Saturday, 3/24/2012

5 - 10 Minute Beef Stew

I'm the queen of making food really fast. One trick to this is to buy (some) things pre-cut. Mushrooms are worth it, onions are not. It's just a price thing. Another trick is to buy thinly sliced meats. Thin cut pork chops cook up in 4 minutes or less, whereas thick cut chops can take foreeeever. This particular "recipe" has chunks of beef. I just buy the stew meat pieces. I like my beef pretty rare so that cuts on some time as well. Anyways!

Five Minute Beef Stew:

1. 1 to 1.5 pounds of stew meat
2. 2 medium onions
3. 1/2 pack of mushrooms 
4. 1 jar pre-made beef gravy 

•  In a Dutch oven or similar sized pot chuck in the stew meat on medium-high. No need to oil the pan, there's plenty of fat in the beef to release it from the pan. Just don't stir til there is a little yummy crust. 

• Quickly peel, half, and cut strips of onions. Chuck onions and shrooms into the pot. Stir as needed.
• Once the onions are looking translucent add gravy. Stir around until gravy is hot and serve!  

Not exactly the prettiest picture, but it does taste good! Don't mind the ever present Amazon box.

I honestly can't think of many dishes simpler and quicker than this. If you feel you need more vegetables you can always zap some frozen corn, green beans, or whatever. We just added some more rolls to mop up the gravy. Mmm!

Price Break Down:
Stew Meat:      $3.49
Onions:            $ .75
Mushrooms      $1.24
Beef Gravy:     $1.38 (Heinz Homestyle 12 oz)
Roll:                 $.30 (Walmart's Hawaiian Style Rolls again)
Total (for the meal): $7.16   (per serving):  $1.80

Nutritional Break Down(for total meal/per serving):
Calories:                 380
Total Fat:                11.4 grams
Sodium:                  523.2 milligrams
Carbs:                     29.1 grams
Sugars:                    6.4  grams
Protein:                    35.5 grams