Lamb for dinner!

I needed to start dinner early, using the crockpot, since we would be getting flu shots after school. The schools will only offering the Flu Mist during the school day which we can not have. I didn't want to have to worry about scrambling to make dinner when we got home since you never know how long it will take.

I had no idea what to make. Not much available in the fridge and pantry. I HATE going to the grocery store (though, as a plus, for every $100 you spend, you get 10 cents off per gallon of gas at a local station). So, after dropping the boy off at school, I braced myself for the grocery store. And, I still did not know what I was making. I was moseying around the vegetables and noticed the already de-tipped and washed green beans were on sale as a BOGO!! Score! I saw a recipe for fried green beans similar to those at various restaurants and I wanted to try to make them. But, that didn't seem efficient since I did not know when we would be home. Still keeping them. They don't have to be "fried".

Scooted around to the seafood area where nothing seemed to be out yet. I also knew my regular fishmonger would not be open yet. Bummer. Oh wait, some packaged catfish nuggets, also on sale!! NOM! Now I will confess that I enjoy watching Man V. Food. I find it funny. But, I also find some of the food, and how it is prepared, intriguing. The guy ate a whole bunch of fried catfish last night. I know I can come up with a coating for it!! Hmmm, may not have time for that, either, but I have tomorrow night's dinner decided! Woot!!

I wandered along the meat area until I got to the organic section. They had lamb on sale. All sorts of lamb. I have not had lamb since we lived in Sicily and I made mint-coated chops. I found some suitable for a stew. I have golden beets in the fridge, potatoes in the pantry and an onion. I think this would work!!! Woohoo!! Time to pay! Wait, does the boy need milk? Don't know and not worried about it. He can drink my Chocolate Almond Milk if he needs something.

I got home with my scores and put most away while pulling out the beets, potatoes and onions. I also need a couple spices and some flour for coating. I started with putting some tapioca flour in a gallon sized bag and added sea salt and pepper. What spices? Sniffed around. I've done mint before, but I did not want mint in a stew with those vegetables. Coriander (from Bahrain, no less) and sage became my selections. I put some of each into the flour bag. I added the lamb pieces and shook up the bag.

I heated a cast iron skillet with some olive oil in it. When it got hot, I placed some of the lamb pieces into the skillet to brown on both sides. I had to do it twice. Then I put the lamb into the crockpot and added the thinly sliced onion to the skillet until they turned translucent. I put the cooked onions on top of the lamb meat then duped what was left in the bag on top of it all. I placed the beets and potatoes in the crockpot as well. Then I added some water and a couple bouillon cubes by Rapunzel. Left it on high for a few hours then turned it to low when I left the house to get the kidlings.

It only took 20 minutes for us to get our flu shots. But, I already had dinner ready. And it was REALLY good. The hubs said my "winging it" meals usually fall to the really good category. Only a few times have I had the "what do you want on your pizza" results. I may actually keep checking for lamb on sale and branch out to try other cuts and recipes. I was very happy with my stew results. Plus, just the crockpot needed cleaning! I win!