Beef and Lentil Slow Cooker Stew

So I've been cooking with lentils a lot lately. I don't know what started this fascination, but I bought, like, 6 bags of lentils last time I went grocery shopping. So I've been working on a LOT of lentil recipes.

2 cups of water
1 cup of dried lentils
8 oz kidney beans
8 oz stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
As much oregano as you want. I grow my own, so I usually just rip off a hunk and chop the leaves until it looks good.
1 tsp coarse salt
A recipe I found said to add 1lb of beef, cubed. A little bit ago we had a giant round steak, I saved the leftover, bone in, and just decided to drop that in.

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker, set to LOW, for 6-7 hours.
I will let you all know how this turns out at 9pm.

From Fatty Cookbook

Easiest Biscuits

So I'm  flat broke and making my finest batch of "whatever is left in the house." We had chicken, peas, creamed corn, gravy mix... Chicken pot pie! Or course. But we had a distinct lack of eggs, and milk, and I needed biscuits...

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp oil
1/3 cup water

Preheat oven to 450.
Mix all ingredients, and turn out on a floured surface. Knead slightly, and roll to 1/4 inch thickness.
Stamp out biscuits, I used the top of a mason jar, and arrange on a cookie sheet. Bake about 10 minutes.

Ta da!

Ooey Gooey Mac and Cheese

From Fatty Cookbook

This recipe makes a LOT of cheese sauce, it's to be enough for 4 regular servings.

2 tbsp butter
1/2 onion, diced. Really small.
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk
6 oz of any cheese. I used half Swiss and Extra Sharp Cheddar.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, over medium heat. They key to all of this is keeping the heat right, if anything starts bubbling it's too hot. Add the onions to the butter and, stirring and turning often, let the onions turn translucent. Once they're soft, add the flour and cook until well mixed without turning brown. This should take less than a minute.

Stir everything with a wooden spoon or spatula, making sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking to make sure everything mixes. Watch the milk, do not let it boil. Test the temperature with your fingers, it should feel hot, but not burning. Special note: this is also the time to add any extra seasonings; salt, pepper, cayenne, or nutmeg. I only do a bit of garlic salt and a pinch of paprika, but this is all up to you.

Grate the cheese, and slowly add to the sauce, about an ounce at a time. Stir the cheese in, waiting for it to melt completely before adding more.

Pour immediately over al dente elbow macaroni. Enjoy!