I've Got Dinner on My Mind

(you NEED to click on this comic to read it...it was an instant favorite)

The other night, I called Braden to try to get some idea for dinner. I told him I wanted Cinnamon Pork Chops with mashed potatoes, but we didn't have any pork. He asked about a bag of meat in the freezer and thought that was pork. So I told him I'd defrost it and make cinnamon pork chops. Well, as it defrosted and started bleeding red and turning red, I realized it wasn't pork. It was beef. Hmm...now what to make with beef? I turned to my trusty source, allrecipes.com and found a recipe I thought might work. Since I wasn't positive about the meat or the recipe, I was nervous to try the meal. But it turned out GREAT and actually was really good. Not a classy meal, but very homey and very easy. Also, a very good way to salvage mystery meat that has been in your freezer for who knows how long.

COUNTRY STYLE STEAK
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound cube steak, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup all-purpose flour for coating
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
2 cups water, or as needed
salt and pepper to taste
garlic salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat cube steak pieces with flour, and shake off the excess. Fry steak pieces in the hot oil just until browned on each side and there are some juices in the pan. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Stir together the onion soup mix and 1 tablespoon of flour; sprinkle into the skillet. Cook and stir over medium heat until it starts to brown. Gradually mix in the water to make a gravy. Return the cube steak to the pan, and season with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Cover, and simmer over low heat for about 1 hour.

Excellent served with mashed potatoes! We had RED potatoes, so we didn't skin them and made the best mashed potatoes we had had in a long time. Oh, they were so good. The girls downed the meal (well, Taryn doesn't like potatoes, so she didn't eat those) and loved it for leftovers the next day.