I know some people avoid going to the malls on Black Friday because it’s crowded. But apparently, there are a whole bunch of bargain seekers who do not feel the same because if they did, the malls wouldn’t be crowded.
I love going shopping on Black Friday. In one fell swoop I get all the Christmas shopping done. That’s 12 kids (that includes my own as well as nieces and nephews), my husband, my mom, and my in-laws. Very rarely do I have to go shopping beyond Black Friday. Yep, I’m one of those route planning, get-up-at-the-crack-of-dawn type people. But who are we kidding? I get up at the crack of dawn on most days anyways.
However, despite my thriftiness and stealthiness, I do not get a break from dinner. So, I declare Black Friday, crock pot day. (Yes, I get all the Christmas shopping done and make it home in time for dinner. It’s not that hard if you start at 4am!) So back to crock pot day. . .
The ideal thing to do, is to prepare the crock pot dinner the night/day before as you’re preparing other stuff. For example, I’m making sweet potato pie this year, so I’ll be chopping extra sweet potatoes for this dish. The night before (after turkey day dinner) I will throw all the stuff in the crock pot and stick it in the fridge. This leaves my husband to merely put the crock in the pot and turn the switch to ‘on’. I think he can handle that!
So without further adieu. . .here is my selection for Black Friday dinner (out of one of my crock pot recipe collections):
You will need:
2/3 pound lean stewing beef
2 cups chopped sweet potato
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
8 ounces button mushrooms, halved
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 15 ounce can reduced sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
2 bay leaves
1 cup good red wine
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 8 ounce can no-salt added tomato sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
Directions:
Brown beef in a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray. (This is so the meat turns out extra tender and juicy. . .but you can skip the step if you feel the need.) Put to one side. Place vegetables in a 4 or 5 quart crockpot. Add beef, black beans, bay leaves, and red wine. Stir herbs and tomato paste into tomato sauce and add to crockpot. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
Other Recipes: