Korean Beef.

I hate the end of the month.

My grocery money envelope is empty and I've usually still got a few days of meals to work through before payday.

Am I alone in this?

We ran out of milk, eggs, butter, and fruit all in the same day. Why, oh why, cruel world!

Yet in my diligent and whole-hearted effort to still provide whole-foods meals to the family, I scrounged deep...really deep...and came up with a winner.

Complicated, it is not.

Frickin' delicious, it is.

Seriously. The first three bites Stuart ate of it he moaned through. I'm totally not even making that up. Twice he said "Wow, that's good..."

And for him that's sayin' something.

As I was eating it, all I could think was, "Why I haven't I made this more?" Like seriously, why haven't I made this over, and over, and over again?

I should have. And I will.

There are a few perks of this meal I would like to point out:
- Cheap cut of meat (ground beef!)
- Minimal ingredients
- Quick cook time
- Enough for leftovers
- No funky ingredients
- Littles love it

So when you're at the point when your kitchen looks like it's been raided by teenage boys and there's no money left in the 'ol grocery fund, scrounge deep in your cupboards and whip it up.

Whip it. Whip it good.

Korean Beef
You will need:
- 2 pounds grass-fed ground beef (or venison)
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 1/4 cup rapadura, sucanant or dehydrated whole cane sugar
- 1/2 cup naturally-fermented, organic, unpasteurized soy sauce
- Red pepper flakes, to desired spiceness (I'm a sissy and used like five)
- Green onions or chives, minced, for garnish (don't skip! they add a lot!)

Step One: Brown the ground beef in a skillet. Because I use grass-fed beef, I don't end up with enough fat to drain off, but if you have a lot, feel free to scoop it out.

Step Two: Once browned, add in the garlic and ginger. Let it saute with the beef for about three minutes.

Step Three: Stir in the whole cane sugar (rapadura), soy sauce, and optional pepper flakes. Gently simmer for ten minutes.

Step Four: Serve atop a bed of delicious basmati or jasmine rice. Garnish with minced scallions or chives.

So. I sorta feel like I cheated to even blog this recipe because it was so dang easy.

Ah. Who am I kidding. I don't care. Easy is totally my style.

There's a time for blow-your-pants-off-phenomenal-complicated-cooking. And then there's a time for meals like this.

I served ours alongside a delicious Indian cabbage from The Polivka Family. What? Is there something wrong with serving Korean Beef alongside Indian cabbage?

Ya. Didn't think so. Ain't no rules in our kitchen, baby. We do what we want! Which is exactly why I totally cheated on our grocery budget yesterday to buy two pounds of butter.

Sorry, Dave Ramsey.

Maybe if I fed him some of this Korean Beef he'd forgive me. My vote is yes.

For other great meal ideas, no matter what your dietary restrictions, check out the meal planning service I use: Real Plans.

Korean Beef

• 2 pounds grass-fed ground beef (or venison))
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
• ¼ cup rapadura, sucanant or dehydrated whole cane sugar
• ½ cup naturally-fermented, organic, unpasteurized soy sauce
• Red pepper flakes, to desired spiceness ((I'm a sissy and used like five))
• Green onions or chives, minced, for garnish ((don't skip! they add a lot!))

1. Brown the ground beef in a skillet. Because I use grass-fed beef, I don't end up with enough fat to drain off, but if you have a lot, feel free to scoop it out.

2. Once browned, add in the garlic and ginger. Let it saute with the beef for about three minutes.

3. Stir in the whole cane sugar (rapadura), soy sauce, and optional pepper flakes. Gently simmer for ten minutes.

4. Serve atop a bed of delicious basmati or jasmine rice. Garnish with minced scallions or chives.