A to Z Food Challenge: B

There much anticipation for this week's "Friday A to Z Food Challenge". I had decided what to cook for today's challenge last Sunday, so when today arrived I was thrilled to get in the kitchen for dinner! I'm a huge meat eater, steak being my absolute favorite, which is exactly what I based my dish off of. Without further ado I present the dish of the week, Bacon Beef with Buttered Broccoli!

I mean, who doesn't love some bacon?! Well herbivores (vegans) don't, but I'm mostly speaking to the carnivorous humans with this meal. Throw in some delicious stew meat with a side of butter boiled broccoli, and you'll have yourself an amazing dish that EVERYONE will love, including your picky kids! (I have one too, don't worry.)

First of all, grab yourself some beef (I went with stew meat from Target for $8.99), some bacon (Target's 'Market Pantry Hardwood Smoked Classic Cut Bacon' for $3.99), some butter (I already had some from Trader Joe's called Earth Balance), and some broccoli (Fresh not frozen from Target for $2.49). At this point you should decide the flavor you're looking for. If you want your entire meat to taste purely like bacon, maybe add a bit of pepper and no salt. I chose to use a combination seasoning by McCormick called 'Grill Mates: Montreal Steak'. 

I would also like to mention that I did NOT go off of a recipe nor am I a chef. I will do my best to explain portions, as I mostly tend to eyeball what I use. I taste test throughout and go by the flavor. I suggest you do the same to better adjust for your own personal preference. Here we go!

Things you'll need:

Bacon

Broccoli

Meat (Again, I chose stew meat)

Butter

2 Pots (I chose a pot instead of a pan for my meat to avoid splatter)

Vegetable or Canola Oil

Seasoning 

1. Pour about 1/4 cup of oil in a pot.

2. Dump all the stew meat into the pot and turn stove onto Medium/High. (If you're looking to have your meat taste just like bacon, add a very small amount of seasoning now!)

3. Begin cutting up ALL your bacon into small square pieces.

4. By the time your done cutting up your bacon, the oil should be simmering. At this point put all your bacon inside the pot. Add your seasoning and mix everything together. CAUTION: When using seasoning, make sure not to add too much salt (or a mixture with salt), because you'll feel like you're tasting the ocean. 

5. Allow everything to simmer, only stirring occasionally to allow equal time between each stir. You want to let the meat AND bacon cook evenly. I only stirred every 5 minutes to flip the meat. 

6. After about 20-25 minutes, your meat should be browned and your bacon soft but cooked. Your bacon will NOT be crunchy. If you prefer crunchy bacon, cook SEPARATE from the meat in a pan just as you would normally. I still recommend cutting them up into small pieces, as it will provide a better mixture.

7. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit a few minutes. This allows the juice to be soaked completely. 

8. In a separate pot, pour in your broccoli florets into enough water, submerging the broccoli slightly. Add in your butter now. The reason I do this step AFTER the meat, is just to give the meat enough time to soak.

9. Depending on how crunchy you want your broccoli (we like it slightly crunchy), your broccoli should be boiled for approximately 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the water stop boiling on its own. 

Serve and be prepared for a flavorful fiesta of meat and green!!!

The portions I went with are enough for 4 servings, meaning tomorrows dinner is prepared!

I can't even begin to explain how quick my son ate his food. If you have leftovers, you can also add eggs for a delicious morning. This would also be great mixed in with a salad, which is how I plan on having our dinner tomorrow. My son might choose to go salad free, but this momma is adding even more greens. Even the broccoli would be awesome with eggs and/or salad! 

For about $16, you can make a meal for 4 or a meal for 2 WITH leftovers! That's $4 a plate!!! And who doesn't love leftovers? Personally I'm a leftover person. Probably because I'm so used to creating BIG portions for only 2 people. Make's cooking a whole lot easier. Plus, you have to opportunity to re-vamp your prior meals like I stated previously. It's like a whole new dish!

Hopefully you guys like today's dish just as much as we did. It's "simple" but sometimes a simple (and relatively cheap) dish, is the best way. I couldn't believe how quickly my son devoured his dinner with absolutely no complaints. Literally he didn't say a single word, because the whole time his mouth was filled with food. 

Have a good weekend guys and don't forget, you have one week left to enter my gorgeous giveaway! It is open worldwide. You can see how to enter by checking out my prior post HERE. Good luck and Happy Mother's Day!!!