Tomato Braised Short Ribs for a Gross Winter Day

I've never made short ribs before but after finding a good-looking recipe in the cookbook that Chris got me for my birthday (and locating a coupon for $5 off a $25 meat purchase) I decided today – filled with grey skies and a raw, biting rain – was a good day to give it a try. (Shortly after writing this the sun came out and temps soared past 50!)

On a cost per serving the whole meal breaks down to be pretty reasonable. 5+ lbs. of bone-in short ribs ended up costing $20 after the $5 coupon and the four cans of no salt added tomato sauce ran me about $1.25.

After that, the salt, pepper, garlic, dried basil and coconut oil for browning were all things I had on hand. Same with the head of cauliflower for the mashed cauliflower to go underneath. That comes out to about $3.55 per serving for a dish that would run you about $25 at a local restaurant. We'll have plenty for two nights worth of dinner and at least one lunch.

At this point I'm browning all the beef and then adding it to the crock pot with smashed garlic, salt, pepper, basil and the sauce. Kitchen smells great and the crock pot is set to low for the next 7 hours.

Browned short ribs ready to be seasoned with salt, pepper and dried basil.

Into the crock pot and topped with 10 cloves of smashed garlic.

Add four 8 oz. cans of no salt added tomato sauce, cover and turn the crock pot on low for seven hours.

After seven hours on low I cranked it to high for an hour and ... yum!