Delicious & Affordable Beef Recipes for the Whole Family

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This post was sponsored The Beef Checkoff and brought to you by The Motherhood. All opinions and stories are my own.

Lately I’ve been in a big dinner rut. Between working, the house and parenting, I find it easy to just grab something from the prepared foods at the grocery store and let the kids go to town on it. Do you feel me on this? We’ve all been there before.

Last week I looked at one of those same dishes and it made my stomach turn a little. I think I’ve burned myself out on them.

As I strolled past the meat section a large piece of chuck roast caught my attention. Well, what really caught my attention was the big yellow SALE tag on it. It was a 4 pound hunk for a few cents over 9 dollars!! That could feed us for days! I scooped that thing up fast. Good thing too, some other mom saw the same one, but I was faster.

I’ve been making it my mission to spend no more than $100 per week for our family of 4, and it looked like I may finally break that point. My husband can put an unbelievable amount of food away, so staying within a low budget is nearly impossible unless I keep my eye out for deals.

Beef – Delicious and Thrifty

Beef retail prices are down nearly 10% from two years ago when they reached an all time high. The high prices on beef in years past was pretty devastating for me, personally.

I could eat either a steak or burger almost every day. My husband rolls his eyes at me when I tell him of the dreams I have of eating burgers. I kid you not, I really have those! I wake up knowing exactly what I’m making for dinner, though, so there’s one less decision to make.

Luckily for me and you, you can expect to see lower prices at the meat case of your favorite grocery retailer this holiday season! Take advantage of these prices as you plan dinners! I definitely am.

There always seems to be a holiday, birthday or anniversary that needs a fat juicy steak in it. I’m thinking I’ll make a nice roast for Christmas dinner this year. That way I can have roast beef sandwiches afterwards 🙂

Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner

On my quest to look up some nice beef recipes inspired by my chuck roast, I visited The Beef Checkoff this week, the leading authority on all things beef, for easy-to-make meal ideas. They have a lot of delicious looking recipes! I found four kid-friendly recipes that I am especially excited about!

Confetti Beef Tacos – I love introducing colorful foods into my children’s diets whenever possible. They already love tacos, so I think we’ll give this recipe a shot!

Lazy Beef Lasagna – Lasagna is one of our family’s favorite foods of all time. We usually pair it with some steamed green veggies for a complete meal.

Easy Beef Pizzas – These little pizzas are perfect for little hands! I have this on the schedule for later this week. I bet the kids will love them!

Chimichurri Steak Wraps – I have never had these before, but they look amazing!

Crockpot Pot Roast Two Ways + French Onion Soup

Because I was short on time, I decided to fix my go-to beef roast dish and plan on trying out the recipes above later this week and next week.

I’d like to share with you two of my go-to beef recipe – it’s actually three recipes for the price of one! These meal ideas are not only delicious, but they’re frugal!

The base of these dishes is a large chuck roast.

I made pot roast with the meat, served it two different ways, and then when it was gone, I used the remaining liquid to make a soup! I do this all the time to stretch our grocery budget as far as possible.

It lasted us through 2 kids and three adults for multiple meals. That’s a win-win for me. Let’s walk through the process and recipes:

Pot Roast Recipe

at least 2 lbs of beef like a chuck roast
6 large carrots
1 medium onion
8 celery stalks (I like to use the center stalks and the leaves also)
3 large turnips or a bag of radishes (whichever one is cheaper)
2 cups beef broth
2 packages of gravy mix
8 cups of water (or however much you need to fill up the crockpot)
2 cayenne peppers
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons ginger powder
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Chop the veggies as large or small as you like and throw them all in the largest crockpot you have. If you don’t own a crockpot, you can always just use a large pot on the stove. Adjust the high temp to medium so you don’t boil over, but cook it the same otherwise.

Add the beef, the spices and the broth, then use the water to fill up the rest of the pot to nearly the top. Leave enough room that it won’t boil over.

Let it cook on high for 6 hours, then add the gravy mix. To keep the gravy from lumping, I mix it in a few tablespoons of cold water before adding it to the pot. This won’t make the liquid into a gravy, but it will add a little bit of extra flavor and thicken it up slightly. Let it cook on med for another 5 hours. (use low if yours only has low and high settings).

Just before serving, mash the turnips into the broth the thicken it up a but more. If you want to eat them like potatoes, add them only for the last hour of cooking; they’ll stay firm this way.

Here’s how you can serve it if you prefer a soup-like dish:

And here’s a completely different way to serve the same recipe with mashed potatoes!

French Onion Soup

With the remaining liquid from the recipe above, you can make a french onion soup. I didn’t measure the amount of liquid remaining but it looked like approximately 6 cups. You will have more left over if you served the pot roast with mashed potatoes instead of as a soup dish.

Ingredients:

1 med onion sliced thin
4 Tablespoons butter
2 Teaspoons sugar (brown sugar or standard granulated sugar)
2 Teaspoons thyme
1 Teaspoon basil

In a skillet, sauté all of the ingredients together on low heat until the onions are caramelized slightly. Add all of it into the crockpot with the left over broth and cook on high for 2 hours.

To serve, you will need croutons or bread and whatever type of white cheese you like. I prefer the Italian ones, like mozzarella, for this dish, but I have seen people use cheddar. Ladle into a bowl that can be placed into the oven. Add croutons and cheese and broil until the top is toasted.

I didn’t get a good picture of the cheese with the one I made. The croutons shifted when I was moving it into the oven and it all fell to the bottom. It was still very delicious!!

Amazing Beef Deals & Delicious Holiday Recipes

The Beef Checkoff is the leading authority on all things beef. Go check them out to get expert tips on how to get the best deals on beef this holiday season and everyday. Anything that will help save cash without sacrificing quality is worth looking into.

For holiday recipes such as Citrus-Marinated Beef and Fruit Kabobs, Braised Short Ribs with Red Wine Sauce and Beef Stuffing with Apples and Cranberries, visit beefitswhatsfordinner.com. Also, if you want to be equipped with easy-to-make, versatile dishes that bring cheer to your holiday celebrations, be sure to also check out the Beef Checkoff’s holiday recipe guide. It’s a handy resource when you need some ideas!

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Cecilia Williams

Is a hard working mother of 2 that enjoys taking naps, solving puzzles and helping make this world a better place, one article at a time.
Come check me out over at my blog www.lazygeniusmom.com

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