarella cheese to add at the end

Add butter to crock pot and turn on high to melt. Cut up the meat and add to crock pot, mix to coat in butter. Add chopped peppers, onion and garlic. Add Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Stir in beef broth and milk. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours or high for 5-6 hours. Stir in cheese before serving until melted. Add some flour mixed with milk (about a 1/4 cup of flour in 1/2 cup of milk) toward the end if you want a thicker soup.

Italian Beef or Venison

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful time in WI at my parents house. We had a great time with family and puppy dogs (since we had to bring our 3 with us last minute-thanks mom and dad for not kicking us all to the curb:)! Back to cooking and baking as soon as we got home. My husband is a big deer hunter and he worked on filling the freezer this fall with venison. I pulled out one of the roasts the other night and made this recipe with it. It was frozen solid when I put it in, but after about 2 1/2 hours it was tender and delicious. The gravy was awesome over some mashed potatoes.

Italian Beef (or Venison) Modified from Cooking for a Cure
3 to 5 pound boneless rump roast or venison roast
1 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp fennel
1 1/8 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp anise seed
1 1/2 tsp sweet basil
1 1/2 tsp accent
1 1/8 tsp paprika
2 1/2 tsp salt
1-2 pkg brown gravy mix (I used 1 pkg and that was enough gravy with a smaller roast)

Sprinkle spices over roast and roast meat for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Add gravy mix with water and continue to cook for another 2-3 hours until tender. You can combine everything in a slow cooker and cook 6 to 8 hours. Slice and serve on buns or over mashed potatoes.

Swiss Steak

A girl I work with brought some swiss steak in one day for lunch and it was really good. We never had this growing up since my mom does not like steak, so I had never made this before. It is really good and it was nice to simmer it on the stove for an hour, making the house smell delicious!

Swiss Steak From Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

1 pound boneless beef round steak, cut 3/4 inch thick
2 T flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 T cooking oil
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, undrained (or regular diced tomatoes with the above seasonings sprinkled in)
1 small onion, sliced and separated into rings
1/2 cup sliced celery (1 stalk)
1/2 cup sliced carrots (2 medium)

Trim fat from meat. Cut meat into 4 serving size pieces. Combine flour, salt, and pepper. With the notched side of a meat mallet, pound flour mixture into meat.

In a large skillet brown meat on both sides in hot oil. Drain off fat. Add undrained tomatoes, onion, celery and carrot. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 1 1/4 hours or until meat is tender. Skim off fat. Serve with mashed potatoes.