Slow Cooker and What the kids are reading

Yes the boys and I are reading the Strange Case of Origami Yoda.  They love it.  And Patrick is trying unsucessfully to make his own Origami Yoda.

The end of the Jewel-Osco Cookware for a penny with  reward stickers was right around the bend, so Sunday night I went and spent my whole paycheck at Jewel. Well, not really the whole thing, it wasn't as if I was at Whole Foods, but I stocked up and earned enough stickers for my grill pan. 
Since it was a Sunday and I had time to plan my purchases, I got everything needed to make a slew of Slow Cooker Recipes.  Tonight on the menu is Chicken Cacciatore, which is a big fave of 4 of 5 members of our household and honestly, that's as good as it gets.  I should start putting a star on the calendar anytime everyone likes dinner simultaneously.  I splurged on Butoni whole wheat refrigerated linguini noodles for dinner.  I will report back and let you know how that part of the meal goes---since I am too cheap normally to pay for the refrig. pasta.

I have been thinking for a good 2 years about how I would like to put together a Wine Pairing list to go with Tastefully Simple recipes.  To that end, I really need to host a night at my house to practice and to get feedback on what I come up with for the pairings.  Why am I writing that here?  Now I feel more compelled to actually work on getting that together.

Now if you are looking for a good pairing.  Try a nice Charles Shaw Merlot or Coopershawk Shiraz with this recipe from http://www.tastefullysimple.com/web/vhamel

Merlot Beef Stew

Submitted by Dodi Kuehl (WI) Modified by me.

Ingredients

2 lbs. cubed boneless top round steak (or chuck roast,it's cheaper)

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter    Just use a tsp of olive oil to brown the meat.

4 medium peeled, sliced carrots

8 quartered small red potatoes

12 sliced mushrooms

1 chopped medium onion

I'd use a sliced parsnip as well --that's how I roll

1/2 cup Merlot Sauce

2 Tbsp. Bacon Bacon™ Shrug I's skip this and throw in a TBSP of Onion Onion (TM)

1 Tbsp. Garlic Garlic™

4 cups beefbroth

Directions

Coat beef with flour. Melt butter in pan; Put Oil in pan heat up the pan and oil just a little then sauté beef in batches (don’t crowd), add butter as needed. Layer carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, onions and beef in slow cooker. Sprinkle Garlic Garlic™ and Bacon Bacon™ over beef. Combine Merlot Sauce with beef broth, pour over slow cooker ingredients. Cover; cook on low for 8 hours. Makes 6-8 servings.