Broccoli Beef

Ingredients:

Beef
Vegetables
brown gravy  mix
rice

This is another recipe that we've had around forever.  The ingredients are few and can be adapted.  We usually buy the cheapest hunk of beef we can find.  We often get packaged stew meat, but have also purchased a roast and divided it into two or three portions.  Meat is really expensive and the American habit is to make a big hunk of meat the main course of the meal.  We have found it much more economical to not serve large portions of meat (whether it be beef, chicken, or pork) but rather cut it up and combine it with other less expensive ingredients.  So that's what we do here.  We then use an equal amount of vegetables, whatever we have on had (you can use frozen, fresh, or canned).  Last night we used fresh broccoli and carrots.

So, the first thing that you do is saute the beef in a frying pan.   You can use a little cooking oil if you want to.  Once the meat is brown, you can do one of two things.  My husband will add the vegetables and saute them a little bit.  Once they are tender, he'll add the gravy mix and a cup of water to the pan and let it cook until it's thick.  Then you're done.  I do it a little differently.  After the meat is brown, I add the gravy  mix and water and vegetables at the same time.  It doesn't really matter how you do it as long as everything gets cooked.  You can then serve it over rice.  Yum.  My kids aren't big fans of the gravy, but will usually eat the meal if we rinse off the gravy for them.  Last night they didn't ask to have it rinsed, and we didn't offer.  Hopefully this means that their palates are developing a little. We have also prepared this meal before and then realized that we didn't have any rice.  You can eat it over pasta or even just eat it plain.