One of my favorite busy-day recipes is Gone All Afternoon Stew. I first found this recipe in 1994 in a cookbook binder distributed among my youngest son’s fellow engineers at McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) – Bits & Bytes. It is easy to throw together and bake in a slow oven for the afternoon.
GONE-ALL-AFTERNOON BEEF STEW
- 1 lb. round or chuck steak, trimmed and cut into small pieces
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 3 medium carrots, sliced (I use 9 baby carrots, sliced lengthwise)
- 2 large potatoes, sliced
- 1 tsp. salt
- Grinding or two of black pepper
- One 10-3/4 oz. can tomato soup
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup dry red wine
- 10 oz. package frozen peas (add during last 15 minutes of baking)
Preheat oven @ 275 degrees F for 4 hours’ baking time or 250 degrees F for 5 hours’ baking time.
Put all ingredients except peas in a large casserole. Mix well, cover and bake in preheated 275 degree F oven for 4 hours or 250 degree F for 5 hours. Add peas during the last 15 minutes of baking.
Yield: 4-6 servings
This makes a thick, delicious stew. If the stew is too thick, it can be thinned with a little bit of water. I like to serve a good homemade yeast roll with this dish.
After a hearty dinner, it’s nice to have something lighter for dessert. I had come across a bargain on oranges this week. They were super-large and I had way more than I would be able to eat out-of-hand, so I went looking for a dessert to use some of them.
I found this recipe for an easy tapioca pudding that sounded just right.
ORANGE TAPIOCA PUDDING
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tblsp. quick-cooking tapioca
- 1-1/4 cups fresh orange juice
- 1 tsp. orange zest
- 1-1/4 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed (divided)
Mix sugar, tapioca and orange juice in a medium saucepan. Let stand for 5 minutes.
Heat mixture to boiling over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool for 20 minutes.
Stir the tapioca mixture, then fold in 1 cup of the whipped topping until smooth. Divide mixture between 4 serving dishes and top each with one tablespoon of the reserved topping.
This is such a pretty dessert with a bright, fresh flavor.
It was a good meal.
LILLIAN'S CUPBOARD 
My gosh this is an old favorite of mine. I have made it many times – my DD absolutely loves it too. My stomach is growling just from looking at the picture. The pudding looks so good too.
Darlene
Maybe it’s because we’re both from Ohio, but we seem to have very similar food favorites. Lillian
Mmmmm, I have never thought to flavour my tapioca and orange would definitely be a nice addition. I have saved your recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Do you think that I could convert your recipe for a crock pot? Any suggestions?
Thanks so much!
Kate
I would imagine it would work very well in a crockpot but I’ve never tried it. I’m a little limited in what I like cooked in a crockpot – set in my ways, I guess. Let me know if you try it. Lillian