Slow Cooker Venison Stew

I'm finally using up the last of the venison from the freezer.  I'm hoping that we get more this year.  It's nice to have all that meat in the freezer.  The cost of butchering the deer is negligible, really.  I'm not a big meat eater and I don't eat venison but with 3 meat loving males in the house, a freezer full of venison is a good thing (Especially in the this economy.  And you can't get any more organic than wild game).

Venison Stew (serves 8-10)

Ingredients:

1.    5 russet potatoes, peel and cut into 1 inch pieces
2.    12 baby carrots, cut in half
3.    1/2 red onion, quartered
4.    Two shallots, roughly chopped
5.    2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
6.    1 cup of water
7.    2 garlic cloves, minced
8.    2 tsp. of gluten free Worcestershire sauce
9.    1 Tbs. parsley
10.  1 bay lea
11.  1 tsp. paprika
12.  salt and pepper to taste
13.  2 pounds venison meat (steaks, loin chops, etc) seasoned and cut into 1 inch pieces

Directions:

1.  My guys don't enjoy the gamey taste of the venison so before I cut it into chunks, I seasoned it with an all purpose seasoning (I used one from our local grocery, but something from Emeril or Paul Prudhomme would work nicely.  You could even make your own.)

2.  Add all the ingredients into the crock pot.  Stir to mix everything together.  Cook on low for 10-12 hours.

I used the 2 shallots because I had them on hand.  You could use 2 onions quartered instead.  Also, if you aren't a fan of venison or you don't have any on hand, beef, buffalo, elk, etc. would work just fine also.

Quinoa Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Not necessarily kid friendly, but sometimes you just need to make something adult friendly with a little kick.

Ingredients

1. 4 poblano peppers
2. 1 1/3 cup quinoa, prepared
3. 1 15 oz. can organic black beans, rinsed
4. 2 tbs. butter or dairy free margarine
5. 2 garlic cloves, minced
6. 1 onion, finely chopped
7. Cooking spray or olive oil
8. Salsa (to taste. About 1/4 cup per pepper)
9. Organic sour cream (about 2 tbs. per pepper)

Directions

1. Slice the tops and stems off of each pepper and remove the seeds. Rinse the peppers inside and out and pat dry.
2. Cook quinoa according to package directions and set aside. Over medium heat, melt butter and add chopped onion and minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 7 minutes.
3. Add quinoa and black beans to onions and cook an additional 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a glass baking dish with non stick spray or lightly oil with olive oil. Fill each pepper with quinoa/bean mixture until full. Place in glass dish. Cover dish with foil and bake in oven for 20-30 minutes until peppers soften.
5. Place one pepper on each plate. Top with 1/4 salsa and 2 tbs. of sour cream.

Enjoy!

Serves 2 (for dinner) 4 (for appetizer or lunch)

Mini honey-mustard meatloaves

This recipe has been allergenized. The original recipe is from Everyday Food (A Martha Stewart Magazine).
I took Martha's original recipe and switched some ingredients to safe ones and left some out that I couldn't replace.

Ingredients
olive oil for baking sheets
2 Tbs. honey mustard
2 Tbs. ketchup
1-1.5 pounds of ground turkey
just under a 1/2 cup of polenta with brown rice bread crumbs added to make it a complete 1/2 cup (mix together)
salt and pepper

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with oil. In a small bowl, mix together 2 Tbs. mustard and ketchup.

2. In a medium bowl, combine turkey, polenta/brown rice mixture, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper. From into four 2-by-4-inch loaves; place on baking sheet. Brush with mustard mixture.

3. Transfer meatloaves to upper rack of oven. Bake until loaves are cooked through, 15-20 minutes, moving sheet to bottom rack after 10 minutes.

In addition to the meatloaves, Martha also had a recipe for roasted potatoes. If you choose to use those too:

Ingredients
1 pound white new potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
1 Tbs. of olive oil, plus more for baking sheets
salt and pepper

Follow instructions for meatloaves to step 2.

Continuing from step 2 from above:
On another rimmed baking sheet, brush sheet with oil. Toss potatoes with 1 Tbs. of olive oil and lay flat on sheet. Salt and pepper to taste.

3. Transfer meatloaves to upper rack of oven, and place potatoes on lower rack. Bake until loaves are cooked through, 15-20 minutes, rotating sheets after 10 minutes. Remove loaves from oven; continue to roast potatoes until tender, about 5 minutes.