Texas Beef Stew

Whoot, two new recipes in the same week! I'm on a roll. This one has been a long time in the making but I finally got around to doing it... aka, beef stew meat was on sale. I'm not sure why this was considered a frugal meal other than it makes a ton I'd lump it in with an average costing meal. I found this recipe originally here but have adapted it some.

Ingredients:
1-2 lbs of beef tips (I think I used 1.5 lbs)
1 can (14oz) tomatoes (I use petite b/c we don't like big tomatoes)
1 can (10.5oz) beef broth
8-16oz salsa (I used about 12oz I figure)
1 bag whole kernel corn
2/3 bag of baby carrots
*the next two ingredients were not measured, the small picture above shows roughly how much I used**
Minced Onion (you could use a whole onion)
Garlic Powder (calls for 2 cloves)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup flour

Directions:
Combine all ingredients except water and flour into your croc pot.
I cut the baby carrots in quarters to make them smaller for Austin
Set croc pot on high for 3-4 hours until meat is tender
Mix water and flour together then add to stew
Cover again and cook for another hour until stew has thickened

We loved this recipe and it was super easy to make and made a lot. The original recipe called for mexican stewed tomatoes which probably would have added a little more spice but I didn't have those and I'm not a super big fan of anything two spicy but is an option for those that do enjoy it that way.

Taco Sauce

It's been a while but I'm still around. Super busy trying to get the house sold though so I'm low on time. I did however try my hand at making taco sauce! I was making the amazing burritos I posted previously and realized I didn't have any so I went out searching and found a recipe at Terri's Kitchen blog. and it was awesome.

Please feel free to ignore the mess around and enjoy this great recipe that is super easy to make and WAY cheaper than buying it in a bottle. Especially if you consider that (at least for me) 1/2 the bottle ends up going bad in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:
1 can tomato sauce
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp  onion powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Combine everything! SUPER easy right?
Original instructions say to wait 30 minutes to let the flavors marinate together but I just used it and it was great.

So, as for cost, you've got like $.35 in the can of tomato sauce (I think), cumin, onion powder, and garlic powder are all $.99 per large jar at aldi. Oregano and the worcestershire sauce are probably the big expenses but I already have them in the house generally.  Still FAR less than spending $2-3 on a bottle of the stuff.