Steak Tips Over Rice (and the significance of a doughnut shop)
Hang on to your hats for the mother of all tangents. You can bypass it to the recipe below if you like 
.
We just got back from a trip to Nashville with the kids. We had a great weekend, visiting the Nashville Zoo and staying overnight with my Cousin Cindy’s family. My kids had a ball playing with their daughter Claire and gallivanting around the Zoo where we picnicked and saw everything from meerkats to giraffes. It was a relaxing and fun weekend and I’m so glad we got to do it.
This got me thinking about another trip, the first vacation we ever went on when I was a little girl. My daddy had a brand new truck, a 1979 silver Chevy Silverado, with a camper shell on back. He customized it with a special air horn that played “Dixieland” when you pressed this little black button under the dash and us kids thought that was really something.
I remember so many details about that trip, it is hard to believe its been over thirty years ago. What is funny is that I remember every single meal we ate out while we were gone, all three of them. You see, at home we didn’t eat out. Mama always cooked every meal. Even on this trip we stayed at those little roadside hotels where you left a deposit and they gave you a bag of pots and pans to use. Mama brought groceries and a cooler.
We drove all night to get there, Mama and Daddy sitting in the front and my brother, sister and myself riding in the back of the truck, an air mattress squeezed in for comfort. It seemed like we stayed up all night but it was likely only until ten or eleven. We laughed and told stories and my sister put all three of our inflatable swimming rings on and pretended she was a hula girl. It was so funny to us then that I still laugh now just thinking about it. My brother told us silly jokes and the giddy excitement of the trip had everyone in fits until we finally fell asleep from exhaustion.
In the morning we took turns climbing through the window to the cab so Mama could get us all dressed and after that was done we pulled over and stopped at a gas station for breakfast. Daddy let us pick out a snack cake, any one we wanted. It was the first time I had ever had raspberry zingers (they are kind of like a twinkie) and I got two of them in my package and to this day I think that was the most delicious breakfast I’ve ever ate.
Another morning during that trip we ate at a restaurant that put a smiley face on your pancake with whipped cream -cherries for eyes and a sprinkled trail of chocolate chips for the mouth. I swear I remember every bite of that pancake.
We spent a few days in Disney World (eating all of our meals at the hotel) and from there drove on to Daytona so we could see the ocean for the first time. I had a lime green swimsuit with a big yellow flower on the front and my head hurt when Mama made my ponytails that morning because I already had a red stripe sunburned into my part. I hardly slept the night before. It had been dark when we arrived but i could hear the ocean so loud outside the window and I kept trying to imagine how it made so much noise.
I was so proud to be playing in the waves as I danced in and out of the receding waters and staked my claim on the biggest sandbox I had ever seen.
That trip to a young child wasn’t like they are to adults, where they seem to pass by so quickly it feels you are arriving back home the day after you left. For me, that trip seemed to go on forever, each day filled with new wonders and excitement. On the long drive home, the last day, Daddy pulled into a doughnut shop for breakfast. It was a national chain and I’d never been to one because we didn’t have them in Alabama at the time. We went in and our eyes were met with cases and cases of brightly iced doughnuts, flavors and sprinkles of all kinds. He let us pick out whichever one we wanted and I got one with pink icing and rainbow sprinkles. I have no idea what my brother or sister or anyone else got, I was far too enthralled with my prize.
The icing even tasted like strawberries.
We still don’t have this doughnut chain where I am but I spotted one in Nashville this past weekend and told my husband I wanted to stop there on the way home and let the kids go in. We looked it up and found directions to the one nearest my cousin’s house and set off, even though we had eaten a full breakfast courtesy of their hospitality. We weren’t going because we were hungry for food anyway, I wanted to share this experience with my own kids.
As we were pulling in, I started telling them the story about how I ate there when I was a little girl and all about my doughnut with the pink icing and rainbow sprinkles and how it was so special because we didn’t get to just go to a doughnut shop, we didn’t have money for things like that. Katy looked as if she heard “blah blah blah doughnut with pink icing, blah blah blah” and Brady looked at me as if to say “It’s a doughnut Ma, get a grip”.
They have no idea what it is like for a simple trip to a doughnut shop to be so special that you remember the colors of the sprinkles and the flavor of the icing three decades later.
They’re used to chicken nugget kids meals out and pantries filled to the brim, brand name shoes and $40 video games. They haven’t a clue what its like to be handed a pink iced doughnut and feel as if you’ve been given the tiara, magic wand, and pixie dust all at the same time.
So here I am, walking my kids into a doughnut shop and feeling gratitude for everything my parents have ever done for us. For how hard they worked and for how insistent they were on us doing well in school. For my dad holding down three jobs so Mama could stay home and look after us rather than having to leave us in daycare or with a sitter. For them being at every school event we ever had and making it a point to brag on each report card we brought home.
I look at the case and there they are, pink iced doughnuts with rainbow sprinkles, and I can almost feel what it was like for my mother and father to be able to give us such a treat that day.
And now, thanks to them, my kids are oblivious to that kind of life.
And I’m pretty grateful for that, too.
~takes a deep breath~
Alright, lets get to cooking.
This is one of my husband’s favorite meals and it is shamefully easy and incredibly cheap. You see, my “steak tips” over gravy is nothing more than clearanced stew meat slow cooked all day inthe crock pot. Stew meat is easy to find on clearance. I usually pick up a few trays of it every few weeks and freeze it that day for this meal. Normally I use a tray half this size but I made a little extra today. Sometimes I do this with a roast as well, cutting it up into smaller pieces similar to how stew meat is cut.
A slow cooker is invaluable when it comes to cooking inexpensive cuts of meat. Meat that normally would yield tough results becomes fall apart tender through this method of cooking. The important thing to note is that tough meat needs fat in order to become tender. This is why roasts cooked in water are tougher than those cooked in gravy. You only need one can, even if you are making an entire roast, as it melds with the meat juices as they cook out as well and produce plenty of liquid.
Place “steak tips” in crock pot and cover with one can of beef gravy. I often pop these suckers in frozen and just break them up a bit as they thaw and begin to cook. You don’t have to use beef gravy, you can use a packet of brown gravy mix, prepared according to package directions, and that will be fine, too.
Cook that on low all day for seven to eight hours or on high for three to four. That is the general cooking time for all crock pot meals in case you wanted to know .
Prepare rice according to package directions and spoon out steak tips and gravy to serve!
Ingredients
- 1 Package Stew Meat
- 1 Can Beef Gravy
- Rice, prepared according to package directions
Instructions
- Place stew meat in slow cooker, cover with beef gravy. Cook on low, 7-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours. Serve over hot rice.
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Ingredients
- 1 Package Stew Meat
- 1 Can Beef Gravy
- Rice, prepared according to package directions
Instructions
- Place stew meat in slow cooker, cover with beef gravy. Cook on low, 7-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours. Serve over hot rice.
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“When the grass looks greener on the other side, its time to fertilize your own lawn”
Special thanks to my reader and facebook friend, Ticha for this quote!
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Apr 5 2009. Filed under Crock Pot, Main Course, Quick&Easy.
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I’ve bought the ingredients, and was impressed because there were only two ingredients. Well, three, if you count the rice. I’m not much of a cook. So can you please tell me how much of the beef tips you put in the crock pot? I can’t enlarge your photo, so can’t see how much meat you have for your one can of gravy. If you would, please e-mail me and let me know. I’ve got the meat in the refrigerator just waiting for you to tell me how much to use.
I just discovered your blog last week, and I’ve probably spent 2-3 hours just reading through old posts and looking through your recipes. I’m a southern girl, born and bred (Georgia), and can’t wait to try your recipes. Like I said, I’m not much of a cook. I detest cooking. But your recipes look great, and I can’t wait to try them.
Thanks for the stories – they make me feel like I’m with you. You have such a good way of telling a story. You’re my new friend.
So true…my parents drove all day and night to our vacation destinations – usually Daytona or Myrtle Beach – to save the money we’d spend on a motel room on the way. Mom would pack a picnic to eat on the way. They didn’t want to spend money on a kitchenette, so we’d have lunches of pimiento cheese and crackers and green grapes, or bologna sandwiches and apples my daddy sliced with his pocketknife. Our big meal out would be lunch at a drugstore restaurant!
I can’t believe something that looks so yummy so so easy!!!! Think I can add some onion to it and it won’t disintegrate? This sounds like the perfect meal for dinner one night next week!
Oh — and WELCOME to Southern Plate, Deborah!!!
I tried this recipe myself and it was Scrump-de-delish! We just about licked our plates clean!
Thanks so much!
First of all, what a delicious and easy recipe. Can’t wait to try it.
Your story was fantastic, really, kids today have no idea how much they have and not until they are older will they appreciate it. Fact is, the old days, they were very memorable. I miss my parents and all they did for me.
I remember going to Daytona as a child on vacation with my parents and my older sister and younger brother. Did you ever ride laying up in the back window of the car?? We would take turns. . . one would sleep in the back window, one in the seat and one in the floorboard. Never a thought of a seat belt and safety, but it was so much fun to watch the traffic from that back window. We always stayed at these little Mom and Pop motels. That trip my Mama took her electric frying pan and cooked corn beef hash out of the can. The whole family ate it on crackers for lunch and it was sooooo good. I can still remember that wonderful taste. Never had any since then that was that good. We didn’t have much money, but we went on vacation every year and were always gone the whole week. . . saw lots of things, though I realize now that we didn’t have a lot of money to spend. But oh my, we had so much love and so many memories. My parents have both been gone for a long time now. . .but we will always cherish our memories.
Oh I remember sleeping in the back window!! There were 4 of us, so one would sleep in the back, 2 on the seat and one on the floorboard! Sometimes we would get up and drive awhile and then stop at a rest stop(they were different back then as well) and eat cold cereal for breakfast. We never got cold cereal unless we were going on a trip. It was REALLY special if Mom bought the packages of individual boxes of cereal! We always brought the cooler along. We would often have sandwiches and chips, another luxery.
I, too, had tears. Precious memories oh how sweet. We appreciated those things didn’t we?
[...] in my early teens, my began taking us to Panama City Beach once every two years or so. Except for my very first beach vacation, PCB is the one I remember whenever I think about the ocean so I was thrilled to be able to take my [...]
[...] it. Sometimes I can loop it into being related to that days recipe and sometimes I do things like write about doughnuts and give you a recipe for steak tips – we just roll with it and it all works out in the end somehow. We’re kind of a rag tag group [...]
Raspberry Zingers were wonderful!
[...] 2. A Post you enjoyed writing the most.I most enjoyed writing this post because it was about an experience that really opened my eyes to the fact that my life had come full circle. I will never forget this moment. Read: Steak Tips Over Rice And The Significance Of A Doughnut Shop [...]
I don’t remember any long vacations, but I do remember a LOT of trips back and forth on I-65 from Nashville (TN) to Douglas (AL) — south of Albertville. We always stopped and ate our meals at the picnic tables on the side of the road. I don’t know if they were rest stops . . . because it didn’t look as fancy as the ones today. I remember when we picked up a young man who was serving in the military. We squeezed him in the backseat and we were all just fascinated to hear his stories.
This is a wonderful story. I never saw the ocean until I was 17 yrs old when I graduated from high school. I choose that rather than taking a Senior Trip to Washington D.C.
When I was a little girl , Daddy would take Momma and me to Gatlinburg and to CHerokee N.C, all the time. It was a day trip for us . I made friends with some of the Indians in Cherokee. We would take a picnic lunch and find a cool place by a creek someplace. I would wade in the creek and I loved every minute of it. , Dad and I were always looking for bears. We were so poor but I didn’t know it . My Uncle had a grocery store and going there and getting five
Hershey Kisses was absolutely heaven as it was not very often that I got to go for a treat like that. You sure bring back memories, Sweetie
Has anyone actually tried this?
It’s a standard recipe at my house. I’ve heard back from countless readers who love it also, but mostly in emails and on facebook
.
As many comments as southern plate gets, you’d be amazed at what a small percentage of folks actually come back and comment when they like something. Really makes it mean even
More to me when they do though!
yes! I tried it yesterday and it was really good.
I have cooked mine this way for years~delicious!!! Sometimes i even throw in bell peppers and o
)))
onions. SUPER EASY
[...] CJ: It’s not necessarily the recipe but the story behind it. I think it’s this one… http://www.southernplate.com/2009/04/steak-tips-over-rice-and-the-significance-of-a-doughnut-shop.ht… [...]
…or you can be lazy like me and use a package of Hormel Beef Tips. Four minutes, dinner is prepared!
This is a bit different from my own version but it’s an easy recipe no matter. I use 1 can of cream of whatever (usually chicken as my family doesn’t like mushrooms), 1 packet of brown gravy mix and the stew beef or cut up round steak into the slow cooker. Let cook all day on low and serve over rice or mashed potatoes.
I love the travel stories. My family never took vacations. Usually when Daddy got his vacation in the summer, we were in the middle of the garden coming in so we spent that time harvesting and preserving vegetables galore. We did occasionally make a day trip somewhere like the zoo in Jackson, MS or Vicksburg but they were few and far between. They were picnic days and, when KFC came along and a big box could be had for $4.50, we would have that. Kids these days just don’t know what fun is:) As for the riding in the back window, my mom would not let us do that and I always remember a little boy doing it in the car ahead and making faces at us all. Momma said that was why we couldn’t do it as he was acting like he had no raising.
We had Beef Tips on Rice for supper too. To make mine I use 1 Lb sirloin tip steak, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp garlic in a jar, 2 can beef consume soup. Cut steak into bit size piece, place with rest of ingredients in a pressure cooker. Pressure cook for 20 min. Release pressure and mix some water and cornstarch and add to thicken gravy. Cook rice while meat is cooking. Can use stew meat.
This recipe sounds really good. Christy’s recipe is short and sweet. I do
love this site and have gotten some great recipes. Christy , you truely bring
me back to the south and my memories of the south. I love southern foods.
Your children are so cute. I have my own version of this recipe. I’m sure it’s
not new but it’s yummy and all my kids love it. I buy the beef stew meat &
cut into smaller pieces. Then sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic powder over
all the meat and fry in olive oil just to get the pink out and then put into a
crock pot which is turned onto high. Then I add 2 cans of Golden Mushroom
Soup (not the white Cream of Mushroom Soup because the other has more
flavor), then 1 Packet of Lipton Onion Soup (the dry) and 1 and three fourths
soup can of water. Stir well and cover. Cook on High 2-3 hours. Thicken the
juice with either water & cornstarch or water & flour. I like my gravy to be
thickish. Can pour over Mash Potatoes or Egg Noodles or Rice. Enjoy.
Violet.
The recipe I was referring to that sounds really good is Gretchen’s. I will
definitely try that one. Violet.
I loved your vacation story. I was born and raised in Florida so the ocean was not a big deal, but my dad worked for the airlines and we were lucky enough to fly free so each summer usually included a vacation to the mountains. My husband recently surprised me and had my dad’s old 8 mm vacation videos put onto a DVD. These are the really old ones (late 60′s/early 70′s) with no voices. But it just filled my heart with such joy to see how lucky my brother and I were to have such wonderful memories. I asked my husband how they ever planned such great vacations without the internet?
I tried this yesterday and it was really good. It’s a definite keeper crock pot recipe and I am so thrilled because it contains an inexpensive cut of meat and I can throw the meat in the crock pot in it’s FROZEN state. How much easier does it get. I used about 2 lbs of meat and 1 can of beef gravy and 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, I added a little garlic and onion powder, and black pepper. We are having left overs tonight and we are looking forward to it. Give this a try soon.
[...] Michael Hendrix – Beef Tips and Gravy with Buttered Noodles [...]
Trying this tonight, can’t wait for the feedback from my family! Love easy fix suppers!
What a great recipe! Made it for the first time yesterday – so good and so easy. Added some onions, but that was the only change. Tasted even better today! Thanks for another great recipe Christy!
So glad it was a hit Jen!!!
When I went to the grocery store to buy steak for Father’s Day, the ones they had left didn’t look so good, but a big ‘ole package (about 2 lbs.) of steak tips did. So, I was looking forward to making them, but didn’t have a recipe yet. When I told my husband that I was making steak tips for dinner his reply was.. shall we say… less than enthusiastic. He complained that steak tips weren’t worth the effort and were always too tough. ENTER CHRISTY JORDAN’S STEAK TIPS OVER RICE RECIPE TO THE RESCUE. I cooked them up in my slow cooker for 4 hours on high. I used the same can of gravy and a can of cream of mushroom soup that Janice Lynn suggested. (Simply because my family REALLY enjoys cream of mushroom soup, especially my husband!) It made a LOT of gravy for the meat, but we didn’t run out. Next time I’ll probably just use the cream of mushroom soup and add a little beef bouillon for extra flavor. The meat turned out so good and wonderfully tender that my husband said that I need to add that recipe to our regular rotation!!!! Thanks a bunch for posting this simple, but wonderful recipe that saved our Father’s Day dinner!!!
I buy most of my meat on clearance too especially stew beef and roasts. Here’s my recipe:
2-3 pounds stew beef(usually two packs)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small can sliced mushrooms(draining optional)
1 envelope onion soup mix
Mix all ingredients in a slow cooker 4 quart or larger and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until meat is tender. Server over hot cooked rice or mashed potatoes.
I’ve been following you here & on Facebook for awhile & have tried many of your recipes on my southern husband. He had a hard time waiting on the pineapple, orange cake that had to sit for three days! Well anyway I made the steak tips over rice in his memory today & I know he would have loved it!! He passed away 9 months ago on Thanksgiving day. Thank you for sharing your recipes & stories they have helped me make meals my husband loved!
Hi Tango, I am so sorry to hear about your loss. I know that he is smiling down as you ate your steak tips and rice and I hope you could feel his love raining down on you!
I was given the recipe w/ soups about a year ago and we love it on dumplings(thick egg noodles)! I am going to try it your way to shake things up! Personally I could eat beef and gravy in some configuration every single day! I think its the hillbilly in me!
[...] recipe and ingredient list are below – Enjoy! ★Crockpot Steak Tips Over Rice★ Go READ this fabulously simple tutorial! You’ll Need: ★- 1 Boneless Bottom Round Roast: $1.99/lb *Ask the butcher to [...]
This was perfect and absolutely delicious! Thank you for a great recipe!
I am so glad you liked it Kim!!!
Oh, this is just like my granny’s stew beef which was one of my favorite meals and which I’ve really really missed. I’m making this tomorrow! Thank you so much Christy!
I have been making something similar for years. But I use the pressure cooker then add beef to gravy in large pan. I also add steamed broccoli and carrots and served over rice. I actually just switched to brown rice with all the gravy its hard to notice the brown rice vs white.
Im thinking I can do the beef in the crockpot and toss the veggies in right before serving so they dont get soggy.
Cant waito to try this thanks!
I hope you like it!!!
Tried this last night, While it was an easy recipe, as is wasnt my favorite. The thing I do like about it is that its one that you can play with to meet your personal tastebuds. I think next time I will make a gravy from Lipton’s beefy onion soup packet and add some mushrooms as well. Good recipe but needs some doctoring other wise its very bland.
My husband loves this recipe! I cant believe how easy it is. Thanks
Christy, I do this with a cheap old roast (if such an animal exists nowadays!) and also a can of green chilis. This makes the best taco/burrito filling!
You would love the simple recipe of 1 pkg dry onion soup mix and a can of cream of onion (mushroom or whatever) soup and soup can of water and stew meat. Cook in crock pot for about 4 hours on high — so so good. Serve over rice…..
Christy, I love my crock pot too. This sounds yummy and too easy. Was the donut chain Shipley’s by chance? It may be heresy, but I prefer them to a Krispy Kreme. Not that I would turn those down either, lol. Your vacation memory reminded me of my own. My family rarely took them so the 2 or 3 we did take stand out. A trip to ST Louis when I had just turned 9 is a great memory. The meals out were treat and so was staying in a motel. The stand out meal for me was breakfast in a German restaurant. We had sour cream waffles and they were amazing. We went to the zoo and had such fun. That trip was 40 years ago and I remember almost every detail. Thanks for sharing your memories with us, your adoring public!
This has been one of my favorite main dishes for years!
I am so glad to hear you like this one Debbie!!! I hope you are having a great day!!
Just wondering how much stew beef you used (pounds) and how many people it fed b/c I’m planning to make this recipe for 8 adults and several children and wanted to know how much to adapt it. If I do use more stew meat do you think I would still only need one can of gravy? Thanks for your help and time in answering! =)
I make at LEAST 3 pounds of meat for my family of 5 (4 adults and one child) and there are really not many leftovers. Maybe enough for a child size portion. The meat really cookes down a lot in the slow cooker.I would definitely use 2 cans of gravy to the 6 pounds you may need for that big of a group.Try adding s package of lipton onion soup mix to the slow cooker as well. And a little pepper. So yummy!
I make this all the time when the weather starts getting colder. Just seems to warm ya from the inside out. I use your recipe plus I add a package of Lipton Onion Soup Mix and a large can of sliced mushrooms. the hubby LOVES mushrooms. =)
I do the exact same thing with mushroom gravy over noodles. Ummm…..I’m getting hungry.
THE GRASS LOOKS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE BUT, THE WATER BILL IS HIGHER.
What a great story – it is so good to have a grateful heart and something we as parents really need to teach our children. Thanks so much for sharing.
Christy, Thanks for sharing such a wonderful story, one that brought several different emotions including thankfullness, laughter, and tears. I love your stories. Keep it up. I know you are super busy and it amazes me that you can handle all these tasks. But as my mama would say, “God bless you”.
I make this using two or three packages dry beef gravy mix, one package ranch dressing and couple cups water. Before serving you can add more water and still have plenty of flavor. I also fix with noodles. It is quite tasty.
I have made this dish for years in the crock pot just like you but I always used a can of cream of mushroom soup! Now I have a choice and will make it with the can of beef gravy to see which one my Honey likes the best! After 40 years of marriage, he is usually happy with what I put in front of him!
Now, about the post that went this recipe! What great memories it brought back of my family’s trip from Waco, TX to Santa Ana, CA when I was 8 years old. So much like your story, ice chest full of food, 3 kids (me, my sister and my cousin) This was just us girls (my mother and my aunt) as Daddy took his vacations during hunting season. We went to visit our Aunts and Uncles that lived in exotic Caifornia. The most wonderful trip and I remember things like you do. My Uncle was mowing the back yard, and mowed my initials into it. Boy he was my favorite uncle from them on! We did Disneyland, Knotts berry farm, Pacific Ocean Park and even drove all the way up Hwy 1 to Hearst Castle. Easing out of that old green metal Coleman cooler was second nature after that trip. Just thinking of it today brings a tear to my eye because all of the moms and aunts and uncles are gone on before us. I think they have cold fried chicken in heaven, Christy. What about you!!
Loved your story, too! Our family traveled that way when I was growing up, and to this day, we still travel with a cooler and food with our kids! Even when we’re staying in a motel/hotel, we often have our own breakfasts/lunches with us! Even though we are blessed to be able to eat in a restaurant, taking food saves money for other things, as well as allows us to eat more healthily when we travel–or at least not totally overeat! LOL!
Christy, You will never know how much the stories of your childhood memories and your gratefulness means. Thank you for sharing your heart.
I can’t wait to try beef tips using your recipe. For years, I have made mine using one can of french onion soup and one can of golden mushroom soup combined (undiluted) and poured over the beef stew meat in the crockpot. It is really, really yummy! And, if you really like mushrooms, you can add mushrooms to taste, either fresh or canned.
We do this often over rice. But for a change, at the end of cooking I add in about 4 ounces of garlic chive cream cheese and stir gently until it melts into the gravy and serve over egg noodles. Our own special stroganoff!
What a sweet story, Christy! I can identify with you! It felt like Christmas when we went to “the big city” of Atlanta, and got to have a Krispy Kreme doughnut once a year! They melted in our mouths, and I couldn’t imagine anything that could taste any better. When I was pregnant, my sweet husband drove a half hour in the middle of the night to satisfy my craving for Krispy Kreme!
Christy, How many recipe books have you written and their names and where can i buy them thanks ann
This has to be the easiest recipe on the planet. thanks so much for all you do.
.
It is easy Barbara, I am so glad you enjoyed it!!