Cook Once, Eat Twice: Two Crockpot Beef Recipes

This is my 49th post, guys!!  I am so excited that I've been able to post this much with 2 babies to care for, but it's been so fun, sharing my tips and projects with all of you! Thank you for reading my little blog; it means a lot to me!

On to the post...


My favorite types of meals are those where I can cook once but eat twice, and I illustrate different ways I do that in my rotisserie chicken posts here and here.   Also, my turkey posts here and here show ways to divide meals from one main source.  

Sometimes you just want some beef, though, and for those times, this process is so easy and although it's not under $1 a serving like most of my recipes, it is thrifty for beef. For this post, my 2 meals will be beef roast with gravy over wild rice and shredded beef hoagies (submarine sandwiches). I didn't get pictures of the hoagies, but it's very simple.

Buy a 3-4 lb. beef roast (can be labelled "beef shoulder", "chuck shoulder" "chuck roast", "rump roast", etc.)

Season it up with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Place it in the crock pot and add onions (I cheated and used a frozen seasoning blend), a tablespoon of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, and 1 beef bouillon cube. Add 1/2 cup of water and cover and cook on low 8 hours.

It will go from this:

To this (YUM):

To make a delicious gravy:

Mix 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup cold water. 

Strain the liquid from your crock pot and add to a saucepan. Skim the fat off the top with a spoon. Whisk in cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil, taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Done!

Reserve 1/4 of your meat and 1/4 of the gravy for your second meal. 
For this one, take the remaining meat, cut as you like and pour 3/4 of the gravy on top. Serve over wild rice with veggies.

For your second meal, buy good quality hoagie rolls from your deli. Split in half and spread a bit of butter in each and bake at 350° until warm. Spoon hot, reserved and shredded beef into the rolls (my husband and I enjoy mayonnaise on our rolls but spicy mustard would be great too, or you could leave the condiment off), top with a tablespoon of hot reserved gravy and a slice of cheese of your choice (I like Pepperjack or Swiss). Heat in the oven until cheese is bubbly. Baked potatoes or salad pair well with these.

Cost Breakdown (I don't include basic staples like spices, oil, flour or side dishes):

3 pound Chuck Shoulder: $8.90

Few tablespoons of Worcestershire and soy sauce: estimating 25 cents

Beef bouillon cube: estimating 15 cents

Chopped onion: $1

Hoagie rolls: $3.25

Sliced cheese: $2.50

Total: $16.05

Price per serving (each meal serves 4): $2.

If you wanted to drive the cost down more, you could make your own rolls, or serve on toasted bread as sandwiches, and omit the cheese, but $2 a serving for beef is pretty good and less than you'd pay in a restaurant for sure! My family and I really enjoy these 2 recipes; I hope yours does too!