Weekend Update and Cuban Food Recipes

Crock pot Ropa Veija

Hello Sweet Friends,

How have you been?? 
 Having a good weekso far??? 
 and did you have a nice weekend??

I am doing well and had a great weekend, as

you probably remember from my Thankful

post that DeeAnna was here over the week-

end, so we had a wonderful time with her

and also had a fun family get togethers.

Enjoyed our time with her very much.

She left Monday evening early,  and it is

always hard to see her go,  but usually we

already know when we are gonna see each

other again,  so that really helps.  They will be

 moving this weekend as they are closing on

 a townhouse right in the same town square

 area where they are renting right now, and

since she is in real estate now, she will get

half of what they would have paid to a realtor

back, so that is really nice and it will give her
money for decorating. lol
 The housing up there is very expensive, so they
figure the townhouse would be good short term
investment at least till they know if they really want
to stay, because they sell very quickly and also
 they could rent it if need be............


I am watching our lil darling today as usual and
she is napping, so figured I would do a post.
Yesterday I was working on cards and doing
correspondence and household stuff all day.
So it was nice to get some things off my to do
 list.......lol  Do any of you like crossing things 
off your to do list as much as I do?
Just love that!!  lol

When our lil darling got up from her nap she
 was ready for lunch, and she decided today
 was the day she was gonna try to feed herself. 
 What a riot.......but she actually did a pretty
 good job............but.was wearing a lot of it
 of course.......lol

I am making Crock Pot Ropa Veija...........
and it smells awesome,  so if it is tastes anywhere
near as good as it smells we are gonna love it.

Update: We ate it and it was really really yummy!  
Below is a pic of it in the crock pot before I served it.  

Ropa Veija is a Cuban dish I learned to make
many years ago when we lived in Key West.
It is a meat dish made from flank steak, and
I serve it with black beans and yellow rice.

It is pretty easy to make and trust me it will
be a hit............

Ropa Veija Ingredients list

1 avg. size flank steak

1- 15 oz. can tomato sauce 

2 1/2 cups water

1 tablespoon of Olive oil

4 garlic cloves minced 

3 med. onions sliced

2 green bell peppers sliced

Optional - you can also add green
olives at the end,  maybe about
15-30 mins. before it finishes cooking


Directions for Ropa Vejia

Put tomato sauce, water, olive oil and garlic
in crock pot, then add the flank steak, put sliced
onions and bell pepper on top of steak.  Put lid
on crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.  The 
flank steak should be falling apart, but if not you
 want to pull it apart so it looks stringy.  That is
the way it is suppose to look,  then put it back
in the Crock pot and mix with the sauce, then
it is ready to serve. 

 You can serve the Ropa Vejia over yellow rice
 as well.  I just use the yellow rice that come in the
 bags in the rice aisle at the grocery store,  I like
 the Publix brand and Mahatma brand, there is 
one and I can't remember the name but it just
 doesn't cook up nicely. I usually cook it in the 
microwave as well.

Ingredients for Black Beans

4- 15 oz. cans black beans
of course, you can use fresh too.
(that is what I used for a family of 4, and I had
leftovers which I wanted)  so you could use less
 beans too.  It actually tastes better the next
 day............so I would encourage leftovers.

1 large onion diced

1 large bell pepper diced

2 Tblsp. of Olive oil

2 Tablsp. of Red Wine vinegar

1 tsp. of dried oregano

2 bay leaves

garlic powder to taste (I use probably 2 tblsp.??)
I have been making these a longggg time and
I just eye ball it...........so sorry...............and of
course, you can use fresh garlic as well.


Directions for Black Beans

Open cans and dump juice and all into a sauce pan,  
add all the above ingredients, stir and cover with a lid,
cook on med. until it is bubbling, then reduce it to low. 
Stir every 10 mins. or so because they will stick to the
 bottom of the pan if you don't.  After an hour or so,
reduce to warm,  but continue to stir often.  
 Cook them at least another 30 minutes to an hour.
Just taste test at an hour and see what you think
and if you think it needs more garlic powder or
other seasoning, then add them and cook a bit
longer,  stirring often.........


They usually serve fried plantains with this dish 
too, but they are fried,  so I cheat and take reg.
bananas and slice them up on a plate then 
sprinkle them with lemon juice, and my family
likes that even better,  especially the kids....


Well, hope you enjoy this fun 
and fabulous Cuban delectable
our family really loves this meal.

Have a super Wednesday!

Thanks for stopping in............

I am sharing with Paula and Patti over at
Ivey and Elephants,  just click here!
It's their 3rd Blogaversary,  so go congratulate
them or check out their blog if you haven't been
there before...................


Also sharing with the style sisters for center-
piece Wednesday
Click here to visit them.


Sharing with Lois for Foodie Friday
over at Walking on Sunshine recipes
Click here to go there.

With posterized affect

Love, Hugs and
Cuban food Blessings to you!

Nellie