Ayashe

Stew meat isn't always the cheapest beef really. Any time of beef will do well stewed or simmered into a soup of some sort, for this I generally buy the cheapest cut I can find and cut it up myself and it is generally cheaper than the stew meat.

Another suggestion is to pound it with a meat tenderizer. I will often buy an inexpensive cut of steak and pound it thin. You might want to consider giving Swiss steak a try, it is simple and fairly foolproof. I dredge the beef in a flour mixture. It is usually something like 1/2 cup of flour with a 1/4 teaspoon of dry powdered mustard seed a little salt and pepper. Pound the beef to about half its thickness. Brown the beef in a skillet with a little oil in the bottom of the skillet (just until browned, you aren't cooking it in this) I will usually also sautee chopped onion and green pepper in the pan as well. Now I generally transfer it into a pot or sometimes will throw it in the crock pot for several hours. Add enough stewed tomatoes to cover your beef, 1 Tablespoon or so of worcestershire sauce, some crushed garlic (a couple cloves) Allow this to simmer until your beef is tender(here it gets hazy, probably around 60-90 minutes depending on how thin you pounded out your beef and the cut used. I will try to cut it with the side of a fork and if it does so easily.. it is done. If you want to use a crock pot just put it on low before work. Serve with rice, it will be tasty.

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I am only a little spoon in a huge world of soup.