Just like my Granny used to make...

Beef stew and cornbread is my favorite cold weather meal.  And I like it the way my great grandma, my grandma, and my mother make it.  I personally have never made cornbread from scratch before, but here's to trying, right?

So today I decided to try it . . . homemade beef stew and corn bread from scratch!

Beef Stew
(There are no specific measurements for the beef stew.  It is all up to your own personal tastes.  And you can use any veggies that you like or happen to have on hand.)

• Beef stew meat
• Seasoned meat tenderizer
• Garlic powder
• Black pepper
• Salt
• Potatoes (cut into cubes)
• Carrots (sliced)
• Onion (cut into large pieces)
• Frozen peas
• Frozen okra
• Tomato sauce

1. In a skillet, heat a very small amount of cooking oil.  Add your meat and sprinkle with seasoned meat tenderizer.  Cook until just brown on the outsides.
2. Transfer the meat into a large soup or stock pot.  Pour in 3 cans of tomato sauce.  Add more seasoned meat tenderizer, salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.
3. Add in carrots, potatoes, onion, peas and okra.  Cover with water.
4. Cook over medium heat until vegetables are tender.

SIDE NOTE:  When chopping veggies for this (or anything at all) do not throw away potato skins, onion ends, carrot chunks . . . keep every scrap of vegetable you have left over.  Why?  Homemade vegetable broth of course!!!

Throw all your scraps and pieces into a pot of water with some salt, pepper and garlic and cook it down until the vegetable pieces are almost mush.  Then strain it out and you have perfect broth that you can freeze to use in any dish that calls for a broth.

And with this method, you control how much salt goes into your broth and you don't have to worry about preservatives either.

If you find yourself with not enough veggie bits to make a broth, toss what you have in a freezer bag and save them until you have more.  Once you've collected enough, make yourself some broth.

For this particular batch of broth i used carrot ends, carrot peels, potato peels, onion ends, red bell peper, green bell pepper, red cabbage, green cabbage, cilantro and garlic cloves.  Once it was cooled to room temperature, I poured it into a freezable container, put on the lid and stored it in the freezer.  It will be a perfect base for the next time I make veggie soup.

And now for . . .

Buttermilk Cornbread

• 2 cups Aunt Jemima Corn Meal Mix (This eliminates having to add flour, salt and baking powder.)
• 1-1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 Egg
• Shortening

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until smooth.
2. Use the shortening to grease the bottoms and side of an 8" baking pan.
3. Bake at 425 degrees or 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.

Then all you have to do is butter your cornbread, put some stew in a bowl and enjoy a quick, easy and delicious home cooked meal.