Crock Pot Beef & Peppers

Is it weird that I took my crock pot on vacation? No? Thanks. I didn’t think so.

I’ll tell you what — it is HARD to eat well (make that “healthy” ) while on the road. I had no idea. We’ve been trying to adhere to the 80/20 rule since Dave’s heart stent (eat healthy 80% of the time; allow yourself some indulgences 20% of the time). But once we left for vacation, it moved to something more like 50/50. I’m trying to comfort myself with the fact that once we get back home, I’ll have more control over what we eat.

This morning, as we have for the past few mornings, Dave and I got up early and took our Bibles, notebooks, and Kindle to Starbucks to have our quiet time. That’s kind of a misnomer when you’re at Starbucks. It could more appropriately be called “Devotions overlayed with Jazz and incidental neighboring conversations.” Still, it’s a nice to start your day with a tall nonfat latte and some fruit- and nut-studded oatmeal to go along with whatever you’re reading.

On the way back to the condo (where the girls were still snoring away), I asked Dave to pull into Raley’s so I could pick up some beef and an onion to go along with some other things I had back in our borrowed kitchen.. I’d had a recipe brainstorm while eating oatmeal and reading Jeremiah. I like to call it …

Crock Pot Beef & Peppers

1 1/2 – 2 lbs Boneless beef round steak (London Broil), all visible fat removed
drizzle of olive oil
1 pkg mushroom-onion soup mix
1 1/2 green peppers, sliced in strips
1/2 large Walla Walla onion, sliced in strips
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 15 oz cans no-salt-added diced or stewed tomatoes
pepper

Slice the beef in thin strips across the grain. Drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom of your crock pot, then layer all ingredients in order listed.

Cook on high 6 hours, then keep on low until ready to serve. Serve over rice.

Next time, I think I’ll add some red peppers and dried red chili peppers. As is, this is still higher in sodium than I’d like, thanks to the mushroom-onion soup mix. But stay tuned. I’ll try to work the kinks out. For now, it’s pretty yummy. 🙂