This is the time of year when everything feels a little colder, and with the holidays among us, we start to think of home. Warm homestyle dishes that mom and grandma used to make from recipes that were handed down through generations are definitely in order. For this beef stew, instead of purchasing the “stew meat” chunks that are sold in stores for up to $5 a pound, I bought a full chuck beef roast for just $2.57/lb and cut it up myself. Now, I know that even at this price it’s a little costly, but you do get quite a few servings out of this, and can freeze it for later, or pack it as a lunch to save on eating out. And, this way, you are getting the exact same meat for 40% cheaper, so you can double your recipe for the same price, or, if you are like me, make it for HALF the price!!

*NOTE: You can convert this recipe to a slow cooker recipe. Make sure you brown your meat before you add it to your cooker, and everything else will slow cook all day.*

TOTAL COST for 10 (2 cup) servings: $8.50

Ingredients

2 1/2 lbs Boneless Beef Chuck Roast
6 medium potatoes
6 fresh carrot
8 stalks celery
1 large onion
8 cups water
1 package envelope of Brown Gravy mix (optional)
3 cubes of beef bouillon, or 5 if not using Brown Gravy mix
3 tbsp minced garlic
salt/pepper to taste
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or Canola Oil)

1. Peel the carrots and slice them as you prefer. I cut mine into little discs, so they cook through. Just don’t make them too big, or they will be hard!! Wash your celery and dice that up, and then dice up the onion, and place it all in a colander and wash it up real good. Peel and cube the potatoes and wash them under the sink, then put them aside in a separate bowl.

2. Cube your chuck meat. (FOOD SAFETY TIP: Have a separate cutting board that you ONLY use for raw meats.) If you want to stretch your stew into more servings, you can make your chunks smaller than mine, but remember that they do shrink when they cook. I made mine about 2 inches x 1 inch cubed.

3. In a 6 qt or larger stock pot, heat the oil (I added pepper to mine to season the meat) on Medium/High heat (I set it at 8 on my electric stove).

4. Brown your meat on all sides (just keep tossing it around in there and it should be mostly browned in about 10 minutes or so)

5. Then add your chopped up veggies. Don’t add the potatoes yet. Stir your meat and veggies up and try to coat everything with the oil/pepper. This is the point you can add more spices (parsley, rosemary, etc) if you would like. I just keep it simple, because the beef has so much flavor after slow cooking!!

6. Add the water, garlic, bouillon cubes, and Brown Gravy mix (optional) and stir well. Then add your potatoes, being careful not to splash yourself!! Simmer until boiling (still on Medium/High heat setting). Once stew is at a simmer, you can turn down the heat to a low setting. I set my stove at 3 and half cover the pot so it doesn’t boil too much. You just want it to have that slow simmer bubble thing going on.

7. Cook for 1 1/2 hours on Low setting. You can tell the stew is done when the potatoes get soft enough to eat. (Don’t worry about the meat, when you browned it, it was already partially cooked, so after 90 minutes that is definitely done!) Serve with bread and butter or rolls (Jiffy Mix makes great biscuits at an affordable price!!) ENJOY!!

*NOTE: If you are making this stew in your crock pot, you can set it at LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 6 HOURS and will have the same effect. You don’t really have to worry about overcooking it. The meat just gets more tender!!*

AND, as always, another great FREEZABLE MEAL!! Easy to take for portable lunches in a Thermos, or heat up in the microwave at work.

So here we are in our last installment to ‘The Well Stocked Pantry’ series. The reason I decided to start my blog with this series is to help you be better prepared to make most of my recipes in the most economical way. In the ‘Refrigerated’ section, we’ll discuss the items I feel in my kitchen are essential to helping me come up with new and healthy recipes without spending extra money.The ‘Fresh’ section contains only a few items that keep well, to avoid having to make trips back and forth to the food store.

Refrigerator Must-Haves

Minced Garlic: I know many cooks would be very upset with me for suggesting to use this item over fresh garlic, but for those of us who need to stay on a budget, jarred minced (or whole) garlic can be a way to have it on hand so we don’t have to do without it. Some dollar stores carry minced garlic in smaller jars, so it is very economical.
Mustards: These come in many varieties, and I use them all! Spicy Brown, Dijon, Yellow, and Horseradish are the flavors I keep. I just grab them when they go on sale at the store, and they come in handy when I make up sauces for my meals.
Hard Cheese: While most people always have sliced cheese for sandwiches, not everyone keeps hard cheese in their kitchen, and I feel this is a big mistake. I can think of many times when I needed just a little something else to make a dish special, and having some hard cheese on hand to shred over the final product was just what that meal needed. And when you have kids, it can make the difference as to whether they will eat or not!
Juices: Instead of keeping fresh lemons and limes (which can be pretty pricey and tend to spoil quickly), I always have a bottle of lemon juice and lime juice available. These juices usually don’t have any added sugar, and make great citrus marinades to tenderize chicken, pork or beef. They are reasonably priced at your local supermarket, usually only costing around $1 to $2 a bottle, and lasting at least 2 months.
Salsa: If I can, I try to make my own salsa, mainly because jarred salsas can get pretty pricey to cook with. To make a meal with them, you usually have to use a whole jar, and that can add $2 or $3 to your meal, which in my meals, would practically double the price!! I like to keep it on hand though, as it is very helpful when you’ve run out of canned or fresh tomatoes. Just remember it isn’t an essential, but if you see it on sale (particularly in the large bottle), make sure you grab it to save on being left without a sauce!!
The Usual: These items are the typical things that most people have in the refrigerator-Milk, Butter, Eggs. I really don’t use these items very often (butter more than the others), but they are handy to have when creating dishes.

Fresh Items

Onions: I use these in practically every dish I make, so I always make sure I have at least 3 on hand at all times. I’ve found that it is cheaper to buy them in the 3lb (or if you can find it, the 5lb) netted bags, where you can get anywhere from 8 to 10 in a bag. Choose carefully, though, as they tend to spoil quickly!
Celery: Before we started our low carb lifestyle, I never kept celery, but now I use it quite often. It’s not too expensive, and if you keep it refrigerated, it stays good for about a month. I purchase it marked down as well, because even if it’s a little limped, you can still cook with it.
Tomatoes: During the summer months, I go through a TON of tomatoes. Whenever I find them marked down, I buy them all, because it saves me from using up my pantry kept canned tomatoes. This is another item that you can buy mushy (but not too mushy…you can only salvage them up to a certain point). A great money saver!
Seasonal Fruit and Vegetables: One of my biggest money savers is when I purchase any fruit that is marked down and bring it home to cook with. Peaches, pears, apples, oranges…you name it, whatever is in season you can usually find marked down. I just picked these marked down apples up yesterday at the store. With apples on sale for $1.69/lb, I found this 3lb bag for just $1.74!! I see homemade applesauce in our future recipes, paired along with a beautiful pork loin (that was marked down, of course!!)

This is true for vegetables too. Eggplant, Squash, Zucchini, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Spinach…the list just goes on and on.

As you will see from my recipes, I use a variety of ingredients, and that is mostly due to the fact that I plan my meals around whatever I can find marked down and need to use it up fast! Make sure you keep that in mind when making your meals, because if you need to go out and purchase the ingredients without getting them on sale, you will wind up spending too much on your meals.

Now that we know what we need to have in our kitchen, we will be moving on to some great money saving grocery shopping ideas that I use all the time. After all, we don’t want to overspend stocking our kitchen, as that will lead to the price of our meals skyrocketing! If you would like to be informed (by email) when my next post is up, just hit the “Follow” button on the right. And if you have any questions, please feel free to comment. I would love to hear from you!