Oxtail Stew and a busy day

I am so thankful that I decided to make oxtail stew the other day. It's a meal that takes a few minutes in the beginning to start, then you place it on the stove and forget about it for 4 or 5 hours. Easy as that.

Here's what we did the other day that made me thankful for an easy dinner:

1. Carpeted the play room
2. Cleaned the play room
3. Moved all of Mimi's toys into the room (50 million Dora's and Pooh Bear's). Hubs and I giggled the entire time. We're so happy to have them out of the living room. By the way, now that the living room is toy free, I trip more often as I walk through. Can you believe it????
4. Cleaned up the mess Mimi already made on the carpet (she dumped her snack and stomped it into the carpet)
5. Trimmed the doors
6. Noticed a leak in the ceiling which was doing evil things to the drywall
7. Put together a huge/massive/nothing-on-Earth-could-destroy-this-thing shelf for the new pantry
8. Moved all of our canned goods and such into the pantry
9. Put together a screen door for the front of our house (took WAY longer than we thought it would)

Oh my gosh, I was tired by the end of the day. Completely exhausted.

But the stew was delicious (especially if you're not a fan of heavy spices). The oxtail was super tender and full of flavor (it does have a good amount of fat though). But the first, and most important step, is to make sure you have a cute yellow chicken dish to flour your oxtails in. :) If you don't have a cute chicken dish then go ahead and use a normal dish that you picked out since you're not a dork like me. :)

And one more note. I tend to dilute my broth with some water to save money. You could use all water or all broth.

Very important chicken dish

Brown the oxtails 

Remove the oxtails and cook the onions and garlic

Let the stew simmer gently for several hours

Oxtail Stew
Serving Size = 2 (I only used 2 oxtails, but add 1 more if you want and you could easily feed 3 people)

• Oxtails (I used 2, but you could use 3 and you can also trim off the excess fat if there is any)
• 1 cup of flour seasoned with salt
• Oil (extra virgin olive oil)
• 1 quart of beef broth
• Water to cover oxtails (or more broth)
• Salt/Pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 4 - 5 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 - 3 stalks of celery, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon of oregano
• Pinch of cayenne
• 4 - 5 small/medium tomatoes or 1 can of whole tomatoes
• Add some tomato paste if you want (optional, I skipped)

1. Place a stock pot on medium/medium high heat. Add oil to cover the bottom. Place the oxtails into the flour/salt mixture and shake off the excess. Place into the hot oil and brown all sides (a few minutes per side). Remove the oxtails and set aside.
2. Add the onion and celery to the stock pot and cook for a few minutes. Add the tomato paste/or tomatoes if you're using them, then add the garlic, thyme, oregano, cayenne, salt/pepper, oxtails, broth and water (until the oxtails are covered). Turn the heat down to keep the soup at a gentle simmer, cover and cook for about 3 hours.
3. Add the potatoes, carrots and parsley. Cook for another 40 minutes uncovered (until the potatoes and carrots are tender).
4. Eat up!

Linking to: Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday, Friday Potluck