Get the most out of your roast by using the leftovers to make more great meals.

Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding

Use a 3 lb sirloin tip, round roast, or rump roast (I prefer sirloin tip but this time I used round).
Heat over to 350F. The cooking time is about 25-30 minutes per pound, so this will take around an hour and a half to cook. If the roast is frozen, expect to double the amount of cooking time.
Place roast on rack and sprinkle with seasoning salt and pepper. After a half-hour, add 1/2 cup of water to the bottom of the pan. Check every half-hour to see if the bottom of the pan is getting dry and if so add another 1/2 cup of water.
Once beef is done (meat thermometer should read 150F for medium), take it out and cover with tin foil.

Now start your yorkshire pudding:
Turn oven to 425F. Add 1/2 tsp of vegetable oil to each muffin cup. Place in oven.
In a deep bowl mix:
1 cup of flour
1/2 tsp salt
Add:
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
Tip: Make sure the eggs, water and milk are room temperature. My mom says this is the key to great yorkshire pudding! Beat together with an immersion blender or regular blender. Add to muffin cups quickly while oil is still very hot. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn heat down to 300F for 15 minutes more (this step can be skipped if you don’t have time. It just makes the pudding drier and lighter).

While yorkshires are cooking, make your gravy:
Move roasting pan to stovetop and add cool water to make a cup of liquid.
Add 4 tablespoons of white flour and whisk until lumps are gone.
Add about 1-1/2 to 2 cups of water (use water from boiled vegetables if you have it).
Turn heat on high. If pan is glass make sure there’s a wire grid under it or it will break. Whisk until gravy bubble and thickens. Add in seasoning salt and pepper until to taste.

I love to poke a hole in the top of my yorkshire pudding and pour the gravy in there. Mmmm, gravy.

Roast beef and yorkshire pudding was a typical Sunday dinner in my home growing up. The above recipes are my from my mom, directly from the recipe cards she made for me when I left home so I could continue enjoying this family favourite. I make it on special occasions, or sometimes like this last weekend I just decided to make it because roast beef happened to be on sale. It’s a very economical meal, because the leftover roast can be used in lots of other recipes, like the following ones.

Beef Dip

In a saucepan, combine thinly sliced roast beef with the leftover gravy. Thin in out with a half-cup or so of water and add about a teaspoon of onion soup mix. Turn heat on medium until gravy begins to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 20 about minutes.
Place meat on hoagie or hamburger buns. Top with cheese and broil in the oven just until cheese melts (a few minutes). Close up the buns and serve with bowls of gravy for dipping.

Wow! This was such a simple meal and amazingly it pleased Cole more than any meal I’ve made in a long time. He gave me numerous rave reviews, such as “you are the best cooker in the whole world, mommy” and “the is the best food ever.”  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! I think it helped that I served it with edamame beans, which are always a huge hit with both boys. Bennett kept taking the empty edamame shells and scooping up the gravy with them and then licking them clean. He seemed to like sandwich too, but didn’t finish it because he was having too much fun with the beans. Cole ate his entire sandwich! I don’t remember the last time he ate everything on his plate at dinner. If you look back on my posts, you’ll see that there’s a pattern to the foods that Cole likes. They all involve dipping. So if you have a great meal idea that involves dipping your food, please let me know. I need more of these kind of meals!

Beef Stroganoff

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove crushed garlic
1 can condensed mushroom soup
1 can sliced mushrooms
1/2 can milk
1 tsp onion soup mix
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup sour cream
1-1/2 cups roast beef, diced

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cook until soft. Add mushroom soup, milk, onion soup mix and frozen peas. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 10 minutes. Add sour cream and roast beef. Cook until heated through.
Serve over pasta, rice or mashed potatoes.

Cole refused to try this, but Bennett didn’t mind it. I might dice the meat even smaller next time though because he struggled with swallowing it because the chunks were too big and chewy. That’s the only problem with the roast being cooked previously, it tends to be a little tough. The sauce was very good though. It was nice and creamy and had a great flavour.

So not bad for one roast, on sale no less! It made three tasty dishes (not to mention leftovers for lunches), making it a great purchase when you’re trying to watch that grocery budget.