Avalanche Lily’s Basic Ground Beef Stir Fry
Ingredients
2 lbs ground beef
1 Tablespoon of coconut oil
1 Medium onion
1 Tablespoon garlic
1 large sweet pepper (red, yellow, orange, or green) or 1 cup of mixed diced peppers
4 large carrots, peeled and diced
2 Grocery store-sized zuchinni, halved and sliced
1 Quart bag diced tomatoes or can of diced tomatoes
Oregano, to taste
Basil, to taste
Himalayan Salt, to taste
Directions
In a large cast iron skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef in coconut oil with diced onion and chopped garlic. After it is browned, add peppers, carrots, zuchinni, oregano, basil, salt to taste. Let stir fry together for about 20 minutes. Only occasional stirring is needed.
Meanwhile, cook your rice or pasta.
Plan ahead if serving with spaghetti squash which needs to bake at 350* for about 40 minutes
About 15 minutes before serving add your diced tomatoes. I use my frozen tomato sauce which is in quart sized bags. I try to thaw it ahead of time, but often while still frozen is put on top of the stir fry with a cover to melt it into the stir fry. Continue simmering until ready to serve.
Salt to taste.
Variations
We love stir fries. Using this basic recipe, I switch around my spices and ingredients a little bit to make a variety of dishes.
Sometimes I add cumin to this basic recipe.
Other times I will add cumin and chili powder
Sometimes if I have a bit of a sweet tooth, I’ll add a large spoonful of honey.
Sometimes I will add spinach, or broccoli, or green beans, depending on what the mood and availability is.
Serving Suggestions
We serve this stir fry over rice, baked spaghetti squash, or pasta. I love eating it with sliced Avocado. Yes, I love avocado and it will be a very sad day for me when they are no longer available.
Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:
Here is a link to a more traditional Asian stir fry recipe.
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There is an amazing recipe blog called The Old Foodie that has been around since 2005. (The same year that SurvivalBlog started). Blog years are like dog years, so at 19, it is considered a “Senior Statesman” blog.
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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!
I really enjoy reading this blog, especially articles from AL!! My husband and I are planning to move to Idaho this year…have to get out of Ca. We waited due to medical, alas, maybe too long. I would love to read more of daily life of AL, you sound amazing. What dehydrator do you use for meats? Do you store in jars or bags? The little things are important. Love your site!
Hi Julie,
I use both Ziplock Freezer Bags and Mason Jars. We vacuum seal the Mason jars. We also have vacuum pack bags, that Jim has used in the past. I have yet to use them, myself. We have an Excalibur Food Dehydrator. I dehydrate my meats at a temperature between 145 -155 degrees Fahrenheit for 7 – 9 hours. There are set directions for dehydrating meats in the manual. I tend to dehydrate them longer than what may be required. I’m not an exacting person, which is probably another reason why I don’t enjoy pressure canning.
Thank you for your kind words, but I’m just a regular wife and mom trying to juggle many routine things at once: our relationships, schooling, cleaning house and animal sheds, cooking by scratch, blog writing, animal chores and my own particular interests of language study and staying in shape.
I only have momentary bursts of inspiration and energy for doing our “survival activities” every few weeks or so, such as camping, fire building, dehydrating, fishing, hiking, canoeing, shooting, and all the rest of it, etc. On a regular day to day basis, in winter, we’re really boring, I think. After schooling and housework, I take a lot of down time to rest and learn on the internet. I want to read and see what is happening in the world, though most of what I see makes me feel very sick at heart. Sometimes I’m on it for hours more than I should be, when, I really should be doing something else… I’m trying to be more proactive in accomplishing a Prepping activity every day.
When we indeed do something cool, you’ll hear about it. If we’re quiet, then you can know we’re just maintaining the status quo of our life: homeschooling, blogging, cooking and cleaning lifestyle et cetera. 🙂
Blessings,
Lily
…stir fry, yum!!!
Yes! Will miss avocados AND artichokes if they become an “un-obtainable”
I make a variation of your dish! Never get tired of it because I switch up the spices. In addition to the veggies you listed I use also chunks of both sweet potatoes and white potatoes together. That’s some good starch for a cold winter’s day. Sometimes the veggies way outweigh the beef. As for spices, I mix together curry powder, turmeric, and fresh grated ginger root. Sometimes it’s rosemary. A recent favorite is Berbere powder, an Ethiopian spice mix. It’s hot and densely layered with flavors.