Slow cooked beef and broccoli, better than take out!

This dish has all the good things I love about take out – tender, juicy beef, green broccoli and a wonderful sauce.

Served over rice, now that’s a delicious dish! And talk about simple to make!

I was always afraid of rice – the making of it, that is. Until I learned a fool proof method. Or two. The first method that works flawlessly every single time … use a rice cooker!

My kids laughed at me when I asked for a rice cooker for Christmas a few years ago. Until they saw me using it once or twice a week. And got to eat the good rice that it produced!

The second method is an old fashioned, stove top method. Put the rice you’re going to fix in a sauce pan. Place your fingertip on top the rice and begin adding cold water.

Continue to add the water until you cover your first knuckle. Heat on medium high until the water boils. Remove from the heat and leave covered. The rice is ready when all of the water has been absorbed.

Rice really isn’t so scary!

Make It a Meal:

Serve the beef and broccoli over the rice, add a small salad and you’ve got dinner!

Variations:

Add some sliced carrots or snow peas to the veggies. Replace the beef with chicken.

Almost Take Out

I like take out food. It’s the next best thing to going out to dinner. However, there are some problems with take where I live.

– 1 – Lack of options. We have a ton of pizza places that will do delivery or take out. There is one Mexican restaurant that does take out. We have two Chinese restaurants that will deliver and of course, offer take out.

– 2 – Price. Not that the prices of the food is out of line. My budget is what is out of line. Currently we are living very close to the budget so any thing that isn’t necessary falls into the “Extravagant” category.
please note: I do not normally consider take out or delivery food to be extravagant. it’s simply a matter of my current reality.

So, when I ran across a recipe for slow cooker beef and broccoli that claimed to “fake out take out” I was intrigued. I read the recipe several times. I did a search for other beef and broccoli recipes. Let me tell you, there are few out there.

They all had two things in common:

– 1 – home made means you know what the ingredients are!

– 2 – convenience of the slow cooker means you don’t have to work hard at dinner!

Both of those things appealed to me. The first one, knowing the ingredients meant that I could control how much money I spent on the meal.

I found a pound of beef at my grocery for under $4.00.

A bag of frozen broccoli costs about $1.75 at my grocery store.

A pound of white rice is $1.19.

The other ingredients, well I already had them in the cupboard. So I really can’t place a cost estimated on those. So, if you do some math, that’s about $8.00 for three meals – or $2.67 per meal.

As well as being a simple recipe, this is one that is within the budget!

Variations

I know that some folks are watching their food intake. They’re counting calories, fat grams, sodium, or some other aspect of their nutrition. I admire that. I have done my share of counting in years past. It’s a challenge to find recipes that are within the guidelines we set for ourselves.

This recipe is high in sodium. That is easy to evaluate – the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and the beef broth are all high in sodium and when you add them together – it’s a triple threat! I suggest that if you are concerned about the sodium, that you pay attention to the product labels when you shop. There are many low sodium options available.

Another option to the the beef broth is to make your own. The next time you have beef that you are cooking for a meal, save the drippings. Purchase some beef bones from your butcher and simmer the bones in a pot of water for several hours.

Remove the bones, add the drippings from the previous meals and cool. When the liquid has cooled, you can strain off the fats and save the remaining broth to use in this and other recipes.

Buy Local

When the news reports start talking about food recalls and food safety violations, I get nervous about what I’m eating. One way I’ve learned to overcome that fear, is by shopping locally.

We hear a lot of commentary on the value of shopping local and I agree with most of it. When possible, I shop in my hometown.

I like to shop at the Farmer’s Market and the local butcher. I like to support my neighbors and people in my community. I also appreciate their efforts to raise wholesome and healthy foods.

One local farm store in my area is Rus-Men Farms. They take pride in their farm and their product. I’m sure if you do some checking, you’ll find a similar farmer in your area.

Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli Recipe 

Ingredients:

1 lb beef, sliced
1 med onion, sliced
1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c Worcestershire sauce
1 TB vegetable oil
10.5 oz can beef broth
3 TB minced garlic

For the Sauce

2 TB cornstarch
2 TB broth

To Finish
14 oz frozen broccoli
2 cups cooked white rice

Recipe Directions:

1. Slice the beef into thin strips. Also, cut the onion into thin slices.
2. Place the beef and onion in the bottom of your slow cooker.
3. In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, oil, broth and garlic. Pour over onions and beef. Cover.
4. Turn slow cooker to high heat and cook for four hours or cook on low heat four to six hours.
5. In a small bowl, mix the 2 TB of cornstarch with 2 TB of the broth from the slow cooker. Mix until you have a smooth paste.
6. Return this paste mixture to the slow cooker and stir.
7. Add broccoli and cook for additional 30 minutes on high heat.

Approximate Nutritional Information:

Servings Per Recipe: 3, Amount Per Serving: Calories: 611, Fat: 27g, Cholesterol: 100g, Sodium: 2354mg, Carbs: 54g, Protein: 36g

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