Beef Hot Pot

Beef and Bok Choy Hot Pot from Cooking Light

You'll need a fork and a spoon to enjoy this meal. You can use most any greens in place of the bok choy, including spinach or Napa cabbage.

2 1/4 cups water

3/4 cup low-salt beef broth

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 pound beef stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 1/4 cups chopped green onions

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger

2 cups thinly sliced bok choy

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrot

2 cups hot cooked wide rice noodles or fettuccine

Combine first 6 ingredients, stirring with a whisk; set aside.

Heat vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add beef, browning on all sides. Add broth mixture, green onions, garlic, and ginger; bring to a boil.
Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until beef is tender. Stir in bok choy and carrot, and cook 5 minutes or until tender. Serve beef mixture over noodles.

Barbeque Beef Brisket

Ingredients:
Makes 6 to 8 servings
For the marinade:
1 10 oz. bottle soy sauce
1 10 1/2 ounce can beef consomme
3 Tb lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 tsp garlic salt
3 lb beef brisket
1 Tb paprika
For the sauce:
1 cup ketchup
4 Tb brown sugar
4 Tb Worchestershire sauce
4 Tb apple cider vinegar

For the marinade: In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, consomme, lemon juice and garlic salt. Place the beef in a large plastic bag, add the marinade and seal. Marinate in the fridge overnight or at least 10 hours.

Remove the meat from the bag and discard marinade. Place the meat in a large piece of aluminum foil and sprinkle paprika (I like smoked paprika from Penzey's) over the meat. Completely wrap the meat in foil. Place it in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan and bake at 325 degrees for 4 hours. Refrigerate meat to cool completely, at least 5 hours or overnight. (This sounded crazy to me, but it's important.)

For the sauce, combine ketchup, brown sugar, Worchestershire sauce and vinegar in a small saucepan and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. (Or use a jarred sauce...)

Remove cooled brisket from refrigerator. Remove aluminum foil, slice brisket and place meat in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Pour sauce over meat, cover with foil, and heat at 300 degrees for 45 minutes.

*I got this recipe from the paper. The clipping has been on my refrigerator for a couple years now. It turned out really well both times we made it. I actually cooked the brisket in our toaster/convection oven and I think I will do that again. It's kind of a 2-day process, but it's so worth it in the end.

French Onion Beef Soup

This is a slightly altered version from Robin Miller's Quick Fix Meals.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil with a pat of butter

1 cup sliced yellow onion

1 cup sliced red onion

2 leeks (white part only) rinsed well (also soak in cold water to get the grime off) and chopped

1 lb beef (can use steak or stew meat)

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups beef broth

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Baguette sliced in 1-inch slices

1 cup shredded swiss or mozzarella (or a combo of both)

Heat the oil and butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, leeks, and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes. While onions are cooking, heat some oil in another pan and cook lightly seasoned (salt/pepper) beef until just browned. Add the broth, beef, bay leaves, salt, and pepper, increase heat to high, and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium, partially cover the pan, and simmer for 30 minutes (or more if you have time). Remove the bay leaves and add any additional salt/pepper you'd like.

When soup is almost done, take baguette pieces and top with cheese. Put under the broiler to melt. Top each bowl of soup with baguettes and enjoy!

*We love this one. I could so do without the meat, but Alex is insistent! It does make it more of a full meal.

Mexican Casserole

From Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly

1 lb ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1-2 green peppers, chopped

16 oz. can kidney beans, drained (you can add at least one more can of beans...I added 1/2 a can of black beans above.)

14 1/2 oz. can of diced tomatoes

8 oz. can tomato sauce

1/4 cup water

1 envelope taco seasoning

1 Tbsp (or less if you like it less spicy) chili powder

1 1/3 cups instant brown rice

1 cup shredded cheddar

1. Brown ground beef and onion.

2. Combine all ingredients in a 4 or 5 quart slow cooker and cook on low for 8-9 hours.

3. Stir in rice and cheese and cook until tender. (about 10 minutes)

4. Top with more cheese, if you please.

*I like this one because it reminds me of stuffed green peppers. You could also put the mixture into tortillas and eat like a burrito. Yum.

Beef and Bean Chimichangas

1 lb ground beef
1 green pepper chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 cup frozen corn (optional - I leave it out b/c Alex hates it)
10 oz. can Rotel with diced chilis
salt and pepper
Cumin, taco seasoning, or any other kind you like, to taste
1 can black beans, drained and rinse
10 tortillas
Shredded cheese

Brown ground beef with green pepper, onion and corn. Drain. Stir in Rotel, seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook 5 minutes. Load up the tortillas with the meat mixture and cheese. Roll up and place seam side down (I divide 5 into two 8 x 8 pans) and freeze.

Thaw and brush tortillas with melted butter (or nothing works too, which is what we normally do). Bake for 30 - 35 minutes in 375 degree oven until tortillas are nice and crispy. Add more cheese, sour cream and lettuce if you wish.

Tater Tot Casserole (or Mama has a work trip and the boys must eat)

Tater Tot Casserole
2 lbs. Hamburger
1 Envelope dry onion soup mix
2 lbs. tator tots
2 cans mushroom soup
1 Pint sour cream
Shredded cheddar

Brown hamburger and place in a 10" x 14" baking dish. Sprinkle soup mix over meat, then place one layer of tater tots on top of that. Mix soup and sour cream together, pour over tater tots. Top with shredded cheddar. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour, stirring after 30 minutes. Serves 6 - 8 people.

Mama's Meatballs

MEATBALLS:
1 lb. Ground beef
½ lb. Italian sausage
2 eggs
½ cup bread crumbs
2 stalks celery, chopped fine
1 clove garlic
½ cup grated Romano cheese (2 oz. Package)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix ground beef, sausage and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add eggs and mix well. In another bowl, blend remaining ingredients and add a little at a time to meat mixture. Blend well, and form into meatballs. Lay all of the formed meatballs on cookie sheets and bake them at 350 degrees until done.

To freeze: Divide meatballs and sauce into two 1 gallon Ziploc freezer bags. Lay flat to freeze.