This month’s Hormel Extended Family Food Blogger post is in regards to childhood favorites. While it’s true I grew up loving hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, macaroni and cheese, and all the other things deemed “typical” for a child to like, there was one dinner that was my hands-down favorite. I think the name might have played a part in why I liked it, because it was fun telling people what I was having for dinner, and seeing the extremely confused look on their faces. But, it also tasted great. As you can guess by the title of the post, it’s Monkey Stew!
Monkey Stew itself is super easy to make, and versatile. In my house, it was usually served over pasta or mashed potatoes, with a side of peas. It could definitely be made into a sloppy Joe styled sandwich, or as a base for chili, and more. My favorite style of Monkey Stew was over mashed potatoes, and if an extra vegetable was needed, with peas. We always had salad with our dinners growing up, but we often had other vegetables as well. I’m not sure why, but peas seemed to always be the go-to with this particular recipe.
Now that I’m married, I’ve been thinking about recipes that I want to keep as “go-to’s” in my recipe arsenal for when I have a family. This recipe will definitely be on that list, since it was such a favorite growing up. So, of course for my re-creation I made mashed potatoes, and served it with peas. Instead of using ground beef, though, I went with Jennie-O ground turkey. When you put it all together, it’s a hearty meal that takes no time at all to make. This was just what my husband and I needed after Sunday’s long run, too.
Monkey Stew
– Serves 4 –
Ingredients:
1 package Jennie-O ground turkey
1 15 oz. plus 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce (I used Hunt’s)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
Salt & pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. In a sauté pan over medium heat, brown the meat, and season with salt and pepper.
2. When the meat is almost fully cooked, add the diced onions and sauté them together until the meat is cooked, and the onions are soft.
3. Add in the tomato sauce, cover, and let simmer about 5-10 minutes.
4. Serve over mashed potatoes or pasta.
Foodosaurus Rex 