slow cooker beef brocolli

Ingredients

• 1½ lb. boneless, beef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips
• 1 cup beef consumme or beef broth
• ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
• ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• Frozen Broccoli Florets, about 3 cups (I used one 14 oz bag)
• White or brown rice, cooked

Instructions

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the beef consume, soy sauce, dark brown sugar, sesame oil, and garlic.
2. Lay the beef strips in the crockpot and pour the sauce over, tossing the strips to coat.
3. Turn the crockpot on low and cook for about 6 hours. Mine was ready at 5. You don't want to cook the beef too long or it will start to shred.
4. When it is just about done, take 4 Tbsp of the sauce and whisk it in a small bowl with the cornstarch. Slowly stir this into the crockpot. I added the broccoli in at this point so that it could get heated through. You want to let it cook an additional 30 minutes so that the sauce can thicken and frozen broccoli can cook. You don't want to add the broccoli until the very end or it will be mushy.
5. Serve over white rice.

Garlic Lo Mein

Ingredients

• 8 ounces lo mein noodles, or spaghetti noodles
• 3 cups broccoli florets
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 8 ounce flank steak, sliced against the grain
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium carrot, shredded
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons hoisen sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

1. In a large pot with boiling water, cook the noodles according to package directions. Add the broccoli the last 5 minutes of cooking and let them cook until tender. Drain the noodles and broccoli.
2. While the pasta is cooking, add olive oil to a medium sized skillet. Cook the steak until no longer pink. Add the garlic, and carrots and cook for a minute more.
3. In a small bowl whisk together the brown sugar soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, ginger, red pepper and pepper.
4. Add the spaghetti to the skillet and pour the sauce on top and toss until incorporated.