large family food idea beef stew

When you have a large family it seems you try and stretch your food budget as much as you can without sacrificing the taste of it.  I know for our family I can usually make a large pot of soup that feeds all of us for dinner and then we can usually have some for lunch the next day as well.  That to me is a cheap meal.

Our family usually buys a large roast and cooks it in the crockpot when we buy it.  Then cut it up into pieces to be used for various meals for the month.  One of those allocated meals is beef stew.

Easy beef stew

• 2-3 lbs of cut up cooked stew meat
• carrots
• potatoes
• onions
• beef bouillon
• infant baby cereal or instant mashed potato flakes
• you can add any other vegetable that your family likes for this meal

 
First you take your meat that is already cooked and dip it into flour and then fry it over medium heat in a little bit of coconut oil until the outside is firm and somewhat crisp.  This holds the meat together so it does not fall apart in your stew while you simmer it all day long.

While that is cooking, in a large stock pot, start peeling and dicing potatoes for your stew.  I usually use 1 large baking potato per person.

Since my little ones do not like diced onions in their stew, I add dried minced onions to it for flavor.  I never really liked having to cut up onions and find the taste of dried minced onions very comparable to fresh, so I usually just use that in place of fresh onions.

Next, peel and slice some carrots

After your meat is browned, add that to your cut up vegetables

Then add water to almost the rim of the pot.  I then add beef bouillon to my tasting.  4-5 Tablespoons is usually good.  I add less, then let it cook for a bit and taste to see if it is flavorful enough.  We add some pepper to it as well.

I let this simmer on the stove for most of the day on low heat with a lid on it, until the vegetables are tender.

When it is almost time for dinner, I add my thickener.  I have much leftover infant cereal so I am using that for now.  My alternative would be for instant mashed potato flakes.  I sprinkle in about 1 cup at a time then whisk it through the soup.  I add additional amounts until I get the right consistency for our family.  Let sit for few more minutes and it is ready to serve.
Very easy, I like to make this on my office days, so that I can concentrate on all of my paperwork and not have to do too much prep for dinner.  Enjoy.