What's for Dinner: Beef and Peas

Often when I'm cooking, I think about how our meals have changed. When I was giving our diet a makeover, I found meal planning to be extremely difficult. I thought I would share some of our recipes so that you might avoid the same struggle. The problem I ran into the most is that many cookbooks called for processed items. I thought that I knew how to cook but I really just knew how to open cans and combine them to make a meal. Some of our recipes we just don't make any more and some we have tweaked to make healthier. I haven't found just one source to get my recipes from, instead, I look through my cookbooks, online, and read some blogs that post healthier recipes. It's been a slow process but I'm happy to share what I have found. I hope you enjoy the ongoing "What's for Dinner" series!

Tonight's recipe comes from Taste of Home's Dinner on a Dime cookbook. The original recipe is called Ground Beef n' Biscuits, but in our house it is simply known as Beef and Peas. The original recipe calls for canned biscuits, but we're going to make our own! It's not hard so give it a try, and since you're doing it, go ahead and and double the recipe and have biscuits for breakfast a few mornings this week with no extra effort (or dishes)!

Homemade Biscuits (not doubled)

2 cups flour (half wheat half unbleached white)
3 tsp baking powder (aluminum free!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter or coconut oil
3/4 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients. Cut butter into mixture using a pastry blender. Stir in the milk with a fork until ingredients are just mixed. Transfer the dough to a large, flat surface and roll it out to about 1" thick and cut with a biscuit cutter. Avoid using a drinking glass if possible because you want the air to have a way to escape or your biscuits will be flat. Bake at 425 degrees on a greased cookie sheet for 13-15 minutes. You can also just bake the extras with the Beef and Peas at a lower temperature for longer.


Beef and Peas
Servings: 6 / Oven: 350 degrees

1 lb ground beef (local grass fed, please)
1/2 cup chopped onion (we like onion so we add a little more)
2 tbls flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp pepper
1 15 oz can tomato sauce (we cheat and buy canned tomatoes for our budget's sake occasionally until we have a nice garden with more tomatoes than we know what to do with, but for now, we use Muir Glen Organics)
1 1o oz package frozen peas (fresh is fine too)
6 homemade biscuits, uncooked
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Brown beef and onion in a skillet over medium heat, drain.

Stir in flour, salt, oregano, and pepper until blended.

Add tomato sauce and peas; simmer for 5 minutes.


Transfer into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Place 6 biscuits on top of mixture and sprinkle with cheese. In order for the biscuits to cook more thoroughly, do not allow them to touch each other and make sure the casserole mixture you're putting them on is warm.

Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
Let me know if you try this and what you think!