The "Domesticated Sunday" blog...

I have to say that I like Sundays to myself.  Not just because it's my ONLY day off but that I can have a full day to putt around the house doing cleaning, cooking or craft projects.  This Sunday being no different.  I have to say that I really do enjoy having domesticated days to myself where I can just do what ever needs to be done around the house uninterrupted by phone calls.  Today's big chore was detailing my glass lamps and little spaces and items through out the house that I normally don't get to as regularly as I would like.  It's a pretty satisfying feeling knowing that stuff is tidy and where they should be in one's home.  My home may be crowded but everything has it's place.  It's also nice to have stuff cooking on the stove or in the oven to give the house a wonderful scent while going about cleaning.

I normally like to cook a big meal on Sundays to last me a couple days since I work two doubles in a row on Mondays and Tuesdays.  So I cook a nice dinner to split up for those days to enjoy when I get the chance.  If I'm lucky it lasts me til Wednesday where I can cook another big meal to stretch until Friday.
Tonight on the stove was my Beef Stew with Blue Cheese drop Biscuits.  This is a spin off of Chicken n'Dumplings (which I love making) and it's basically the same thing but with beef and blue cheese....and with beer or red wine. 

I decided to make them after I opened a bottle of Cabernet to discover the bottle had turned.  So I put it to the side and let it do it's thing for about a week.  At the same time I had some bananas that decided to ripen faster than normal and my weekend meal was decided. My Beef stew with blue cheese drop biscuits and a nice loaf of banana bread!

I don't have a set recipe for the beef stew but it might go something like this:
*1 lb of beef
*onions and garlic to taste (I like lots of fresh garlic and onions)
*bell peppers (frozen or fresh-sometimes I use the Trader Joe's frozen grilled onions and peppers-1/2 bag)
*low sodium stock (what ever is handy)
*a bottle of red wine OR a couple bottles of dark beer ( each gives a distinctive taste so it's a matter of  which you might be in the mood for).
*bag of frozen veggies of your choice to round out the stew.
*Season to taste

While this is simmering prepare the biscuits by making your favorite biscuit recipe and adding blue cheese.  Stick in the fridge to keep chilled until the stew has simmered long enough.

When the soup is ready-drop the raw biscuit mix into the gently boiling stew with a spoon evenly across the pot.  Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and let complete simmering for about half an hour.

Uncover and let cool for a bit before enjoying.

Now the banana bread was a modification from a recipe I already had but I tweaked it a bit because I don't really care for things that are overly sweet or greasy.  The recipe is super simple and it took no time at all to make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9X5 inch pan (grease with butter if not nonstick).

1/2 brown sugar

1 stick of butter-normally I would cut the stick of butter and substitute the other half with a quarter cup of applesauce....but I didn't have any.

1/2 cup honey

3 bananas-really really ripe bananas preferably.

1 lemon

1/4 milk

2 eggs

a generous teaspoon of vanilla

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

nutmeg and cinnamon to taste

Cream the butter and the sugar until will blended.  Then add the honey, bananas-blend.  Add the lemon and the milk-blend.  Add the eggs until just mixed. Then add the dry ingredients until JUST moist.  Pour in a prepared pan and pop in the oven for about an hour.  Check to make sure it's cooked in the middle and if it is-treat it like you normally would any other loaf of bread.

I have to say this little experiment turned out much better than I had anticipated.  Enough for me to take notes on how it was done!  Now I have some delicious food to last me throughout part of the week and save some money :-).