Meal of the Week – Boneless Short Ribs with Gravy

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Well,

It’s been about a month since I’ve last posted. Things have been hectic, but I finally did it – I moved! If you remember your last move, I’m sure you empathize with me. The

• packing
• wagging up and down stairs
• hiring movers
• working overtime to replace what you’ve spent out
• eating take out daily
• unpacking
• trying to organize

Man, am I glad that’s all over. While I do love my new place (for it to be an apartment) what I love more is finally being organized enough to make a home cooked meal!

Last Week’s Lunch and Dinner Plans

It’s been three weeks and last week I was finally able to make a full meal to last all week. I was so tired of eating take out, and it was getting to be too expensive. Last week’s menu consisted of:

• Pot roast
• Baked chicken legs (hate legs, but got them on sale for $0.60 a pack)
• BBQ rib tips
• Mashed potatoes (from scratch)
• Fried cabbage
• Cornbread

This Week’s Easy Lunch and Dinner Plan

Now, today was my first lazy day. I’ve been working 6 days a week, and by golly, I was finally going to lay in my bed until I felt like getting up. I managed to get up at 1:30 pm and did a few loads of laundry. So instead of slaving over the stove, I peeped in my fridge and noticed I still had potatoes in there and some BBQ chicken I bought on Friday from Uncle Remus. I have some broccoli I still need to cook. So to get me through the week (for lunch and dinner) I decided to cook some boneless short ribs I got for $2.99/lb. the other week.

Boneless Short Ribs with Gravy are Easy to Make

I wanted to cook the short ribs in some gravy. I started off by seasoning just with salt and pepper. Then I floured and fried them. Afterward, I put them in my crockpot. I love cooking in my crockpot. It’s a set it and forget it moment! Crockpots allow you to walk away and go to bed while cooking. In the morning, your home is filled with yummy meat goodness. I’m only cooking the short ribs for about 4 hours because they are thin and should not take long to get tender.

After I finished frying them and placing them in the pot, I then proceeded to make my gravy. I had enough grease left in there, so I added flour and let that brown well. If you aren’t familiar with making gravy from scratch, you want to leave the grease and meat drippings in the pan. Then stir the flour around well. The darker the flour, the darker your gravy will turn out.

Then, add in water (about a cup and a half to get started). I know I’m going to make a lot of gravy so I kept adding.

Tip – If you add too much water and it’s too runny, simply add a bit of cornstarch to about ¼ cup of cold water and add that to the gravy mixture. It’ll turn it lighter, but it will thicken as it cooks.

Next, add in some chopped onions (I just have green onions which I love), green and red bell peppers. It’s just the same if you have some frozen sliced ones on hand. Add more seasonings (salt, onion salt, and pepper for me) and let that cook down some. Since I’m adding it to the crockpot with my meat in a few hours, I don’t need the veggies to get totally done yet.

I now just need to let that cool and add to a cup/jar until I’m ready to add it to the meat. If you do find you make entirely too much gravy, put it in a mason jar and keep for another meal during the week such as with chicken or even pork chops. You can also place it in a freezer bag and freeze.

After about 3 hours, my meat seems tender enough, so I added the gravy and let it cook for the remaining hour.

Boneless short ribs – cooked to perfection. Short ribs go well with a starch such as potatoes or rice. You can add veggies such as corn, broccoli, or of course cabbage!