Easy and Delicious

Preparing for the holidays is always hectic. This month I decided to keep dinners to a minimum amount of work, but still tasty. And most important, I wanted enough leftovers to freeze for December when the pace gets more intense.

One Pot Beef Stew
Egg Noodles
Tossed Salad
French or Italian Bread
Red Wine – Pinot Noir

Photo by KEKO64

One Pot Beef Stew

4 tbsp. olive oil plus more as needed
2 pounds sirloin cut into chunks with fat removed
4 large cloves of garlic pressed
10 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried
1 large onion chopped
16 oz. Portobello mushrooms halved
¾ tsp dry mustard
freshly ground pepper to taste
4 tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 tbsp. sour cream – make them a healthy ones
3 cups beef stock

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven. Add onions and thyme. Cook until the onions are translucent. Add garlic and sauté for 30 – 60 seconds. Set this combination aside in a bowl.

Heat pan again adding olive oil if needed. Add mushrooms and sauté until soft. Remove to same bowl as onions.

Add olive oil to the same pan and heat on medium-high until the oil sizzles. Sprinkle dry mustard, then pepper, on steak chunks. Brown meat on all sides. Set the chunks in the bowl with the other ingredients.

On medium heat, pour red wine vinegar into the pan. Add tomato paste and blend in. Mix beef stock and sour cream in a small bowl, then add to pan. Bring to a simmer while stirring well to make a fairly smooth broth. Add meat and other cooked ingredients. Heat thoroughly while stirring.

Egg Noodles
Fill a large pot with water and follow the package directions to cook. If the noodles are done before the stew, drain them in a colander and set the pot or lid on top of the noodles to keep them warm.

REMEMBER: all noodles/pasta can easily be re-warmed by running hot water over them before serving.

To serve, scoop egg noodles into soup/salad bowls. Spoon hearty portions of stew over the noodles.

Salad
Lettuce from 2 different types torn into bite size pieces, green leaf and head are excellent
Tomatoes sliced
Cucumber peeled and sliced thick
Green Onions, sliced, be sure to include some of the green
Mushrooms sliced
Any and everything else in the fridge that appeals to you.

Combine all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Cover with a damp paper towel and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Your favorite bottled dressing or oil and vinegar work great with this hearty meal. Pour on a small amount of dressing and toss. Or, set a variety of bottled dressings on the table for everyone to help themselves.

Sloane Taylor is an Award-Winning author with a second passion in her life. She is an avid cook and posts new recipes on her blog http://sloanetaylor.blogspot.com every Wednesday. The recipes are user friendly, meaning easy.

Taylor currently has five explicit romance books released by Toque & Dagger Publishing. Excerpts from her books can be found on her website, blog, and all popular vendors.

Subscribe to Sloane’s newsletter. Connect with Taylor on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Even Time Travelers need to Eat

Sharon Leswith is here to share a delicious meal that you will truly enjoy. And cleanup is a snap. So take it away...

I LOVE this recipe. I used it for my first book launch party. My reason? The characters in my time travel series The Last Timekeepers got to sample a 13th century version of bread bowl rabbit stew, so I thought for my book release—why not imitate art? Since rabbit is a bit harder to find at the local supermarket, I settled on beef for the main ingredient. I believe my party-goers were happy with that decision as my recipe went over fabulously even though it was a tad hot to serve on the sunny, humid day we experienced. But when the weather turns to cool, damp days, this steamy stew will bring a smile to your face, and comfort to your soul.

This recipe takes about fifteen minutes to prepare and eight or five hours to cook. Serves four.

Bull’s-Eye Beef Stew
4 bread bowls (click HERE to see how to make one)or if you prefer, large Kaiser buns
1 cup 25%-less-sodium beef broth
½ cup Bull’s-Eye Guinness Draught Beer Blend Barbecue Sauce you can substitute this sauce with your favorite brand
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1 lb. (450g) stewing beef, cut into 1¼ inch cubes
1 lb. (450g) red potatoes (about 4), quartered
4 large carrots (1 lb./450g), cut into 1-inch-thick slices
1 large onion, cut into chucks
3 tbsp. flour
3 tbsp. water

Mix broth, barbecue sauce and oregano in slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients except flour and water; toss to coat. Cover with lid. Cook on low 8 to 9 hours or on high 4 to 5 hours.

Transfer meat and vegetables to bread bowl with slotted spoon; cover to keep warm.

Mix flour and water until blended. Stir into juices in slow cooker; cover. Cook on high for 15 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Spoon over meat and vegetables and serve.

While you’re waiting for the stew to cook, there’s plenty of time to relax, get cozy, and delve into that novel you’ve been planning to read. Time travel story, anyone?

Children are the keys to our future.

And now, children are the only hope for our past.

When 13-year-old Amanda Sault and her annoying classmates are caught in a food fight at school, they're given a choice: suspension or yard duty. The decision is a no-brainer. Their two-week crash course in landscaping leads to the discovery of a weathered stone arch in the overgrown back yard. The arch isn't a forgotten lawn ornament but an ancient time portal from the lost continent of Atlantis.

Chosen by an Atlantean Magus to be Timekeepers--legendary time travelers sworn to keep history safe from the evil Belial--Amanda and her classmates are sent on an adventure of a lifetime. Can they find the young Robin Hood and his merry band of teens? If they don't, then history itself may be turned upside down.

EXCERPT
Amanda Sault silently studied the words she just scrawled: May 1st, 1214—Games and songs and revelry, act as the cloak of devilry. So that an English legend may give to the poor, we must travel to Nottingham to even the score.

She frowned. She was the Scribe. Amanda knew that meant she was supposed to understand what this riddle meant. But she didn’t have a clue. All she knew was that she, her four annoying classmates, and two offbeat adults were standing in what was left of the lost continent of Atlantis and they were supposed to be the Timekeepers, the legendary time travelers handpicked by destiny to keep Earth’s history safe from evil. But no one had told them how they were supposed to do it.

Their problem: no matter what happened—good or bad—they weren’t supposed to mess with the past. Period. Dot. End of story. Amanda felt hot liquid build in her throat. Her thumb traced the words of the arcane riddle. Their first Timekeeper mission. Amanda knew this wasn’t the end of the story.

This was just the beginning.

To read more of The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis or purchase a copy, please click a vendor's name
Mirror World Publishing - Amazon US - Amazon CA

Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/YA time travel series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, available through Mirror World Publishing, and is represented by Walden House (Books & Stuff) for her teen psychic series, MYSTERIOUS TALES FROM FAIRY FALLS. When not writing, researching, or revising, she enjoys reading, exercising, anything arcane, and an occasional dram of scotch. Sharon lives a serene, yet busy life in a southern tourist region of Ontario, Canada, with her hubby, one spoiled yellow Labrador and a moody calico cat.

Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter, Google+, and Goodreads. Look up her Amazon Author page for a list of current books.

Check out THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS TIME TRAVEL SERIES Facebook page.

Super Supper

I am elated to announce my dear friend Sharon Ledwith's book Legend of the Timekeepers has won Honorable Mention in LRC's annual awards for Best Young Adult/New Adult Book 2013! This is book one in her time travel series that is enjoyed by everyone from nine to ninety.

Sharon is here to share a delicious meal you will truly enjoy. And cleanup is a snap. So take it away...

I LOVE this recipe. I used it for my first book launch party in May 2012. My reason? The characters in my time travel series The Last Timekeepers got to sample a 13th century version of bread bowl rabbit stew, so I thought for my book release—why not imitate art? Since rabbit is a bit harder to find at the local supermarket, I settled on beef for the main ingredient. I believe my party-goers were happy with that decision as my recipe went over fabulously even though it was a tad hot to serve on the sunny, humid day we experienced. But on those cool, damp days, this steamy stew will bring a smile to your face, and comfort to your soul.

This recipe takes about fifteen minutes to prepare and eight or five hours to cook. Serves four.

Bull’s-Eye Beef Stew
4 bread bowls (or if you prefer, large Kaiser buns). Click HERE to see how to make one.
1 cup 25%-less-sodium beef broth
½ cup Bull’s-Eye Guinness Draught Beer Blend Barbecue Sauce you can substitute this sauce with your favorite brand
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1 lb. (450g) stewing beef, cut into 1¼ inch cubes
1 lb. (450g) red potatoes (about 4), quartered
4 large carrots (1 lb./450g), cut into 1-inch-thick slices
1 large onion, cut into chucks
3 tbsp. flour
3 tbsp. water

Mix broth, barbecue sauce and oregano in slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients except flour and water; toss to coat. Cover with lid. Cook on low 8 to 9 hours or on high 4 to 5 hours.

Transfer meat and vegetables to bread bowl with slotted spoon; cover to keep warm.

Mix flour and water until blended. Stir into juices in slow cooker; cover. Cook on high for 15 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Spoon over meat and vegetables and serve.

While you’re waiting for the stew to cook, there’s plenty of time to relax, get cozy, and delve into that novel you’ve been planning to read. Time travel story, anyone?

There is no moving forward without first going back.

Lilith was a young girl with dreams and a family before the final destruction of Atlantis shattered those dreams and tore her family apart. Now refugees, Lilith and her father make their home in the Black Land. This strange, new country has no place in Lilith’s heart until a beloved high priestess introduces Lilith to her life purpose—to be a Timekeeper and keep time safe.

Summoned through the seventh arch of Atlantis by the Children of the Law of One, Lilith and her newfound friends are sent into Atlantis’s past, and given a task that will ultimately test their courage and try their faith in each other. Can the Timekeepers stop the dark magus Belial before he changes the seers’ prophecy? If they fail, then theirfuture and the earth’s fate will be altered forever.

To read an excerpt from Legend of the Timekeepers, please click HERE.

If you haven’t already read Sharon Ledwith's novel, The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, here’s the blurb…

When 13-year-old Amanda Sault and her annoying classmates are caught in a food fight at school, they're given a choice: suspension or yard duty. The decision is a no-brainer. Their two-week crash course in landscaping leads to the discovery of a weathered stone arch in the overgrown back yard. The arch isn't a forgotten lawn ornament but an ancient time portal from the lost continent of Atlantis.

Chosen by an Atlantean Magus to be Timekeepers--legendary time travelers sworn to keep history safe from the evil Belial--Amanda and her classmates are sent on an adventure of a lifetime. Can they find the young Robin Hood and his merry band of teens? If they don't, then history itself may be turned upside down.

To read an excerpt of The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, please click HERE.

Check out The Last Timekeepers series Facebook Page.

BUY LINKS
Musa Publishing
Amazon Link
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/YA time travel series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, available through Musa Publishing. When Sharon's not writing, researching, or revising, she enjoys reading, yoga, kayaking, time with family and friends, and single malt scotch. Sharon lives in the wilds of Muskoka in Central Ontario, Canada, with her hubby, a water-logged yellow Labrador and moody calico cat.

Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter.