day 258: freezer entree--master beef cube mix

A while back I posted one of  my favorite freezer entrees--cheesy potato casserole made with frozen hash brown potatoes. Today I would like to share my longest-running, most-often-made, amazing Master Beef Cube Mix. (It's not really mine; I originally got it from "Make a MIx" (see review) and have since also seen it in "Thirty Day Gourmet" (also reviewed).)

This recipe given below has one batch (4 quarts); 2 batches (8 quarts); and 3 batches (12 quarts). It can be made conveniently with cream soups or more healthfully and most cost-consciously with homemade white sauce/soups. It can be used for stew, pot pies, or stroganoff--and is loved by every member of our family. So how's that for the perfect freezer entree???

Note: If you do not want to include all of the uses in your labels on your freezer bags, you may just print off the uses and tape it inside a cupboard door and refer to it when you get a quart or two out to use. This makes it difficult to give to a new mom or family in need, however.

Master Beef Cube Mix makes 4 quarts
5 Pound Stew Beef lean


1 Package Onion Soup Mix


2 Each Bay Leaf


6 Cup White Sauce, beef flavored* or 42 oz golden
mushroom soup


1/4 Cup Mushrooms, minced


1/4 Cup Celery, minced


2 Cup Water


6 Cup White Sauce, chicken flavored* or 42 ounce cream
of chicken or mushroom soup










Instructions

1. Combine beef, soup mix, bay leaves, white sauce or canned soup, mushrooms, celery and water in a large Dutch oven or covered roasting pan. Stir well.


2. Bake at 300 degrees for about 4 hours, or until meat is tender.


3. Allow mixture to cool. Discard bay leaves.


4. Freeze in quart sized bags with labels below on each one.


5. Labels:


Master Beef Cube Mix DATE


(Fully cooked; just needs heated and/or used in recipes


below.)


1. Beef stew-for each quart, add the following:


Add 4-6 precooked carrots, cut up. (Cook in micro for 20-30 minutes until just tender but not tender.)


Add 4-6 potatoes, cut up. (Cook in micro for 20-30 minutes until just tender but not cooked.)


Add 1 onion cut up.


OR add two large cans chunky vegall vegetables drained.


Bake uncovered for one hour at 300' convection until bubbly.


2. Stroganoff-for each quart, add the following:


Add 1-2 cut up onions and 1/2 to 1 lb. mushrooms.


Cook through on stove top or micro until heated and


bubbly.


Add 1 to 2 pints sour cream just before serving.


Serve over noodles or rice.


3. May also be used in beef pot pies.


*******************************************************




Master Beef Cube Mix -- Double makes 8 quarts


10 Pound Stew Beef lean


2 Package Onion Soup Mix


4 Each Bay Leaf


12 Cup White Sauce, beef flavored or 42 oz golden
mushroom soup


1/2 Cup Mushrooms, minced


1/2 Cup Celery, minced


4 Cup Water


12 Cup White Sauce, chicken flavored or 42 ounce cream
of chicken or mushroom soup






Instructions
1. Combine beef, soup mix, bay leaves, white sauce or canned soup, mushrooms, celery and water in a large Dutch oven or covered roasting pan.


Stir well.


2. Bake at 300 degrees for about 4 hours, or until meat is tender.


3. Allow mixture to cool. Discard bay leaves.


4. Freeze in quart sized bags with labels below on each one.


5. Labels:


Master Beef Cube Mix DATE


(Fully cooked; just needs heated and/or used in recipes


below.)


1. Beef stew-for each quart, add the following:


Add 4-6 precooked carrots, cut up. (Cook in micro for 20-30 minutes until just tender but not tender.)


Add 4-6 potatoes, cut up. (Cook in micro for 20-30 minutes until just tender but not cooked.)


Add 1 onion cut up.


OR add two large cans chunky vegall vegetables drained.


Bake uncovered for one hour at 300' convection until bubbly.


2. Stroganoff-for each quart, add the following:


Add 1-2 cut up onions and 1/2 to 1 lb. mushrooms.


Cook through on stove top or micro until heated and


bubbly.


Add 1 to 2 pints sour cream just before serving.


Serve over noodles or rice.


3. May also be used in beef pot pies.


**********************************************************


Master Beef Cube Mix -- Triple makes 12 quarts





15 Pound Stew Beef lean


3 Package Onion Soup Mix


6 Each Bay Leaf


18 Cup White Sauce, beef flavored or 42 oz golden
mushroom soup


3/4 Cup Mushrooms, minced


3/4 Cup Celery, minced


6 Cup Water


18 Cup White Sauce, chicken flavored or 42 ounce cream
of chicken or mushroom soup










Instructions


1. Combine beef, soup mix, bay leaves, white sauce or canned soup, mushrooms, celery and water in a large Dutch oven or covered roasting pan.


Stir well.


2. Bake at 300 degrees for about 4 hours, or until meat is tender.


3. Allow mixture to cool. Discard bay leaves.


4. Freeze in quart sized bags with labels below on each one.


5. Labels:


Master Beef Cube Mix DATE


(Fully cooked; just needs heated and/or used in recipes


below.)


1. Beef stew-for each quart, add the following:


Add 4-6 precooked carrots, cut up. (Cook in micro for 20-30 minutes until just tender but not tender.)


Add 4-6 potatoes, cut up. (Cook in micro for 20-30 minutes until just tender but not cooked.)


Add 1 onion cut up.


OR add two large cans chunky vegall vegetables drained.


Bake uncovered for one hour at 300' convection until bubbly.


2. Stroganoff-for each quart, add the following:


Add 1-2 cut up onions and 1/2 to 1 lb. mushrooms.


Cook through on stove top or micro until heated and


bubbly.


Add 1 to 2 pints sour cream just before serving.


Serve over noodles or rice.


3. May also be used in beef pot pies.






*****************************************************

Printed by Advantage Cooking! 30 Day Gourmet Edition



www.advantagecooking.com www.30DayGourmet.Com

day 257: : “i want an oompa loompa, now daddy!”---the child-controlled home part ii of ii*

Child-Controlled Homes Everywhere

Nowadays, children controlling their parents seems to be a natural occurrence. It is joked about on talk shows, from church pulpits, in beauty parlors, and at doctors' offices. Nobody seems to know what to do about the fact that children, not parents, often call the shots.


Recently I was in a mall during the daytime when I overheard two young mothers talking to each other and their preschool children. One of the mothers told the children to come along because they were going to get a snack. The second mother questioned her, wondering if they were having lunch or a snack because they had planned on eating lunch. The first mother responded in a whisper with, "Oh, yeah, we're having lunch. I just tell my kids we're having a snack because if they think we are having a meal, they won't come to eat."

As I was thinking to myself about today's state of parenting in the secular world, I overheard a similar exchange soon after between a Christian mom who writes a marriage and parenting column for a Christian publication and her friend. In line at McDonald's, this gal asked her friend what her six and seven year old children were getting in their Happy Meals. She continued, "I have to be sure to get my kids exactly what your kids have in their Happy Meals or everything will break loose."

Why do parents (and especially Christian parents) walk on egg shells with their children? Why are they afraid to "cross" them? Why are they weak and unable to set the rules and guidelines for their family?

The World's Parenting Philosophy vs. The Bible's Parenting Philosophy

The world, via the media, secular parenting specialists, fellow parents, and others, tells us that we cannot have proper control of our children. It paints a bleak picture about parenting children: try to stay firm on the battles you know you can win, and let the others go. (And the battles that the “experts” say you can win are few and far between.) Do we have to go through our children's growing up years wishing they would behave like we tell them to? Do we have to beg, cajole, or bargain with our children to get them to sit down at the table or be content with what they have? Can we ever really enjoy our children, or does every command from us have to result in a battle?


Tomorrow: what does the Bible say about disciplining children—and who should run the family?








*For the next few days, I will be using excerpts from our book, “The Well-Trained Heart,” to lay the foundation for parenting/disciplining young children. You may order WTH at www.tfths.com or by calling 260-597-7415.

day 256: “i want an oompa loompa, now daddy!”---the child-controlled home part i of ii*

All the decisions that you make (or do not make, which is really making a decision, nonetheless) in the early years of parenting have a huge impact on your child discipline approach—and eventually on the behavior of your kids. Whether you begin your parenting with the parents as the, well, parents—or whether you begin your parenting allowing small children to call the shots—dictates the tone of your home, the obedience and contentment of your children, and even what kind of teens you will have in years to come. We call this early decision that of choosing either the “child-controlled home” or the “parent-controlled home.”


In the original movie, “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” an extremely naughty girl finds herself in a lot of trouble because, quite frankly, she is spoiled rotten. She asks for everything, and if she does not get what she wants when she wants it, she throws a ten-year-old tantrum. Her indulgent father continuously gives in to her demands, even to the point of trying to convince Mr. Wonka to sell him one of his Oompa Loompas, the pint-sized candy makers from Loompa Land, for his dear Veruca as she cries out, “I want an Oompa Loompa now, Daddy!”


Having a child-controlled home does not sound that terrible in itself. After all, if we have children, shouldn’t we center our homes and lives around them? Believe me, I am all for sacrificing and centering my world around my children during the child-rearing days—taking the time and energy that is needed to raise them properly for the Lord. However, taking our responsibility to raise our children properly, focusing several years of our lives on their upbringing is significantly different than having a child controlled home in which the children, not the parents, dictate things.


In the child-controlled home, where and what the family will eat, what is watched on television or at the movies, what a child will wear, and all the plethora of decisions that are made each week in a family’s life are made by a child—or children. Oh, it isn’t that the children are the authorities. It is just that because the atmosphere of the home is so influenced by the children’s responses to every decision, those decisions are made in such a way to keep the children happy—to keep them from throwing fits, complaining, whining, rolling their eyes, sighing, pouting, yelling, and arguing.


At times it can seem so insignificant that a parent hardly notices that a child is running things. Jenny likes this. And Jenny wants that. And Jenny likes it when we do this. And Jenny has to have that. And the next thing you know, the home is controlled, in large part, by “Jenny.” Suddenly, the parent (especially the mother) is afraid to make any decision that she knows Jenny will not like. And that family has a “Jenny-controlled home.”



Continued tomorrow…


*For the next few days, I will be using excerpts from our book, “The Well-Trained Heart,” to lay the foundation for parenting/disciplining young children. You may order WTH at www.tfths.com or by calling 260-597-7415.

day 255: we are getting the behavior that we want

I have the most amazing husband ever! I adore him! He is one of the most involved, truly-training fathers I know. He spends all of his non-work (at his plant and on Training for Triumph) hours on the kids and on me—and he has for our entire twenty-seven years of parenting. However, he does one thing that drives me nuts: he tells me the truth about the kids’ behavior!


His mantra has always been (and this is the really nutsy part!): “We are getting the behavior that we want ‘coz if we didn’t want it, we would stop it.” Aghh….. I come to him complaining about a child’s behavior, expecting sympathy and commiserating, and he reminds me, once again, that this behavior must be the behavior that we desire. If it isn’t what we want, we would surely not let it continue; we would surely do something to put a stop to it.

This truth, and I do have to admit that it is a truth, of parenting, is a little twist on the “if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” And just like that saying, it is too accurate.


Now, Ray is an incredible husband and father, so, thankfully, he doesn’t just spout off his catch phrase and leave me hanging. This twenty-seven year old saying has almost always led to resolution. You see, if it is true—and we admit to each other that we are not really doing anything to stop the behavior in question—then it follows that if we want to stop it, we need to come up with a plan of action to change the behavior.


This blog is a positive blog! And I want to stay positive. However, the teacher in me feels compelled to “teach” what we have found to help us “get the behavior we want.” If you have small children—toddlers and preschoolers, especially—you may want to join us over the next few days.


Our children were never (and still are not) perfect. However, we were blessed with outstanding teaching early in our parenting to help us train our toddlers and preschoolers to have good behavior—to not scream or throw fits, to obey when a command is given, to come when they are called, to be content and not surly, to be kind to others (even siblings!), to follow routines they are taught (going to bed, sitting at the table, being quiet in church etc), and much more.


Your little ones can be joys to you. You can get up in the morning knowing that you can have a good day and enjoy your kids—because they want to obey you. I promise that this can happen! Not perfection—just daily contentment and obedience more often than not. After all, we get whatever behavior we want.

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days 252 and 253: harshness vs tenderness in raising children

One of the stories that we especially enjoyed in Joe Wheeler’s “Great Stories Remembered” is about a man who was so harsh with his three children—wouldn’t let them cry, made fun of them if they were frightened, punished them severely for slight infractions, wouldn’t let them be children, didn’t spend any time with them, etc. This story is called “The Boy on the Running Board.”* Today and tomorrow (though I don’t want to divide up the post, so it will all appear here) I would like to share with you some excerpts from that story—and some amazing parenting comparisons that I gleaned from it (during read-aloud with my kids!).






One day this rough father went to town to pay a bill (leaving a “punished” son who was scheduled to go with him that day at home). While driving, this man ran over a turkey that its owner-family had named Henry Ward Beecher.


The stern man picked up one of the children (who owned the turkey) and took him to town since the boy was heading there to meet his father’s train. The words this child spoke pierced the unkind father’s heart—as they should have. Even today as I re-read this story, I can hear the love and excitement in this little boy’s voice. Oh, that we could all create this in our homes:






“We drew lots to see which’d catch him an’ which’d cut off his {the turkey’s} head. Celia was catching him. We picked out Henry Ward Beecher because he was the biggest. Mother said nothing was too big for Father!”


“Father’s coming home! Today he’s coming! Mother keeps singing every minute.”


“Well, I guess any mother’d sing when she hadn’t seen a father for four whole months. Father’s a drummer, but he doesn’t hardly ever drum so long at a time. He hasn’t seen {the present we have for him….}.”


“We’re going to give {Father} a present of the baby! She’s almost a month old. Mother’s did her all up.”


“We’ve swept everything and dusted everything and cleared up everything –and—and….killed the rooster!”


“Father’s train isn’t till after dinner, but I thought I’d go real early so’s not to miss it.”


“I guess he’ll think that’s some muscle! Father will like that! And I can pitch ball better now; I’ll give him some good ones, all right! We take turns pitching. Father’s a southpaw. The Grant family’s team is some team! Only, now that the baby’s come, I don’t know about Mother’s being first base…She’s a good first-bagger! You ought to see her catch! Of course, it isn’t a real ‘nine,’ but we manage. Celia’s going to make a regular player. Are you on a team, Mister?”


The boy continued: “Yes. “{Do you have a} home team? You know, like us. If you haven’t got any boys….You can’t very well play ball without ANY boys! Father says it’s lucky there’s two men in our family. We’re pals, me and Father.”


(At this point, the man thought of his boys at home. He couldn’t imagine calling his family “team.” Even moreso, he couldn’t imagine his being on their team, if his family did have one. Then pals? He could not fathom it.)


“When father retires…we’re going to have the best time! Of course, we’ll have to work like fun on the farm. That’s it, like fun! When we hoe now, Father and me, we run races to the end of the row! Sometimes I beat him. And when Mother comes out and brings us something to drink, she kisses Father when I am not looking, and kisses me when Father isn’t looking, but we always kind of see!”


(The man asked the boy if he was afraid of his father…)


“Of Father, AFRAID? You couldn’t be afraid of Father. I lied once. ‘riginal sin, Mother said, was the matter with me. But I’ve never had it since. You don’t catch me being a mean skunk twice! We both cried, me and Father. Then Father held out his hand and said, ‘Put it there,’ and I put it there, and that was our contract. Like signing the pledge, Father said.”


(The boy met the father at the train station—and you can only guess the impact that this little boy had on the thoughtless man when he returned home later that day. You will have to get this book to discover the ending!)


I could read these parts of the story over and over…and hear and feel the excitement of a little boy whose dad knew how to raise little boys—how to love them, include them, play with them, work with them, forgive them, direct them, laugh with them, talk to them, and teach them. And then pray that Ray and I are all of that for our “little boys.”










*This story may be found in Joe Wheeler’s “Great Stories Remembered”: http://www.amazon.com/Great-Stories-Remembered-Joe-Wheeler/dp/1561794597