In today’s busy households, consumers are looking for ways to put nutritious meals on the table – fast! The Idaho Beef Council answered the call by creating a new mini-series of cooking videos that take under a minute to watch and demonstrate how to make flavorful beef meals in 30 minutes or less.

Just launched this month, these quick-view cooking demonstrations showcase recipes available on Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. and will help home chefs get more comfortable cooking with beef. The recipes come with nutrition information and a convenient new feature that allows viewers to place an on-line order for the ingredients at their local supermarket. The segments are rolling out on YouTube and will be further promoted on IBC’s social media channels. Take a sneak peek at the first 2 here!

Mongolian Beef – Prepare this flavorful and satisfying Top Sirloin Steak Stir-fry in 20 minutes!
Ground Beef and Pasta Skillet Primavera – Nutrition box, checked…this is an American Heart Association Certified Heart-Healthy Recipe.

With YouTube a social media powerhouse, it is a prime channel to promote Idaho’s beef industry. During the month of July, IBC’s YouTube channel had 173,034 views. With that many eyes looking for beef information, beef checkoff dollars are delivering engaging and educational information to Idaho homes.

Visit and share IDBeef.org with your friends and family. We also encourage you to take advantage of the power of social media and follow, like and share IBC’s posts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, All Recipes, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube!

Not sure what the weather as been like for you lately, but it’s been unseasonably warm around here. If I’m being honest, I really love it. Being a farmer’s daughter and a rancher’s wife, though, makes me think forward and hope this early spring weather doesn’t mean an extra hot, dry summer. Nevertheless, everyone seems to be enjoying the weather as the calves are thriving and the bulls we’re getting ready to sell are not bogged down in a mucky mess due to rain or thawing snow.

The recipe I’m sharing today was inspired by my friend, Lisa, who not only teaches full time, but has a busy ag teacher/coach husband, is raising three kids and is in the middle of calving their small herd of cows too. Even though she’s busy, she always has time to make an extra meal for a neighbor or friend in need. She brought this meal to us after our son was born (several years ago), and it was a hit. I didn’t grow up eating meatballs, but this Sweet and Sour Meatball Recipe is definitely one my family enjoys. And as Lisa proved, it’s a great meal to share with others too.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs
2 lbs. lean ground beef
1/2 c. Panko or dry bread crumbs
1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. finely diced onion
1/2 c. finely diced green pepper
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
Salt and Pepper

Sauce:
Combine 1/4 c. brown sugar, 1 T. cornstarch, 1 can of tidbit or chunk pineapple, 1/3 c. vinegar and 1 T. soy sauce. Bring to boil, add chopped red or green peppers (optional), then simmer until sauce thickens and veggies get tender. Add in meatballs. Serve with rice.

The last time I made them, I adapted her original recipe by making the meatballs ahead of time and putting them in the freezer. I put them in the slow cooker along with the sauce (which I didn’t cook beforehand). These turned out great!

I love being able to make these ahead of time and store them in the freezer for an easy weeknight meal. You can even double or triple the recipe easy enough to feed a crowd. Or share with a friend…

~M

 

…not to be confused with Finger Steaks if you’re from the West. I’m from the Midwest so I didn’t know what Finger Steaks were until I moved to Idaho. Technically these aren’t the traditionally Finger Steaks recipe, so I’m sticking with calling them Steak Fingers. These Steak Fingers use Cube steak, whereas I believe Finger Steaks use Sirloin steak. Okay, best to just get to the recipe…

If you do an Internet search for recipes for Cube steak, a lot of times you’ll come up with Chicken Fried Steak. I call these the junior version of that.

Cube steak is tenderized, rectangle in shape and thin. It’s also economical and relatively lean as it comes from the round. I’ve actually been experimenting to come up with some other recipes to use this cut of beef. I admit, it’s one of the last used in our freezer, but it’s worth giving it a try.

Chicken Fried Steak can seem a little thick and bulky to me at times, so one night I decided to slice up the meat before breading it. It was definitely a good choice. These turned out delicious!

Even though this cut comes tenderized, slicing it helps break down the cut even more. I found the Steak Fingers to be really tender and easy to eat.

I dipped the meat in a egg wash. I used a 2-3 eggs with dashes of seasoned salt and pepper. You could throw in some cayenne or any other spices you like. This is how I love to cook. A little of this, a little of that. Fortunately this is a recipe that you don’t need exact measurements.

Next I dipped the meat into flour and the same seasonings. Then back to the egg wash and into a third bowl of Panko bread crumbs. You don’t have to do the second dip, but I love the crunch the Panko adds.

Into the oil they go. Try not to put too many in at once as adding the meat lowers the temperature. You don’t want to crowd them either and have them stick to each other. I just kept an eye on them and turned them when they were golden brown.

Oh my goodness; just looking at this photo makes me hungry again! They were so, so good.

I usually buy large bags of potatoes, but as a busy mom of four, sometimes convenience is the winner. I’ve found these Steamables on sale a few times and decided to give them a try. They were really good, and I did love how quick they were. 6-7 minutes in the microwave. Can’t beat that! They are easy to throw some seasonings on and serve right after cooking. I’ve also smashed them after they were cooked and put them in the oven to crisp them up a bit.

Feel free to pin!

If you haven’t tried cooking with Cube Steak, I suggest you give it a try. I’ll have a few more recipes to sharing using this cut of beef too. So whether they are Steak Fingers or Finger Steaks to you, these are definitely good to eat!

~Maggie