Italian Beef - Crockpot Style!
It's crazy hot here in South Florida and summertime is in full swing for most of you ... time to start taking the cooler way out for dinner! Using a slow cooker frees up your time, keeps your kitchen cool and generally produces some pretty yummy meals!
Being a single income household still is starting to put a little cramp on our style ... It's been two years AND we've had the house on the market for over a year ... paying all the household bills as they stood when we were a dual income family (with more than twice the amount of money coming in) has started to take it's toll a little bit ... we honestly thought the house would be sold by NOW!
So, I go through periods of Pantry/Freezer Challenges and just recently started implementing NO SPEND weeks ... they work a lot better for me than the Pantry/Freezer Challenges of years past ... no where near as daunting but I think almost as effective.
Hence, the Italian Beef recipe is making an appearance again as we are on a NO SPEND WEEK this week, even with 4th of July festivities right smack in the middle of it all!
This hunk of beef was picked up several months ago and I just came across it when I was freezing the bacon I picked up at Costco a few weeks ago ... can I tell you how happy Hubby is going to be to see this in the crockpot?
I've shared this recipe before but it's definitely something to keep on hand as it's so easy, it's not even funny. Just a heads up though, if you do NOT like your food spicy, then do NOT dump the juice in from the pepperoncinis!
Are you ready to get this super duper, yummy recipe underway? Here's what you need:
3 lbs or so of beef roast, sirloin, whatever you have on hand (never have used ground beef though) ... I had this nice hunk of beef in the freezer
small jar of pepperoncinis (save yourself some work and get the pre-sliced ones - you can find these by the pickles - drain if a bit of you don't like it hot or all) ... I buy mine at Aldis since they are like half the price as regular grocery store ones
1/2 cup or so of beef broth (or you can use water and beef bouillon or cube)
about a tsp of chopped garlic
a tsp of oregano
a tsp of black pepper
Put roast in crock pot. Add all the rest of ingredients (drain the pepperoncinis if you don't want it hot)
Place lid on crock and fire it up. Let it cook 6 to 8 hours.
Shred beef (when it pulls apart with little effort, that's when I know it's done) and serve on toasted rolls (ciabatti, hoagies, buns, etc.). I most likely will serve mine as a lettuce wrap as that's the way I'm eating right now and Hubby can either use leftover burger buns OR I have a loaf of Italian Bread in the freezer he can use ...
Top with a little juice from the crock pot and if desired, add a piece of provolone cheese ... really, really yummy!
Now, this is easily a Whole30, Paleo friendly recipe if you are all about that ... just omit the cheese (obviously!) and double check your broth to make sure there's not funky stuff - skip the bouillon cube and go with the real deal in the carton.
Enjoy!
FYI - I have 4 crockpots ... and the one that I linked to above is the one I picked up from Costco a few years back. I keep looking at the programmable ones on the market now and wonder how good they are ... can you set them to come on at a certain time? They sound like they would be great for Chicken recipes as the chicken breast have a tendency to way overcook if you set for 6 hours but I question if it's good to let the crock pot sit for 6 hours BEFORE it starts cooking? Or am I just overthinking it?? Who has a programmable crockpot? Let me know how you use it?
Being a single income household still is starting to put a little cramp on our style ... It's been two years AND we've had the house on the market for over a year ... paying all the household bills as they stood when we were a dual income family (with more than twice the amount of money coming in) has started to take it's toll a little bit ... we honestly thought the house would be sold by NOW!
So, I go through periods of Pantry/Freezer Challenges and just recently started implementing NO SPEND weeks ... they work a lot better for me than the Pantry/Freezer Challenges of years past ... no where near as daunting but I think almost as effective.
Hence, the Italian Beef recipe is making an appearance again as we are on a NO SPEND WEEK this week, even with 4th of July festivities right smack in the middle of it all!
This hunk of beef was picked up several months ago and I just came across it when I was freezing the bacon I picked up at Costco a few weeks ago ... can I tell you how happy Hubby is going to be to see this in the crockpot?
Are you ready to get this super duper, yummy recipe underway? Here's what you need:
3 lbs or so of beef roast, sirloin, whatever you have on hand (never have used ground beef though) ... I had this nice hunk of beef in the freezer
small jar of pepperoncinis (save yourself some work and get the pre-sliced ones - you can find these by the pickles - drain if a bit of you don't like it hot or all) ... I buy mine at Aldis since they are like half the price as regular grocery store ones
1/2 cup or so of beef broth (or you can use water and beef bouillon or cube)
about a tsp of chopped garlic
a tsp of oregano
a tsp of black pepper
Put roast in crock pot. Add all the rest of ingredients (drain the pepperoncinis if you don't want it hot)
Place lid on crock and fire it up. Let it cook 6 to 8 hours.
Shred beef (when it pulls apart with little effort, that's when I know it's done) and serve on toasted rolls (ciabatti, hoagies, buns, etc.). I most likely will serve mine as a lettuce wrap as that's the way I'm eating right now and Hubby can either use leftover burger buns OR I have a loaf of Italian Bread in the freezer he can use ...
Top with a little juice from the crock pot and if desired, add a piece of provolone cheese ... really, really yummy!
Now, this is easily a Whole30, Paleo friendly recipe if you are all about that ... just omit the cheese (obviously!) and double check your broth to make sure there's not funky stuff - skip the bouillon cube and go with the real deal in the carton.
Enjoy!
FYI - I have 4 crockpots ... and the one that I linked to above is the one I picked up from Costco a few years back. I keep looking at the programmable ones on the market now and wonder how good they are ... can you set them to come on at a certain time? They sound like they would be great for Chicken recipes as the chicken breast have a tendency to way overcook if you set for 6 hours but I question if it's good to let the crock pot sit for 6 hours BEFORE it starts cooking? Or am I just overthinking it?? Who has a programmable crockpot? Let me know how you use it?
I have a programmable one. I don't let it set before firing it up. Mine wouldn't do that anyway. I can set it for up to 10 hours on low, but I'm around the house so I just set it on high for less time. I'm a big fan of Italian Beef sandwiches so we will be having this very soon.
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