Three Envelope Pot Roast

From Real Mom Kitchen via Steph's Kitchen

3 pound beef roast (such as chuck roast)
1 envelope of dry Italian salad dressing mix
1 envelope of dry ranch salad dressing mix
1 envelope of dry brown gravy mix
2 cups water

Put the water in a measuring cup that is larger then the amount of water you are using. Now add and mix all three envelopes of dry salad dressings to the water. Mix until blended completely. Brown the roast (if desired). Add the meat to your cooker. Pour the water, salad dressing mixture over the roast. In the slow cooker cook it on high for about 4 hours on low about 8 hours. Remember to make gravy from the drippings in the crock pot by adding water, beef bullion and thickening using water and cornstarch! It's the best gravy I have ever had and I love love love gravy!

**Notes From Em**
For some reason I really struggled to get a good, moist, crock-pot pot roast, until I found this recipe. It's AMAZING every time, and so ridiculously simple. If you want to add potatoes, carrots and onion to your pot roast, and I recommend you do, just cut them up into fairly large pieces, and toss them in about 2 hours before you are ready to eat. You can use a turkey baster to get some of the gravy on your veggies when you put them in. It's impractical to try and 'stir' a pot roast.

Carne Asada

This is a 3 piece meal that I put together a couple of weeks ago, and with the warming up weather, it was INREDIBLY satisfying. It was also really nice to be able to cook outside instead of heating up the house.

2 pounds carne asada
2 avocado
8-10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 limes
handful of cilantro, chopped
1 C white rice
1/2 packet Sazon seasoning
4 tortillas

Cook rice according to package directions, adding the Sazon seasoning to the boiling water.

Preheat the grill to 350F.

Slice open the avocado's and remove the pit. Spoon out the fruit, roughly dice it, and place it in a serving bowl. Add cherry tomatoes, juice of 1 lime, some cilantro, and then season to taste with salt and garlic powder.

If the carne asada comes unseasoned, then season as you desire. Cook the meat on the hot grill for approximately 3 minutes on each side.

Once everything is done, serve the rice, guacamole, and steak. If you want, you can also put this in a tortilla.

Shauna Millet Meatballs

Don't be thrown off by how weird these sound based on the ingredients. They're FANTASTIC little meatballs. My toddler, who is very picky about eating meat, had 8 of them for dinner last night, and 5 more for lunch today. Yes, they're that good.

1 bag frozen meatballs (about 80)
12 oz grape jelly
12 oz chili sauce
1 T lemon juice
1 T brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Spread meatballs in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

While meatballs are in the oven, combine remaining ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil; reduce to simmer.

Remove meatballs from oven and add to sauce. Toss until well coated and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

**Notes from Em**
These are great for wedding and baby shower type snacks. Make them in a crock pot and serve them with toothpicks.

Beef and Seven Vegetables

I know I know, you're thinking "who needs a recipe for stir fry?". If you're like me you usually just get a bunch of vegetables, some meat, and buy some Stir Fry Sauce. The nice thing about this recipe is that you get to make your own sauce, which will save you a couple bucks that you can use on buying something more healthy than processed, preservative filled sauce.

From Lion House Classics
Serves 8

1 T cooking oil
3 C sliced cooked roast beef, or 1 1/2 lbs fresh lean beef, cut into strips
2 1/2 C carrots, cut in thin slices
1 1/2 C sliced green pepper
1 1/2 C sliced onion
2 1/2 C slant-cut celery
1 can (about 4 oz) bamboo shoots, drained
4 C beef stock
1/2 -3/4 C soy sauce
3 T cornstarch in 1/4 C cold water
15 cherry tomatoes
1 C fresh or frozen snow peas, or broccoli florets
Cooked rice or Chinese noodles.

Heat oil in frying pan. Add beef and brown lightly; remove meat. Add carrots and green pepper to pan; stir-fry for 1 minute. Add onions and celery; stir-fry for 1 minute. Add bamboo shoots. Remove vegetables and keep warm. Vegetables should remain crisp.

In heavy pot, bring soup stock and soy sauce to a gentle boil; thicken with cornstarch-water mixture. Add tomatoes, snow peas or broccoli, stir-fried vegetables, and meat; heat gently. Serve over rice or Chinese noodles.

**Notes From Em**
I had a LOT of trouble getting the sauce to thicken with the amounts of corn starch listed in the recipe. I think it took more like 8 T total for me to get it as thick as I wanted. The only other thing that I'd change up on this recipe is the tomatoes. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of tomatoes (ok, I'm learning to become a fan), but even my husband thought that the flavor wasn't quite right for this dish. I had some cashews and fresh pineapple handy that I threw in at the last minute as well for a little burst of flavor. Ultimately when it comes to stir-fry though, add the vegetables that you know you'll like, or at least that you think will hide well in the sauce.

Beef Stroganoff

From Cooking Light
Serves 6

Legend has it that this dish was created for 19th-centry Russian general Count Alexander Stroganov, and it eventually became a dinner-party standby for American home cooks in the 1950's and 1960's. The recipe's longevity is no surprise; its combination of thinly sliced beef, mushrooms, and noodles in a creamy sauce has broad and comforting appeal.

 Beef Stroganoff

From Cooking Light

Serves 6

1 pound boneless sirloin steak, trimmed
3 C slice cremini mushrooms
1/2 C chopped onion
1 T Butter
2 T all-purpose flour
1 C fat free less-sodium beef broth
1/4 C dry sherry
1/2 t salt
1/8 t freshly ground black pepper
3/4 C reduced-fat sour cream
4 C hot cooked egg noodles
3 T minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Cut beef diagonally across the grain into 1/4 inch wide strips; cut the strips into 2 inch pieces.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add beef to pan; saute 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove beef from pan; place in a medium bowl and keep warm. Add cremini mushrooms and onion to pan; saute 4 minutes. Add cremini mushroom mixture to beef.

Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add flour. Cook 1 minute, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly. Cook 1 minute or until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly.

Add beef mixture, sherry, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 4 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand 30 seconds. Stir in sour cream.

Combine noodles and minced parsley. Serve beef mixture over noodles.

Asian Beef Stir-Fry

When selecting the cut of beef for stir-frying, look for a naturally lean cut, such as top sirloin, top round, top loin or flank steak, which are bursting with bold beef flavors.

Asian Beef Stir-fry

From Eating for Life

Serves 4

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
1 pound lean steak
1/8 t crushed red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, sliced
4 celery stalks, sliced
1 head napa cabbage, shredded
1/2 C lite soy sauce

Prepare spaghetti according to its package directions; drain and set aside.

While the spaghetti is cooking, slice steak lengthwise into 2-inch strips. Cut crosswise into 1/8 inch thick slices.

Lightly coat a large skillet or wok with cooking spray. Over medium-high heat, stir fry red pepper flakes and garlic for 1 minutes.

Add the steak strips to the skillet, stir-fry just until no longer pink, approximately 2 minutes. Remove the steak from skillet and set aside.

Lightly re-coat the skillet with cooking spray. Stir-fry onion and celery until tender, approximately 5 minutes. Add cabbage and cook until crisp-tender, approximately 2 more minutes.

Return steak to the skillet. Add cooked spaghetti and lite soy sauce; mix gently and heat thoroughly.

Steak

I haven't posted anything in a while because we've been eating left overs and fairly generic recipes. Tonight wasn't much different, but it turned out really well so I figured I would at least tell you about it. Tonight was steak night. My husband LOVES meat, especially beef, and I've been trying to make a really good steak for him for a few years now. We usually season them with Adobo, and they turn out pretty well. Tonight I went back to my "roots". I remember my parents always seasoning steak with salt, pepper, and a slosh or two of soy sauce. So I tried it. I put the steaks in a pyrex dish, put some salt, pepper, and soy sauce on each side, then let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes to marinate and warm up. Then I threw them on a grill at about 350 for roughly 6 minutes on each side. (Truth is they were thick cut steaks so they were on longer than 6 minutes) They turned out GOOD though. I let them sit for a few minutes after I got them off the grill, and we had instant loaded mashed potatoes and "Steph" salad with the steak, and it was a very satisfying dinner.

Thai Beef Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Slaw

Tacos go Asian with crunchy cabbage slaw and steak flavored with ginger and fish sauce. Packaged coleslaw and matchstick carrots speed preparation. Serve with lime wedges and cilantro springs, if desired. 

Thai Beef Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Slaw

From Cooking Light

Serves 4

Steak:
1 T sugar
1 1/2 t minced peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 t fish sauce
1/2 t chili garlic sauce (such as Lee Kum Kee)
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound flank steak, trimmed
cooking spray

Slaw:
1/4 C fresh lime juice
1 T sugar
2 T rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 t minced peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 t fish sauce
1/2 t chili garlic sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 C packaged angel hair slaw
2 C packaged matchstick-cut carrots
1/4 C sliced green onions
1/2 C chopped fresh cilantro

Remaining Ingredients:
8 (6-inch) fat-free flour tortillas

To prepare steak, combine first 6 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag.  Add steak to bag; seal and marinate in refrigerator 20 minutes, turning occasionally.

Prepare grill or broiler.

Remove steak from bag; discard marinade.  Place steak on grill rack or broiler pan coated with cooking spray.; cook 5 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Cut steak diagonally across grain into thin slices.

To prepare slaw, combine juice and next 6 ingredients (through 2 garlic cloves) in a large bowl.  Add slaw and next 3 ingredients (through cilantro); toss well to combine.

Divide steak evenly among tortillas; spoon about 1/2 cup slaw onto each tortilla.  Fold in half; serve immediately.