Where's the Beef?

S-T-E-L-L-A......From the famous movie scene in a Streetcar Named Desire (1951), comes the story of yesterday. I'm not saying I was a raging animal at the hands of savage like Stanley Kowalsky but lets just say "Calgon" wasn't going to help me. Well, maybe if I had time!  My plan was solid. Crockpot, how could anything go wrong?

Well well, it all started after I carefully fried up the bacon, sliced the onion real thin and was reaching into the refrigerator for the meat. Where's the beef? I searched high and low. Even made a trip out to the garage fridge. Even checked the freezer thinking I had tossed it in there. No beef. Really? I failed to pick up the beef at the grocery store this week. It was on the list of ingredients I didn't buy at Target on Sunday. I was going to pick it up. It would have been easy. I think I've been to the store at least twice since my Target trip. Andy even asked if we needed anything else the night before when he was going to the store...so you see, I'm really trying to keep it together. I told the girls we were having bacon and onion for dinner....

Between this highly stressed out time of the holiday prep and my work schedule being the busiest its ever been in the last three years, I'm ready to snap. Vice-gripping headaches and all. My Boot camp leader announced that if life was too stressed, that we should skip class to get that extra sleep... the gym is the only thing keeping me SANE. So sorry, Jen, only illness will keep me from attending.  On the bright side, Andy and I are road tripping to KC on Saturday without the girls. Shopping and great dining, a little R&R to get us through the next two weeks.

I've heard so many wonderful things about Belgium cuisine and feel we have been robbed of enjoying this country this week. Oh well, there's always next year. We did finally eat the meat and it was comfort. Though, Elie chimed in that it really had no flavor. Hmmm.. all that work to feed the family. I hope they don't starve while we're gone.

Flemish Carbonades
Ingredients:
2-3 lbs. of boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (12 oz.) beer
2 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
3 Tbl. corn starch
1/4 cup water
Cooked Noodles

Directions:
In a slow cooker, combine meat, onion, slt, pepper, brown sugar, garlic, beer and bacon. Cover an cook on LOW 5-7 hours or until meat is tender. Turn control to HIGH. Dissolve cornstarch in water. Stir into meat mixture. Cover and cook on HIGH 20 to 30 minutes or until slightly thickened. Server over noodles.
Recipe from Mable Hoffman's crockery cookbook.

p.s. ok, maybe the blandness came in because I forgot to add the salt. The power of a tsp...wow. Who knew?