EASY Beef & Broccoli
an unsexy, but extremely family friendly version of your favorite.
Dean started pre-school this week (insert broken heart emoji) and with that comes the end of the beautiful food he was so lovingly made everyday at daycare. And begins Mom (me!) packing lunch. I asked his daycare director what I should pack him for lunch and she said “oh, you know! He just loves some rice, broccoli and chopped up chicken or meat”. Classic response from a Grandma who is an excellent cook - we all know she’s leaving out like 30 ingredients and a whole bunch of steps. Sandy still doesn’t believe me when I tell her that while Dean eats anything she puts on his plate under her roof, at my house it’s still a mystery as to what he likes on any given day. But right now, a sure thing is that Dean’s self proclaimed favorite food is “RWICE!!!”. I have a second instagram account called @_minimouths and there I’ll be sharing my lunch packing journey. I would LOVE to hear about some lunchbox hits from your kitchen.
Beef & Broccoli the EASY way
Before I had kids, or more specifically babies that ate solid food, I made beef & broccoli with super thinly sliced rib eye. The good stuff- really marbled, grass fed, maybe dry aged if I was feeling it that day. If I was near an Asian grocer I’d get some beautiful, leafy Chinese broccoli. Yeah, well, that’s not happening these days. Dean won’t eat steak and Luca can’t chew it. Plus, they are so out of control by dinner time, I’m not saintly enough to serve them meat that cost $24 per pound.
Beef: I personally buy 100% grass fed ground beef and I like a high fat content such as 80/20 or 85/15. But you buy what you like and it will turn out great.
Broccoli: I cut mine into tiny florets for two reasons. One: my kids are 3 and 1 so they need smaller pieces. Two: I love the “spoon-ability” of little florets.
Rice: I make a pot of sushi rice. When I say sushi rice, I mean that the rice I buy is short grain rice. I like the texture of short grain rice. I rinse it really well in a colander sitting in a bowl of water, until the water runs clear. This washed away the starch giving you a better end product. But make any kind of rice you like. That frozen pre-cooked rice at Trader Joe’s? Yeah, I buy it. It’s not amazing but the rest of my family seems to be fine with it and it’s SO easy.
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Amazon Storefront
I love sharing with you the products, ingredients and equipment that I’m using. If it’s making my life easier, I want you to know about it. So I found a way to gather them all into one place. A friend urged me to take the time and start an Amazon Affiliates Storefront. It’s a work in progress. I’ll add more things to it as I remember and as I discover new ones. If you purchase something through my storefront, I make a small commission. I haven’t had it for very long, but I’m assuming it’s not going to be my get-rich-quick (or ever) scheme. But I love this idea of having a place that you can browse things that I genuinely use and think you should try too.
Makes enough for dinner for 2 adults & 2 little ones + toddler lunch
Tip to dirty less pots: You can steam the broccoli in the same pan as you cook the beef in as long as that pan is deep enough to hold the steamer basket and has a lid. You’d steam the broccoli, take it out and dump out the liquid. Then proceed with browning the meat. I love a large, wide skillet that has high sides. I find that I use this shape of pan the most. I have both a non-stick version and my Le Creuset Braiser pan which I use constantly.
¾ cup chicken stock