Beef Tips in Gravy with Mashed Potatoes and Garlic Green Beans

How's this for some home cookin'?

Beef Tips in Gravy

1 lb beef stew meat
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups water
2 tsp organic beef base (I'm trying to get Azure to carry this, right now I buy it in bulk from Vitacost.com)
1 onion, sliced
sea salt
pepper

1-2 tbsp arrowroot (or cornstarch)
water

Heat your oil in a cast iron skillet if you have one. Brown the beef tips on each side - just browning here, you don't have to cook them all the way through. Cover with water and mix in the beef base. Throw the sliced onions on top, cover and simmer on low for a couple of hours. Watch your water levels, you made need to add extra.

When the meat is tender remove it with a slotted spoon to a cutting board. Remove the fat and cut the meat into bite-sized pieces. Return to the pan. Turn the heat up to bring the broth to a bubble. Mix your arrowroot and a little bit of water, then whisk the mixture into the hot broth. Stir until thickened (it won't take long), turn off the heat. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.

Mashed Potatoes

Just make these however you normally would.  I used about 6 fist-sized red potatoes, boiled them until tender, mashed them with almond milk and seasoned them with sea salt and pepper.

Garlic Green Beans

1 lb frozen green beans
water
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil (or butter)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Place your frozen green beans in a large skillet and just cover them with water.  Turn the heat on high and bring them to a boil.  As soon as they begin to boil, dump the beans in a colander to strain the water and stop the cooking process.  Return the pan to the stove and lower the heat to medium.  Add the oil and get it hot.  Saute the garlic in the oil just until brown (don't let it burn!).  Add the green beans back to the pan and toss with the oil and garlic mixture.  Turn off the heat and season with sea salt and pepper.