Worthwhile Challenge Week 21 & 22

I get to play catch-up every now and then, right? I'm still recovering from vacation!! (Which, the next installment of our trip recap will come soon!).


I owe you a recipe from vaca week, and one from this past week! I did actually try some new cookies shortly after we got back from vacation... I was itching to bake.


I am not really a fan of plain chocolate chip cookies...I always make PeanutButter Chocolate Chip ones. I think plain ones are boring. But on our cruise, they serve some very yummy, very large chocolate chip cookies. I'm bound and determined to figure out how to duplicate them. So right after we got back from our trip, I made some plain chocolate chip cookies. I used this recipe from allrecipes.com because it was the 2nd best rated one. They were good, but they weren't the same as the ships.


On Friday we had friends over for dinner and I made Beef Barbeque. In our Fish Extender exchange on the ship, I rec'd a little recipe book of one of the girls' favorite recipes. This might be one of the best meat recipes I've ever done!! I'm going to give you the recipe the way it reads, and then will go on from there:

4 pounds beef stew meat (I used brisket)
1 large can crushed tomatoes
2 chopped onions
1/2 tsp chili powder
1.5 tsp salt
Dash of pepper
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup white vinegar (I used cider vinegar, that's all i had)
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
Dash of tabasco
Water, adding a bit at a time as needed to keep moist and from getting too thick.
Combine in large saucepan on stovetop. Simmer UNCOVERED on low 5-6 hours or until beef is shredding. Mixture is thick.

I thought I'd put this in the crockpot. However, turns out that the crockpot needs a lid on to really make much progress.... and this recipe really needs the lid off so it can thicken up, etc. So while it started in the crockpot, it did end up on the stove as directed the last two hours, then I shredded it and put it back in the crockpot and poured the sauce over it to keep warm until dinner. I served on butter-toasted buns.

Fabulous yummy. I cut the brisket up into large chunks so it would cook a little faster.


This is post#300....!!! So it's time for a giveaway. I'm not sure what though yet, so stay tuned! We'll start the giveaway out with the next vacation recap.